Security

Russian General Pitches ‘Information’ Operations as a Form of War

Sun, 2019-03-03 09:54 — Kathy Gilbeaux

President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia with Gen. Valery V. Gerasimov in Moscow last year. General Gerasimov said Saturday that Russia should bring a blend of political, economic and military power to bear against its adversaries. Credit: Mikhail Klimentyev/Sputnik

nytimes.com - by Andrew E. Kramer - March 2, 2019

The chief of Russia’s armed forces endorsed on Saturday the kind of tactics used by his country to intervene abroad, repeating a philosophy of so-called hybrid war that has earned him notoriety in the West, especially among American officials who have accused Russia of election meddling in 2016 . . .

. . . General Gerasimov said Russia’s armed forces must maintain both “classical” and “asymmetrical” potential, using jargon for the mix of combat, intelligence and propaganda tools that the Kremlin has deployed in conflicts such as Syria and Ukraine.

And he cited the Syrian civil war an example of successful Russian intervention abroad. The combination of a small expeditionary force with “information” operations had provided lessons that could be expanded to “defend and advance national interests beyond the borders of Russia,” he said.

Country / Region Tags:

General Topic Tags:

Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?:

Situation Report

Read more about Russian General Pitches ‘Information’ Operations as a Form of War
Log in or register to post comments

The Global Risks Report 2019

Wed, 2019-02-13 09:12 — Kathy Gilbeaux

CLICK HERE - The Global Risks Report 2019

weforum.org - January 15, 2019

The Global Risks Report 2019 is published against a backdrop of worrying geopolitical and geo-economic tensions. If unresolved, these tensions will hinder the world’s ability to deal with a growing range of collective challenges, from the mounting evidence of environmental degradation to the increasing disruptions of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

The report presents the results of our latest Global Risks Perception Survey, in which nearly 1,000 decision-makers from the public sector, private sector, academia and civil society assess the risks facing the world. Nine out of 10 respondents expect worsening economic and political confrontations between major powers this year. Over a ten-year horizon, extreme weather and climate-change policy failures are seen as the gravest threats.

(CLICK HERE - READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

Country / Region Tags:

General Topic Tags:

Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?:

Situation Report

Read more about The Global Risks Report 2019
Log in or register to post comments

U.S. Intelligence Chiefs Break with Trump on Many Threats to the U.S.

Wed, 2019-01-30 09:30 — Kathy Gilbeaux

FBI Director Christopher Wray; CIA Director Gina Haspel and Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats arrive with other U.S. intelligence community officials to testify before a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on "worldwide threats" on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., January 29, 2019. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts

CLICK HERE - STATEMENT FOR THE RECORD - WORLDWIDE THREAT ASSESSMENT of the US INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY - January 29, 2019 (42 page .PDF report)

reuters.com - by Patricia Zengerle, Doina Chiacu - January 29, 2019

China and Russia pose the biggest risks to the United States, and are more aligned than they have been in decades as they target the 2020 presidential election and American institutions to expand their global reach, U.S. intelligence officials told senators on Tuesday.

The spy chiefs broke with President Donald Trump in their assessments of the threats posed by North Korea, Iran and Syria. But they outlined a clear and imminent danger from China, whose practices in trade and technology anger the U.S. president.

Country / Region Tags:

General Topic Tags:

Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?:

Situation Report

Read more about U.S. Intelligence Chiefs Break with Trump on Many Threats to the U.S.
Log in or register to post comments

Rioting Engulfs Paris as Anger Grows Over High Taxes

Sat, 2018-12-08 18:34 — Kathy Gilbeaux

Protesters demonstrate against rising costs of living they blame on high taxes near the Arc de Triomphe on the Champs-Elysees avenue in Paris on Dec. 8, 2018. Sameer Al-Doumy/ AFP/Getty Images

chicagotribune.com - apnews.com - by ELAINE GANLEY and JOHN LEICESTER - December 8, 2018

The rumble of armored police trucks and the hiss of tear gas filled central Paris on Saturday, as French riot police fought to contain thousands of yellow-vested protesters venting their anger against the government in a movement that has grown more violent by the week . . .

. . . Amid the melee, President Emmanuel Macron remained invisible and silent, as he has for the four weeks of a movement that started as a protest against a gas tax hike and metamorphosed into a rebellion against high taxes and eroding living standards . . .

. . . Macron on Wednesday agreed to abandon the fuel tax hike, which aimed to wean France off fossil fuels and uphold the Paris climate agreement. Many economists and scientists say higher fuel taxes are essential to save the planet from worsening climate change, but that stance hasn't defused the anger among France's working class.

Country / Region Tags:

General Topic Tags:

Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?:

Problem

Situation Report

Read more about Rioting Engulfs Paris as Anger Grows Over High Taxes
Log in or register to post comments

The Unseen Driver Behind the Migrant Caravan: Climate Change

Tue, 2018-10-30 05:53 — Kathy Gilbeaux

Honduran migrants taking part in a caravan heading to the US, walk alongside the road in Huixtla, Chiapas state, Mexico, on 24 October. Photograph: Johan Ordonez/AFP/Getty Images

CLICK HERE - STUDY - World Food Programme - FOOD SECURITY AND EMIGRATION - Why people flee and the impact on family members left behind in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras (24 page .PDF report)

While violence and poverty have been cited as the reasons for the exodus, experts say the big picture is that changing climate is forcing farmers off their land – and it’s likely to get worse

theguardian.com - by Oliver Milman, Emily Holden, and David Agren - October 30, 2018

Thousands of Central American migrants trudging through Mexico towards the US have regularly been described as either fleeing gang violence or extreme poverty.

But another crucial driving factor behind the migrant caravan has been harder to grasp: climate change.

Country / Region Tags:

General Topic Tags:

Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?:

Situation Report

Read more about The Unseen Driver Behind the Migrant Caravan: Climate Change
1 comment
Log in or register to post comments

FBI Searches Florida Mail Center in Hunt for Sender of Package Bombs

Fri, 2018-10-26 10:17 — Kathy Gilbeaux

FBI searches Florida mail center in hunt for sender of package bombs | Reuters

reuters.com - by Zachary Fagenson - October 25, 2018

Authorities found two more suspicious packages on Friday addressed to U.S. Senator Cory Booker and James Clapper, the former U.S. director of national intelligence, amid a manhunt for the person who sent bombs to prominent Democrats and critics of U.S. President Donald Trump . . .

. . . Meanwhile, a local police bomb squad and canine units joined federal investigators on Thursday to examine a sprawling U.S. mail distribution center at Opa-Locka, northwest of Miami, Miami-Dade County police said.

U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said that Florida appeared to be the starting point for at least some of the bomb shipments.

(CLICK HERE - READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

Country / Region Tags:

General Topic Tags:

Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?:

Situation Report

Read more about FBI Searches Florida Mail Center in Hunt for Sender of Package Bombs
1 comment
Log in or register to post comments

U.S. - Defense Intelligence Agency - Statement for the Record: Worldwide Threat Assessment - March 6, 2018

Fri, 2018-08-17 09:59 — Kathy Gilbeaux

Robert Ashley, Lieutenant General, U.S. Army - Director, Defense Intelligence Agency - March 6, 2018

dia.mil - March 6, 2018

The United States faces an increasingly complex array of challenges to its national security. The military environment has shifted from the existence of the United States as the single power able to dominate challengers and to deter aggression through conventional means to one in which foreign militaries are emerging with near-peer and, in some areas, peer capabilities. Adversaries have studied the American way of conflict and have developed, and will continue to develop, capabilities to mitigate or upend longstanding U.S. military dominance in all warfighting domains—terrestrial, maritime, air, space, and cyber—raising the complexity of the threat environment and risk to the United States.

(CLICK HERE - READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

Country / Region Tags:

General Topic Tags:

Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?:

Situation Report

Pentagon Says China Military 'Likely Training for Strikes' on U.S. Targets

Fri, 2018-08-17 09:28 — Kathy Gilbeaux

A B-6K strategic bomber aircraft of the Chinese Air Force is seen before the China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition in Zhuhai, Guangdong province, October 25, 2016. REUTERS/Stringer

CLICK HERE - U.S. - Defense Intelligence Agency - Statement for the Record: Worldwide Threat Assessment - March 6, 2018

reuters.com - by Idrees Ali - August 16, 2018

China’s military has expanded its bomber operations in recent years while “likely training for strikes” against the United States and its allies, a Pentagon report released on Thursday said.

The assessment, which comes at a time of heightened U.S.-China tensions over trade, was contained in an annual report that highlighted China’s efforts to increase its global influence, with defense spending that the Pentagon estimates exceeded $190 billion in 2017.

Country / Region Tags:

General Topic Tags:

Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?:

Situation Report

Read more about Pentagon Says China Military 'Likely Training for Strikes' on U.S. Targets
Log in or register to post comments

Russian Hackers Accessed US Electric Utilities' Control Rooms

Thu, 2018-08-02 23:44 — Kathy Gilbeaux

Hackers working for Russia compromised power companies' networks, giving them the ability to cause blackouts, federal officials warn. Getty Images

Hackers could have caused blackouts, federal officials tell the Wall Street Journal.

cnet.com - by Steven Musil - July 24, 2018

Hackers working for Russia were able to gain access to the control rooms of US electric utilities last year, allowing them to cause blackouts, federal officials tell the Wall Street Journal.

The hackers -- working for a state-sponsored group previously identified as Dragonfly or Energetic Bear -- broke into utilities' isolated networks by hacking networks belonging to third-party vendors that had relationships with the power companies, the Department of Homeland Security said in a press briefing on Monday.

Officials said the campaign had claimed "hundreds of victims" and is likely continuing, the Journal reported.

(CLICK HERE - READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

ALSO SEE RELATED ARTICLES WITHIN THE LINKS BELOW . . .

Country / Region Tags:

General Topic Tags:

Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?:

Problem

Situation Report

Read more about Russian Hackers Accessed US Electric Utilities' Control Rooms
Log in or register to post comments

FBI Warns Russians Hacked Hundreds of Thousands of Routers

Sat, 2018-05-26 09:03 — Kathy Gilbeaux

FILE PHOTO: A man types on a computer keyboard in front of the displayed cyber code in this illustration picture taken on March 1, 2017. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel/Illustration

CLICK HERE - FBI Statement - FOREIGN CYBER ACTORS TARGET HOME AND OFFICE ROUTERS AND NETWORKED DEVICES WORLDWIDE

reuters.com - by Joseph Menn, Sarah N. Lynch - May 25, 2018

The FBI warned on Friday that Russian computer hackers had compromised hundreds of thousands of home and office routers and could collect user information or shut down network traffic.

The U.S. law enforcement agency urged the owners of many brands of routers to turn them off and on again and download updates from the manufacturer to protect themselves. . .

. . . Infections were detected in more than 50 countries, though the primary target for further actions was probably Ukraine, the site of many recent infections and a longtime cyberwarfare battleground.

(CLICK HERE - READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

Country / Region Tags:

General Topic Tags:

Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?:

Problem

Situation Report