NEW: US targeting #Russia|n-linked destabilization/influence campaigns in #Moldova

@USTreasury sanctioning 7 individuals, 1 entity, all linked to #Russia|n intelligence Per @USTreasury, those sanctioned include:

-Konstantin Prokopyevich Sapozhnikov, the leader of the malign influence group who organized a plot to destabilize the #Moldova|N gvt earlier this year

-Yury Yuryevich Makolov, who helped w/logistical support for the plot

NEW: #China's leads world in high-impact research in 19 of 23 technologies, per new analysis by @ASPI_org

Analysis indicates #Biejing has a "commanding lead in #hypersonics, electronic warfare and in key undersea capabilities" "In #hypersonics, undersea capabilities and electronic warfare, #China’s leads are so emphatic they create a significant risk that China might dominate future technological breakthroughs in these areas" per @ASPI_org

US, #SouthKorea sounding the alarm -again- about #NorthKorea|n #cyber actors targeting think tanks, academia & the media

@NSAGov @FBI & ROK intel services say they are seeing sustained info gathering/spearphishing efforts from #DPRK impersonators

1/x The main #DPRK threat is coming from #cyber actors known as Kimsuky, THALLIU or VELVETCHOLLIMA

"...strategically impersonating legitimate sources to collect intelligence on geopolitical events, foreign policy strategies & security developments" per @NSA_CSDirector Rob Joyce

NEW: US does not planning bigger nuclear arsenal to dter #Russia #China Nat'l Security Adviser @JakeSullivan46 tells #ACA2023

"The United States does not need to increase our nuclear forces to outnumber the combined total of our competitors in order to successfully deter them" "Nor does the United States need to deploy ever more dangerous nuclear weapons to maintain deterrence" vs #Russia, #China, per @JakeSullivan46

"Effective deterrence means that we have a better approach not a more approach"

NEW: #ArtificialIntelligence-""I would look at #AI as yet anoher flavor of technology that has to be built w/security upfront, safety upfront" @CISAJen tells @axios News Shapers

"We have to be able to leverage the power of imagination & avoid the failure of imagination..." "If you actually think that these [#ArtificialIntelligence] capabilities can lead to the extinction of humanity, well, let's come together & do something about it" per @CISAJen

#FISA Section 702 "has been vital to countering these threats" from terrorists, #cyberattacks, espionage, WMD, @StateDept's Assistant Secretary for @StateINR
Brett Holmgren tells @CSIS But @StateINR's Holmgren adds #FISA Section 702 "doesn't just help defend & protect US interests. It is essential to advancing & promoting US interests in the world"

#China's spy balloons don't seem to be major worry for @usairforce

"They have a very aggressive intelligence collection program" @SecAFOfficial Frank Kendall tells reporters at @GWUPMNS

But he adds the spy balloons "are a very small part of that & not highly consequential" What does worry @usairforce about #China's surveillance capabilities?

"The space part of it" per @SecAFOfficial Kendall "...is very significant & very consequential"

NEW: F-16s to #Ukraine "will take several months at best" @SecAFOfficial Frank Kendall tells reporters at @GWUPMNS

"A lot of details are gonna have to be sorted out to get us between here & there" "It will give the #Ukrainians an interim capability they don't have right now, but it's not going to be a dramatic game changer" per @SecAFOfficial Kendall

NEW: 3 possible reasons for #Russia's inability to pack a punch in #cyber during war in #Ukraine, per @WhiteHouse Deputy Nat'l Security Adviser for #Cyber Anne Neuberger "Option 1 is defense" per NSC's Neuberger "#Ukraine learned a lesson of the 2014-2015 conflict when #Russia invaded..."

#Kyiv cut itself off from #Russia's power grid, for example, making it a harder target

ICYMI: US busts open #Russia|n malware used to help #Moscow spy in + 50 countries

@NSAGov @FBI @CISA w/#Britain #Australia #Canada #NewZealand announced Thursday they ID's the code behind the #FSB's #Snake Malware
nsa.gov/Press-Room/Pre… .@NSAGov describes the #Snake malware as "a sophisticated #Russia|n cyberespionage tool"

"The FSB has victimized industries including education institutions, small businesses, & media organizations" per @NSAGov statement

UPDATE: @CENTCOM still working to confirm identity of suspected senior #alQaida leader targeted in airstrike in NW #Syria last week

Some in Syria claim the person killed was not a terrorist but a 60yo sheep herder

"We are aware of the allegations" per @CENTCOM spox
1/5

https://twitter.com/jseldin/status/1653750135082430466

"In keeping with standard operating procedure, we are in the process of confirming the identity of the individual killed" per @CENTCOM's Maj John Moore in statement to @VOANews

2/5

"It is important that the #UnitedStates restores for #Pakistan foreign military financing & foreign military sales which were suspended by the previous administration" Pakistan Amb to the US Masood Khan told @TheWilsonCenter earlier Thursday #Pakistan Ambassador to the US Khan also calls on #Washington to "revive its role for strategic stability in #SouthAsia"

"We believe a policy of imbalance & disequilibrium is fraught with serious perils"

"It is important that the #UnitedStates restores for #Pakistan foreign military financing & foreign military sales which were suspended by the previous administration" Pakistan Amb to the US Masood Khan tells @TheWilsonCenter #Pakistan Ambassador to the US Shah also calls on #Washington to "revive its role for strategic stability in #SouthAsia"

"We believe a policy of imbalance & disequilibrium is fraught with serious perils"

"#Russia has failed to achieve its objectives. An independent #Ukraine endures" @DeptofDefense Asst Sec Celeste Wallander tells HASC "Although #Russia's conventional military capabilities are diminished, Russia continues to present serious risk" per @DeptofDefense's Wallander

"...as it retains capabilities in nuclear, #cyber, information operations, counterspace & undersea warfare"

#ISIS-#Khorasan cell leader behind the deadly bombing of #Kabul Airport's Abbey Gate on August 26, 2021 that killed 13 US troops, +170 Afghan civilians killed by the #Taliban, State Department official confirms to @VOANews #ISIS-#Khorasan cell leader behind the #Abbey Gate bombing "killed in a Taliban operation" per White House spox John Kirby

Kirby descibes the cell leader as "a key ISIS-K official directly involved in plotting operations like Abbey Gate"

NEW: Digital repression "does not, at least in my view, get enough attention" @ODNIgov Dir Avril Haines tells @CarnegieEndow #China is "the global leader in digital repression" per @ODNIgov's Haines

#Russia comes next, using a different approach that relies heavily on #disinformation, she says

NEW: @CJTFOIR seeing "dramatic decrease" in #ISIS activity, per Commander MajGen Matthew McFarlane

- 68% reduction in attacks in #Iraq (year on year)

- 55% reduction in attacks in #Syria (year on year)

But he warns, "The #Daesh ideology remains unconstrained & active" "We continue to see unsafe & unprofessional air activity from the #Russia|ns" in #Syria, per @CJTFOIR's MajGen McFarlane

"We've only seen it from the air" he adds "We continuously communicate"

JUST IN: US sanctions senior #Iran law enforcement & #IRGC officials for suppressing protects/censorship

Includes officials with:
- the Law Enforcement Forces of Iran (LEF)
- Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)
- Supreme Council on Cyberspace Leader US sanctions vs #Iran being coordinated w/#Britain, which is slapping #Tehran w/similar sanctions

“The Iranian people deserve freedom of expression without the threat of violent retaliation & censorship from those in power" per @USTreasury Under Sec Brian Nelson

ICYMI: #Russia #China #Iran state media seeing growth on Twitter

Multiple accounts "began to gain followers after months of decline or stagnation" after apparent decision by Twitter to stop filtering them, per @DFRLab analysis "Twitter’s policy change is significant, as Twitter can now algorithmically promote state-affiliated media outlets" per @DFRLab

"Twitter users no longer must actively seek out state-sponsored content in order to see it on the platform; it can just be served to them"

BREAKING: #Russia|n Su-27 collides with US MQ-9 drone over the #BlackSea

Per @US_EUCOM, the Russian aircraft was 1 of 2 conducting " an unsafe & unprofessional intercept" when it struck the propeller of the MQ-9, causing US forces to have to bring the MQ-9 down in
int'l waters" MORE: Before #Russia|n Su-27 hit the US MQ-9 drone, "the [two] Su-27s dumped fuel on and flew in front of the MQ-9 in a reckless, environmentally unsound
and unprofessional manner" per @US_EUCOM

Senate Intelligence Committee vice chair promising "groundbreaking" report on #COVID19

In a video statement, @marcorubio says the report is "based on almost 18 months of investigations ...evidence that was either previously unknown or otherwise ignored by the US government" Last week, @FBI Director Christopher told the Senate Intelligence Committee the bureau "has long assessed going back t the summer of 2021 that the origin of the pandemic was likely a lab incident in #Wuhan"

https://twitter.com/jseldin/status/1633505161980043264?s=20