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Former FBI Informant Pleads Guilty to Fabricating Biden Bribery Story
Alexander Smirnov, a former FBI informant, pleaded guilty Monday in Los Angeles federal court to faking the story about a phony bribery scheme involving President Joe Biden and his son Hunter. The fabricated story was the central element of a House impeachment inquiry.
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What is Salt Typhoon? A Security Expert Explains the Chinese Hackers and Their Aattack on U.S. Telecommunications Networks
Lost in the noise of the story is that Salt Typhoon has proved that the decades of warnings by the internet security community were correct. No mandated secret or proprietary access to technology products is likely to remain undiscovered or used only by “the good guys” – and efforts to require them are likely to backfire.
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Chinese Hackers Still Lurk in U.S. Telecommunications systems
Chinese hackers blamed for compromising U.S. telecommunications infrastructure and spying on American presidential campaigns and American officials are still entrenched in those systems.
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Protecting U.S. Allies and Partners from Chinese Economic Coercion
China’s growing willingness to defy the international order, and its increasingly aggressive leadership, have led it to increasingly utilize economic coercion against countries it believes have defied China’s interests. This coercion can be powerful, and the United States and its partners have not been well-prepared for Beijing’s actions. The U.S. and others need to develop a response immediately.
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Chinese Vessel Suspected of Severing Submarine Cables Still Anchored in Baltic Sea
European allies in the Baltic region are investigating how two fiber-optic data cables were severed earlier this week, with suspicion falling on a Chinese vessel in the area. Germany has said the incident was clearly sabotage.
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Downsides of China’s Port Investments Go Beyond Immediate Security Risks
Chinese companies own or operate at least one port on every continent. These investments present more than immediate security concerns; they position China to fully exploit the economic potential of ports at the expense of other countries.
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Suspected Chinese Hack of U.S. Telecoms Reveals Broader Plot
A hack of U.S. telecommunications systems linked to China that initially appeared to focus on the American presidential campaigns goes much deeper, according to investigators, and is likely part of a vast effort by Beijing to spy on the United States.
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FBI: Bomb Threats Against U.S. Voting Locations Appear to Be Coming from Russia
A series of bomb threats sent to polling locations across the United States appears to be coming from Russia, according to new assessments from both federal and state officials.
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Russian Disinformation Campaign Creates 'Climate of Chaos,' Say Experts
In the last two years, Russian agents have created fake websites which are employed in a “persistent” disinformation campaign. The Russian agents are creating false news websites that mimic reputable sources and posting fake stories to those phony sites. The websites may look like trusted European media outlets but in fact mislead readers with malicious stories and propaganda.
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Understanding the Threats to U.S. Election Security in 2024
Despite widespread concern that foreign interference and generative AI would pose major threats to the 2024 election, the greatest risks emanate from rising domestic extremists and diminishing domestic trust.
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Concerns about Elon Musk, Russia's Putin Not Fading Yet
Reports that billionaire Elon Musk has been talking on a consistent basis with Russian President Vladimir Putin are cause of concern. Musk’s companies are doing work for the Pentagon NASA. Some of that work is so sensitive that Musk has been given high-level security clearances due to his knowledge of the programs, raising concerns among some that top secret U.S. information and capabilities could be at risk.
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U.S. Finalizes Rule Restricting Investment in Chinese Tech Firms
The Treasury Department on Monday finalized a new rule meant to prevent U.S.-based people and companies from investing in the development of a range of advanced technologies in China, thereby preventing Beijing from accessing cutting-edge expertise and equipment.
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U.S. Officials Say Russia Behind Fake Video of Pro-Trump Votes Being Destroyed
Russia, as part of its broad influence campaign to help Donald Trump win the November election, has released a fake video, which has been circulating on social media, purporting to show the destruction of mail-in votes cast for Trump in Pennsylvania. The fake video is the latest in a series of fake videos produced by an offshoot of the St. Petersburg-based Internet Research Agency, which helped Trump win the 2016 election.
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How Is the Kremlin Meddling In 2024 Elections? Here Are 5 Tactics.
Russia’s Plan A is always to cooperate with mainstream forces and then corrupt them to align with Russian foreign policy interests. In Plan A fails, Russia falls back on Plan B, which is aligning with far-right parties -– but, at times, even forming alliances with far-left parties. For the Kremlin, the cheapest and most efficient way of boosting its allies is to flood the market with disinformation.
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Salt Typhoon Hack Shows There's No Security Backdoor That's Only for The "Good Guys"
If U.S. policymakers care about China and other foreign countries engaging in espionage on U.S. citizens, it’s time to speak up in favor of encryption by default. If these policymakers don’t want to see bad actors take advantage of their constituents, domestic companies, or security agencies, again—they should speak up for encryption by default.
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The long view
Kinetic Operations Bring Authoritarian Violence to Democratic Streets
Foreign interference in democracies has a multifaceted toolkit. In addition to information manipulation, the tactical tools authoritarian actors use to undermine democracy include cyber operations, economic coercion, malign finance, and civil society subversion.
Romania, Foreign Election Interference, and a Dangerous U.S. Retreat
The Romanian election is but one example of recent foreign election interference incidents. The Russian interference in 2016 U.S. election led Congress, on bipartisan basis, and the relevant agencies in the executive branch, to make many changes to address this threat, but under the new administration, “the U.S. is now moving full steam ahead to completely destroy its defenses against that threat,” Katie Kedian writes. All of the positive U.S. government developments “have been dismantled or severely downgraded,” leaving “the U.S. public less informed and less safe from foreign interference.”