Daily Intel Brief
Houthis reveal latest casualty statistics, Putin allies criticize Russia's war machine, Cyber attack on Chile space observatory raises concerns, and Chinese espionage network operating in Canada...
Counterterrorism
The Houthis in Yemen announced yesterday that 643 people have been killed and wounded in its areas of control since the beginning of this year as a direct result of mines and cluster bombs in the war that is in its eighth year, Al-Mayadeen, has reported. The movement's…
Cyberspace as a domain of conflict often creates an asymmetric advantage for comparably less capable or under-resourced actors to compete against relatively stronger counterparts.1 As such, a panoply of non-state actors is increasingly acquiring capabilities and integrating…
Military & Defense
Russia's military command has come in for sharp criticism over the stalled offensive in Ukraine. Two voices have been especially vocal - Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov and Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of the Wagner mercenary group. This is why they matter…
Former Prime Minister Imran Khan has asked President Arif Alvi to initiate an inquiry into a news conference held by Pakistan’s powerful intelligence agency, which he has accused of orchestrating the attack on him. In a letter to the president, Khan referred to the event held last month by Lieutenant General Nadeem Anjum, chief of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).
Cybersecurity
One of the world’s largest astronomical observatories suffered a cyberattack in late October and was forced to suspend work, it announced last week. The Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) observatory in Chile said last Wednesday that a cyberattack on October 29…
At least 16 African banks, financial services, and telecommunication companies have been identified as victims of the French-speaking threat group OPERA1ER, which has stolen at least $11 million since 2018. A new report from Group-IB explains it has been tracking…
Counterintelligence & Espionage
IT IS DIFFICULT TO argue against the widely shared view that clandestine human intelligence (HUMINT) is replete with ethical dilemmas. These are inherent in the process of gathering intelligence via the use of human sources or covert agents. Yet it is possible…
China’s secret police and espionage networks are allegedly operating in British Columbia, according to an indictment in the United States. On Oct. 26, the U.S. Department of Justice unsealed an indictment against seven individuals alleged to be illegally acting as People’s…
Transnational Organized Crime
Border officers in Arizona seized more than 200,000 fentanyl pills, cocaine and other drugs hidden in vehicles during two separate stops over the weekend, officials said. The seizures occurred Sunday at the Nogales Port of Entry, Port Director Michael Humphries tweeted…
A four-day human trafficking operation led to the arrest of 30 individuals for alleged sexual solicitation, said the California Attorney General’s Office. Dubbed “Operation Century Week,” the undercover operation was conducted as part of a joint investigation through…