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Informing your decisions with actionable intelligence
Start your day with intelligence. Get The OODA Daily Pulse.
Informing your decisions with actionable intelligence
Welcome OTB readers . . . Christine Axsmith, a software contractor for the CIA, considered her blog a success within the select circle of people who could actually access it. Only people with top-secret security clearances could read her musings, which were posted on Intelink, the intelligence community’s classified intranet. Writing as Covert Communications, CC…
U.S. officials said Tuesday the U.S. intelligence community was grappling with policies to effectively share information. […] Rep. Rob Simmons, R-Conn., chairman of the Homeland Security Intelligence Subcommittee of the U.S. House of Representatives, said he was not satisfied with progress on reforming national intelligence capabilities to counter threats. […] The U.S. Congress mandated modernization…
Director of National Intelligence John D. Negroponte may have his eye on history as he attempts to secure a prime downtown Washington property – Navy Hill, overlooking the Potomac River – for his headquarters. During World War II, the property’s gracious Central Building, constructed in 1910, served as the home office for William “Wild Bill”…
The Transportation Security Administration, which has faced start-up pains for much of the past four years, is expanding career opportunities for passenger and baggage screeners in hopes of reducing staff turnover and improving aviation security. For the most part, TSA screeners have had little chance to advance in their jobs, and many have quit because…
Now is the time to tell our soldiers in Iraq that “hot pursuit” is okay, that the terrorist training camps on both sides of Iraq are legitimate targets, to be attacked in self-defense. Now is the time to tell the Iraqi government to come forward with the abundant evidence of Iranian evil-doing, and that we…
More a current events than an intel post, so pardon the interruption . . . So I’m reading about Hezbollah rocket attacks against Nazareth and for some reason I’m taken back to the spring of 2001 when the Taliban blew up the Bamiyan Buddhas and I wonder: how soon before there is no physical evidence…
An internal investigation by the [FBI’s] Office of Professional Responsibility found “sufficient circumstantial evidence” that Special Agent Bassem Youssef was blocked from a counterterrorism assignment in 2002 after he and U.S. Rep. Frank R. Wolf (R-Va.) met with FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III to discuss Youssef’s complaints. […] Youssef, who served as FBI…
SOI reminds us that success in this fight means less about territory than some would suggest. The down-side; it means that it’ll get uglier before it gets prettier.
Iran’s Hizbollah, which claims links to the Lebanese group of the same name, said on Tuesday it stood ready to attack Israeli and U.S. interests worldwide.”We have 2,000 volunteers who have registered since last year,” said Iranian Hizbollah’s spokesman Mojtaba Bigdeli, speaking by telephone from the central seminary city of Qom. Somewhere in the Pentagon,…
. . . to come out of the IC in a long time: Many U.S. intelligence agencies as well as the congressional intelligence oversight committees hire their senior staff from a predictable, somewhat in-grown pool of personnel, which frequently includes those who have previously worked in the intelligence field since they can be immediately cleared.…
A former State Department official at the center of an espionage investigation is claiming reports of his involvement with a Taiwanese intelligence agent are inaccurate and distorted. In a court filing Friday, lawyers for the veteran American diplomat, Donald Keyser, insisted that no harm to America’s security was done by his lengthy and sometimes intimate…
Reading this I am reminded of three things; the stellar effectiveness at keeping the peace that UN forces in Srebrenica, their inability to keep their pants on in the presence of children, and the idea that a best-seller-scenario (as opposed to movie-plot-threat) is actively being discussed as an option. Peacekeepers, please. Marine barracks bombing ring…
So I’m flying home from DC and dutifully get in like at the TSA screening point. No, no one placed a wand in an inappropriate place or groped me or made me drink my own bodily fluids. No, I was struck by the TSA staff, which consisted of one . . . what is the…
A reader sends this link to the SITE Institute . . . A document which seeks to debunk the claim that jihad is a wasted venture against America due to the disparity in terms of military capabilities and force in numbers, and discusses the concept of “Fourth Generation Warfare,” was distributed yesterday, July 10, 2006,…
Thursday marks a dubious anniversary in the Homeland Security Department’s brief history. A year ago Secretary Michael Chertoff, as part of a department-wide restructuring, announced he would appoint an assistant secretary for cybersecurity and telecommunications. Today, that position remains unfilled. Chertoff took the first step on Thursday toward elevating the position of national cybersecurity czar…
FIN7, also known as Anunak and Carbanak, is a Russian cybercrime organization focused on credit card information theft. Groups associated with FIN7, such as REvil, DarkSide, BlackMatter, Alphv, and Black Basta have notably transitioned to ransomware operations. WithSecure observed several FIN7 attacks that exploited a Veeam Backup process which executed a shell command to download…
In the latest display of American firepower in Asia, the United States and the Philippine forces fired on a mock enemy warship in the South China Sea on Wednesday. Tensions with China continue to rise as these annual Balikatan drills began and are expected to run until April 28. Over 17,600 military personnel are expected…
Pakistani police have confirmed that the two blasts that struck a counter-terrorism facility in the northwest of the country were not caused by a terror attack, but by electrical shortages. The explosions occurred on Monday in the ammunition depot in Kabal town of Swat district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The death toll from the explosions…
At least 126 people have been detained by Turkish police as they have suspected links to a banned Kurdish military group. The detentions have been mind ahead of an election that could see President Recep Tayyip Erdogan lose the presidency. Turkish reports said the detentions occurred across 21 provinces and were suspected of financing and…
The Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have agreed to a 72-hour ceasefire starting Tuesday while many nations evacuate their citizens from the country. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken strongly urged both sides to uphold the agreement, despite previous ceasefires falling through. The United States also pledged to work with regional and…
Shahabuddin Chuppu is a retired judge and has been sworn in as the new president of Bangladesh for a five-year term. Chuppu replaces Abdul Hamid as the 22nd president of the South Asian country. Chuppu was the nominee of the ruling Awami League party and was elected unopposed in February. The Awami League party has…
Foreign Minister Eli Cohen established Israel’s new permanent embassy in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, on Thursday. The two countries have had diplomatic ties for 30 years, but the establishment of a permanent embassy is an advancement from the previous temporary Israeli mission in Ashgabat. Cohen tweeted that the new embassy is just “17 kilometers from the border…
A new report released by Bridewell Consulting found that over one third of critical national infrastructure security leaders are concerned over insider threats that may arise from economic downturn. The report polled 1025 individuals who have pertinent roles in cybersecurity for companies located in the US and UK in the communications, transportation, government, finance, utilities,…
Fighting in Sudan’s capital is severely affecting food supplies, along with disrupting access to water and electricity according to Khartoum residents. Some families only have enough food for two days and are attempting to make their supplies last longer. Water and electricity cuts have affects many homes in Sudan since the conflict broke out on…
A threat actor commonly known as Mint Sandstorm and Phosphorus has been identified as weaponizing N-day vulnerabilities. The group ha associated with the Iranian government, as well as APT35, APT42 and Charming Kitten. Microsoft released a report earlier this week highlighting the group’s new techniques that are designed to launch campaigns that align with Iran’s…
As the conflict continues between the Indian government and Sikh separatists, supporters of the Khalistani movement are using networks of linked accounts and bots to emanate calls to action on Twitter. These online campaigns come as Indian police still search for Sikh preacher Amritpal Singh and Indian representatives and consulates are attacked in America. The…
According to new research from the University of Toronto Citizen Lab, the Israeli NSO Group has continued to utilize iPhone security applications to exploit and influence the devices. Best known for its zero-click spyware “Pegasus,” the NSO Group has a history of enabling customers with questionable human rights records to spy on citizens. The Citizen…
A global rice shortage is on the horizon, potentially the largest one in two decades. The shortage is primarily due to extreme weather conditions, including floods, droughts, and typhoons, as well as the ongoing war in Ukraine. Additionally, the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the situation by disrupting supply chains, leading to decreased production, transportation delays,…
At least 78 people have died in a crush at a school in the capital of Yemen, Sanaa, during a distribution of charity for Ramadan. The incident occurred in the Bab-al-Yemen area of the city. Houthi rebels have run Sanaa since they drove the government out in 2015 and hundreds of people crowded into the…
The Read The Manual (RTM) ransomware group has been observed by security researchers at Trellix targeting corporate environments. According to an advisory that Trellix published last week, the group takes a businesslike approach and forces affiliates to adhere to a strict set of rules. The company was able to analyze RTM Locker group’s panel, which…
Informing your decisions with actionable intelligence
Informing your decisions with actionable intelligence