Top of the Day
Meta’s Move to Limit Fact-Checking Endangers Women—and Democracy
(Melanne Verveer, Kristine Baekgaard – Lawfare – 6 March 2025) “We’re going to catch less bad stuff.” That’s how Mark Zuckerberg described his recent decision to end Meta’s fact-checking program, conceding that more harmful posts are going to make their way onto his platforms. What he failed to acknowledge or account for, however, is the repercussions this will have for women’s well-being, safety, and ability to participate fully and freely in public life. The tech platform’s move to curtail fact-checking and remove restrictions on specific topics—Zuckerberg singled out “gender and immigrants”—signals a profound step backward that will disproportionately harm women, and LGBTQ+ and minority communities, and amplify the spread of hate and misogyny. Research from the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security (GIWPS) further finds that widespread digital violence against women fundamentally erodes American democracy. – https://www.lawfaremedia.org/article/meta-s-move-to-limit-fact-checking-endangers-women-and-democracy
Defence, not more assertive cyber activity, is the right response to Salt Typhoon
(Mark Raymond, Typhaine Joffe – ASPI The Strategist – 6 March 2025) The ongoing Salt Typhoon cyberattack, affecting some of the United States’ largest telecoms companies, has galvanised a trend toward more assertive US engagement in the cyber domain. This is the wrong lesson to take. Instead, the US should prioritise investments in cyber defence and reconsider its commitment to persistent engagement, a strategic move away from earlier US approaches based on restraint and deterrence. The attack underscores the risks of an increasingly permissive cyber environment: one in which large-scale cyber operations are normalised, restraint is eroded and investments in cyber defence are insufficient. – https://www.aspistrategist.org.au/defence-not-more-assertive-cyber-activity-is-the-right-response-to-salt-typhoon/
The Digital Battlefield: How Terrorists Use the Internet and Online Networks for Recruitment and Radicalization
(Aaron Y. Zelin – The Washington Institute for Near East Policy – 4 March 2025) A terrorism expert discusses what U.S. policymakers and tech companies can do to stem the proliferation of jihadist activity online, including greater attention to multilingual content moderation, cryptocurrency abuse, and other evolving factors. – https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/digital-battlefield-how-terrorists-use-internet-and-online-networks-recruitment-and
Security
CISA, FBI warn of BianLian mail scam targeting executives with $500k ransom note
(Jonathan Greig – The Record – 7 March 2025) Federal law enforcement agencies are warning business executives of a new scam involving criminals using the name of a prominent Russian ransomware gang to extort companies. In an alert on Thursday, the FBI said scammers are mailing letters to corporate executives claiming that they stole sensitive data and will publish it unless a demand is paid in Bitcoin. “Stamped ‘Time Sensitive Read Immediately,’ the letter claims the ‘BianLian Group’ gained access into the organization’s network and stole thousands of sensitive data files,” the FBI said. – https://therecord.media/cisa-fbi-warn-bianlian-mail-scam-extortion
Ransomware Attacks Build Against Saudi Construction Firms
(Robert Lemos – Dark Reading – 6 March 2025) A recent ransomware attack has compromised a construction firm in Saudi Arabia, underscoring the increasing risk facing everyday organizations in the Middle East, as more cybercriminal and ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) groups flock to the region. On Feb. 14, the “DragonForce” RaaS group posted an announcement to its data-leak site warning the Saudi construction firm Al Bawani that the company had been compromised. It claimed to have stolen about 6TB worth of data, according to Resecurity, a cybersecurity service provider. – https://www.darkreading.com/cyberattacks-data-breaches/ransomware-attacks-saudi-construction-firms
Deepfake Videos of YouTube CEO Phish Creators
(Kristina Beek – Dark Reading – 7 March 2025) Threat actors — or, more specifically, phishers — have been sharing false, artificial intelligence-generated videos of YouTube CEO Neal Mohan, sent as private videos to the platform’s content creators in an attempt to scam them, install malware, and steal credentials. At least one of the videos shows Mohan purportedly announcing changes in monetization for content creators. The scammers are exploiting in-platform tools to link to malicious content, which, when clicked on, brings the creator to a page asking them to confirm updated “YouTube terms” by signing in to their account. Once they enter their credentials, allowing the malicious actor to steal them, the page updates and alerts the user that their “channel is now pending.” – https://www.darkreading.com/remote-workforce/deepfake-videos-youtube-phish-creators
Thousands of public school workers impacted by cyberattack on retirement plan administrator
(Jonathan Greig – The Record – 6 March 2025) A December 2024 cyberattack on a prominent administrator for retirement plans has exposed the information of thousands of public school teachers and employees across the U.S. Dozens of public schools across the country reported data breaches to regulators in Maine, Massachusetts, Vermont and several other states this week, warning that sensitive data was stolen through Carruth Compliance Consulting — a company that provides third-party administrative services to public school districts and non-profit organizations for their 403(b) and 457(b) retirement savings plans. – https://therecord.media/thousands-of-public-school-workers-impacted-data-breach
Russian crypto exchange Garantex’s website taken down in apparent law enforcement operation
(Jonathan Greig – The Record – 6 March 2025) Russian cryptocurrency exchange Garantex was taken down in an apparent seizure by U.S. and European law enforcement Thursday, shortly after the company said $28 million had been frozen by another cryptocurrency firm. “The domain for Garantex has been seized by the United States Secret Service pursuant to a seizure warrant obtained by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia under the authority of 18 U.S.C §§ 981 and 982,” a notice on the exchange’s website says. The image includes insignias of the FBI, Justice Department, the Secret Service, Europol and several European law enforcement agencies. – https://therecord.media/garantex-crypto-exchange-taken-down-law-enforcement-operation
Defense, Intelligence, and Warfare
Trained on classified battlefield data, AI multiplies effectiveness of Ukraine’s drones: Report
(Sydney J. Freedberg Jr. – Breaking Defense – 6 March 2025) Ukraine has taken publicly available AI models, retrained them on its own extensive real-world data from frontline combat, and deployed them on a variety of drones — increasing their odds of hitting Russian targets “three- or four-fold,” according to a new thinktank report. “By removing the need for constant manual control and stable communications … drones enabled with autonomous navigation raise the target engagement success rate from 10 to 20 percent to around 70 to 80 percent,” writes Ukrainian-American scholar Kateryna Bondar, a former advisor to Kyiv, in a new report released today by the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “These systems can often achieve objectives using just one or two drones per target rather than eight or nine.”. To be clear, Ukraine has not built the Terminator. “We’re very far from killer robots,” Bondar told Breaking Defense in an exclusive interview. But in contrast to the more cautious bureaucracy of the West, she said, “the Ukrainians are more open to testing and trying anything and everything that can kill more Russians.” – https://breakingdefense.com/2025/03/trained-on-classified-battlefield-data-ai-multiplies-effectiveness-of-ukraines-drones-report/
Turkish-Italian venture adds new force to Europe’s drone market
(Tom Kington – Defense News – 6 March 2025) Turkish UAV champion Baykar announced a deal with Italy’s Leonardo on Thursday to grab a slice of Europe’s $100 billion ($108 billion) drone market and possibly offer a Turkish drone as candidate to be the GCAP fighter’s ‘Loyal Wingman.’. Using Baykar platforms and Leonardo electronics and radars, a planned 50-50 joint venture envisages drone assembly in Turkey but also at Leonardo facilities in Italy, which would ease certification for selling in a European market worth $100 billion in the next ten years, the firms said. – https://www.defensenews.com/global/europe/2025/03/06/turkish-italian-venture-adds-new-force-to-europes-drone-market/
US Army upgrades Strykers, inducts next-gen combat vehicles to replace Humvees
(Kapil Kajal – Interesting Engineering – 6 March 2025) The US Army’s Pennsylvania-based 56th Stryker Brigade Combat Team (SBCT) has commenced the receipt of more than 600 new or upgraded vehicles as part of a comprehensive modernization initiative. The brigade will integrate 324 upgraded Stryker armored vehicles and 300 Joint Light Tactical Vehicles (JLTVs), enhancing its operational capabilities in contemporary conflict environments. – https://interestingengineering.com/military/next-gen-combat-vehicles-humvees-strykers
US firm’s Avenger combat aerial vehicle to bolster military with autonomous power
(Prabhat Ranjan Mishra – Interesting Engineering – 6 March 2025) A San Diego-based firm has achieved a major milestone in the development of unmanned combat air vehicles. General Atomics’ MQ-20 Avenger aerial vehicle has been autonomously flown with U.S. government-provided autonomy software Hivemind AI. The company revealed that the demonstration included the use of a government-provided Pilot Vehicle Interface (PVI), showcasing General Atomics Aeronautical Systems’ (GA-ASI) commitment to advancing its UCAV ecosystem through collaboration with partners and government entities and integrating cutting-edge technologies. – https://interestingengineering.com/military/general-atomics-mq20-avenger-autonomous-power
Frontiers
Ameca: World’s most advanced humanoid robot’s chilling answer to “Will AI take or jobs”
(Kaif Shaikh – Interesting Engineering – 6 March 2025) A humanoid robot named Ameca turned heads at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona this week, delivering surprisingly witty—and perhaps unsettling—answers to a question many of us have been pondering: “Will robots take our jobs?”. Developed by British company Engineered Arts, Ameca is often called the world’s most advanced humanoid robot. Its lifelike interactions left attendees both fascinated and wary, highlighting the rapid evolution of artificial intelligence and robot technology. – https://interestingengineering.com/culture/ameca-humanoid-robot-answers-critical-ai-questions
Paralyzed man controls robot arm for record 7 months with new brain chip
(Srishti Gupta – Interesting Engineering – 6 March 2025) A reality where a paralyzed patient thinks about moving his limbs while a robotic arm imitates his intention has finally been achieved at UC San Francisco, thanks to a recently developed brain-computer interface (BCI), a device that interprets brain signals and converts them to commands for motion. Most BCIs previously available have a two-day maximum shelf life with a possibility of disruption, however, this one astonishingly operated for a full seven months without major recalibration. The biggest advancement comes from the AI model that this BCI is built around. It adapts to natural shifts in brain activity over time, allowing the participant to refine his imagined movements. – https://interestingengineering.com/innovation/bci-lets-paralyzed-man-move-arm