AI Drug Discovery & Chemical Weapons | Ransomware & Agriculture | Emerging Technology & Arms Control
UK Neo-Nazi, 19, Sentenced for Inciting Terrorism Against Jews ((Jerusalem Post)
19-year-old UK citizen Thomas Leech, who has encouraged terrorism against Jews and Muslims, has been sentenced to two years in a young offender’s institution. Leech posted a “call to arms” and glorified far-right killers such as Anders Breivik, who murdered 77 people in two terrorist attacks in Norway in 2011 and Brenton Tarrant, who murdered 51 people at mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, in 2019. Leech, a Preston native, pleaded guilty to inciting terrorism against Jews and Muslims and stirring up religious or racial hatred. Rachel White, mitigating, said some offenses were committed when Leech was still a minor, aged only 17 or 18, and that he suffered from autism, agoraphobia and bullying, which kept him out of school. Manchester Crown Court heard how Leech believed conspiracy theories about Jews, saying they were planning the “great replacement” of the white race and are responsible for the “Islamification” of Europe. Leech posted online about his belief that the Holocaust was a hoax and that Jews controlled the world, as well as posting Third Reich imagery and anti-Muslim content. Prosecutor Joe Allman said Leech first came to police attention when he claimed to be planning a shooting at his school in January 2017.
Canadian Military Not Doing Enough to Detect, Prevent Extremism in the Ranks: Report (CBC)
The number of Canadian military members belonging to extremist groups is growing and it’s getting harder to detect them, says a new report looking at racism and discrimination in Canada’s armed forces. In its 121-page report, made public Monday, members of an advisory panel on systemic racism and discrimination found widespread problems in the military, including the presence of white supremacists and those inspired by ideologically motivated violent extremism (IMVE). “Membership in extremist groups is growing, it is becoming increasingly covert, and technological advances such as Darknet and encryption methods pose significant challenges in detecting these members,” the panel wrote. “The Defense Team is not immune to infiltration by these extremist groups and some units and departments may even be more vulnerable given their isolation from large metropolitan areas.” The panel also found that DND hasn’t been very effective in detecting extremists in its ranks. Defense Minister Anita Anand and Chief of Defense Staff Gen. Wayne Eyre discuss the key findings of a report that looked at systemic racism and discrimination within the Canadian Armed Forces. “Despite local, national and international exchanges of information about IMVE, the detection of extremist pockets or individuals is still very much siloed and inefficient,” the panel wrote.
Four Unanswered Questions About the Intersection of War and Nuclear Power (Julien de Troullioud de Lanversin and Maxime Polleri, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists)
For a night on March 3, Russian military forces seized the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine, damaged its infrastructure, and spread fear of a nuclear catastrophe. Fortunately, the attack did not threaten sensitive areas of the nuclear power plant, and radiation levels around the plant did not raise concern. Still, the crisis underscored the danger posed by a war that crosses paths with a nuclear power plant. Since this may be a case of when, not if, the next wartime attack on a nuclear power plant happens, scholars and policymakers would be wise to revisit concepts for assessing and protocols for responding to nuclear power plant crises in war zones.
How Emerging Technology Is Breaking Arms Control (Amy J. Nelson, Lawfare)
Until recently, arms control—the system of agreements, organizations and processes to regulate certain types of weapons—has proved an effective tool for threats from conventional and nuclear technologies. Today, however, arms control is suffering from a spate of major violations, suspensions and withdrawals.
Ransomware Attacks on Agricultural Cooperatives Potentially Timed to Critical Seasons (FBI)
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is informing Food and Agriculture (FA) sector partners that ransomware actors may be more likely to attack agricultural cooperatives during critical planting and harvest seasons, disrupting operations, causing financial loss, and negatively impacting the food supply chain. The FBI noted ransomware attacks during these seasons against six grain cooperatives during the fall 2021 harvest and two attacks in early 2022 that could impact the planting season by disrupting the supply of seeds and fertilizer. Cyber actors may perceive cooperatives as lucrative targets with a willingness to pay due to the timesensitive role they play in agricultural production. Although ransomware attacks against the entire farm-to-table spectrum of the FA sector occur on a regular basis, the number of cyber attacks against agricultural cooperatives during key seasons is notable.
