RSnake Report 20240915

Kursk battlefront, Iranian nukes, etc

Author

Robert RSnake Hansen
September 15, 2024

Table of Contents

Hello, and thanks for reading! I hope you are having a nice weekend. Lots going on in Ukraine and Russia, so let’s start there. There is a lot of talk about the approval of the use of UK Storm Shadows in Ukraine. But, Russia says this means NATO is directly involved. Putin himself explained that it is only possible to use with NATO's help via satellites and claimed that NATO soldiers have to enter the codes necessary for launch, and non-NATO soldiers cannot do it. I'm not sure if that’s correct without deep familiarity with the missile system, but he makes an interesting point if so. Critics say it is another red line he will do nothing about, and US Secretary Blinken may authorize it as well, but easing restrictions isn’t easing at all if they require US okay on targets, which they are unlikely to authorize.

“what Kyiv wants to target and why”

There is a lot of confusing news out of Kursk, including a potential counter offensive by Russian forces. But it appears it may be currently making little progress but on either side. One village has been quite battered and likely taken over on the western flank of Kursk. There is also there is a chance Ukraine is running a pincer move. It may be coming at a cost of advancement in Pokrovsk and perhaps the Kursk invasion is having the effect they wanted, just delayed. Pokrovsk columns or Russian forces are getting battered by Ukraine.

“Russian forces finally sacrifice Pokrovsk offensive to defend Kursk”

Out of all this, it seems there may be more info on why Kursk may have been more than just a ploy but strategically useful, too, due to how Shahed drones have been launched largely from the Kursk region. Owning this stretch of land may be useful for early detection and perhaps even preemptively destroying the launchers.

“Shahed Attack”

There is good news for Ukrainian self-sufficiency in ammunition manufacturing at least. Rounds being produced in-country, which reduces the reliance on Western support. The more of this, the less we have to ship there. One thing I noticed is that there is a lot of mines also being shipped in from other countries. That must be a nightmare for Russian EOD techs who have to be familiar with a huge array of Western munitions, not just a single country’s manufacturing. Ukraine even now has a remote-controlled kamikaze dog bomb.

“land mines”

A fuel train was destroyed in the Zaporishzhia region (one of many trains actually). This may be an another random fuel target, but another explanation is that it may be partially to due with degradation of motor transport forcing rail to get perilously closer to the front. One piece of evidence is the re-purposing of fuel to move it away from targets in the rear using fuel trucks which would make them unavailable to be used near the front. Further evidence is the use of drones to drop one bottle of water at a time to forward positions and the use of improvised hand carts that look like they’re made from luggage. That shouldn’t have been necessary if logistics were working as they should have been, so perhaps there is some truth to it.

“Bottles of water are encased in polyurethane “

Regarding energy, a Coke and Coke gas plant is on fire near Moscow. We also saw two big targets hit. The first was a tank refurbishment factory in Omsk, which was destroyed, which led to big conversations around the uncertain availability of Russian tanks. Second, an ammo warehouse in Portovsk was destroyed, which could impede getting ammo and air defense missiles to the front.

“available tanks”

There is more MOEX shrinkage as well, as bond sales are not going well and are far behind schedule. That’s pretty bad news for Russia, as no one seems to have faith that their economy will get out of this tailspin anytime soon. Part of me wonders if Putin wants it to go down significantly and then give his oligarch buddies a heads up when a peace deal is on the table to make them a lot of cash as it bounces back. The worse the MOEX gets in the short term, the better it would be for his cronies.

“it keeps dropping”

There was an interesting night video with thermite drone and Russian soldiers shooting at it. You can make out the tracer rounds. It brought up an interesting point. The huge light it causes - makes it easy to target, but it’s still difficult to hit. That may be because the light is below the drone, not the drone itself. It's hard to say, but it's an interesting video.

“tried to shoot down the dragon”

There have been more FPV strikes against the repair vehicles over the river Seym. As we’ve discussed in other newsletters, the race to the bottom has been interesting to watch as drones get cheaper. Defense also needs to get cheaper, too, and what’s more affordable than drones? Ammo. There was a good video of shooting down a Shahed with two small bursts of ammo from an AA gun.

Another new innovation on the Russian side is a new helmet-mounted FPV jamming helmet. First of all I bet this only works at close range. Second, if the FPV has a flight trajectory, it won’t matter if the detonator goes off on impact. But if there is even a slight improvement in FPVs that seek out “loud” RF signals, it might actually make it easier to find them.

There was an attack against an oil platform that happened that has a lot of propaganda being released on both sides, that Ukraine didn’t actually take the platform and that they lost personnel, but also a Russian jet was shot down in the process and there is clearly some damage to the oil platform.

“full video of the raid”

The one Russian fighter aircraft downed led me to look into the stealth capabilities of modern Russian jets, which are… bad. Here are a lot more photos. If this is the case, the Russian air-to-air combat capability is mainly worthless to modern F22 and F35s and their much more advanced stealth capabilities.

“Russia relies on the pure bluff”

In European news Sweden has decided to start paying immigrants $35k to remigrate back to wherever they came from. This is a weak way to manage the immigration crisis, but I still think it is interesting to watch the EU realize that a culture so alien to theirs is going to end up causing a lot of strife because little to no work is being done to make sure the people emigrating are integrated with Western Society and ideals.

In Southeast Asia, there was a light show with 8,100 drones in a swarm - the video is very cool. To think that a group this large couldn’t overwhelm any physical surface-to-air defenses of any naval vessels is insane. The best we can hope for is for EW to jam and possibly destroy their launch platform preemptively. My takeaway is that we are way behind on drones in the US.

“Impressive”

In a weird frenemy move, China has banned the auto industry from opening factories in Russia. The CCP knows better than anyone how untrustworthy the Russians government is now. It goes beyond corruption to actual need, where the government is not above nationalization at any moment should they see the need, and auto-manufacturing is easily duel-purposed into war-fighting equipment.

Onto the Middle East, where the Sounion salvage operation has restarted, but this time with a small fleet of EU-led surface ships. More details here on the Italian, French and Greek warships. It does bring to question the asymmetrical effort to protect and salvage any shipping in the Red Sea. To this point, there was an interesting interview about the topic where a top UK official basically said out loud that the Houthis are winning and the West is losing in the Red Sea. If that’s true, shipping is doomed in that region, and all costs will rise for anyone transiting as they have to choose alternate routes.

In the West Bank, the IDF announced that they had defeated the Rafah brigade of Hamas. So it seems as if the invasion worked, at least sort of. The Israelis are still being protested the world over, but this tactical victory must feel good. When I speak with Israelis on the ground, they say that the missile attacks from Hamas in Gaza have diminished dramatically, so that is a good sign.

Lebanon, on the other hand, is still quite active, as we are seeing several aids against Bint Jbeil and Galilee and Safed. 60 rockets were fired by Hezbollah in one sortie alone. From this, there was yet another amazing video of Iron dome in action. It is no wonder the Israelis think so highly of it. It’s obvious how well it works when you look at footage like this.

“Beautiful…”

Meanwhile, Iran has just launched a 60kg research satellite into orbit. Apparently, it is the second of its kind. There is more detail here. Obviously, this is a tad worrying since they are not above terroristic activity. Space junk tends to make more space junk, and there is a point at which even a small amount of weapons in space could make space unusable for centuries as 30k mile-per-hour space debris rips through orbit. It’s unclear if they want to use this for spy satellites or weapons, but it is certainly not good for Western interests.

“Iran successfully launched its research satellite”

This comes at the same time that it has been announced that Russia is aiding Iran in their nuclear program. More detail here. This likely comes at the cost of more missiles that Russia can use against Ukraine as payment. It’s rather disturbing and does not make nuclear non-proliferation treaties seem even more important. It’s not that the nation will misuse them, but if they use nuclear secrets to barter in times of need, we will now have terrorist financiers with the nuclear option.

In domestic news, there has been a lot of news from the Republicans about the debate, mainly because it is alleged that it was unfair how the moderators fact-checked Trump but not Harris. So there have been a lot of cat memes about some of Trump’s comments about Haitians from both sides and also military memes fact-checking Harris. To Trump’s long-term point there were reported voter issues in Oregon where the DMV was registering illegal aliens. Whether true or not, we will likely see more of this rhetoric and reporting leading up to November’s election.

“DMV has admitted to registering at least hundreds of non-citizens to vote”

In a world where every shipping container is suspect and every container ship can defend itself with long-range missiles, it is worth taking a look at this report. This is the world we are heading into. I see no reason we won’t need this on every shipping vessel in the future if countries start attacking shipping more regularly. For their part, the US military is now considering using Morse code flashers to communicate when all ships deny all radio frequencies. This came out the same day the new USS New Jersey rolled out.

“commissioned today”

In tech news, a rogue whois server was set up that was able to redirect a lot of records to a great number of domains for a mobile TLD. It affected .mobi-hosted domains, specifically, which are used for a large number of mobile apps.

In the “code isn’t a moat” world, Klarna just eliminated all their SaaS providers. Salesforce, Workday, etc. It turns out it’s cheaper to build those things than use them. That should worry many SaaS providers who provide virtually nothing but platforms. Their platforms aren’t defensible anymore without unique data. Things like this and economic softening are causing more layoffs. For instance, the WSJ just announced PWC is laying off 1,800 employees.

Okay, onto the articles!

Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza Strip resulted in at least 14 fatalities, following the funeral of Turkish-American activist Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, who was killed by Israeli fire.

  • Israeli airstrikes in Gaza have caused multiple casualties.

  • Diplomatic efforts are ongoing to reach a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas.

China's military condemned the passage of a German navy replenishment ship through the Taiwan Strait, saying it increased security risks and sent the wrong signal.

  • China's military condemned the passage of a German navy replenishment ship through the Taiwan Strait.

  • The Taiwan Strait is considered an international waterway by the US and Taiwan, but China claims it as Chinese waters.

  • Taiwan's coast guard said it had again sent ships to monitor and warn away Chinese maritime police vessels.

  • China's defense ministry rebuked a previous statement from Taiwan's government saying they believe China lacks the ability to fully invade Taiwan due to equipment shortages.

Venezuelan authorities have detained six individuals, including three Americans, over allegations of plotting an attack on President Nicolas Maduro. The arrests occur amidst heightened tensions between Venezuela and Western powers following a disputed presidential election. Tensions have escalated with the US recalling its ambassador to Madrid for consultations and Spain summoning the Venezuelan envoy after accusations of fraud.

  • Six individuals, including three Americans, were detained by Venezuelan authorities over allegations of plotting an attack on President Nicolas Maduro.

  • The arrests occurred amidst heightened tensions between Venezuela and Western powers following a disputed presidential election.

  • Tensions escalated with the US recalling its ambassador to Madrid for consultations and Spain summoning the Venezuelan envoy after accusations of fraud.

This whole regime is worth watching - it’s a microcosm of what happens to Western countries when they get infected by socialist regimes.

Russia has expelled six British diplomats it accuses of spying, with the UK calling the move 'completely baseless'. Tensions are escalating as Britain considers Ukraine's request to use Western-supplied weapons to strike targets inside Russia.

  • Russia has expelled six British diplomats it accuses of spying

  • The UK calls the move 'completely baseless' and linked to its action in May to revoke the credentials of an attaché at the Russian Embassy

  • Tensions are escalating as Britain considers Ukraine's request to use Western-supplied weapons to strike targets inside Russia

They are lucky they only got expelled. It could have been reasonable to use them for future prisoner exchanges.

The US Navy awards a contract worth up to $587.4 million for custom tactical jamming pods designed to modernize its aerial electronic attack capability, and L3Harris Technologies will deliver eight operational prototype pods over the next five years.

  • The US Navy's current system is being replaced with a more advanced airborne electronic warfare system designed to modernize its aerial electronic attack capability.

  • The new system, developed by L3Harris Technologies, will have increased jamming capability and be more accessible to maintain than the current system through a modular, open-system architecture that enables seamless upgrades.

  • The system will operate with joint and allied forces to provide growth capacity for future technology integration to stay ahead of adversarial capabilities.

It turns out that future wars will be electronically denied. Perhaps it is a good idea to start working on fiberoptic and laser communications since nothing else is likely to work. Reminder: You must encrypt those connections with pre-shared keys.

Iran is nearing the point where it can produce a nuclear weapon, raising security concerns for the United States and its allies. The urgency of the situation is underscored by the lack of a clear strategy from current U.S. leadership or presidential candidates to address this escalating threat.

  • Iran is on the brink of producing a nuclear weapon, which poses a direct threat to U.S. national security and credibility.

  • The next U.S. administration will face immediate challenges in formulating a strategy to prevent Iran's nuclear ambitions.

With Russia helping them, I wouldn’t be surprised if they have already achieved everything they need to do, aside from assembly. I expect a solid proactive reaction from Israel.

The House Committee on Homeland Security has found significant cybersecurity and national security vulnerabilities in U.S. ports due to the dominance of Chinese-made container cranes, particularly those manufactured by Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industries (ZPMC), a Chinese state-owned enterprise with ties to the Chinese Communist Party.

  • Chinese-made container cranes pose significant cybersecurity and national security risks due to their dominance in U.S. ports, particularly those manufactured by ZPMC.

  • ZPMC's ties to the Chinese Communist Party and defense contracting create potential vulnerabilities for exploitation in conflicts, especially regarding Taiwan.

  • Alternative crane manufacturers have connections to China, which could expose them to supply-chain disruptions or pressure.

Those container cranes have been a long-term issue, with them dominating the market, but also being able to be controlled by China. Honestly, we’re so behind on this matter. I won’t propose policy decisions here, but so far, we’ve done nothing of substance to prevent it.

North Korea has revealed a uranium enrichment facility, amid heightened tensions on the Korean peninsula, with leader Kim Jong Un inspecting the site and calling for increased production.

  • The South Korean government strongly condemns the North's plans to increase production.

  • Experts believe the move is meant to boast of its nuclear development and signal that its weapons program is irreversible.

Russian forces have recaptured settlements in the Kursk region, pushing Ukrainian troops back and disrupting their supply lines. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky has confirmed that Russia had launched a counteroffensive in line with their own plan, and analysts say it is unclear what the size or scale of the Russian counterattacks are.

  • Russian forces have recaptured settlements in the Kursk region.

  • Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky has confirmed that Russia had launched a counteroffensive in line with their own plan.

  • Russia continues to seize villages in eastern Ukraine and is closing in on the strategic town of Pokrovsk.

Be careful with this reporting. The situation around Kursk is very dynamic, and we’ll see a large number of Russian troops moving from Pokrovsk to Kursk.

Multiple countries have condemned an Israeli airstrike in Gaza that killed U.N. workers and civilians, with the U.N. and Britain denouncing the attack as 'appalling' and 'horrifying'. The strike targeted a school turned shelter where thousands of displaced people were living. Israel has claimed the site was being used as a command center for Hamas fighters.

  • An Israeli airstrike in Gaza killed U.N. workers and civilians, with the Palestinian authorities reporting 18 deaths.

  • The United Nations and Britain have condemned the attack, calling it 'appalling' and 'horrifying'.

  • Israel has claimed that the targeted school was being used as a command center for Hamas fighters.

As a reminder, Hamas has used many civilian areas as bases, so while this might be true, there could also be strong evidence of hiding amongst their people. Using civilians as human shields never seems to get condemned by the press for some reason. 🤔 But here is another article where an Israeli strike killed 18 people including UN personnel. My question is, why was it targeted? That question never seems to get asked, but instead asks why the UNWRA is being targeted while forgetting UNWRA was aiding Hamas. Not that the IDF is above mistakes, but they aren’t typically careless and have no incentive to kill innocents as it’s a PR nightmare any time it happens.

Russian forces attacked Konotop in Sumy Oblast with Shahed UAVs, injuring 14 civilians and causing extensive destruction. The attack targeted residential buildings, educational institutions, and medical facilities. Emergency services are addressing the aftermath of the airstrike.

  • Russian forces attacked Konotop in Sumy Oblast with Shahed UAVs.

  • 14 civilians were injured and extensive destruction was caused by the attack.

U.S. prosecutors have indicted two members of a neo-Nazi group, the Terrorgram Collective, for allegedly inciting and planning acts of terrorism, including violence against federal officials and ethnic groups.

  • The Terrorgram Collective members are accused of inspiring and planning violent attacks.

  • The U.S. government is adapting its legal strategies to enhance the crackdown on domestic terrorism.

This is one of the few examples of where white nationalism is a real threat, and it needs to be called out and stopped. But as a percentage of the places in the world where terrorism is being enacted, it barely registers.

China is advising its automakers to retain advanced electric vehicle technology domestically while expanding manufacturing globally to avoid tariffs. The government is implementing measures to ensure that key production components remain within the country, which might impact automakers' expansion efforts abroad as they face competition and regulations in international markets.

  • China is encouraging local assembly of electric vehicles in foreign markets to mitigate tariffs.

  • Chinese automakers face challenges in global expansion due to government directives on production localization.

Specifically, avoid Russia. At all costs. The CCP isn’t stupid. They know their bedfellows to their north are corrupt, intemperate, and dangerous.

Thousands of people have been waiting for over a year for the return of hostages, including Hersh Goldberg Polin, who was recently murdered in captivity.

  • A hostage crisis has dragged on for over a year with no resolution.

  • Six hostages were recently murdered, including Hersh Goldberg Polin.

Rockets are being fired at northern Israel from Lebanon, with over 100 projectiles launched in the past two weeks. The Israeli Air Force has struck Hezbollah military sites in response.

  • Hezbollah has fired an average of around 100 projectiles and drones daily at communities along the border and elsewhere across the north.

  • The Israeli Air Force has struck Hezbollah military sites in Kharayeb, Ayta ash Shab, Houla, and Marwahin in response to the rocket attacks.

  • Israel is preparing for a potential third war with Lebanon, with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant warning IDF soldiers on Israel's northern border that they are about to complete preparations for action across the border.

A SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule successfully returned to Earth after completing the Polaris Dawn mission, which included the first-ever commercial spacewalk and a record-breaking orbital distance. The mission, led by billionaire Jared Isaacman, involved conducting experiments on the effects of weightlessness and radiation, and tested technologies for future space exploration, including advanced spacesuits and laser communications with Starlink satellites.

  • The Polaris Dawn mission marked significant milestones in private spaceflight.

  • This mission is part of a series aimed at advancing technology for potential Mars exploration.

Congrats to the SpaceX team. That’s a big step, and likely the first of many space tourism missions as well as making it easier to maintain and fix spacecraft that must endure months transiting from here to Mars.

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/15/us/spacex-polaris-dawn-landing.html



There have been advancements in generative artificial intelligence, leading to a lack of intrinsically verifiable explanations for what happens when large language models learn. A new backdoor attack called MarketBackFinal 2.0 has been developed, which targets vulnerabilities in speech-based transformers that may rely on these models. This attack exploits acoustic data poisoning and modern stock market models.

  • Generative artificial intelligence advancements have led to a lack of understanding for what happens when large language models learn.

  • A new backdoor attack called MarketBackFinal 2.0 has been developed, targeting vulnerabilities in speech-based transformers that may rely on these models.

  • The attack exploits acoustic data poisoning and modern stock market models.

For years, I’ve been saying we need a forensically secured version of an LLM that can report every decision made on every transformer and explain any answer it made. I was called out by a researcher at the White House, claiming such a thing was impossible. Sorry, buddy, it isn’t. Any transformer can report back what weights it used, what decision was made, and what snapshot of data it was reading from at the time. It’s a lot of data, yes, but during debugging, it’s super useful to know why any decision was made. Similar paper on more novel attacks here, all just confirming my point that we need better logging.

OpenAI has announced a new version of its ChatGPT model called o1, which can perform complex reasoning in math, science, and coding tasks. This development indicates a broader trend among tech companies like Google and Meta, which are also advancing their own AI capabilities. Microsoft is working to integrate this new system into its products, demonstrating the competitive landscape of AI technologies.

  • OpenAI unveiled the o1 version of ChatGPT, capable of complex reasoning tasks.

  • Competing companies are aligning to enhance their AI technologies, indicating increasing investment in this sector.

There have been a lot of attacks against it too, causing it to go into recursion or waste tokens outputting basically nothing.

Cohost, a social media platform aiming to rival X (formerly Twitter), is shutting down due to a lack of funding and user growth. The company reported having only 30,000 monthly active users and a shortfall in subscription revenue, leading to its inability to sustain operations.

  • Cohost launched in June 2022 and operated similarly to Twitter, offering a chronological feed and focusing on long-form posts.

  • The company cited burnout and financial issues, with control of the source code set to be transferred to its primary funder.

Many social media companies aren’t surviving. Government regulations around the world are making it riskier and less lucrative to run them.

A startup named Reverion has developed a carbon-negative power plant that uses agricultural waste to generate energy, achieving up to 80% more efficiency than conventional biogas plants. The company recently secured $62 million in Series A funding, enabling it to begin industrial-scale production, and aims to provide new revenue streams for farmers by allowing them to sell captured CO2. Reverion's technology is also designed to help comply with environmental regulations more easily compared to traditional biogas solutions.

  • Reverion's power plant can produce renewable natural gas and green hydrogen, making it highly efficient.

  • The company has a $100 million backlog of orders and aims to support farmers and industrial plants.

It sounds like a shitty idea, 😆 but it does have the benefit of not requiring nuclear fuel and is likely far easier to get permits for.

A new autonomous rover named MosquitoMiner has been developed to detect and eliminate mosquito breeding sites, addressing the urgent health threats posed by mosquito-borne diseases. Utilizing advanced object and obstacle detection, the rover autonomously navigates predefined paths to identify and treat breeding grounds with chemical agents, enhancing the efficiency of mosquito control.

  • The rover employs autonomous control strategies to improve efficiency in mosquito population management.

  • It utilizes a custom dataset for navigation and effective elimination of mosquito breeding sites.

I still want the laser that shoots them out of the air. Bill Gates promised us lasers.

Microsoft and Quantinuum achieved a significant milestone by successfully creating 12 highly reliable logical qubits and performing a hybrid end-to-end chemistry simulation using HPC, AI, and quantum computing. This represents a major step towards quantum advantage, wherein quantum computers can solve complex problems that classical computers struggle with. Additionally, Microsoft announced a new project with Atom Computing to develop a powerful quantum machine, which will be available on Azure.

  • Microsoft and Quantinuum created 12 reliable logical qubits and performed a chemistry simulation.

  • This marks a significant step towards achieving quantum advantage.

  • Microsoft plans to integrate these advancements into its Azure Quantum computing platform.

Okay, but we need 1024 for the weakest modern crypto. So, we still have a long way to go if this is indeed the state of the art. I have reason to believe it’s not, but maybe they have fewer decoherence problems, making it more reliable and faster to reset.

The implementation of robotic process automation (RPA) is rapidly increasing in the business sector, with the market projected to grow significantly over the next decade.

  • The RPA market is expected to reach a growth rate of 25.7% annually from 2024 to 2033.

  • RPA implementation has allowed companies to save significant employee workdays and improve operational efficiency.

This means fewer jobs in those low-value jobs. I, too, want robots for menial yet important tasks like dishes, lawn mowing, folding clothes, etc. Some of that increases my scale. But all of it requires lots of power, so we need to invest in energy.

Hackers are exploiting two critical vulnerabilities in the WhatsUp Gold network monitoring solution, allowing them to retrieve encrypted passwords without authentication and establish persistence on compromised systems by deploying remote access tools.

  • Hackers have been leveraging publicly available exploit code for two critical vulnerabilities in WhatsUp Gold, which allow retrieving encrypted passwords without authentication.

  • Despite the vendor addressing the security issues more than two weeks ago, many organizations still have to update the software, and threat actors are capitalizing on the delay.

  • Hackers are using WhatsUp Gold's legitimate Active Monitor PowerShell Script functionality to run multiple PowerShell scripts via NmPoller.exe, retrieved from remote URLs, and deploying various remote access tools (RATs) through MSI packages.

Malicious actors could have executed arbitrary code, accessed sensitive data, or taken over victim accounts due to XSS vulnerabilities in Gallup's website. These weaknesses are concerning heading into a US election season already being targeted by misinformation. Cybersecurity researchers flagged the issues and Gallup quickly patched them.

  • Gallup's website had XSS vulnerabilities that could have allowed malicious actors to execute arbitrary code, access sensitive data, or take over victim accounts.

  • Cybersecurity researchers flagged the issues and Gallup quickly patched them before the start of the US election season.

I used to joke about what would happen if we just let TMZ run our polls for us. At least they can secure a website. But yes, this is critical that we get in front of. I got brought into a situation where I had to assess a voter registration system in California that had SQL injection on the login form. It’s a mess out there.

Microsoft has released an update for Windows 11 that addresses four zero-day vulnerabilities and 79 security flaws. This update also includes improvements to system features and device management, reflecting ongoing efforts to enhance security and user experience for Windows users.

  • Microsoft's September Patch Tuesday includes fixes for critical security vulnerabilities.

  • The update features improvements to user interface and device functionality.

Make sure you patch up if you use Windows. More info from them.

In 2023, cryptocurrency scams increased by nearly 50%, resulting in over $5.6 billion in reported losses, the highest ever. The FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center received more than 69,000 complaints, with investment fraud being the most prevalent type of scam.

  • Cryptocurrency scams caused over $5.6 billion in losses in 2023.

  • Investment fraud was the largest category of cryptocurrency scams, with significant losses reported among individuals aged 60 and above.

A collaboration of cybercriminals has been identified, involving English-speaking hackers from the U.S. and Britain working with Russian ransomware gangs, resulting in significant cyberattacks such as the shutdown of major casinos in Las Vegas. Additionally, there is a growing concern over online groups that are targeting vulnerable teens, engaging in harassment, extortion, and encouraging self-harm, with law enforcement responding by increasingly treating these crimes as domestic terrorism.

  • Cybercriminals are collaborating internationally, specifically between English-speaking hackers and Russian ransomware groups.

  • There is a worrying trend of online groups extorting and manipulating young people, leading to severe psychological and physical harm.

Threat actors have infected over 1.3 million TV streaming boxes running Android with a Vo1d backdoor malware, allowing them to take full control of the devices. The malware campaign uses scripts for persistence and to launch the malware on boot, modifying operating system files and downloading executables when commanded by the C&C server. The largest number of infected devices were detected in Brazil, Morocco, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Russia, Argentina, Ecuador, Tunisia, Malaysia, Algeria, and Indonesia.

  • Threat actors have infected over 1.3 million TV streaming boxes running Android with a Vo1d backdoor malware.

  • The malware campaign uses scripts for persistence and to launch the malware on boot, modifying operating system files and downloading executables when commanded by the C&C server.

A Ukrainian startup founded during the war is developing services to help businesses counter-disinformation by analyzing open-source data and identifying harmful narratives. Russian politicians have accused various companies of false activities, causing reputational damage and financial losses. The market for fighting misinformation is expected to grow rapidly, with enterprises projected to spend over $500bn by 2028.

  • A Ukrainian startup founded during the war is developing services to help businesses counter-disinformation by analyzing open-source data and identifying harmful narratives.

  • Russian politicians have accused various companies of false activities, causing reputational damage and financial losses.

  • The market for fighting misinformation is expected to grow rapidly, with enterprises projected to spend over $500bn by 2028.

Propaganda groups are fighting other propaganda groups. We live in a post-truth world. But seriously, how do I believe Ukraine over Russia or Russia over Ukraine since they both hide information at a minimum or outright lie? Hunter Biden’s laptop and the Burisma affair were a good examples. I don’t trust anyone to curate the truth for me. There are too many broken incentives.

Researchers have found ways to escalate attacks against RAG-based inference in scale and severity using jailbreaking, allowing attackers to extract data and compromise entire GenAI ecosystems. This can lead to widespread damage and confidentiality breaches within GenAI-powered applications. Various methods of extraction and propagation are being explored and evaluated for potential vulnerabilities.

  • Attackers can escalate RAG membership inference attacks and entity extraction attacks to document extraction attacks, forcing a more severe outcome.

  • Attackers can extract 80%-99.8% of data stored in a database used by the RAG of a Q&A chatbot.

  • Attackers can escalate the scale of RAG data poisoning attacks from compromising a single application to compromising the entire GenAI ecosystem, forcing a greater scale of damage.

This is pretty cool, as there is unintentionally a lot of susceptible information in those RAGs. This means that companies will have to be much more careful about what they put into RAGs, cleaning out any internally sensitive data, such as passwords, API keys, private repos, source code, etc. That’s a big task and unlikely to be something most companies will have the time to do. That leads me to believe we need to “promote” some data to the RAG rather than scrape arbitrarily.

The US Army has selected QuSecure's post-quantum cryptography suite for a project to enhance tactical networks. The contract aims to provide a quantum-resilient solution for the US Government to protect its digital assets from classical, AI, and quantum computing threats.

  • The US Army has selected QuSecure's post-quantum cryptography suite for a project to enhance tactical networks.

  • The contract aims to provide a quantum-resilient solution for the US Government to protect its digital assets from classical, AI, and quantum computing threats.

  • QuSecure has won several awards in the past two years to address pressing PQC challenges faced by the US Government.

Thirty-three thousand union members at Boeing factories on the West Coast have gone on strike after rejecting a pay offer, halting production of several aircraft. The strike is the first by Boeing workers since 2008 and comes amid the company's struggles to regain its footing following fatal crashes of the 737 Max. Production delays and financial losses are expected as a result.

  • Union members at Boeing factories on the West Coast have gone on strike after rejecting a pay offer

  • The strike is halting production of several aircraft, including the best-selling 737 MAX

  • The strike is the first by Boeing workers since 2008 and comes amid the company's struggles to regain its footing following fatal crashes of the 737 Max

Ugh, more bad news for Boeing. As if it wasn’t already a dumpster fire. How they allowed unions to take control of their company is a bit beyond me. I wouldn’t be surprised if they end up needing someone else to come in, clean the house, and start almost from scratch.

Australia's startup scene has delivered the 3rd-highest liquidity behind the U.S. and China, new analysis shows, with a unique combination of talent and capital fueling a thriving pool of capital-efficient companies.

  • Australia has exceeded expectations as a startup hub, producing world-class companies at an accelerating pace.

  • The country's talent and capital have converged to create a competitive advantage for Australian startups with global ambitions.

  • Australian managers are now showing world-class liquidity generated by capital-efficient companies operating at a global scale, attracting the attention of sophisticated Limited Partners (LPs).

Go Auzzie go. I like to see this growth. They have quite a lot of talent there, and I have seen a number of very smart startups burst forth from that region, so I am not surprised.

China's venture capital market is experiencing a significant decline, with the number of startups founded dropping from over 51,000 in 2018 to just over 1,200 in 2023. This downturn is attributed to a combination of economic pressures, government crackdowns on the technology sector, and a loss of confidence among investors, leading many to withdraw their support for new ventures.

  • The number of startups in China has dramatically decreased due to economic challenges and regulatory pressures.

  • Venture capital firms are increasingly struggling to recover investments and are having to enforce stricter terms on new startups.

I think the VC world knows that they aren’t getting their money’s worth, and on top of that, it is a weak climate for investing anyway due to threats of war, inflation, and high interest rates. It’s not a great time to raise money generally in almost any sphere. That said, they are particularly dangerous for investors due to the CCP. This is their own doing. But the CCP can invest all they want into their own innovators, if they want. Nothing is stopping them.

The global supply chain is experiencing a soft freight market with excess capacity and low rates due to decreased consumer spending. However, signs indicate that the market may soon tighten as inventories return to normal levels and interest rate cuts could support increased economic activity. As a result, shippers must prepare for future market shifts by investing in strategic carrier partnerships.

  • The soft freight market is characterized by excess capacity and low rates due to decreased consumer spending.

  • Signs indicate that the market may soon tighten as inventories return to normal levels and interest rate cuts could support increased economic activity.

  • Shippers must prepare for future market shifts by investing in strategic carrier partnerships.

I sure hope this is true, because that will ease inflation a bit. Weakened supply drives up costs. Of course we keep printing money…. so…

Jerome Powell, the Federal Reserve chair, is approaching the end of his term set to expire on May 15, 2026. His tenure has been marked by unprecedented economic challenges, including a global pandemic, surging inflation, and significant monetary interventions, all while navigating the complex interplay between employment and price stability.

  • Jerome Powell's term as chair of the Federal Reserve expires on May 15, 2026.

  • His leadership has involved managing a range of economic crises and significant monetary policy interventions.

It's probably a good thing. It was a disastrous run. Yellen should be out, too.

Recent Census Bureau data reveals that the average American household income has fallen by $1,221 adjusted for inflation since 2019, with a notable increase in the percentage of households earning less than $10,000. The number of Americans living in poverty has also risen significantly, from 38.3 million in 2019 to 42.8 million in 2023, even with government assistance. Rental costs have surged, marking the largest annual increase since at least 2011, putting additional financial strain on families.

  • Average household income in the U.S. has decreased by $1,221 in real terms since 2019.

  • The poverty rate has increased from 38.3 million in 2019 to 42.8 million in 2023.

  • Rental costs have experienced the largest annual increase since at least 2011.

Household income is down, inflation is up, and supply is weakened. This is not a great combination when combined with rising debt. At this rate, the bubble has to pop at some point unless something huge happens to massively upend our industrial base—like war.

Commercial shipping is facing significant disruptions due to Houthi attacks in the Red Sea, which have led vessels to take longer routes, and reduced capacity in the Panama Canal due to low water levels. Shipping costs have risen dramatically, with a 274% increase in container rates since the pandemic, prompting businesses to adopt bulk shipping and consolidation strategies for cost efficiency and improved compliance with international regulations.

  • Houthi attacks are impacting shipping routes and costs.

  • Bulk shipping strategies are becoming essential for businesses to navigate rising costs and complexities in international trade.

At this rate, I wouldn’t be surprised if it went far higher than that.

A major bitcoin mining facility is being constructed in Corsicana, Texas, which is set to become the largest of its kind globally. This project is generating significant local opposition over concerns about environmental impact and quality of life, especially regarding energy consumption and noise levels associated with bitcoin mining operations. While supporters argue it will bring jobs and economic growth, many residents are voicing their frustrations through protests and legal action.

  • Corsicana, Texas, is facing controversy over the construction of the world's largest bitcoin mining facility.

  • Local residents are protesting due to concerns about noise, environmental impact, and the strain on local resources.

In 2024, there has been a significant wave of layoffs in the tech industry, with over 60,000 jobs cut across 254 companies during the year. Major companies, including Tesla, Amazon, and Microsoft, are among those affected, as many firms are restructuring or prioritizing automation and AI to navigate a challenging economic environment.

  • Over 60,000 tech jobs have been eliminated in 2024.

  • Major companies are restructuring in response to economic challenges and the rise of AI.

Just a reminder, we were told 2023 was the year of the layoff, and there wouldn’t be more in 2024. We cannot trust anyone to know the future on this, but likely, more belt-tightening around the dinner table will translate to less spending elsewhere in the economy, leading to hard decisions in the board room.

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