Daily Intel Brief
Ukraine continues to reclaim land in counteroffensives, Albania suffers another cyberattack from Iran, and the UK's security agencies are recruiting Russian-speakers...
Counterterrorism
Venezuelan authorities were speaking of a “terrorist attack” Monday after a state-owned gas pipeline went up in smoke Sunday in the country's eastern region. Oil Minister Tareck El Assami said on social media that the usual “same terrorist groups” were behind the attack…
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Sunday said the threats facing the U.S. in the 21 years since the Sept. 11 attacks have shifted from worries about foreign terrorists to growing concerns about domestic extremism. “The threat landscape has evolved considerably…
Military & Defense
Taiwan's military has confirmed for the first time that the People's Liberation Army flew drones across the median line that divides the Taiwan Strait this week. Taiwan's defence ministry said 45 PLA aircraft flew around Taiwan on Thursday, 25 of which crossed the…
Ukraine said that it tripled the amount of land it has taken back from Russian forces over less than three days. President Zelenskyy said on Thursday that Ukraine had retaken 386 square miles (1,000 square kilometers) of land back from Russia since the start of September…
Cybersecurity
Albania blamed the Iranian government Saturday for a cyberattack against computer systems used by Albanian state police — just days after the White House condemned Tehran for a hack that disrupted Albanian government services in July. The latest hack forced Albanian…
The Vice Society gang has claimed the ransomware attack that hit Los Angeles Unified (LAUSD), the second largest school district in the United States, over the weekend. LAUSD says it enrolls more than 640,000 students, from kindergarten through 12th grade, and it…
Counterintelligence & Espionage
A Ukrainian special forces official said the country's much-anticipated southern offensive was actually a disinformation campaign to distract Russia from its real offensive where its regaining territory in Kharkiv. "[It] was a big special disinformation operation," Taras…
Advanced Russian speakers are being sought by the UK's top security agencies in a Bond-style 'spy' recruitment drive amid the war in Ukraine. The UK's security services MI5, MI6 and GCHQ are all seeking to recruit Russian-speaking language analysts to help combat threats…
Transnational Organized Crime
Cambodia has long had a problem with its own citizens being trafficked into nearby countries such as Thailand and Indonesia, where they work in slave-like conditions. But stamping out foreign-run trafficking rings within its borders is a new phenomenon, and Phnom Penh's…
When 16 people were shot dead at a South African tavern, few thought the investigation would lead to the kingdom of Lesotho, where a war between rival music gangs has claimed scores of lives. South African police launched a manhunt this week for five suspects over the…