NATO Brace for Russian Cyberattacks | FBI Obtained NSO’s Pegasus Spyware | Dangerous Illiberalism, and more

Mr. Breivik’s lawyer, Oystein Storrvik, said on Tuesday that they would appeal the verdict, after expressing pessimism at the start of the hearing. “No Norwegian lawyer wants a case to begin with a Hitler salute,” he said in an interview with The Times last month. He said he was not particularly concerned with Mr. Breivik winning his parole, adding that his long-term strategy was to “improve the conditions under which he is sitting” in prison.

‘Boogaloo Boys’ Extremist in NYC Gets 4 Years Prison Time for Hoarded Ghost Guns  (Molly Crane-Newman, New York Daily News)
A California man connected to the “Boogaloo Boys” extremist group was sentenced to four years in prison on Tuesday for hoarding homemade ghost guns and a stockpile of ammunition in his Manhattan Airbnb rental. Therkelsen was arrested by the joint FBI-NYPD terrorism task force on Dec. 15, 2020, after cops and agents found two operable and untraceable “ghost guns” in the Airbnb he was staying in on First Ave. in the East Village. The two 9-mm. pistols were made with metal and polymer parts Therkelsen bought on eBay and other websites. Police also found 11 high-capacity magazines, body armor, other gun parts, ammunition, tools for assembly and a T-shirt that said, “kill cops.” Prosecutors said Therkelsen’s California rap sheet meant he couldn’t legally own a gun. A search of his cell phone turned up evidence of his affiliation with the Boogaloo Boys. The “Boogaloo Bois” are a loosely connected group who espouse violent anti-government sentiments, according to the Justice Department. The term “Boogaloo” itself references a supposedly impending second civil war in the United States and is associated with violent uprisings against the government, the DOJ explained.

‘Zero Tolerance’: More Than $60m to Combat Violent Extremism  (Anthony Galloway, Sidney Morning Herald)
Australia will pour more than $60 million into countering violent extremism amid an increase in conspiracy theories during the COVID-19 pandemic and concerns from MPs about their safety following last year’s murder of British MP Sir David Amess. The nation’s security agencies have been raising the alarm about an upturn in “single-issue” violent extremism, citing anti-lockdown protests as an example. Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews will on Wednesday announce an additional $61.7 million for Australia’s counter-extremism programs, doubling the funding they’ve received since 2013. Ms Andrews said Australia was a “peaceful, tolerant, and harmonious country, but we cannot be blind to the fact that there are those among us who seek to sow hate, fear, and discord”. “Violent extremists may have a range of ideologies and motivations, but none of them are welcome in this country,” Ms Andrews said. “This government has zero tolerance for anyone threatening the peace and cohesion of our society by trying to use violence to achieve a political, religious, or ideological goal.

Both the Right and Left Have Illiberal Factions. Which Is More Dangerous?  (Thomas J. Main, Bulwark)
…Right illiberal sites can be identified in several ways. Many such outlets identify themselves in their content or with their very names: Alt-Right.com, kkk.com, third-reich-books.com, national-socialist-worldview.blogspot.com, radioaryan.com, and even nwordrmania.com (the actual URL uses the full racial expletive). Such self-identified sites often feature link lists and blog rolls that indicate sites of similar orientation. The Southern Poverty Law Center, the Anti-defamation League, and the Counter Extremism Project maintain lists of such extremist sites. Academic and journalistic literatures also identify right illiberal outlets, and two openly Far-Right oriented competitors to Wikipedia—Metapedia and InfoGalactic—identify sympathetic websites.

Birmingham Terrorist Who Plotted Soldier Beheading Denied Parole  (BBC)
A terrorist who plotted to kidnap and behead a British Muslim soldier is to remain in prison after the Parole Board decided he should not be released. Parviz Khan, from Birmingham, was handed a life sentence, with a minimum of 14 years at Leicester Crown Court in February 2008 after pleading guilty to the plan. The board said it was “not satisfied” Khan was suitable for release. His case will next be considered again in about two years’ time. Khan’s trial heard he was claiming benefits of over £20,000 a year while claiming to be a full-time carer for his elderly mother during the time he plotted to kidnap a serviceman and decapitate him “like a pig”. Four other men were sentenced alongside Khan, but the trial heard he was the prime mover in the Birmingham-based cell.  A document detailing the Parole Board’s decision said the risk factors at the time of his offending included his “acceptance of extremist ideology”. It added he had “problems with his self-identity and had needed the excitement and status which involvement in terrorist conspiracies had provided. This raised concerns about his ways of thinking and the decisions he made”. A subsequent conviction for violence in prison “suggested possible anger management problems and difficulties in dealing with extremes of emotion.

Drone Company DJI Obscured Ties to Chinese State Funding, Documents Show  (Cate Cadell, Washington Post)
The Chinese firm received funding from several state-backed investors, despite repeated claims that it hasn’t taken money from Beijing

FBI Confirms It Obtained NSO’s Pegasus Spyware  (Stephanie Kirchgaessner, Guardian)
The FBI has confirmed that it obtained NSO Group’s powerful Pegasus spyware, suggesting that it bought access to the Israeli surveillance tool to “stay abreast of emerging technologies and tradecraft”. In a statement released to the Guardian, the bureau said it had procured a “limited licence” to access Pegasus for “product testing and evaluation only”, and suggested that its evaluation of the tool partly related to security concerns if the spyware fell into the “wrong hands”.