LASER FOCUS: Cape Canaveral has a new answer for drones that wander where they shouldn't: lasers. According to The War Zone, the Space Force is adding a directed-energy weapon to the counter-drone defenses at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, which launches rockets for SpaceX, United Launch Alliance and Blue Origin along with some decidedly sensitive national-security payloads. Col. Brian Chatman, commander of Space Launch Delta 45, told Florida Today that the system can do "a kinetic kill" against drones entering the area. The laser reportedly joins a radio-frequency jamming system and sensor-fusion software already being installed. Officials haven't named the laser or said when it will be switched on. But it feels like the need is real. Neighboring Port Canaveral logged 500 unauthorized drone flights last year, and just over a week ago, a Chinese tourist pleaded guilty to flying a drone over restricted airspace at Kennedy Space Center and filming the place.
CELL SERVICE: Twenty-two-year-old former Army soldier Cameron Wagenius reportedly knows his way around a phone network. While on active duty in 2024, he went by "Kiberphant0m" online, stole call and text records for more than 100 million AT&T customers, hit Verizon and other telecom companies and tried to extort them. On Friday, the Justice Department announced he'd been sentenced to 70 months in federal prison and ordered to pay $294,978 in restitution. DOJ also says he tried to sell stolen data to a foreign intelligence service, though it didn't say which one. The stranger story is how he spent his time in jail while waiting to be sentenced. Krebs on Security says the government's sentencing memo claims Wagenius borrowed other inmates' email accounts to get people on the outside to ask an AI chatbot for ready-made hacking tools, apparently while trying to find holes in the Bureau of Prisons' own computer systems. He also reportedly sought instructions for building an antenna out of commissary items to improve radio reception, and asked for research on escaping prison. He said he was just doing research for a book he was writing. Prosecutors say they have no evidence he exploited anything while in the lockup.
ONE MORE LAYER, PLEASE: The Pentagon has reportedly found a fix for too much bureaucracy: a new office. On Friday, the Department launched the Force Agility and Streamlining Team, or FAST, to hunt down duplicate programs, unnecessary administrative systems, and wasteful spending. According to The Washington Times, the team will report to Pentagon Chief Financial Officer Jules Hurst. The founding memo (signed six weeks earlier) from Deputy Secretary Steve Feinberg describes FAST as the foundation of "an enduring institutional mechanism." It will be run by its own Director, who reports to Hurst, and Hurst's office will provide direction, oversight, and administrative support. So, the fight against bureaucracy now has a director, an oversight chain, and administrative support. Hurst says "success will be measured by results, not by another layer of process." The department didn't say how big FAST will be or what authority it will have.
NAVAL CRIME WAVE: Back in April, the Dead Drop told you that CBS had announced yet another spinoff of their NCIS series. We had a hard time believing it – but it looks like its true. The new entry NCIS: New York debuts on October 6. This will make eight NCIS branded series…the original which debuted in 2003 – followed by a bunch more. According to our count –there have been 1,124 episodes aired – across 53 seasons of television. If you wanted to binge watch all of them and spent eight hours a day doing so, it would take you until Ground Hog Day to finish. Of course, by that time they will have aired more episodes and perhaps created more spin offs.
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