THREATWATCH
Incidents of reported computer network exploitation attacks emanating from China and Iran are forcing intelligence officials to shift their attention to nation states as the chief culprits in cyber attacks.
Despite reports that a top al-Qa’ida-linked commander was killed in Mali this past week, the U.S. government isn’t prepared to say definitively whether he’s dead yet.
A Iranian dhow, chockful of Chinese weapons, was discovered off the coast of Yemen.
ON THE FORCE
In a rare admission of the assumed makeup of U.S. Cyber Command, NetGov chronicles how the thriving nexus of cybersecurity at Fort Meade plans to increase its influence and hire additional staff.
The Department of Homeland Security has made some novel upgrades to Customs and Border Protection’s fleet of drones, which are rumored to include heat-seeking cameras and the capability to ‘pluck’ 3/4G broadband transmissions out of the air, making surveillance that much easy.
POTOMAC TWO-STEP
Secretary Kerry, not the Pentagon, appears to have the lead in negotiations with Egypt.
Elliott Abrams, with a helpful primer on gaming the bureaucracy.
ON THE HILL
On Wednesday, the House Armed Services Committee will hold a hearing on the current operational posture of U.S. Transportation Command, U.S. Special Operations Command and U.S. Central Command.
The cancellation of the already-scheduled deployment of an aircraft carrier is raising the ire of some members on Capitol Hill, as rumors circulate that the Pentagon did it on purpose to illustrate how devastating across-the-board cuts imposed by sequestration would be.
ON SECRECY – OR LACK THEREOF
John McLaughlin takes exception to some of the otherwise lofty claims made in a recent book on Benghazi., including the idea that soon-to-be CIA Director John Brennan was running compartmentalized operations out of the White House, independent of the CIA or the Pentagon.
Robert Caruso is a veteran of the United States Navy, and has worked for the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, Business Transformation Agency and the Office of the Secretary of Defense.
