The INTSUM reading list for Oct 10

Things are heating up all over the world, the status quo we have been used to is shifting

Strategic Risk:

• The Head of the UK armed forces says Russia can launch attacks in space. This is a very likely option as they have been moving their own satellites closer to NATO’s 

• Russia has dismissed reports that they will be conducting a submarine launched nuclear test. There are also reports that elements of Russian nuclear units are moving closer to the recently annexed regions of Ukraine as a strategic deterrence for a Ukrainian re-attack.  

• Automated fast food is becoming more of a reality due to labor shortages and added synergies from automation 

• The Ukrainian counteroffensive explained in maps

• The recently exposed over leveraged UK pension plans increases the likelihood of failure as the largest generation tries to retire, this is also happening in the US and California is an excellent example

Economics & Finance: 

• Investors think the fed is done tightening and that there is an opportunity for a fourth-quarter bull market. An assumption that will most likely be incorrect 

• Credit Suisse is in dire need of restructuring, or it will fail. This, as well as the current European economic crisis and Deutsche Banks’ repeated need to bail out EU states, only compounds the problems. 

• Meta is starting their cycle of layoffs in addition to many other tech firms and startups. This will drastically affect the state of California and silicon valley especially.

• As OPEC+ aligns with Russian goals, the US taps even more from the strategic oil reserves

• Cathie Woods ARKK funds are buying the dip, but many of her clients pulled money months ago so this is more likely just another capital raise for the fund

• Meta continues its layoffs and is now closing a recently opened NYC office. This trend is only increasing as the tech sector is overstaffed with redundant positions  

Counterintelligence & Espionage:

• An Army Major and Johns Hopkins Medical wife have been arrested for passing medical information of Fort Bragg Soldiers (home of SOCOM & JSOC) to Russia and trying to volunteer to fight for Russia in Ukraine

• German financier Lars Windhorst hired an Israeli intelligence firm for a campaign to oust the then-president of Hertha Berlin, the Bundesliga football club

• China is opening programs designed to monitor Chinese citizens abroad, similar to the FBI legal attaché offices. In other countries, these have been used to recruit spies, now they are opening in the US  

• Former NSA staffer arrested for attempting to sell secrets to a foreign nation 

• The CEO of a software company that tracks the behavior of US election workers was arrested for stealing personal information and illegally storing it on Chinese computer servers.

• It was recently found out that the female organizing Governor DeSantis’s migrant flights is a former Army CI Agent. She built a network and seems to have run a textbook operation, actually, a very interesting story

Hackers in the wild:

• The second-largest telecommunications company in Australia was hacked, and information on over ten million people was stolen

• The BlackCat hacker group, in coordination with Killnet (both Russian) claims to have hacked NJVC a defense contractor in Virginia. Focusing on IT support to the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency 

• Techniques and forged documents and logistics are being sold on the darkweb for Russians trying to leave Russia to get out of the draft, including fake positive AIDs tests

• In the last week, Russian linked groups have hacked at least two US defense contractors and put their data on the dark web. Using low-level tooling and the recent widely exploited ProxyLogon vulnerabilities   

• Fake CISO profiles on LinkedIn are being used to target other senior executives for social engineering attacks.

• The Executive Director of CYBERCOM outlined the need for more strategic partnerships and major threats in a recent keynote speech