OUR PICKSCyber Signaling and Nuclear Deterrence | Environmental Extremism | Facial Recognition Tech in Ukraine, and more

Why Finlandization Is a Terrible Model for Ukraine  (Antti Ruokonen, Lawfare)
Those inclined to urge Finlandization as a solution for Ukraine should understand what the term actually means.

The U.S. Can Prosecute Russian Leaders for War Crimes  (Tom Nachbar, Lawfare)
Since April 4, when President Biden accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of being a war criminal, many commentators have focused on how Russian leaders might be subject to international war crimes trials. But there is another option that should be on the table: a U.S. prosecution. 

Cyber Signaling and Nuclear Deterrence: Implications for the Ukraine Crisis  (Erica Lonegran and Keren Yarhi-Milo, War on the Rocks)
From its opening moments, the conflict in Ukraine has involved a nuclear dimension.In fact, some cyber experts are already calling for the United States to consider cyber attacks for signaling purposes. For example, writing in the Washington Post, Dmitri Alperovitch and Samuel Charap call on the Biden administration to consider a cyber “shock-and-awe demonstration” in response to a major Russian cyber attack against the West. They claim that such a response, which could include disrupting the Internet throughout Russia, would signal U.S. resolve and help prevent further escalation that they fear “could result in nuclear war.”
However, conducting cyber operations to signal deterrence would, paradoxically, increase risks of escalation. This risk is not just hypothetical, especially in light of Russia’s updated declaratory policy for the first use of nuclear weapons, which may include responses to cyber attacks. 

Peekskill Man Who Identifies as an “Incel” or “Involuntary Celibate” Is Sentenced to 30 Months in Prison for Stalking, Threatening, and Harassing Multiple Victims  (DOJ)
Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced today that DAVID KAUFMAN, a/k/a “David Khalifa,” a/k/a “John Morray,” a/k/a “Big Man,” a self-identified “Incel,” was sentenced to 30 months in prison, after pleading guilty to stalking multiple victims between October 2019 and August 2020.  U.S. District Judge Nelson S. Román imposed today’s sentence.
U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: “David Kaufman, a self-described ‘Incel,’ or ‘Involuntary Celibate,’ expressed his hatred of women by terrorizing and harassing his victims though threats of violence.  The Court’s sentence sends a clear message to the public that perpetrators of violence against women will be held accountable for their crimes.”

Pacific Northwest Environmental Extremist and Arsonist Pleads Guilty  (DOJ)
A Pacific Northwest environmental extremist, arsonist and former fugitive pleaded guilty yesterday in federal court for his role in two arson conspiracies targeting commercial and government-owned animal processing facilities in Oregon and California.
Joseph Mahmoud Dibee, 53, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit arson and arson in the District of Oregon and conspiracy to commit arson in the Eastern District of California.

“Hack DHS” Program Successfully Concludes First Bug Bounty Program  (DHS)
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced the results of its first bug bounty program. Through the “Hack DHS” program, vetted cybersecurity researchers and ethical hackers are invited to identify potential cybersecurity vulnerabilities in select external DHS systems. In the first phase of this program, more than 450 vetted security researchers identified 122 vulnerabilities, of which 27 were determined to be critical. DHS awarded a total of $125,600 to participants for identifying these verified vulnerabilities. DHS was the first federal agency to expand its bug bounty program to find and report log4j vulnerabilities across all public-facing information system assets, which allowed the Department to identify and close vulnerabilities not surfaced through other

AI Is Already Learning from Russia’s War in Ukraine, DOD Says  (Patrick Tucker, Defense One)
Today’s battlefield data is helping smart machines model the wars of the future.

How Facial Recognition Software Is Changing the War in Ukraine  (Ian Haworth, Daily Wire)
In the early days of the Russian invasion of its neighbor, Ukraine’s defense ministry announced that it had started using facial recognition technology to identify Russian military members, as well as Ukrainians, who have been killed.