Daily Intel Brief
Al-Shabaab take an AU military base, Lviv is rocked by explosions, and the SEC expands its Crypto Enforcement Unit...
Counterterrorism
A federal grand jury returned a four-count indictment Wednesday that charges an Irvine man with attempting to provide material support to two foreign terrorist organizations – Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and Hamas. Jason Fong, 26, allegedly attempted in the spring of 2020…
As Somalis are celebrating Eid Al-Fitr for the second day, the Al-Qaeda-linked terrorist group Al-Shabaab launched a dawn attack on a major military base housing AU forces, witnesses and officials said. Col Muse Hassan, a Somali military commander in Middle Shabelle…
Military & Defense
Ukrainian forces at the Azovstal steel factory in Mariupol said Tuesday that Russia’s military is now storming the complex. The move comes almost two weeks after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his military not to storm the plant, but rather block off the last pocket…
The Ukrainian town of Lviv, located near the country's border with Poland, was hit by heavy explosions Tuesday, amid the ongoing war between Ukraine and Russia. In a tweet, Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovyi wrote, "Explosions in Lviv. Please stay in the bomb shelters!"…
Cybersecurity
A cybercrime group that has threatened to release troves of stolen data from the Costa Rican government has now hit Peru's intelligence agency, showing how governments in the region continue to be easy pickings for ransomware attacks. The Russian cybercrime group known…
The US Securities and Exchange Commission is adding 20 more positions to the newly renamed Crypto Assets and Cyber Unit (formerly the Cyber Unit), the commission said Tuesday. The unit is tasked with protecting investors in crypto markets and against…
Counterintelligence & Espionage
Investigative publication The Intercept identified eight centers where an AT&T telecom facility was purported to be using their network equipment to help the NSA monitor billions of phone calls, emails, texts, and browsing sessions across the US. In addition to two facilities in…
Taiwan's spy catchers have launched probes into around 100 Chinese companies suspected of illegally poaching semiconductor engineers and other tech talent, a senior official at the island's Investigation Bureau told Reuters. That comes on top of seven prosecuted since the…
Transnational Organized Crime
Canadian authorities recently became perplexed after they encountered a downed drone carrying multiple handguns. The CBC reported that a shopping bag was attached to the drone, which became snagged in a tree. The bag contained 11 handguns and is believed to have been…
The United States announced a multimillion reward for information leading to the arrest or conviction of Herlinda Bobadilla and her two sons on accusations of being leaders of one of Hondura's largest drug cartels. Herlinda, 61, and her sons Tito Montes Bobadilla, 32…