PSYOP NEWS - SEPTEMBER 2024
26 Sep U.S. ‘Deepfake’ Caller Poses as Ukranian Official in Exchange with Key Senator
A “deepfake” caller posed as a top Ukrainian official in a recent videoconference with Senator Benjamin L. Cardin, the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, renewing fears that lawmakers could become the targets of malign actors seeking to influence U.S. politics or to obtain sensitive information.
According to an emailed warning sent by Senate security officials to lawmakers’ offices and obtained by The New York Times, a senator’s office received an email last Thursday that appeared to be from Dmytro Kuleba, until recently Ukraine’s foreign minister, requesting to connect over Zoom. On the subsequent video call, the person looked and sounded like Mr. Kuleba.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/26/us/senator-cardin-deepfake.html
26 Sep ‘Transforming in Contact’: US General Highlights How Army’s Training in Europe Has Adapted
Fake command posts, electromagnetic decoys and fast-moving mission control hubs are some of the ways the war in Ukraine has transformed U.S. Army training in Europe, according to a top American general in the wake of a rotation on NATO’s eastern flank.
The new focus is on getting troops to adapt faster to a more complex battlefield, the 3rd Infantry Division’s Maj. Gen. Christopher Norrie said in an Army statement Wednesday. His team wrapped up a nine-month deployment this spring overseeing Army units across Poland and the Baltics.
The Army’s approach to training has evolved over the past couple of years with an emphasis on so-called “transforming in contact,” which involves drawing lessons learned by troops in the field that are rapidly tested by the larger Army. “We’re observing the world, and then we’re transforming in contact,” Norrie said.
25 Sep Meet the Afghan general who wants to take on the Taliban
In rural Mason Neck, Virginia, among homes with Confederate flags hanging out front and towering pickup trucks occupying driveways, a stately brick mansion makes for an unexpected neighbor.
In the home’s front lawn, sitting amid manicured shrubs, rises an even more unusual sight: the flag of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. It is one that has not flown in its own country since 2021, when U.S. forces departed and top leaders fled, ceding control to the Taliban.
Former Afghan Lt. Gen. Sami Sadat believes he’ll once again see that flag ascend in Afghan skies.
This is his home, and also the hub for the Afghanistan United Front, an organization he founded — and largely self-funds — to “unite Afghans and return Afghanistan to the constitutional order, ensuring that Afghans can enjoy freedom, peace, and prosperity.”
23 Sep China Indo-Pac military power trumps US, but US remains more influential: Lowy Institute
SYDNEY — As leaders from the “Quad” gathered this weekend to toast the Indo-Pacific partnership, a new report is sounding alarms that the US is no longer the dominant military power in Asia.
The new report from the Lowy Institute here says that the People’s Republic of China “has closed more than a quarter of the lead that the United States held in this measure in 2018. For the first time, experts surveyed for the Asia Power Index judged that China is better able to deploy rapidly and for a sustained period in the event of an interstate conflict in Asia.”
While undoubtedly concerning, the Institute’s report also notes there are reasons for cautious optimism, in that Beijing’s overall power in the region is beginning to “plateau” as its population begins to fall and its economy falters under the weight of enormous debt and its reeling real estate sector. The Lowy Institute produces the “Asia Power Index” each year.
“China’s power is neither surging nor collapsing. It is plateauing at a level below that of the United States, but still well above any Asian competitors,” the new report by Susannah Patton, Jack Sato and Herve Lemahieu says. “Flatlining economic capability, driven by slower economic growth and longer-term structural challenges, means that China’s economic clout, while still commanding, is no longer growing.”
22 Sep 24 Russia in satellite deal with West African military governments
Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso have announced a deal with Russia which will see them acquire telecoms and surveillance satellites.
The three West African countries, run by military juntas, have been struggling to defeat Islamist insurgencies for years and have turned to Russia for military support.
Russia denies that its mercenaries have committed atrocities against civilians and that it is pushing propaganda and misinformation in West Africa's Sahel region.
Ministers from the three countries met officials from Russia’s aerospace agency Roscosmos in Mali’s capital, Bamako, on Monday, to discuss the agreement.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx2k0p6w034o
18 Sep FBI Director Announces Chinese Botnet Disruption, Exposes Flax Typhoon Hacker’s True Identity at Aspen Cyber Summit
The FBI and our partners disrupted a Chinese botnet and freed thousands of impacted devices from its clutches, Director Christopher Wray announced September 18.
The botnet, which was operated by a Chinese government-sponsored hacker group known as Flax Typhoon, targeted internet-connected devices such as storage devices, cameras, and video recorders to compromise victims’ systems and steal their confidential data, Director Wray said during a keynote at the 2024 Aspen Cyber Summit in Washington, D.C.
“Ultimately, as part of this operation, we were able to identify thousands of infected devices, and, then, with court authorization, issued commands to remove the malware from them, prying them from China's grip,” Wray said.
18 Sep After apparent mass pager attack, Hezbollah has few avenues for response, experts say
BEIRUT — As Hezbollah contends with what appears to be a second wave of exploding personal devices today, experts here said that the armed Lebanese group has been dealt a “severe blow” and will likely struggle to respond to what’s suspected to be an unprecedented, sophisticated attack by Israel.
“If Hezbollah will retaliate, it won’t be soon,” retired Lebanese armed forces Gen. Maroun Hitti told Breaking Defense, adding that the group would likely need at least a month to gather itself.
On Tuesday afternoon reportedly hundreds of pagers carried by Hezbollah members in Lebanon suddenly exploded, killing several people, including two children, and wounding scores of others. Hezbollah quickly blamed Israel and vowed retaliation — before another wave of bombings apparently struck walkie-talkies today. Israel has not taken responsibility for what news organizations are describing as a supply chain attack, but Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told Israeli troops today that Israel was in a “new phase” of war.
Analyst David Des Roches said that beyond Hezbollah’s immediate casualties, the group has to figure out how to safely communicate and contend with the larger fallout of such an extensive operation.
19 Sep Air Force’s information warfare hub seeks high-tech sensors, AI tools
The Air Force needs higher-tech tools and sensors that can monitor networks for signs of malware and sort through the millions of alerts it receives each day indicating potential compromises, according to the leader of the service’s cyber enterprise.
The Air Force’s information warfare organization, 16th Air Force, has been working over the last year to better partner with industry, academia and other government agencies to meet those high-tech requirements through an effort called the Phoenix Initiative.
The team — which is charged with integrating cyber, electronic warfare, information operations and ISR — convened a summit in August 2023 to talk through its highest priority gaps and technology needs. It then led a months-long deep dive to identify its most important mission sets and consider the most significant vulnerabilities and dependencies within those missions.
17 Sep Active Army’s only Information Operations Command prepares for future stand-down
U.S. Army Cyber Command’s (ARCYBER) 1st Information Operations Command (Land) conducted its final change of command ceremony at Fort Belvoir, Va., in July 2024 as it prepares for its inactivation in 2025.
1st IO Command is the Army’s only active-duty information operations command. Its mission of providing analytical, planning, assessment and training support to Army and joint forces spans a wide range of intelligence, cyber and information responsibilities that support multi-domain operations.
The command will inactivate in Fiscal Year 2025 as part of the Army’s plan to fully transition to Multi-Domain Operations by 2030. The inactivation supports the progression from information operations to information advantage activities.
17 Sep Hezbollah pages explode across Lebanon, injuring thousands
BEIRUT — Hundreds of handheld pagers exploded near simultaneously across Lebanon and in parts of Syria on Tuesday, killing at least eight people, including members of the militant group Hezbollah and a girl, and wounding the Iranian ambassador, government and Hezbollah officials said.
Officials pointed the finger at Israel in what appeared to be a sophisticated, remote attack that wounded more than 2,700 people at a time of rising tensions across the Lebanon border. The Israeli military declined to comment.
A Hezbollah official who spoke on condition of anonymity told The Associated Press that the new brand of handheld pagers used by the group first heated up, then exploded, killing at least two of its members and wounding others.
17 Sep Russia goes all-out with covert disinformation aimed at Harris, Microsoft report says
NEW YORK (AP) — The video was seen millions of times across social media but some viewers were suspicious: It featured a young Black woman who claimed Vice President Kamala Harris left her paralyzed in a hit-and-run accident in San Francisco 13 years ago.
In an emotional retelling from a wheelchair, the alleged victim said she “cannot remain silent anymore” and lamented that her childhood had “ended too soon.”
Immediately after the video was posted on Sept. 2, social media users pointed out reasons to be wary. The purported news channel it came from, San Francisco’s KBSF-TV, didn’t exist. A website for the channel set up just a week earlier contained plagiarized articles from real news outlets. The woman’s X-ray images shown in the video were taken from online medical journals. And the video and the text story on the website spelled the alleged victim’s name differently.
14 Sep US-Russia battle for influence plays out in Central African Republic
BANGUI, Central African Republic — Hours after Russian mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin rebelled against his country’s top military leaders, his private army’s biggest client in Africa panicked, turning for help to his foe in the West.
Officials from Central African Republic, where some 1,500 of Prigozhin’s shadowy Wagner Group mercenaries were stationed, wrote a letter that day, requesting to “rapidly” arrange a meeting with a private U.S. security firm to discuss collaboration.
Dated June 23, 2023, the day Prigozhin launched the armed rebellion, the letter sparked a series of private meetings, culminating in a deal with the central African nation and Bancroft Global Development. That sparked backlash from Russian mercenaries, according to a dozen diplomats, locals and analysts.
14 Sep MG Dan Goldfus: The IDF’s hearo of Khan Yunis and destroyer of Hamas’ Tunnels
IDF Maj.-Gen. Dan Goldfus considers that his breakthrough in overcoming Hamas’s tunnel warfare is not about a single moment in which he had an epiphany but the result of hard, exhaustive work.
There is a reason that incoming Northern Corps and Multi-Domain Joint Maneuver Array Maj.-Gen. Dan Goldfus is considered one of the rising stars of the IDF.
Israel Defense Forces Brig.-Gen. Itzik Cohen of Division 162, along with Brig.-Gen. Dado Bar Kalifa of Division 36 (also becoming a major general but in a less upwardly mobile position), Brig.-Gen. Barak Hiram of Division 99, and Brig.-Gen. Moran Omer of Division 252 have all played important roles in the invasion of northern Gaza. So what is so special about Goldfus?
https://www.jpost.com/israel-hamas-war/article-819823?vgo_ee=ysP1Li3nPL7vZX8Qp4%2FzkQFSUeEQZCKgKitAKpt0%3AWcJ6hl%2FirIbmBou1N45lbyZBLMcOSz8j
13 Sep US hits Russian state media with sanctions for raising money for Moscow’s troops in Ukraine
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. State Department announced new sanctions on Russian state media Friday, accusing a Kremlin news outlet of working hand-in-hand with the Russian military and running fundraising campaigns to pay for sniper rifles, body armor and other equipment for soldiers fighting in Ukraine.
While the outlet, RT, has previously been sanctioned for its work to spread Kremlin propaganda and disinformation, the new allegations suggest its role goes far beyond influence operations. Instead, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said, RT is a key part of Russia’s war machine and its efforts to undermine its democratic adversaries.
“RT wants its new covert intelligence capabilities, like its longstanding propaganda disinformation efforts, to remain hidden,” Blinken told reporters. “Our most powerful antidote to Russia’s lies is the truth. It’s shining a bright light on what the Kremlin is trying to do under the cover of darkness.”
12 Sep US looks to West Africa as new hub for counter-terrorism mission after leaving Niger, Chad
The U.S. is looking to West African countries to counter regional terrorist threats after American forces were told to leave Niger and Chad, the commander of U.S. military forces in Africa said.
“We’re in talks with Cote d’Ivoire and in talks with Ghana and Benin as well as we start to reset and recalibrate some of our assets,” the commander of U.S. Africa Command, Marine Corps Gen. Michael Langley, said at a press conference Thursday, adding that diplomatic consultations are underway “to decide what level of capacity — what do they need to be able to successfully counter terrorism.”
In August, the U.S. completed its full withdrawal of forces from two bases in Niger. In April, the U.S. withdrew a majority of its forces from Chad.
Now, the U.S. is assessing security cooperation with countries across the Sahel “whether we’re talking about the new alliance or coalition of the Alliance of Sahelian States of Niger, Burkina Faso, and Mali,” Langley said. As those talks continue, the State Department “will dictate what depth and breadth” of what the relationship with new African partners will be, he added.
The U.S. military’s exit from Niger and Chad was prompted by calls from the nations’ military junta leaders. Experts have emphasized that the move was the result of growing anti-Western sentiment. On Thursday, Langley described the U.S. military’s Africa strategy as African “partner led” and “U.S. enabled.”
https://taskandpurpose.com/news/us-west-africa-counter-terrorism/
7 Sep Ukranian PSYOPs drove tens of thousands of Russians from the front – ex-cheif of StratCom
Alongside its military conflict with Russia, Ukraine is also engaged in a rigorous information war. This battle involves countering the comprehensive influence operations that Russia is deploying against Ukrainian society. Colonel YEVHEN SASKO, who served as Ukraine's former Deputy Commander of the Special Operations Forces and led the Strategic Communications Department of the General Staff, discussed with Apostrophe how Ukraine's information forces manage under tough conditions and explained the Kremlin's significant investment in propaganda and psychological operations
– In the first year of the full-scale invasion, Ukraine successfully controlled the narrative both domestically and in the Western media, and even managed to influence the Russian information sphere by spreading demotivational content like images of destroyed tanks and military units. However, the current situation has reversed, with Russian psychological operations (PSYOPs) now significantly ramped up within Ukraine. What could be the reasons behind this shift?
6 Sep US, allies warn of Russian cyber sabotage aimed at disrupting aid to Ukraine
WASHINGTON — A handful of US government agencies and allied nations have issued an advisory that a group of malicious Russian cyber attackers have conducted sabotage, espionage and “reputational harm,” against 26 NATO countries, including the US, with the primary goal of disrupting efforts to provide aid to Ukraine.
The advisory, signed by the National Security Agency, FBI, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and international partners including Ukrainian, Latvian, German and Czech agencies, specifically warned about the Russian General Staff Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) 161st Specialist Training Center (Unit 29155).
In addition to the group using the WhisperGate malware to target Ukrainian systems, it also conducted “destructive cyber campaigns, infrastructure scanning, and data exfiltration, with a primary focus since early 2022 of disrupting aid to Ukraine,” according to Thursday’s advisory.
Related: Cyber lessons from Ukraine: Prepare for prolonged conflict, not a knockout blow
5 Sep 24 Deepfakes deepfail: Russian propagandists turn away from generative AI
WASHINGTON — Despite dire predictions that generative AI like ChatGPT and Sora could flood the internet with disinformation and deepfake videos, the new AI tools have been a disappointment for propagandists to this point. That’s the latest word from the general manager of the Microsoft Threat Analysis Center (MTAC), Clint Watts, a former Army officer and FBI agent who’s advised US Central and Special Operations Commands.
In fact, Watts told the Billington Cybersecurity Summit on Wednesday, Russian propagandists have largely abandoned their early experiments with genAI and fallen back on tried-and-true techniques that rely on humans to generate the deceptions, with AI mostly assisting on the margins.
5 Sep US-funded broadcaster Al Hurra lays off 160 staff, merges Iraq channel
BAGHDAD, Sept 3 (Reuters) - The parent company of U.S. government-funded Arabic language broadcaster Al Hurra has cut 160 jobs and is merging its Iraq channel after a 20% budget cut mandated by the U.S. Congress, its CEO said in a note to staff.
"Today is a sad day. We’ve said goodbye today to 160 of our colleagues. We’ve reduced our workforce by 21%," MBN Acting President and CEO Dr. Jeffrey Gedmin said in a note to staff on Monday.
"The moves we are making are obligatory. Congressionally mandated budget cuts have forced us to reduce company costs by nearly $20 million," he said.
3 Sep “Trade stell for blood’ - The Army’s plan to bring soldiers into the 21st century
Soldiers with the 101st Airborne Division’s 2nd Brigade took to the Louisiana woods in August to compete against their most formidable enemy, the 1st Battalion 509th Infantry Regiment dubbed ‘Geronimo,’ with a deception plan in place.
Geronimo, the home team at Fort Johnson, Louisiana, faces off against units year-round at the Joint Readiness Training Center in realistic combat scenarios based on lessons learned in global conflicts. JRTC is designed to take away or add stressors on soldiers as well as hold units accountable with simulated casualties and hits that would take them out of the fight.
The 2nd Brigade came in knowing their enemy had the upper hand on home turf so they had to think ahead. Soldiers decided to use “raspberry pis,” which are single-board computers the size of a credit card that can be bought off Amazon to emulate a computer or show up as some kind of electronic signature to confuse their enemy
https://taskandpurpose.com/news/army-training-ukraine-battle-tech/
3 Sept Ukraine lessons in many domains: What Us military intel officials are learning
WASHINGTON — From the proliferation of unmanned systems to the specter of electronic warfare-saturated battlefields, two-and-a-half years of warfare in Ukraine have offered military strategists new lessons in how modern large-scale combat is fought.
Thousands of miles away from the deadly front lines, US military intelligence officials at the Intelligence and National Security Alliance (INSA) annual conference were asked last week what lessons they, specifically, have taken away from watching Kyiv’s defense of its homeland against Moscow’s invasion. (An Air Force official had to cancel his appearance on the panel, but several officials have spoken before about the change they’re seeing in aerial warfare.)
“So listen, it’s easy to sit at the Pentagon thinking you have a great ideas for innovation,” Andrew Evans, the director of the Army’s ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance) Task Force said. “But you know who the best innovators are? The people who have to innovate or they’re going to die the next day.”
28 Aug Did the Pentagon match with Hezbollah on Tinder?
Seamus Malekafzali, an American freelance journalist based in Beirut, Lebanon opened Tinder one afternoon looking for a date. He was met with F-16s and a fatal warning from the U.S. military.
Malekafzali told Task & Purpose that he opened the dating app and the ad, accompanied with the U.S. Central Command logo was waiting for him as a swipe option where other love interests would usually be. He posted photos of the ad on X.
The ad, written in Arabic, read: “Do not take arms against the US or its partners,” and “U.S. Central Command is fully prepared and ready with F-16 Fighting Falcons and A-10 Tondar Bolt supersonic fighter jets currently in the region.”
https://taskandpurpose.com/news/tinder-ad-centcom/
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