Counterterrorism
Turkish security forces eliminated at least 13 terrorists related to the PKK terrorist group near its borders on Saturday. Ten terrorists from the PKK's Syrian branch, the YPG, were killed in northern Syria, across the border, authorities said Saturday. According to the Defense…
Heavy fighting continued on Saturday for a third day in a battle to stop ISIS' biggest operation in Syria since its defeat in 2019: a prison break attempt in the city of Al-Hasakah. More than 100 ISIS fighters attacked Gweiran prison late Thursday, trying to free nearly…
A French soldier has been killed in a mortar shelling attack on a base in Mali, the military said Sunday. The 24-year-old artilleryman, Alexandre Martin, was serving with France’s anti-insurgent force Operation Barkhane, according to a statement from the French army…
Military & Defense
Gunfire rang out from several military camps in Burkina Faso early on Sunday, the government said, but it denied the military had seized power. Heavy arms fire at the capital Ouagadougou's Sangoule Lamizana camp, which houses the army's general staff and a prison…
Continued tensions between Ukraine and Russia have led to the U.S. providing 90 tons of military aid that arrived in Ukraine, as roughly 100,000 Russian troops remain stationed along the border. The shipment is part of the additional $200 million of "lethal aid"…
Ethiopia's military is planning to enter the Tigray regional capital of Mekelle and "eliminate" rebellious forces, a top military official says amid diplomatic efforts to end conflict in the country's north. The Horn of Africa country has been gripped by war for more than a year…
Cybersecurity
Security researchers from Kaspersky said on Thursday that they had discovered a novel bootkit that can infect a computer’s UEFI firmware. What makes MoonBounce—the name they gave the bootkit—special is the fact that the malware doesn’t burrow and hide inside a section of…
Law enforcement action typically does little to deter cybercriminal activity. But last week's arrests in Russia of several members of the notorious REvil ransomware group, as well as the dismantling of its criminal infrastructure, appear to have finally grabbed the attention of…
A man from Connecticut has been arrested on suspicion of using digital devices to record his neighbors. Waterford resident Keith Hancock allegedly recorded 10 victims from outside their homes, two of whom were juveniles. Six of the individuals were filmed while undressing…
Counterintelligence & Espionage
In December last year Oxford University students were offered £15,000 in prize money if they could solve challenges relating to the surveillance and tracking of devices and their users. ‘Huawei welcomes a selection of top-of-the-class students to their 2021 University Challenge’…
The British government on Saturday accused Russia of organizing a plot to install a pro-Moscow government in Ukraine, as the Kremlin masses troops and materiel near the Ukrainian border in what Western officials fear is an impending military assault on…
Following damning reports that the Israel Police are using Pegasus software made by NSO Group to collect information on civilians, Public Security Minister Omer Bar-Lev said that the reports are false on Saturday evening. The Israeli business daily Calcalist revealed…
Transnational Organized Crime
The U.S. Navy announced Sunday it seized a boat in the Gulf of Oman carrying fertilizer used to make explosives that was caught last year smuggling weapons to Yemen. The British royal navy said it confiscated 2,295 pounds of illegal drugs in the same waters…
Utrecht drug dealer and Taghi informant Ebrahim B., also known as Slager, was found dead with a gunshot wound to the head in Spain last weekend. A woman walking her dog found the body of the 52-year-old in a burned-out car in Cádiz, according to Het Parool…
Two Canadians were fatally shot and another was wounded at a hotel in Playa del Carmen on Friday afternoon, the latest attack at Mexican beach resorts that have been rattled by organized crime violence. The secretary of security in Quintana Roo state, Lucio Hernández…