Daily Intel Brief
US confirms death of IS leader, IRGC threatens Iranian footballers' families, Cloudflare finds a way through China's network mechanisms, and six men charged in Seattle for major fentanyl bust...
Counterterrorism
No US military troops were involved in the operation, a US military spokesperson said. Earlier on Wednesday a spokesperson for the Islamic State, in an audio message posted on an affiliated Telegram channel, had said that leader Abu al-Hassan al-Hashemi al-Quraishi was…
Iran’s footballers at the World Cup in Qatar have been warned that their families could be imprisoned and tortured if they show any signs of protest or dissent during the team’s final group game on Tuesday. In their opening game against England, the Iranian players refused…
Military & Defense
The Chinese military will wage large-scale information warfare in a future conflict using cyber, electronic and conventional attacks to achieve “information dominance,” according to new details of Beijing‘s growing military capabilities outlined in the Pentagon’s latest annual…
Cloudflare has found a way to extend some of its services across the Great Firewall and into mainland China. "Performance and reliability for traffic flows across the mainland China border have been a consistent challenge for IT teams within multinational organizations…
Cybersecurity
Gray-market exploit brokers are alive and kicking, with the latest sign of this flourishing market coming in the form of a bidding war for Signal messaging app zero-days from a relatively new entrant. Russia-based OpZero went on the record recently with a $1.5 million…
The Keralty multinational healthcare organization suffered a RansomHouse ransomware attack on Sunday, disrupting the websites and operations of the company and its subsidiaries. Keralty is a Colombian healthcare provider that operates an international network of 12…
Counterintelligence & Espionage
If you’ve ever worried about the privacy of your sensitive data when seeking a computer or phone repair, a new study suggests you have good reason. It found that privacy violations occurred at least 50 percent of the time, not surprisingly with female customers bearing the brunt. Researchers at University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada, recovered logs from laptops after receiving overnight repairs from 12 commercial shops.
Security agents in Ukraine have conducted a “counterintelligence” operation at Kyiv’s historic Pechersk Lavra and other facilities of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) as part of a probe into suspected pro-Russia activity. The 11th-century monastery and UNESCO World…
Transnational Organized Crime
Six men were charged in a Seattle federal court for drug and gun crimes in Whatcom and Skagit counties, according to a news release from the Department of Justice. The investigation began in April when investigators saw two of the men meeting at a Whatcom…
Morga, who’s part of the Arizona Counter Drug Task Force, tells the group that more kids today are getting fentanyl-laced opioids from anonymous dealers online, and it’s crucial for parents to understand what’s happening to prevent the problem from escalating. “Only 17%…