Please enjoy our newest podcast, the weekly Security Sprint, on Spotify, Apple, as well as other locations accessible via the Spotify for Podcasters link or almost anywhere you listen to your favorite podcasts.
Join the new Gate 15 Resilience and Intelligence Portal – the GRIP! and get our daily report, the SUN, TARGET reports, our ransomware digest, partner reports, and more – including our new Generative AI version of the SUN! Join the GRIP! Share the Gen AI SUN! Our new TLP:GREEN Gen AI version of the SUN highlights a few notable items from the complete SUN in a 3-4 minute video that can be easily shared and digested across your organization! An easy security win, you can share the Gen AI SUN as a daily security awareness update with your security teams and even across your entire team. Take the easy win!
On this week’s Security Sprint, Dave and Andy covered the following:
- Press Release! Gate 15 Partners with Cyware to Enhance Cybersecurity and Homeland Security Resilience. Gate 15’s Resilience and Intelligence Portal (GRIP) now leverages the robust capabilities available in Cyware’s Collaborate platform to provide the homeland security community with all-hazards technology-enhanced, human-driven analysis products. The GRIP enables security teams to adopt a threat-informed, risk-based approach to ensure that they and their organizations are aware of the latest threats, risks, best practices and ideas in resilience.
Main Topics
Physical Threats, Notable Dates:
- Pakistani National Charged for Plotting Terrorist Attack in New York City in Support of ISIS
- Man Plotted to Kill Jews in New York on Oct. 7 Anniversary, U.S. Says
- Man Arrested For Making Threats To Elected Officials
- Justice Department Announces Terrorism Charges Against Senior Leaders of Hamas
- U.S. charges Hamas leaders with terrorism, citing Oct. 7 attack
Terrorgram Arrests
- Leaders of Transnational Terrorist Group Charged with Soliciting Hate Crimes, Soliciting the Murder of Federal Officials, and Conspiring to Provide Material Support to Terrorists
- Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen Delivers Remarks Announcing Charges Against Leaders of Transnational Terrorist Group.
- Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke Delivers Remarks Announcing Charges Against Leaders of Transnational Terrorist Group.
- Feds say white supremacist leaders of “Terrorgram” group plotted assassinations, inspired attacks
- US says white supremacist group tried to incite followers on Telegram to spark race war
Influence Ops
- Justice Department Disrupts Covert Russian Government-Sponsored Foreign Malign Influence Operation Targeting Audiences in the United States and Elsewhere. The Justice Department today announced the ongoing seizure of 32 internet domains used in Russian government-directed foreign malign influence campaigns colloquially referred to as “Doppelganger,” in violation of U.S. money laundering and criminal trademark laws. As alleged in an unsealed affidavit, the Russian companies Social Design Agency (SDA), Structura National Technology (Structura), and ANO Dialog, operating under the direction and control of the Russian Presidential Administration, and in particular First Deputy Chief of Staff of the Presidential Executive Office Sergei Vladilenovich Kiriyenko, used these domains, among others, to covertly spread Russian government propaganda with the aim of reducing international support for Ukraine, bolstering pro-Russian policies and interests, and influencing voters in U.S. and foreign elections, including the U.S. 2024 Presidential Election… The affidavit describes the perpetrators’ own internal strategy meeting notes, project proposals, and other records obtained during the course of the investigation. Several notable propaganda project proposals directed against the United States included:
- Good Old USA Project: Attachments 8A, 8B
- The Guerilla Media Campaign: Attachments 9A, 9B
- U.S. Social Media Influencers Network Project: Attachments 10A, 10B (these three PDFs are very interesting and worth reviewing)
- Info Ops: ODNI – Election Security Update as of Early September. Foreign actors are increasing their election influence activities as we approach November. Click here for the update.
- Election Security Update as of Early September 2024 Foreign actors are increasing their election influence activities as we approach November. In particular, Russia, Iran, and China are trying by some measure to exacerbate divisions in U.S. society for their own benefit, and see election periods as moments of vulnerability. These actors most likely judge that amplifying controversial issues and divisive rhetoric can serve their interests by making the United States and its democratic system appear weak and by keeping the U.S. Government distracted with internal issues instead of pushing back on their hostile behavior in other parts of the world.
- No Efforts To Interfere in Conduct of Elections To date, the IC has not observed any foreign actor seeking to interfere in the conduct of the 2024 elections. The IC and our partners, however, continue to monitor foreign actors’ influence efforts, seeking to uncover any activities that could enable election interference, especially cyber or physical disruptions of election infrastructure. The interagency election security community assesses that it would be very difficult for a foreign actor to manipulate election processes at a large enough scale to impact the outcome of a federal election without detection by intelligence collection, post-election audits, or physical and cybersecurity monitoring of the decentralized and diverse election infrastructure across the country.
- Instead of interference, the IC assesses adversaries so far are focused on using information operations and propaganda to try to shape voter preferences or undermine confidence in the election. We continue to monitor adversaries’ efforts to cast doubt on the electoral process or claim that they have interfered in the process when they have not actually done SO, a tactic known as “perception hacking.”
- US seeks to reassure voters that presidential election will be safe. “Throughout the next few months, you are going to hear a lot of different things from different sources. The most important thing is to recognize the signal through the noise, the facts from the fiction,” said Jen Easterly, director of the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), which is responsible for election security. “Our elections process, election infrastructure has never been more secure, and the election stakeholder community has never been stronger,” Easterly said, briefing reporters Tuesday. “It’s why I have confidence in the integrity of our elections and why the American people should, as well.”
- Russia focusing on US social media stars to covertly influence voters
- Two RT Employees Indicted for Covertly Funding and Directing U.S. Company that Published Thousands of Videos in Furtherance of Russian Interests
- Treasury Takes Action as Part of a U.S. Government Response to Russia’s Foreign Malign Influence Operations
- Rewards for Justice: RaHDit
- Director Wray’s Remarks at U.S. Department of Justice Election Threats Task Force Meeting
- Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri Delivers Remarks at the Convening of the Election Threats Task Force
- AP: Right-wing influencers were duped to work for covert Russian influence operation, US says
- Conservative Podcasters Respond to Russian Influence Allegations
- The Record: US indicts two RT employees for alleged Russian disinformation effort
- CNN: Biden administration announces major actions to tackle Russian efforts to influence 2024 election
- YouTube terminating Tenet Media channel after US indictment
- TV Presenter Who Worked for Channel One Russia Charged with Violating U.S. Sanctions Imposed on Russia
- 2024’s triple threats on election disinformation
- Politico: Dance of the cyber superpowers (Russia and more)
- Baseless claim about Harris crash spread by mysterious website
- ‘Error’ causes Alexa to endorse Kamala Harris, refuse to discuss Trump
- TikTok: Continuing to protect the integrity of TikTok through the US elections
- Chinese State-Linked Influence Operation Spamouflage Masquerades as U.S. Voters to Push Divisive Online Narratives Ahead of 2024 Election
- US voters targeted by Chinese influence online, researchers say
- Activists Charged With Pushing Russian Propaganda Go on Trial in Florida
- AI-Fakes Detection Is Failing Voters in the Global South
- Activists Charged With Pushing Russian Propaganda Go on Trial in Florida
- Attorney General James Protects New Yorkers from AI-Created Election Misinformation
Quick Hits
- More Russia:
- Georgia: Apalachee High School Shooting:
- 14-Year-Old School Shooter Kills Four and Wounds Nine
- At least nine people were injured. Here’s what else to know.
- FBI Atlanta Statement on Incident at Apalachee High School
- What we know about the Georgia high school shooting
- Georgia students evacuated from hallway where deadly mass shooting took place — with killer’s gun still on the floor: chilling video
- Alleged mass shooter left class, asked to be let back in locked room before opening fire in Georgia high school massacre: student
- Georgia High School Received Threat Warning Of Shooting Before Gunman Opened Fire: Report
- Georgia school shooting: Suspect’s father arrested on charges including involuntary manslaughter
- Father of Teen Suspect Charged in Georgia School Shooting
- Georgia school-shooting suspect struggled with mental health, aunt says
- Georgia school shooter Colt Gray as his ‘obsession’ with Parkland massacre is revealed
- Georgia school shooting suspect Colt Gray’s broken homelife: A mom with multiple drug arrests and a dad who gave him an AR-15 for Christmas
- How Colt Gray’s Father Missed All the Warning Signs
- FBI Received Tips About The Georgia High School Shooter Last Year
- ASIS: Apalachee High School Shooting: What We Know
- Georgia Gunman Colt Gray Was ‘Ridiculed’ and Called Gay by Bullies at School
- Mother of Georgia suspect is said to have called school before shooting, warning of ‘emergency’
- Shooting suspect’s mom drove 200 miles to Winder, Georgia, after getting cryptic text the morning of the school attack
- Security alerts at Apalachee helped save lives, officials say
- Sextortion
Read more about Gate 15’s full podcast menu at our Podcast page. You can subscribe and enjoy all the Gate 15 Podcasts on Spotify for Podcasters, Apple, Spotify, as well as other locations accessible from the Spotify for Podcasters link. Week-to-week, you can hear and learn more about our all-hazards threats, risks, mitigation and other issues impacting homeland security risk management from our team as well as our regular and special guests. The full podcast menu includes:
- The Security Sprint is our weekly rundown of the week’s notable all-hazards security news, risks and threats and some of the key focus areas for organizations to consider behind the headlines. Gate 15 team members discuss physical security, cybersecurity, natural hazards, health threats and other issues across our environment.
- Nerd Out! Security Panel Discussion, moderated by Dave Pounder, focuses on physical security topics including terrorism, extremism, hostile events, and other pertinent topics.
- The Gate 15 Interview, is a monthly interview between Gate 15’s founder and Managing Director, Andy Jabbour and guests from throughout the homeland security risk management community addressing a wide range of all-hazards topics and issues.
- Venue Security, The IAVM Podcast Series is our newest podcast as Gate 15’s founder and Managing Director, Andy Jabbour hosts short interviews with venue safety and security experts from the International Association of Venue Managers’ (IAVM) Venue Safety and Security Committee (VSSC) and other special guests from the IAVM community.
- The Cybersecurity Evangelist, with Jennifer Lyn Walker, is a cybersecurity-focused discussion with Jen and invited guests. This is presently a Gate 15 special podcast and occasionally is updated on our Gate 15 podcast channel.
- The Risk Roundtable, was a monthly discussion among our team and occasional guests exploring the all-hazards threats and risks impacting the United States and internationally. This was suspended in September 2023.
We hope you’ll subscribe, listen and share your ideas and other feedback! Reach out to us on Threads, LinkedIn, via email at [email protected].