THE SPY WHO CAME IN FROM THE CHATBOT: Russia, China and Iran-linked operators are increasingly using commercial AI chatbots for intelligence and military work, according to Anthropic's new threat report. Anthropic says Russian operators used its Claude chatbot in a cyber-espionage campaign targeting military and diplomatic organizations, while Iran-linked operators used Claude to compile targeting handbooks on U.S. Navy forces in the Middle East, pulling together ship positions, military photos, transponder data and satellite imagery. Other users turned to the chatbot for drone and missile development. While it’s good that Anthropic is monitoring how state actors might be using the technology, it’s also alarming that the tech is able to do this kind of espionage work. It feels like the newest member of the intelligence team may have a password but no security clearance.
ONE THAT SLIPPED AWAY: As previously mentioned in the Dead Drop, U.S. and German officials pinned the explosive-laden drone found near a Ukrainian cargo plane at Leipzig/Halle Airport in August on Russia's GRU. Now, there's a suspect to go with the theory. According to Euronews, investigators have identified a man going by the name of Oleg Le as the operations logistics coordinator who is reportedly responsible for sourcing the drone and explosives and then scouting storage sites near the airport. Officials believe that Le entered Germany via Turkey, exited through Berlin-Brandenburg for a Serbian layover, and is now, unsurprisingly, back in Russia. German authorities reportedly already suspected his GRU ties when he crossed the border in the first place, which raises the question, why did they let him in?
THE COURT THAT SAT IDLE FOR THIRTY YEARS: Congress built the Alien Terrorist Removal Court in 1996 to fast-track the deportation of foreign nationals who were deemed terrorists, using classified evidence that a normal immigration judge couldn't see. Then, well, nobody used it. Six administrations and three decades later, the Justice Department finally announced that the court's first-ever defendant was an Afghan national and mother whose son and son-in-law were convicted of plotting an ISIS-inspired mass shooting on Election Day in 2024. The mom was accused of supporting the plot, and according to the Feds, conceded she was an "alien terrorist," waived her appeal, and was deported back to Afghanistan. Attorney General Todd Blanche called it a "win for national security and the rule of law." Apparently, it just took a while.
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