FRIDAY PDB – Chinese digital spying effort is massive and global. Chinese spies breached hundreds of public, private networks.
Suspected state-backed Chinese hackers broke into the networks of hundreds of public and private sector organizations globally, nearly a third of them government agencies including foreign ministries, the cybersecurity firm Mandiant said Thursday.
“This is the broadest cyber espionage campaign known to be conducted by a China-nexus threat actor since the mass exploitation of Microsoft Exchange in early 2021,” Mandiant's chief technical officer said.
Google-owned Mandiant expressed “high confidence” that the group was engaged in “espionage activity in support of the People's Republic of China.”
FOR YOUR EYES ONLY – Here's a roundup of today's other top defense stories from national security expert PAUL CRESPO.
Not the President's Daily Brief, but almost as good – PAUL'S DAILY BRIEFING – the PDB:
PENTAGON WOKE WATCH
GOOD! – NO TAXPAYER FUNDED ABORTIONS – Tuberville offered vote in Senate but still won't drop hold on military promotions. A key Senate committee will debate a bill to roll back the Pentagon's abortion policy, but the senator who has blocked hundreds of military promotions because of his opposition to the policy says he still won't relent.
POLITICS
FUNNY GUYS – Dems denounce GOP for not funding Pentagon's multiyear munitions plan. Democrats are calling Republicans weak on China for excluding the Pentagon's request to use multiyear contracts to buy high-priority munitions in the latest House defense spending bill.
NATIONAL SECURITY
NATO sees no change in Russia nuclear posture despite Belarus claims. This after President Alexander Lukashenko claimed that Belarus has already received some tactical nuclear weapons from Moscow.
GOP senators urge Biden to release findings from Chinese spy balloon probe. They called on Joe Biden to produce a “public accounting” of his administration's assessment of the Chinese spy balloon and expressed frustration with the administration's alleged “failure to confront China's brazen threats to America's security and sovereignty.”
Judge Cannon jumpstarts oversight of Trump classified documents case with order on security clearances. US District Judge Aileen Cannon issued her first order in former President Donald Trump's case of mishandling classified information. She instructed the parties to start the process to obtain security clearances for the lawyers who will need them.
HOMELAND SECURITY
Federal agencies hit by ‘wide-ranging' cyberattack. It's yet unclear which agencies were affected or how many.
Air National Guardsman indicted for leaking classified information. Massachusetts Air National Guardsman Jack Teixeira, accused of leaking highly classified military documents, has been indicted on federal felony charges.
Former Marine pleads guilty to Jan 6. Capitol assault charge. Accused of threatening law enforcement with a large wooden stick during the Jan. 6 Capitol breach, he pleaded guilty to felony civil disorder on Thursday. HOW MANY BLM RIOTERS DID THE SAME OR WORSE?
RUSSIA THREAT – UKRAINE WAR
Ukraine's fight a ‘marathon' not a ‘sprint,' Secretary of Defense says. Lloyd Austin urged nations Thursday to continue their commitment to providing training and equipment to Ukraine for the long haul amid the country's ongoing battle against Russia.
Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 478. A senior Ukrainian military commander said Ukrainian forces had regained control of more than 38 square miles of territory in its counteroffensive against Russian forces.
Ukraine allies debate how to boost support as Russia invasion drags on. NATO defense ministers gathered Thursday to discuss future relations with Ukraine as Russia's war on the country thwarts its hopes of joining the world's biggest security alliance soon.
US training of Ukrainian troops adequate but not perfect, IG reports. DoD investigators found U.S. Army soldiers have met Ukrainian training needs, but not without hiccups.
Biden ‘open' to plan that eases Ukraine's path to NATO membership. The proposed removal of the Membership Action Plan would provide neither a formal invitation nor a timeline for joining the alliance.
North Korea launches 2 ballistic missiles toward sea. It test-fired two short-range ballistic missiles hours after South Korean and U.S. troops ended a fifth round of large-scale live-fire drills.
INTERNATIONAL SECURITY
F-22 fighter jets head to Middle East amid tensions with Russia. The stealth fighters have deployed as a show of strength amid escalating tensions between U.S. and Russian forces that share the skies over Syria.
US trains with African nations in large-scale exercise amid fight against regional terrorism. The U.S. Army is wrapping up its capstone series of exercises this week in Africa, where troops have fanned out for drills involving numerous partner nations grappling with expanding insurgencies at home.
Hungary responds after US senator says he blocked HIMARS purchase. Its government has said it abandoned plans to order High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems after last year's bilateral talks failed to produce an agreement with the U.S.
Israel plans first sale of Merkava tank to European country. Israel is in talks to sell its Merkava tank to two countries, one of them in Europe, in what would be the first export of the flagship fighting vehicle.
US MILITARY
A new armored vehicle is coming to the Army. It could be a game changer for light units. Combat veterans are excited about the new tracked fighting vehicle unveiled by the service last week, which could give more access to powerful guns in the field.
DIFFERENT LOGISTICS BURDEN – Army to field roving battery packs in bid to trim fossil-fuel use. Green initiatives include testing wheeled, multi-ton battery packs and building energy microgrids at Army installations world-wide by 2035.
IMPRESSIVE – Littoral combat ship Charleston returns to San Diego after deployment that lasted more than two years. The warship was able to remain in service longer than normal because it used rotating crews while sailing in the Indo-Pacific
Did they hit: IRS NEA PBS NEA NPR DEA ATF
Honest Joe Bribem probably sells our country’s passwords to them so they don’t have to waste their time hacking into our stuff.
I guess these hacked networks didn’t have their multi digit alpha password set.
These people can hack into anything. The internet should be banned.