Counterterrorism

Somalia's al Shabaab group makes rare attack near Ethiopia border

Militants from Somali Islamist group al Shabaab attacked two villages near the border with Ethiopia, killing 17 people including three civilians and Ethiopian police officers inside Somali territory while 63 of its fighters were killed, an Ethiopian security commander at the…

Mali army says 3 soldiers, 3 terrorists killed in attacks

Mali's army on Thursday said three soldiers and three "terrorists" died following simultaneous early morning attacks in several towns in the country's centre and west, adding to a growing list of deadly incidents since last week. In a statement, the military blamed…

Military & Defense

Iraq and Syria Attacks Blamed on Turkey Rattle Region, Raise U.S. Concerns

Recent attacks in northern Iraq and Syria have sparked outrage in both countries as well as neighboring nations and have raised concerns for the United States, whose NATO ally, Turkey, has been named as a culprit by the targeted states. Funerals were held across Iraq…

An Air Force scientist was accused of tricking a defense contractor into hiring an unqualified sex worker as a military researcher

A senior scientist working for the US Air Force tricked a military contractor into hiring a sex worker he thought was "hot," according to a recently unsealed search warrant application first published by The Daily Beast. Jim Gord, a senior researcher who was working on advanced…

Cybersecurity

US seeking to understand Russia’s failure to project cyber power in Ukraine

After some five months of war raging in Eastern Europe, feared Russian ranks of hackers have had an underwhelming impact on Ukrainian networks and critical infrastructure in the U.S. and other nations. The question is: why? “With regard to the Russian use of cyber and our…

New Redeemer ransomware version promoted on hacker forums

A threat actor is promoting a new version of their free-to-use 'Redeemer' ransomware builder on hacker forums, offering unskilled threat actors an easy entry to the world of encryption-backed extortion attacks. According to its author, the new version 2.0 release was written…

Counterintelligence & Espionage

Huawei under investigation for having tech installed near US missile silos

The Biden administration has quietly probed Huawei over fears cell towers outfitted with its hardware could be spying on US military bases and missile silos. The investigation, according to Reuters, was opened by the US Commerce Department in early 2021, subpoenaing Huawei…

China is now top priority for British intelligence, spy chief says

Britain's spy chief said on Thursday that China was now the top intelligence priority for the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), known as MI6, surpassing counter-terrorism. Richard Moore, addressing the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado, said understanding how Beijing pursues its…

Transnational Organized Crime

At least 18 killed in latest deadly police raid in Rio de Janeiro

At least 18 people died on Thursday during a major police raid in a dense warren of Rio de Janeiro slums, state military police said, in the latest bloody confrontation in Brazil's second-largest city. Tactical teams from Rio de Janeiro's civil and military police raided the…

Ex-Coinbase manager charged in first crypto insider-trading case

The U.S. Department of Justice has charged a former Coinbase manager and two co-conspirators with wire fraud conspiracy and scheme to commit insider trading in cryptocurrency assets. This is the first case of its kind in litigation history and a signal that…