OUR PICKSSmugglers Are Bringing Migrants to a Remote Arizona Crossing | U.K. Nuclear Site Hacked by Groups Linked to Russia and China | New Warning of Domestic Danger Amid Israel-Hamas Tension, and more

Intelligence Sharing is Caring: Collective Defense for a Safer Nation  (Anuj Goel, HSToday)
Cybersecurity is no longer just a concern for IT departments but a critical business imperative. Savvy organizations recognize this but given the ever-evolving threat landscape and an oversaturated marketplace, they also encounter significant challenges around security effectiveness and efficiency. Cyber threats have become more sophisticated and cooperative with threat actors learning from each other. Private and public entities must be enabled to rapidly adapt by not only strengthening traditional defenses but by embracing a more collaborative approach to security. We must break down silos between functions, data, and even between trusted organizations to become more proactive, more effective, and more efficient.

Smugglers Are Bringing Migrants to a Remote Arizona Crossing, Overwhelming Agents  (AP / NPR) A shift in smuggling routes has brought an influx of migrants here from countries as diverse as Senegal, Bangladesh and China, prompting the Border Patrol to seek help from other federal agencies and drawing scrutiny to an issue critical in next year’s presidential elections.

Israel Begins Pumping Seawater into Hamas’s Gaza Tunnels  (Nancy A. Youssef, Carrie Keller-Lynn, Michael R. Gordon, and Dov Lieber, Wall Street Journal)
Israel’s military has begun pumping seawater into Hamas’s vast complex of tunnels in Gaza, according to U.S. officials briefed on the Israeli military’s operations, part of an intensive effort to destroy the underground infrastructure that has underpinned the group’s operations.
The move to flood the tunnels with water from the Mediterranean, which is in an early stage, is one of several techniques Israel is using to try to clear and destroy the tunnels.

Sellafield Nuclear Site Hacked by Groups Linked to Russia and China (Anna Isaac and Alex Lawson, Guardian)
The UK’s most hazardous nuclear site, Sellafield, has been hacked into by cyber groups closely linked to Russia and China, the Guardian can reveal.
The astonishing disclosure and its potential effects have been consistently covered up by senior staff at the vast nuclear waste and decommissioning site, the investigation has found.
The Guardian has discovered that the authorities do not know exactly when the IT systems were first compromised. But sources said breaches were first detected as far back as 2015, when experts realised sleeper malware – software that can lurk and be used to spy or attack systems – had been embedded in Sellafield’s computer networks.
It is still not known if the malware has been eradicated. It may mean some of Sellafield’s most sensitive activities, such as moving radioactive waste, monitoring for leaks of dangerous material and checking for fires, have been compromised.
Sources suggest it is likely foreign hackers have accessed the highest echelons of confidential material at the site, which sprawls across 6 sq km (2 sq miles) on the Cumbrian coast and is one of the most hazardous in the world.

FBI, DHS Issue New Warning of Possible Danger Amid Israel-Hamas Tension  (Devlin Barrett, Washington Post)
“FBI and DHS assess that ongoing tensions related to the conflict between Israel and Hamas likely heighten the threat of lone actor violence targeting large public gatherings throughout the winter, including holiday-related, faith-based, New Year’s Eve, and First Amendment protected events related to the conflict,” the agencies said in a written statement. “Although this announcement is not in response to any specific plotting activity, these targets likely remain attractive to lone actors inspired by a range of ideologies due to their accessibility and symbolic nature.”

House Moves to Save DHS Office, and Hundreds of Jobs, from Elimination  (Eric Katz, Government Executive)
he House on Tuesday approved a measure to reauthorize a Homeland Security Department office that absent congressional action will cease to exist in the coming months.
The Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction office within DHS is set to see its authorization expire early next year, a little more than five years after Congress codified it and lawmakers extended its life as part of a recent stopgap funding bill. The House unanimously passed an extension bill in a 394-0 vote on Monday, sending the measure to the Senate that would keep the office functioning for two more years.
The office maintains an annual budget of $400 million and works closely with DHS components, as well as state and local law enforcement, to help them detect and prepare for chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear weapons. It conducts large-scale procurements and has 56,000 personal radiological devices in the field that assist in detection, including 40,000 within DHS and 16,000 at state and local entities. It also maintains larger devices that go into trucks, SUVs, planes and boats that can detect any nuclear material in an area, which DHS deploys for major events like the Super Bowl or the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.