Daily Intel Brief
US Navy intercepts over 50 tons of ammunition from Iran to Yemen, Explosions hit 2 Russian military airfields, TSA increasing facial recognition pilot program, and Army chooses Blackhawk replacement..
Counterterrorism
The US Navy has intercepted a fishing trawler smuggling over 50 tons of ammunition, fuses and propellants for rockets in the Gulf of Oman on its way from Iran to Yemen. The Bahrain-based United States Fifth Fleet said in a statement Saturday that it was the “second major…
Nigeria on Monday resumed train services that were shut down nine months ago after Boko Haram terrorists attacked a moving travelling from the capital Abuja to northwestern Kaduna state, according to an official. Yakub Mahmoud, a spokesperson for the Nigeria Railway…
Military & Defense
The U.S. Army has chosen Bell to build a new aircraft that will replace the venerable UH-60 Black Hawk, which has been flying soldiers in combat since the 1970s. Bell received a $232 million contract on Monday—the first installment of what could be a $7.1 billion deal…
Two Russian military airfields, at least one of which Moscow uses for airstrikes on Ukraine, were reportedly hit by explosions Monday morning. According to footage published on Russian and Ukrainian social media, a drone apparently hit the Engels-2 air base in the…
Cybersecurity
Microsoft has warned of Russian-sponsored cyberattacks continuing to target Ukrainian infrastructure and NATO allies in Europe throughout the winter. Redmond said in a report published over the weekend that it observed a pattern of targeted attacks on infrastructure…
Google developers released an urgent fix for Chrome 108.0.5359.94 on Friday. The update addresses a novel, zero-day vulnerability (tracked CVE-2022-4262). The flaw reportedly affects all versions of the browser, and according to Mike Walters, VP of vulnerability…
Counterintelligence & Espionage
The US Transport Security Administration has been testing facial recognition software to automatically screen passengers flying across the country in 16 airports, and is looking at rolling it out nationwide next year. Flyers will be able to pass through security checkpoints…
A well-resourced and ongoing international cyber espionage campaign targeting human rights activists, journalists, diplomats and politicians working in the Middle East has been uncovered by Human Rights Watch (HRW), the NGO said on Monday. The advocacy…
Transnational Organized Crime
Four men suspected of plotting to commit wire fraud and identity theft have been arrested and now face extradition to America. It is alleged they conspired to break into US companies' servers, steal people's personally identifiable information (PII), use that info to file…
Officials in Moore County, North Carolina, declared a state of emergency on Sunday after gunfire damaged an electrical substation and left 45,000 homes and businesses without power in near freezing temperatures. "It appears to be an intentional, willful, and malicious act…