OODA Analysis and Briefs

Home > OODA Analysis and Briefs

Analysis

Disaster Response Applications: New Lessons From The Fall of Kabul and Severe Weather Events

We are entering an era when on-the-ground conditions and real-time disaster-level information flows grow in their value in the aftermath of more frequent and mounting disaster conditions. Is there a wave of democratization of access to tools and/or product commercialization ahead in this space? For now, the following are some current signals and use cases…
Omand and Medina on Disinformation, Cognitive Bias, Cognitive Traps and Decision-making

In August, Bob Gourley had a far-ranging conversation with Sir David Omand. One of the most respected intelligence professionals in the world, Omand is also the author of the book How Spies Think: Ten lessons in intelligence. In May of 2020, Bob’s OODAcast conversation was with Carmen Medina, who served 32 years in senior positions…
Smart Voting App, Removed by U.S. Tech Giants, Threatens Putin’s United Russia Party in Recent Duma Election

This most recent Russian election provides clear evidence that the Russian Government is meddling as much in their own elections, to achieve the Kremlin-designed outcome, as they have in recent American elections – with one RFE/RL headline proclaiming: “Hacking Servers. Online Blocking. Police Raids. Information Attacks. What Won’t The Kremlin Do To Stop ‘Smart Voting’?”
Cyber Espionage Likely Supporting China’s Arctic Aspirations

It is increasingly evident that China believes the timing is right for it to aggressively push its national interests. One area that often gets overlooked when looking at China’s expansionism is its interests in the Arctic. China’s interest in the area is not a secret, as it has promoted itself as a legitimate “Arctic State”…
The People’s Liberation Army (PLA), Global Supply Chains and Chinese Military-Civil Fusion (MCF)

The U.S. DoD has embarked on a strategic transformation. Central to this transformation are supply chains. Specifically, an understanding and reduction of the reliance by U.S. military systems on foreign components, subcomponents, materials, and software. “Made in America” is an objective, rectifying supply chain security concerns with American-made components, subcomponents, materials, and software. As it…
Clapper and Ashley on Joint Ops/Intel Operations, Decision-making, the History and Future of Intelligence and Cyber Threats

We started the OODAcast as a way of highlighting insights and lessons learned from leaders and decision-makers in the OODA Network. In the Spring of 2021, Bob Gourley had a conversation with General Jim Clapper and Lieutenant General Robert Ashley. Threads that emerge in these conversations include the nature and history of intelligence, the importance…
The Future of War, Information, AI Systems and Intelligence Analysis

The U.S. is in a struggle to maintain its dominance in air, land, sea, space, and cyberspace over countries with capabilities increasingly on par in all domains with that of the U.S. In addition, information (in all its forms) is the center of gravity of a broad set of challenges faced by the United States.…
Quantum Computing Use Cases and Post-Quantum Cryptography

Quantum computing is fascinating, complex, highly technical, sometimes daunting to conceptualize technological breakthrough and driver of the future marketplace. So yes, the promise of quantum computing will happen and is happening. The question is how quantum will have an impact during a growth phase in which the capital expenditure capabilities and strategic concerns are driven…
Intelligence, Afghanistan, and Hedging Bets

I am a member of OODA Loop. The few discussions that I have been able to listen to thus far were extremely informative, especially the most recent one on Afghanistan and intelligence issues. It prompted a few comments on intelligence collection and hedging bets amongst regional and great power players in Afghanistan. This article was…
Zero Trust Will Yield Zero Results Without A Risk Analysis

Over the past four years there has been an avalanche of new Zero Trust products. However during the same period there has been no measurable reduction in cyber breaches. Zero Trust is a concept where an organization has Zero Trust in a specific individual, supplier or technology that is the source of their cyber risk.…
Decision-Making Inside the CIA Counterterrorism Center Before, During and After 9/11

We started the OODAcast as a way of highlighting insights and lessons learned from leaders and decision-makers in the OODA Network including former intelligence community leaders and operators. Themes emerge throughout these interviews on topics such as how clearly the intelligence community warned of the pending attacks, the early preparedness of a response by the…
A CIA Officer and Delta Force Operator Share Perspectives on 9/11

We started the OODAcast as a way of highlighting insights and lessons learned from leaders and decision-makers in the OODA Network including former intelligence community leaders and operators. Themes emerge throughout these interviews on topics such as how clearly the intelligence community warned of the pending attacks, the early preparedness of a response by the…
The Next Evolution of Ransomware Gangs: Collaboration

Ransomware gangs continue to evolve their tactics to stay one step ahead of network defenders and those tracking their developments. Increased reporting that ransomware gangs – particularly Russian groups – are collaborating with one another is another example of this type of evolution. The joining of forces enables these groups to share advice, targeting information…
Cybersecurity Sensemaking: USG Initiatives and Updates

The Cybersecurity Sensemaking page was recently updated with the USG Cybersecurity Initiatives and Updates page. We need to make sense of and look at the patterns found between interagency cybersecurity initiatives, cybersecurity organizations, and private sector partnerships (specifically the technology sector) throughout the USG. In the pilot stages of this research, we will first try…
Labor Day Weekend Ransomware Warnings: U.S. warns firms to be on guard against hostile network activity

In a press briefing at the White House yesterday, White House deputy national security adviser Anne Neuberger reinforced the warning the FBI and CISA released a few days ago. Officials acknowledged that the threats over the weekend were not specific, but “we do have this history.” The largest incidents in 2021 – Colonial Pipeline, JBS…

Briefs

Google Patches Critical Chrome Vulnerability

Google has released Chrome 124, addressing four vulnerabilities, including a critical security flaw identified as CVE-2024-4058, involving a type confusion bug in the ANGLE graphics layer engine. This critical vulnerability could potentially allow remote attackers to execute arbitrary code or escape sandboxes with limited user interaction. Notably, only a few Chrome vulnerabilities have received a…
Tines Bags $50 Million Funding for Security Workflow Automation

Tines, an Irish security automation startup, has secured an additional $50 million in venture capital funding as part of its Series B round, raising its total funding to $146.2 million. Backed by investors including Accel, Felicis, and CrowdStrike Falcon Fund, Tines offers a no-code platform based on workflow automation, orchestration, and AI. With its ARR…
The TikTok ban was just passed by the House. Here’s what could happen next.

TikTok users could soon find that the popular social media service is either under new ownership or, although it wouldn’t happen immediately, outright banned in the U.S. On Saturday, the House passed legislation that would bar TikTok from operating in the U.S. if the popular platform’s China-based owner doesn’t sell its stake within a year.…
The Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses have multimodal AI now

When the Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses launched last fall, they were a pretty neat content capture tool and a surprisingly solid pair of headphones. But they were missing a key feature: multimodal AI. Basically, the ability for an AI assistant to process multiple types of information like photos, audio, and text. A few weeks after…
AI Search Startup Perplexity Valued at $1 Billion in Funding Round

Perplexity AI, a startup using artificial intelligence to build a search engine to compete with Alphabet Inc.’s Google, has raised about $63 million in a new funding round that values the company at more than $1 billion. The financing, set to be announced on Tuesday, doubles Perplexity’s valuation from just three months ago. Investor Daniel Gross…
The dawn of intelligent and automated data orchestration

The exponential growth of data, and in particular unstructured data, is a problem enterprises have been wrestling with for decades. IT organizations are in a constant battle between ensuring that data is accessible to users, one the one hand, and that the data is globally protected and in compliance with data governance policies, on the…
Microsoft launches lightweight AI model

Microsoft, opens new tab on Tuesday launched a lightweight artificial intelligence model, as it looks to attract a wider client base with cost-effective options. The new version called Phi-3-mini is the first of the three small language models (SLM) to be released by the company, as it stakes its future on a technology that is…
Ukraine cuts consular services for potential conscripts lodged overseas

Ukraine is set to suspend consular services for military-age men abroad. Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said he had ordered services cut for all such men, except for those returning to Ukraine. The move comes as Ukraine pushes to boost conscription in a bid to halt Russian movement on the battlefield. Kuleba said the Ministry of…
German Far-right party aide held in China spy probe

Prosecutors have arrested a man working for a far-right politician in Germany on suspicion of spying for China. The man as an assistant to AfD MEP and European election candidate Maximilian Krah. He was arrested in the eastern city of Dresden. He allegedly passed information about the European Parliament to Chinese intelligence. He is also…
UnitedHealth Says Patient Data Exposed in Change Healthcare Cyberattack

UnitedHealth Group, the parent company for Change Healthcare, confirmed that Personally identifiable information (PII) and protected health information (PHI) was stolen in a February ransomware attack. The data breach likely impacts a large proportion of people in the United States, but the investigation into the full impact of the incident continues. Through initial data sampling,…
Russian Cyberspies Deliver ‘GooseEgg’ Malware to Government Organizations

According to a Microsoft report, Russian-linked cybercrime group APT28 has been exploiting Windows Print Spooler vulnerabilities to deploy an exploitation tool against organizations across Western Europe, in Ukraine, and in the US. The exploitation tool is named GooseEgg and is a simple launcher application that can spawn other programs, providing the attackers with remote code…
US Gov Slaps Visa Restrictions on Spyware Honchos

The US State Department is going to impose visa restrictions on 13 people involved in the development and sale of commercial spyware. The restrictions will also be imposed on their spouses and children. This is the first implementation on a spyware-related visa-restriction program announced in February. Visa restrictions mean the State department can deny entrance…
The ethical pros and cons of Meta’s new Llama 3 open-source AI model

Meta has a brand-new Llama to show off. On Thursday, the social media giant announced Llama 3, the next version of its open-source model for the Meta AI assistant, which it hopes will make its chatbot the leading artificial intelligence technology. Putting aside the question of whether this latest large language model (LLM) changes Meta’s positioning…
OpenAI or DIY? Unveiling the true cost of self-hosting LLMs

You’ve proudly labeled your services as “AI-powered” by integrating LLMs. The home page of your website proudly flaunts the revolutionary impact of your AI-powered services using interactive demos and case studies. This also makes your company’s first mark on the global generative AI landscape. Your small but loyal user base is loving an enhanced customer…
AI is about to make the online child sex abuse problem much worse

The nation’s system for tracking down and prosecuting people who sexually exploit children online is overwhelmed and buckling, a new report finds — and artificial intelligence is about to make the problem much worse. The Stanford Internet Observatory report takes a detailed look at the CyberTipline, a federally authorized clearinghouse for reports of online child…
Boston Dynamics’ new humanoid moves like no robot you’ve ever seen

The humanoid robotics market is starting to heat up, and the company that’s been doing this the longest isn’t going to sit by and watch. Boston Dynamics has a new humanoid robot that the company says represents a path to commercialization. It’s the company’s next-generation, all-electric “Atlas” robot. While new Atlas and old Atlas share a…
AI Will Eventually Fade From View, By Design

Commodization has been a staple of the information technology realm for years. It really doesn’t matter what personal computer or smartphone you use, and stepping it up in the enterprise, databases and cloud systems can readily be swapped, based on price and support servies. Is artificial intelligence reaching this point? Opinions vary. Commoditization occurs when…
Rocket Attack from Iraq Targets US Base in Syria

Several rockets have been fired from Iraq towards a US military base in northeastern Syria. The attack is the first since early February to target US troops, when Iranian-backed groups in Iraq brought to an end a campaign that had seen regular strikes against the US-led international coalition. The resumed hostilities came a day after…
Why is Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi Visiting Pakistan?

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi is in Pakistan on a three-day trip to discuss regional and bilateral relations. Raisi is scheduled to hold talks with top Pakistani leadership, including Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, as the two neighbors seek to mend ties after tit-for-tat missile attacks in January. Mosharraf Zaidi, a partner at advisory services firm Tabadlab…
U.S. Considers Imposing Sanctions on Israeli Military Unit

The United States is considering imposing sanctions on one or more Israeli battalions accused of human rights violations during operations in the occupied West Bank. Israeli leaders, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, on Saturday called the possibility of the Biden administration’s placing such sanctions “the peak of absurdity and a moral low” at a time…
Vote to Resume U.S. Military Aid Is Met With Relief in Ukraine

The aid package for Ukraine has finally been approved by Congress. The decision by American lawmakers to resume military assistance after months of costly delay was greeted with a collective sigh of relief and an outpouring of gratitude across a battered and bloodied Ukraine. The $60 billion military assistance package approved by the House is…
Rural Texas Towns Report Cyberattacks that Caused One Water System to Overflow

A hack that caused a small Texas town’s water system to overflow in January has been linked to a shadowy Russian hacktivist group, the latest case of a U.S. public utility becoming a target of foreign cyberattacks. The group, calling itself CyberArmyofRussia_Reborn, claimed responsibility for January attacks on water facilities in the United States and…
LastPass Users Targeted by Vishing Attackers

The CryptoChameleon phishing kit is being leveraged by vishing attackers looking to trick LastPass users into sharing their master password. The site has been taken down, but the company expects others to pop up quickly, and is thus warning users to be wary of attackers calling them up and posing as a company representative. CryptoChameleon…
Cannes Hospital Cancels Medical Procedures Following Cyberattack

Cannes Hospital Centre – Simone Veil (CHC-SV) fell victim to a cyberattack last week. Due to this attack, the healthcare organization shut down its systems to contain the attack, which forced employees to turn to pen and paper to continue providing services to patients. CHC-SV says it is making all the efforts to ensure that…
Mistral in talks to raise €500mn at €5bn valuation

French artificial intelligence start-up Mistral is in talks to raise €500mn in a deal that would more than double its valuation to at least €5bn, following proposals from multiple investors seeking to invest in the one-year-old company. Mistral’s three founders, led by chief executive Arthur Mensch, are considering their options just four months after raising…
Meta steps up AI battle with OpenAI and Google with release of Llama 3

Meta Platforms on Thursday released early versions of its latest large language model, Llama 3, and an image generator that updates pictures in real time while users type prompts, as it races to catch up to generative AI market leader OpenAI. The models will be integrated into virtual assistant Meta AI, which the company is…
Microsoft’s new VASA-1 AI framework generates super-realistic talking heads that can even sing songs

Microsoft Corp. has published a research paper that introduces a new kind of artificial intelligence framework that makes it possible to upload a still photo, add a voice sample and create a super-realistic talking head that looks and sounds like the real person. The new framework is called VASA-1, and it takes a single, portrait…
Robots can make jobs less meaningful for human colleagues

Much has been (and will continue to be) written about automation’s impact on the jobs market. In the short-term, many employers have complained of an inability to fill roles and retain workers, further accelerating robotic adoption. The long-term impact these sorts of sweeping changes will have on the job market going forward remains to be…
Artificial Intelligence 2024: Smarter But More Expensive

After a year of fast and furious development of generative AI, the industry is at a crossroads. The technology is poised to deliver unprecedented productivity growth but may be hamstrung by limits to the technology as well as guardrails for its usage. That’s the word from Stanford University’s Institute for Human-Centered AI (HAI), which just…
Frontier Communications Shuts Down Systems Following Cyberattack

Frontier Communications disclosed to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that it experienced a cyberattack on April 14, leading to the shutdown of certain systems after a third-party gained unauthorized access to portions of its information technology environment. The company swiftly activated its incident response protocols and contained the incident, although the disruption was significant.…
Akira Ransomware Made Over $42 Million in One Year: Agencies

Since early 2023, Akira ransomware has victimized over 250 organizations globally, collecting over $42 million in ransom payments, as per CISA, the FBI, Europol, and NCSC-NL. Targeting a wide range of sectors, including critical infrastructure and finance, Akira initially focused on Windows systems but expanded to infect VMware ESXi virtual machines. Exploiting VPN services lacking…
US Government Releases Guidance on Securing Election Infrastructure

The US government, through CISA, the FBI, and ODNI, has issued new guidance to bolster the resilience of election infrastructure against malign influence operations from state-sponsored threat actors like China, Russia, and Iran. These actors employ tactics such as using fake online accounts, enlisting individuals to promote narratives, and leveraging proxy media entities to disseminate…
First Major Attempts to Regulate AI Face Headwinds From All Sides

Lawmakers in several states are advocating for legislation to address bias in artificial intelligence (AI) decision-making, despite facing opposition from both civil rights-oriented groups and the industry. These bills aim to promote transparency and accountability in AI systems, particularly regarding discrimination. While labor unions and consumer advocacy groups support greater oversight, the industry is concerned…
Russia doesn’t have Capability to Knock Ukraine out of War: Ex-US Commander

Ben Hodges, who led US forces in Europe, says Western powers should overcome their fears of supporting Ukraine towards victory. He stated that the worst-case scenario for Ukraine is for Western powers to “keep doing what we’re doing, exactly right now”. Hodges described the administration of US President Joe Biden as “unduly scared”. “They think…
Ukraine Says it Shot Down Russian Strategic Bomber After Strike Kills Nine

Ukraine’s air force says it shot down a Russian strategic bomber with antiaircraft missiles for the first time since the war began in 2022. The warplane was downed in Russian airspace on Friday after it took part in a long-range air strike that killed at least nine people in the central region of Dnipropetrovsk. Russian…
‘Blatant Aggression’: Reactions to US Veto of Palestine’s UN Membership Bid

The United States vetoed a draft resolution at the UN Security Council (UNSC) which recommended granting the State of Palestine full membership in the United Nations. This veto was expected as the United States is Israel’s main political and military backer. Twelve countries voted in favor of the resolution, which was introduced by Algeria, while…
Israel’s Strike Was Smaller Than Expected, and So Was Iran’s Reaction

The relatively limited scope of Israel’s overnight strikes on Iran, and a subdued response from Iranian officials, may have lowered the chances of an immediate escalation between the two countries, analysts said. For days, there have been fears that a forceful Israeli response to Iran’s attack on southern Israel last weekend could prompt an even…
AI isn’t useless. But is it worth it?

As someone known for my criticism of the previous deeply flawed technology to become the subject of the tech world’s overinflated aspirations, I have had people express surprise when I’ve remarked that generative artificial intelligence tools can be useful. In fact, I was a little surprised myself. But there is a yawning gap between “AI…
Improving decision-making in LLMs: Two contemporary approaches

Emergent large language models (LLMs) such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT (particularly its latest iteration, GPT-4), Claude AI and Gemini have demonstrated limited decision-making. In this article, we’ll discuss contemporary research surrounding decision-making by LLMs and what it could mean for their future. Traditionally, effective decision-making in LLMs refers to deducing underlying patterns or rules and flexibly…
Worldcoin, Sam Altman’s eye-scanning crypto project, announces its own blockchain

Worldcoin Foundation, the company behind Worldcoin, today announced World Chain, a permissionless, open-source Ethereum layer 2 that’s expected to launch mid-2024. The blockchain will be deeply entwined with the Worldcoin protocol and is aimed at accelerating adoption of “World ID.” Worldcoin, according to its website, is a “free, privacy-preserving, open protocol intended to be the world’s…
How Automation And Real, Human-To-Human Collaboration Go Hand-In-Hand In The Working World

Since generative AI burst onto the scene, much of the discussion around AI and automation in general seems to be focused on how it can eliminate the human element from the working world. Look deeper, however, and it’s apparent that this actually isn’t the case. When done properly, partnering with AI automation can become a…
US Air Force confirms first successful AI dogfight

The US Air Force is putting AI in the pilot’s seat. In an update on Thursday, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) revealed that an AI-controlled jet successfully faced a human pilot during an in-air dogfight test carried out last year. DARPA began experimenting with AI applications in December 2022 as part of its…
Jordan says Israeli retaliation for Iran strikes risks wider regional war

On Wednesday, Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi stated that an Israeli retaliation against Iranian strikes sparks risks of conflict spreading to other parts of the region. In an interview published by state media, Safadi stated that his country was actively lobbying against escalation with major powers that would pose a greater threat to the challenge…
UN Security Council to vote Friday on Palestinian UN membership

On Friday, the United Nations Security Council is scheduled to vote on a Palestinian request for full U.N. membership. The 15-member council is scheduled to vote on the issue at 3 pm Friday (1900 GMT), a move that the United States is expected to block as it would officially recognize a Palestinian state. The member…
US Navy flies aircraft through the Taiwan Strait a day after US-China defense chiefs hold rare talks

On Wednesday, the U.S. 7th Fleet declared that a Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait. This comes just a day after U.S. and Chinese defense chiefs held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. In a news release, the 7th fleet stated that the P-8A “transited the…
China foreign ministry welcomes Blinken’s visit to China as tensions simmer

On Thursday, China’s foreign ministry welcomed U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken during a visit to China. This visit comes amidst rising tensions between the U.S. and China over regional conflict in the South China Sea, the Russia-Ukraine war, and global trade disputes. During the trip, Blinken is set to meet with senior Chinese officials…
Phishing Platform LabHost Shut Down by Law Enforcement

Between April 14 and April 17, LabHost one of the largest “phishing-as-a-service” platform has been shut down. A joint operation composed of agencies from 19 different countries collaborated over several years to bring down the platform. Europol was the coordinator of the operation wherein law enforcement took down several of the platform’s websites. So far,…
Cisco Unveils AI-Native Enterprise Security Solution Hypershield

On Thursday, Cisco revealed Hypershield, an AI-native and cloud-native enterprise security solution. According to Cisco, Hypershield is a new security architecture that is built with AI considerations. Essentially, Hypershield was designed to provide security for applications, devices, data, and clouds. Equipped with a multitude of capabilities, Hypershield can include distributed exploit protection with automated detection,…
Recent OT and Espionage Attacks Linked to Russia’s Sandworm, Now Named APT44

On Wednesday. Mandiant published a new report summarizing the latest activities of Russia’s Sandworm group, also known as APT44. Sandworm is one of the most notorious Russian threat actor groups, conducting espionage, disruption, and disinformation campaigns. Sandworm utilizes malware to conduct its campaigns including highly disruptive Industroyer and BlackEnergy. Recently, the threat actor group has…
Malicious Google Ads Pushing Fake IP Scanner Software with Hidden Backdoor

A new maladvertising campaign through Google with the moniker MadMxShell is leveraging several domains to replicate a legitimate IP scanner software. Google Ads to push fake decoy domains as the top search engine results for keywords is how the threat actors were able to target victims. A backdoor zero-day exploit is used by the threat…
Power-hungry AI is putting the hurt on global electricity supply

Electricity supply is becoming the latest chokepoint to threaten the growth of artificial intelligence, according to leading tech industry chiefs, as power-hungry data centers add to the strain on grids around the world. Billionaire Elon Musk said this month that while the development of AI had been “chip constrained” last year, the latest bottleneck to…
Former OpenAI Board Member Calls for Audits of Top AI Companies

Former OpenAI board member Helen Toner said leading AI companies should be required to share information with the public about the capabilities and risks of the technology they’re building, and collect more data when these tools go awry. AI companies should have to “share information about what they’re building, what their systems can do, and how…
Boston Dynamics unveils an all-electric version of its Atlas robot

When Boston Dynamics announced on Tuesday it was retiring the hydraulic version of Atlas, there were a few hints that the company wasn’t done with humanoid robots entirely. Sure enough, one day later, Boston Dynamics has unveiled an all-electric model. Atlas was originally envisioned as a search-and-rescue robot and Boston Dynamics claims the latest model…
Dept. of Homeland Security embraces AI

When the White House issued an executive order last October to promote safe and responsible development and use of artificial intelligence in the federal government, one of the first agencies to say it was on board the AI train was the Department of Homeland Security. The agency is making good on that commitment by recently…
Copenhagen vows to rebuild fire-hit stock exchange

Copenhagen’s historic former stock exchange, ravaged by a fire during renovation, is set to be restored despite significant damage to its iconic spire. Officials, including the city’s mayor and chamber of commerce director, are committed to rebuilding the 400-year-old landmark, emphasizing its importance to the city’s heritage. The fire, which broke out on Tuesday, consumed…
Gulf flooding: Dubai airport chaos as UAE and Oman reel from deadly storms

Heavy rain has wreaked havoc in Gulf states, resulting in flash floods that claimed the lives of 20 individuals and disrupted operations at Dubai Airport, the world’s second-busiest airport. The deluge caused chaos across the region, with Dubai experiencing its largest rainfall event in 75 years. The UAE’s National Centre of Meteorology reported record-breaking rainfall…
Myanmar refugees take shelter in Thailand’s Mae Sot

The aftermath of the military coup in Myanmar has driven a surge of young men across the border into Mae Sot, Thailand, seeking refuge from conscription. Sanjay, one such fugitive, now resides in a makeshift shelter in a sugarcane field, grateful for the safety despite the austere living conditions. His flight mirrors the exodus of…
Ukraine war: Fourteen dead in Russian missile strike on Chernihiv

A Russian missile strike in the city of Chernihiv in northern Ukraine has resulted in the deaths of 14 people, with over 60 injured. Three missiles struck an eight-storey building in a densely populated area, causing significant damage to several buildings, including a hospital and a higher education institution. Ukrainian officials reported casualties, including children,…
Oracle Patches 230 Vulnerabilities With April 2024 CPU

Oracle released 441 new security patches as part of its April 2024 Critical Patch Update, with over 200 addressing vulnerabilities exploitable by remote, unauthenticated attackers. SecurityWeek identified approximately 230 unique CVEs, with more than 30 patches targeting critical-severity flaws. The patches cover a wide range of Oracle products, including Communications, Fusion Middleware, Financial Services Applications,…
Armis Acquires Silk Security for $150 Million

Armis, a cyber exposure management firm, has acquired Silk Security, a cyber risk prioritization and remediation company, for $150 million. The acquisition aims to enhance Armis’s Centrix Vulnerability Prioritization and Remediation product by integrating Silk’s platform, providing security teams with a consolidated view of security findings from various sources. Silk, which raised $12.5 million in…