OODA Analysis and Briefs

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The Geezer Brigade

The Federal Page addresses issues related to retirees and in particular IC staffers. With substantial numbers of baby boomers likely to leave government for retirement in the next 10 years, the Bush administration and Congress are looking for ways to keep experienced hands. Most federal agencies have plans to ensure that critical jobs are filled…
A Very Smart Start

The FBI broke with one of its most storied traditions Wednesday, announcing changes in its top management that, rather than elevating onetime agents, tapped officials with extensive experience outside of the bureau for several key positions. The realignment, unveiled by Director Robert S. Mueller III, put nonagents — including one who is a former oil…
Classic

(Thanks to Tom for a well-needed laugh) What do you do when people stop listening to your drivel? Start a slap-fight. I’ll let you all decide which character is Larry and which is Michael.
This is what happens . . .

. . . when ex-single-source analysts try to deal with multi-source intel: In a screed Rolling Stone is passing off as journalism, James Bamford becomes the latest in a growing crowd of hacks to smear our friend Michael Ledeen. […] But this [Italian documents] forgery nonsense is a sideshow compared to Bamford’s ludicrous account of…
Just snippets for now

Man oh man, you take 48 hours for a business trip and 480 hours of work pile up. For the time being you’ll have to be satisfied with a few snippets I can post during lunch and too-brief down-periods. Right now just a note of comfort for everyone on the west coast that CTU…
HLS: Serious or Not Serious XVII

You could be on a secret government database or watch list for simply taking a picture on an airplane. Some federal air marshals say they’re reporting your actions to meet a quota, even though some top officials deny it. The air marshals, whose identities are being concealed, told 7NEWS that they’re required to submit at…
Another Indicator

Courtesy of Ralph Peters in the NY Post: * Famed for its penetration, Israeli intelligence failed this time. It didn’t detect the new weapons Iran and Syria had provided to Hezbollah, from anti-ship missiles to longer-range rockets. And, after years of spying, it couldn’t find Hezbollah. This should set off global alarm bells: If Hezbollah…
How Much Pain?

Fighting cyber-crime requires an Enron-like scandal to force the hand of legislators, the FBI argued today. Only after such an event could the necessary reforms be made to allow authorities to effectively battle online criminals, according to FBI special agent Shéna Boswell-Crowe. […] “I do not think that [cyber-crime] has had its day. There has…
There is no talking to some people (Update)

The Weekly Standard posts a well done bit of research (got to get me a think-tank job) on what is really needed in our war efforts from an intelligence perspective. Since I think it deserves a full read I’m not going to post an extract, suffice it to say that when presented with an opportunity…
Pretenders

Army STRATCOM tries and fails: Information Operations Newsletter Compiled by: Mr. Xxxx Xxxxxx US Army Strategic Command G3 Plans, Operations, and Exercises Information Operations Branch Table of Contents […long list of somewhat relevant IO-related news stories . . .] Everyone wants to be TWI-3; no one wants to make the effort. Guys, if your audience…
Two Steps Back (Update)

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…
Info Sharing: Still Not Getting It

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…
Location, Location, Location

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”…
HLS: Serious

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 Please

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…

Briefs

Egypt president, Ethiopia PM aiming to finalize dam agreement within four months

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed met on Thursday to discuss the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) and its rules of operations. The two leaders sought to initiate urgent negotiations between their countries and Sudan, and want to finalize agreements within four months. Egypt and Ethiopia have butted heads for…
Saudi Arabia imports record Russian fuel oil in June as trade grows

Saudi Arabia imported 910,000 metric tons of fuel oil from Russia in June according to analytics firm Kpler, marking a new record high. Russian fuel oil imports to the country hit 2.86 million metric tons in June, already exceeding the 1.63 million metric tons for all of last year. Saudi Arabia dramatically increased their Russian…
US Navy plan flies through Taiwan Strait, China carries out more drills

China began its third day of military exercises today just south of Taiwan. A U.S. Navy patrol plane that flew through the Taiwan Strait was closely monitored by Chinese fighter jets. The P-8A Poseidon patrol and reconnaissance plane is also capable of anti-submarine missions. The Chinese military characterized the move as “public hype” after the…
Apple Re-Releases Urgent Zero-Day Patches With Fix for Website Access Issue

Apple re-released its recent Rapid Security Response updates for iOS and macOS after the original patches caused a website access issue. MacOS Ventura 13.4.1 (a), iOS 16.5.1 (a), iPadOS 16.5.1 (a), and Safari 16.5.2 addressed the actively exploited WebKit vulnerability CVE-2023-37450. The bug allowed attackers to exploit arbitrary code attacks after users accessed malicious content…
Ransomware Extortion Skyrockets in 2023, Reaching $449.1 Million and Counting

Chainalysis reported that ransomware is the only cryptocurrency-based crime that has grown in 2023. Cybercriminals have extorted about $176 million more than they did this time last year. At the current pace, hackers are expected to extort almost $900 million from victims in 2023. Other illicit industries, such as malware, darknet markets, and fraud shops…
APT Exploit Targeting Rockwell Automation Flaws Threatens Critical Infrastructure

Rockwell Automation issued an advisory in conjunction with the US government regarding an exploit capability in its ControlLogix EtherNet/IP communication modules. Tracked as CVE-2023-3595, the flaw allows attackers to achieve remote code execution with persistence in the 1756 EN2 and 1756 EN3 products. Threat actors might take advantage of this flaw through the use of…
Hardcoded Accounts Allow Full Takeover of Technicolor Routers

The CERT Coordination Center (CERT/CC) reported that multiple hardcoded credentials in the Technicolor TG670 DSL gateway router allow hackers to completely take over the devices. The TG670 router is designed for homes and small offices, and allows administrators to authenticate via HTTP, SSH, or Telnet. The vulnerability specifically impacts Technicolor TG670 DSL routers running firmware…
Autonomous Security Robots Are Starting to Patrol Schools and Cities, Despite Controversies

The demand for enhanced security measures has prompted an increasing number of sectors to turn to autonomous security robots to bolster public safety. From schools to police departments in major cities, these novel security robots equipped with artificial intelligence (AI) are being deployed to monitor and identify potential threats, turning what would have been once…
China beats rivals to successfully launch first methane-liquid rocket

A private Chinese company launched into orbit on Wednesday the world’s first methane-liquid oxygen rocket, beating U.S. rivals in sending what could become the next generation of launch vehicles into space. The Zhuque-2 carrier rocket blasted off at 9 a.m. (0100 GMT) from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China and completed its flight…
Crime Down 65% Overall, But Ransomware Headed for Huge Year Thanks to Return of Big Game Hunting

2023 so far has been a year of recovery for cryptocurrency after a chaotic 2022, with prices of digital assets like Bitcoin up over 80% on the year as of June 30. And that’s not the only good news for the industry. Our data shows that cryptocurrency-related crime is down significantly this year. Through the…
KPMG Plans $2 Billion Investment in AI and Cloud Services

KPMG plans to invest $2 billion in artificial intelligence and cloud services across its business lines globally over the next five years through an expanded partnership with Microsoft, the latest move by a Big Four accounting firm to double down on the technologies. The professional-services company on Tuesday said it expects the partnership to bring in…
Ukraine Is Using Highly Advanced Artificial Intelligence In Its War With Russia: It’s “Out Of This World”

Artificial intelligence is showing up all over the place. And now, Ukraine is using it in its war against Russia. Ukraine has successfully engineered and deployed its unique artificial intelligence (AI) platforms. Brett Velicovich, a Fox News contributor in Ukraine, reported that the innovation on the Ukrainian battlefield is so advanced that Western governments struggle…
Bulgari apologises to China after Taiwan listing sparks fury

Luxury fashion brand Bulgari has issued an apology to China for listing Taiwan as a country on its website. The brand posted the apology on China’s social media platform Weibo, expressing respect for China’s sovereignty. Brands that refer to Taiwan as a separate country often face backlash and boycotts from the Chinese government and internet…
‘Like a jailhouse’: Afghans languish in US detention centres

Afghan asylum seekers arriving at the US-Mexico border after the Taliban takeover have found themselves trapped in the US immigration detention system, facing possible expulsion. With limited options for legal immigration, many Afghans have resorted to dangerous irregular entry. The US’s broken immigration system and closed border policies have left them in limbo. Afghan asylum…
North Korea fires intercontinental ballistic missile after threatening US

North Korea fired a suspected intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) that flew for over an hour before landing in the sea west of Japan. The launch follows North Korea’s threats of retaliation against US spy plane incursions and its attempt to shoot down such planes. Security concerns have escalated as North Korea has conducted numerous missile…
Prayuth Chan-ocha: Thailand coup leader departs the stage

Prayuth Chan-ocha, the army chief who staged a coup and has ruled Thailand for nine years, has announced his retirement from politics. Despite initially promising a temporary tenure, Prayuth remained in power as prime minister, reshaping the country’s power structures and suppressing dissent. His conservative political party performed poorly in the recent election, and his…
Fortinet Patches Critical FortiOS Vulnerability Leading to Remote Code Execution

Fortinet has released security updates to address a critical-severity vulnerability in FortiOS and FortiProxy that could lead to remote code execution (CVE-2023-33308). The bug is a stack-based overflow issue affecting deep inspection in proxy mode. By disabling deep inspection on proxy policies or firewall policies with proxy mode, exploitation can be prevented. Fortinet also announced…
Citrix Patches Critical Vulnerability in Secure Access Client for Ubuntu

Citrix has released patches for critical-severity vulnerabilities in its Secure Access client for Ubuntu and Windows. The Ubuntu vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2023-24492, requires user interaction to exploit and could lead to remote code execution. The Windows vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2023-24491, allows an attacker with access to an endpoint and a vulnerable client to elevate privileges.…
CISO Conversations: CISOs of Identity Giants IDEMIA and Ping

SecurityWeek interviews Dennis Kallelis, CSO at Idemia, and Jason Kees, CISO at Ping, to discuss the role of the modern CISO. Both Kallelis and Kees entered the cybersecurity field by chance, but their engineering backgrounds have been instrumental in their success. They emphasize the importance of leadership skills for CISOs and the benefits of diverse…
Chinese Cyberspies Used Forged Authentication Tokens to Hack Government Emails

Microsoft has reported that a Chinese cyberespionage group, known as Storm-0558, used forged authentication tokens to hack government email accounts. The hackers gained access to approximately 25 organizations, including government agencies and consumer accounts associated with the targeted entities. The threat actor exploited a token validation issue in Outlook Web Access and Outlook.com, using a…
How Broadcom’s acquisition of VMware will accelerate multi-cloud adoption

First impressions can be misleading. Case in point: when Broadcom first announced its plan to acquire VMware, initial concerns from regulators focused on perceived anti-competitive effects resulting from the deal. Others suggested that VMware’s value proposition could be diluted. Fortunately, since then, Broadcom has been making its strategic case with regulators and customers. Most notably, Broadcom…
The Next Challengers Joining Nvidia in the AI Chip Revolution

Nvidia has emerged as the leader in powering the early days of the artificial-intelligence revolution, but rivals big and small are looking to close the gap. Heavyweights such as Advanced Micro Devices and Intel are spending billions of dollars to enhance their AI offerings, while startups are attracting investors eager to get into the next…
AI’s Impact on Security, Risk and Governance in a Hybrid Cloud World

AI is a transformative technology that is reshaping the landscape of security, risk management, compliance and governance in hybrid cloud environments. It is emerging as a powerful force, revolutionizing the way organizations safeguard their digital assets and navigate the complexities of modern computing. Hybrid cloud architectures have introduced unprecedented challenges in maintaining robust security measures,…
SpaceX sets a new reusability record

SpaceX launched one of its Falcon 9 rockets for a record-setting sixteenth time this week, as the sooty booster lofted another batch of Starlink internet satellites into space. The booster, designated B1058 by SpaceX, first made its debut in May 2020, as it carried two NASA astronauts — Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley — into space.…
27% of jobs at high risk from AI revolution, says OECD

More than a quarter of jobs in the OECD rely on skills that could be easily automated in the coming artificial intelligence revolution, and workers fear they could lose their jobs to AI, the OECD said on Tuesday. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is a 38-member bloc, spanning mostly wealthy nations but…
ChatGPT Is Losing Users. Is The Artificial Intelligence Craze Over?

The Washington Post reported that traffic to ChatGPT’s website and app fell 9.7% in June from the previous month. It’s an indication that artificial intelligence, introduced to a wide consumer audience with the launch of ChatGPT only six months before, has been a fad and now it’s peaked and declining. It’s a neat theory and it…
Russian-Linked RomCom Hackers Targeting NATO Summit Guests

The Russian-linked threat actor RomCom has been targeting entities supporting Ukraine in a recently identified cyber operation. The targets include guests of the 2023 NATO Summit, which will take place July 11-12. The NATO Summit plans to discuss the war in Ukraine, Ukraine’s NATO accession, and Sweden’s recently-announced membership. RomCom created malicious documents and tested…
Eastern African bloc seeks summit to deploy regional force in Sudan

The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), comprised of eight states in Eastern Africa, called on Monday for a regional summit. The group is considering deploying troops in Sudan to protect civilians. Meetings kicked off in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa to discuss resolutions to the Sudan conflict. Sudan’s army did not attend the first day…
US to move forward with transfer of F-16 jets to Turkey

A day after Ankara gave approval for Sweden to join NATO, U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan announced the U.S. will move forward with transferring F-16 fighter jets to Turkey. Turkey requested $20 billion worth of Lockheed Martin F-16 fighters and 80 modernization kits in October 2021. Both Turkish and U.S. officials have rejected notions…
TPG to Acquire Forcepoint’s Government Cybersecurity Business Unit

Private equity firm TPG announced plans to acquire Forcepoint’s Global Governments and Critical Infrastructure (G2CI) business on Monday. The business was created in 2018 to act as Forcepoint’s government cybersecurity unit and will be spun out as an independent entity. According to the Wall Street Journal, the deal is reportedly valued at around $2.5 billion.…
Europe Signs off on a New Privacy Pact That Allows People’s Data to Keep Flowing to US

The European Union signed a new agreement on Monday regarding the privacy of personal information shared across the Atlantic. The deal attempts to ease European concerns over spying from American intelligence agencies. The EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework provides stringent data protection standards similar to the EU’s own policies. President Biden signed an executive order in…
Apple Ships Urgent iOS Patch for WebKit Zero-Day

Apple released an urgent software update for iOS and iPadOS on Monday. The operating system updates defend against a zero-day exploitation that has already been detected. The vulnerability is tagged as CVE-2023-37450. The exploitation was found in WebKit, which serves as a browser engine for Safari, Mail, AppStore, and other apps on iOS and macOS…
Wagner fighters neared Russian nuclear base during revolt

Videos and witness accounts have revealed that on June 24, a contingent of Wagner military vehicles diverted east toward a Russian nuclear weapons base. Surveillance went cold after Wagner fighters reached the rural region surrounding Voronezh-45, but Western officials affirmed that Russian nuclear weapons were never in danger. Kyrylo Budanov, head of Ukrainian military intelligence,…
Indonesia seizes Iranian-flagged tanker suspected of illegal oil transhipment

The Indonesian Coast Guard (Bakamla) announced on Tuesday it has seized an Iranian-flagged tanker involved in illegal crude oil transshipment. In a statement, Bakamla outlined how MT Arman 114 was carrying 272,569 metric tons of light crude oil. The ship was spotted transferring oil to another vessel, the Cameroon-flagged MT STinos, without authorization. MT Arman…
U.S. concern about generative AI risks prompts NIST study

As we previously discussed, earlier this year the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) launched the Trustworthy and Responsible AI Resource Center. Included in the AI Resource Center is NIST’s AI Risk Management Framework (RMF) alongside a playbook to assist businesses and individuals in implementing the framework. The RMF is designed to help users…
The UN holds a robot press conference about the state of AI

At the AI for Good 2023 global summit, a panel of robots and their creators sat in front of the press to answer journalists’ questions on topics such as job automation, artificial intelligence (AI) leadership and collaboration with humans for a better future. The summit was hosted by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the tech…
DeFi Traders Lost $228 Million to Hackers in 3 Months

Hackers intensified their efforts to hack cryptocurrency projects in the past year and mostly had DeFi in their crosshairs, according to a new report from Immunefi. The report, compiled by the bug bounty platform Immunefi, found that overall hacks across blockchains went up by 63% in the second quarter of 2023 compared to the same…
Apocalypse not now? AI’s benefits may yet outweigh its very real dangers

Stephen Cave has considerable experience of well-intentioned actions that have unhappy consequences. A former senior diplomat in the foreign office during the New Labour era, he was involved in treaty negotiations which later – and unexpectedly – unravelled to trigger several international events that included Brexit. “I know the impact of well-meant global events that…
Sarah Silverman is suing OpenAI and Meta for copyright infringement

Comedian and author Sarah Silverman, as well as authors Christopher Golden and Richard Kadrey — are suing OpenAI and Meta each in a US District Court over dual claims of copyright infringement. The suits alleges, among other things, that OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Meta’s LLaMA were trained on illegally-acquired datasets containing their works, which they say were…
PoC Exploit Published for Recent Ubiquiti EdgeRouter Vulnerability

A heap overflow vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2023-31998, has been discovered in Ubiquiti EdgeRouter and AirCube devices, allowing for arbitrary code execution. The vulnerability resides in the MiniUPnPd service and can be exploited over a LAN connection, potentially interrupting UPnP service. Proof-of-concept code targeting the issue is available, and although the vulnerability has been patched in…
Honeywell Boosting OT Cybersecurity Offering With Acquisition of SCADAfence

Honeywell has agreed to acquire OT and IoT security firm SCADAfence to expand its operational technology (OT) cybersecurity portfolio. The acquisition, expected to close in the second half of the year, will integrate SCADAfence’s solutions into Honeywell’s Forge Cybersecurity+ suite. SCADAfence offers OT network protection, including threat detection, asset visibility, remote access, traffic analysis, vulnerability…
A Cybersecurity Wish List Ahead of NATO Summit

As the NATO Summit approaches, SecurityWeek discusses the potential for NATO to strengthen its cybersecurity program. While the focus of the summit is likely to be on expanding the military alliance due to the Russia/Ukraine conflict, the war in Ukraine also presents an opportunity for NATO to enhance its cybersecurity efforts. However, there are challenges…
Critical Infrastructure Services Firm Ventia Takes Systems Offline Due to Cyberattack

Ventia, a critical infrastructure services provider, has taken some systems offline in response to a cyberattack. The company operates over 400 sites in Australia and New Zealand and has engaged external experts and law enforcement to investigate the incident. While the impact of the attack was not disclosed, Ventia stated that operations are continuing, and…
Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin met Russia’s Vladimir Putin after mutiny

Russian President Vladimir Putin met mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin after the failed Wagner group mutiny in June. Prigozhin leads the Wagner mercenary group and was among 35 Wagner commanders invited to the meeting in Moscow with Vladimir Putin. President Putin had given an assessment of the Ukraine war effort and the mutiny at the meeting.…
Dutch PM Mark Rutte to quit politics after government collapse

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte has stated that he will quit politics after his coalition government collapsed on Friday in a row over asylum politics. Rutte has been the Dutch Prime Minister for almost 13 years and is one of Europe’s longest serving leaders. He is heading a caretaker administration until elections can be held…
Nigeria’s President Tinubu chosen as new West Africa bloc chief

The West African regional bloc, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has chosen Nigerian President Bola Tinubu as its new chairman. The region is facing a time of deepening insecurity, military coups and violent activity from armed groups in the area. West Africa has witnessed six successful military coups since 2020. There was…
Erdogan links Sweden’s NATO bid to Turkey joining the EU

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced on Monday that Brussels should approve Ankara’s accession to the European Union before his country approves Sweden’s bid for NATO membership. Erdogan made the comments at a news conference on Monday before he left for the NATO summit in Lithuania. Erdogan emphasized that Turkey has been waiting for admittance…
ChatGPT to ThreatGPT: Generative AI Impact in Cybersecurity and Privacy

OpenAI launched ChatGPT in November 2022, and the arrival of ChatGPT caused a significant disruption in the AI/ML community. In the last decade, the rapid evolution of AI (Artificial Intelligence) and ML (Machine Learning) has sparked a striking digital revolution. From supervised learning to groundbreaking advancements, AI and ML have swiftly progressed with the development of…
AI Jobs Searches Skyrocket While Crypto Jobs Interest Plummets

The shifting sands of the tech job market are prominently reflected in the latest employment search trends. A surge in searches for “AI jobs” is eclipsing interest in “crypto jobs.” The new employment trends highlight a pivot in job seekers’ attention as the allure of blockchain technology fades. Google Trends data indicates that the search…
Amazon’s iRobot deal in EU antitrust crosshairs

Amazon’s $1.7 billion acquisition of robot vacuum cleaner maker iRobot (IRBT.O) may reduce competition and strengthen Amazon’s position as online marketplace provider, EU antitrust regulators warned on Thursday. The European Commission opened a full-scale investigation and will decide by November 15 whether to clear or block the deal. “We continue to work through the process with the…
ETH DeFi ‘circuit breaker’ could cut hack losses by 70% — Developer

A decentralized finance (DeFi) “circuit breaker” could have prevented billions of dollars worth of crypto from being stolen from DeFi protocols in 2022, according to the developer of the newly published ERC-7265 proposal. A new Ethereum request for comment (ERC) was published on GitHub on July 3. In it, the lead developer Diyahir Campos proposed…
China’s Alibaba and Huawei add products to AI frenzy

Alibaba Group Holdings and Huawei Technologies Co on Friday showcased new products, including an artificial intelligence (AI) image generator and an AI model upgrade, as Chinese companies jostle for position in the global AI race. Alibaba Cloud, an Alibaba subsidiary, presented at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai an image generator named Tongyi Wanxiang that…
Vulnerabilities in Cisco Enterprise Switches Allows Attackers to Modify Encrypted Traffic

Cisco notified customers of a high-severity vulnerability in its Nexus 9000 series switches this week. Unauthenticated users may be able to intercept and manipulate communications between encrypted sites by exploiting CVE-2023-20185. The vulnerability affects the Nexus 9000’s ACI multi-site CloudSec encryption capability, which is designed for usage in data centers. Specifically, the issue impacts Nexus 9332C…
Security Firm Finds Over 130k Internet-Exposed Photovoltaic Diagnostics Systems

Threat intelligence firm Cyble discovered that over 130,000 photovoltaic monitoring and diagnostic solutions are exposed to the public internet. These tools provide grid operators with real-time data regarding the efficiency, connectivity, and integration of photovoltaic systems. Internet exposure increases the risk of a cyberattack. Many solar systems rely on IT and networking infrastructure for monitoring,…
Two Apps Hosted on Google Play Caught Sending User Data to Chinese Servers

Mobile security firm Pradeo discovered that two file management applications on the Google Play store were sending user data to servers in China. The two apps, ‘File Recover and Data Recovery’ and ‘File Manager’, have over 1.5 million combined downloads. Both are capable of launching without user interaction and exfiltrating sensitive information. The sensitive data…
Truebot Hackers Exploiting Netwrix Auditor Flaw: CISA, FBI Alert

On Thursday, CISA and the FBI released a joint advisory regarding hackers linked to the Truebot malware operation. Cybercriminals are exploiting a known vulnerability, CVE-2022-31199, in the Netwrix Auditor application to breach organizations in the United States and Canada. Bishop Fox researchers discovered the issue one year ago and warned that servers running the Netwrix…
Pentagon is testing whether AI can plan response to an all-out war

The United States military has begun tests to see if generative artificial intelligence (AI) can assist when planning responses to potential global conflicts or provide faster access to internal information. On July 6, Bloomberg reported the U.S. Department of Defense, or the Pentagon, and unnamed allies are, for the first time, testing five AI large language…
Ariane 5 launches final mission as Europe faces space gap

Europe’s Ariane 5 rocket on Wednesday blasted off from French Guiana for the final time, carrying two military communications satellites and leaving its nations with a vacuum in autonomous access to space for the first time in more than four decades. The 53-metre-tall, three-stage launcher left the launch pad in the French spaceport of Kourou…
Talking about a ‘schism’ is ahistorical

In two recent conversations with very thoughtful journalists, I was asked about the apparent ‘schism’ between those making a lot of noise about fears inspired by fantasies of all-powerful ‘AIs’ going rogue and destroying humanity, and those seeking to illuminate and address actual harms being done in the name of ‘AI’ now and the risks…
Inflection AI Develops Supercomputer Equipped With 22,000 NVIDIA H100 AI GPUs

Inflection AI, an AI startup company, has built a cutting-edge supercomputer equipped with 22,000 NVIDIA H100 GPUs, which is a phenomenal number and brings enormous computing performance onboard. For those unfamiliar with Inflection AI, it is a business that aims at creating “personal AI for everyone.” The company is widely known for its recently introduced…