6:00 PM ET, Wednesday, October 11, 2023
The Cipher Brief curates open source information from around the world that impacts national security. Here's a look at today's headlines, broken down by region of the world:
ISRAEL AND HAMAS WAR
Israel’s military says the Hamas attacks killed 1,200 in Israel and wounded another 2,700. Gaza’s Health Ministry says at least 1,100 Palestinians have been killed and another 5,539 wounded in retaliatory Israeli air strikes on the Gaza Strip. Israeli security forces say they killed at least 27 Palestinians in clashes in the occupied West Bank since Saturday.
A U.S. State Department spokesperson said at least 22 Americans were killed by Hamas attacks on Israel.
Hamas’ armed wing, the Al Qassam Brigades, says it is still fighting inside Israel. The Israeli military, which has deployed forces around Gaza in possible preparation for a ground operation into the territory, said an Israeli tank killed three militants near Nir Am kibbutz, just outside northeast Gaza. An Israeli military spokesperson added that the “operating capability” of Hamas has been “substantially damaged” due to Israeli airstrikes targeting senior Hamas officials. ABC News CNN NBC News New York Times Reuters
Israel Forms Emergency Unity Government. Prime Minister Benjamin Netenyahu and former defense minister and opposition party leader Benny Gantz have agreed to form an emergency unity government in response to the ongoing war with Hamas. An emergency “war management cabinet” will include Netanyahu, Gantz, and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, as well as former Israeli Defense Force chief of staff Gadi Eizencot, and current Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer. Opposition leader Yair Lapid is also able to join the unity government and war cabinet. The unity government will only last until the end of the war with Hamas. Netanyahu and Gantz added that no new judicial reform legislation will be discussed in the Knesset during the war. Reuters New York Times Al Jazeera Axios Times of Israel
Northern Israel Air Sirens Go Off in Apparent Malfunction. An Israeli Military spokesperson said that sirens that went off in northern Israel suggesting a possible attack from Lebanon were false and that the alerts were an apparent malfunction. The spokesperson said “there is no security incident” in northern Israel and there were no reports of strikes or attacks suggesting an aerial infiltration from Lebanon. Israeli forces are still investigating the incident, as well as reports of drones in the area. Hezbollah and other Palestinian factions in Lebanon have claimed responsibility for rocket attacks and border clashes at Israel’s northern border with Lebanon over the past few days. New York Times CNN ABC News New York Times
Top U.S. General Says Unlikely Other Israeli Adversaries to Join War. General. C.Q. Brown, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said on Wednesday that he is “not seeing any indications” that other Israeli adversaries will move against Israel following the Hamas attack. He added that Israel believes U.S. changes to its force posture in the region — including the movement of the U.S.S. Gerald Ford Carrier Strike Group to the Eastern Mediterranean and the extension of fighter jet squadrons in the region — helped Israel by boosting deterrence against further actions “to the detriment of Israel.” U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin separately reiterated that the Biden administration is telling Israeli adversaries seeking to widen the conflict just one word: “Don’t.” Reuters
U.S. Intelligence Suggests Iran was Surprised by Hamas Attack. Initial US intelligence reports following Hamas’ initial attack suggests that senior Iranian leaders were caught off guard by the initial attack. Sources said Iranian officials likely knew Hamas was planning “operations against Israel” and would have normally been informed about such a massive attack, but Tehran was likely unaware about the “precise timing or scope” of the attacks that started on Saturday. White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said on Wednesday that Iran is complicit in the attacks because of its support of Hamas, but there hasn’t been evidence of “specific support to this specific set of attacks.” National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan added that the U.S. did not have any confirmation of direct Iranian links to the attack and did not respond to a request to comment on the report. Sullivan added that they are working with Israeli intelligence counterparts and looking for further information on Iran’s involvement. Tehran has lauded the attacks but denied direct involvement. New York Times Reuters
Egypt Discusses Aid for Gaza With U.S., Rejects Refugee Corridor. Egypt has reportedly discussed plans with the United States as well as others on providing humanitarian aid through its border with the Gaza Strip. However, sources say the Egyptian government has rejected proposals to open up safe corridors to facilitate safe passage for refugees from Gaza attempting to flee. Egypt has historically restricted the flow of Gazans into its territory. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said talks are ongoing with Egypt and Israel on getting safe passage for civilians from Gaza amid Israeli air strikes on the territory. Reuters
THE UKRAINE UPDATE
Russian Missile Hits Ukrainian School, Killing Four. Ukrainian officials say a Russian missile hit a school in the central town of Nikopol in the Dnipropetrovsk region on Wednesday, killing at least four people. Regional officials added that 50 private homes and two infrastructure facilities were damaged in the attack. Russia did not immediately comment on the incident and has continued to deny that it deliberately targets civilians. Reuters
Ukraine Needs $42 Billion in Budget Support Through Next Year. Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said on Wednesday that Ukraine needs $42 billion in budget support this year and next year to deal with the massive deficit and reconstruction costs caused by Russia’s invasion. Shmyhal called for the support at International Monetary Fund and World Bank meetings in Marrakech, Morocco, adding that Ukraine’s state budget deficit will be around 20% of Ukraine’s GDP this year and 21% in 2024. The World Bank has said $14 billion alone will be needed for a rapid-recovery response program. Shmyhal added that Ukraine is focused on economic reform programs, like anti-corruption and digitalization drives, to achieve resilience. The World Bank has backed this approach, saying reform in key sectors could attract more private investment, namely in digital infrastructure. Reuters
NATO Allies Forming Black Sea Mine-Sweeping Force. Turkey, Romania and Bulgaria are discussing forming a joint force to clear mines from Russia’s war on Ukraine that enter their waters in the Black Sea. Sources say the three countries are still working out details but could establish the force as early as next month. The new force will be the latest defensive move by NATO allies in the region to counter the spillover of Russia’s war into NATO territory. While not a full NATO operation, the move would be the first combined efforts among NATO allies in the Black Sea since the start of the Ukraine war. NATO would not be sending additional vessels to the Black Sea for the force. Bloomberg
THE CYBER AND TECH RUNDOWN
Internet Companies Say They Weathered Largest-Known Denial of Service Attack. Internet companies Google, Amazon and Cloudflare say they experienced the largest-known denial of service attack. All three said the attack began in late August, and Google said it is ongoing. Google added that its cloud services weathered an avalanche of rogue traffic over seven times the size of the previous record-breaking attack last year. Cloudflare said the attack was “three times larger” than any previous attacks it observed, and Amazon’s web services division said it was hit by a “new type of distributed denial of service (DDoS) event.” The companies said the attack exploited a weakness in the HTTP/2 network protocol that makes servers more vulnerable to rogue requests, adding that companies should update web servers so they are not vulnerable. None of the companies said who was responsible for the attacks. CISA did not immediately comment on the matter. Reuters
Hamas, Other Palestinian Militants Receive Millions in Cryptocurrency Transactions. Financing for Hamas’ assault on Israel may have received contributions from a uniquely 21st century source – cryptocurrency. According to the Wall Street Journal’s examination of Israeli seizure orders and blockchain analytics, Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), and Hezbollah all garnered substantial funding through crypto. BitOK, a Tel Aviv-base crypto analytics firm, discovered that digital currency wallets connected to Hamas received $41 million over the last 2 years. Crypto researcher Elliptic reports that $93 million in cryptocurrency was funneled to the PIJ. The difficulty in shutting off foreign funding to terrorist organizations is underscored by these cryptocurrency transactions. Researchers point out that Israeli seizures from crypto wallets probably is a small percentage of the funds flowing through them. On Tuesday, Israeli law enforcement froze Hamas crypto accounts used to solicit donations on social networks. In July, Israel’s National Bureau for Counter-Terror Financing identified 67 Binance accounts to be seized. A Binance spokesperson reported that “over the past few days, our team has been working in real time, around the clock, to support ongoing efforts.” According to Ari Redbord, global policy chief at TRM Labs, Hamas is one of the most sophisticated crypto users in the terror-finance domain. To evade detection of its crypto transactions, Redbord said, Hamas has turned to payment processors that obscure origins of cryptocurrency wallets. Wall Street Journal Cybernews
Israeli Cybersecurity Firms Adapt to Surging Threats, Staff Deployments. Israeli cybersecurity companies are adapting to circumstances following Hamas’ weekend attacks, including fending off increasing distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) and phishing attacks. The firms are adjusting to staff departures due to Israel’s reserve callup, which includes specialists performing critical tasks at cyber companies. Eyal Benishti, CEO of the Ironscales security company, said “our primary concern is obviously the safety, well-being and protection of the team, but also customers and partners.” Among the targets of DDoS attacks are the Jerusalem Post, whose website was temporarily disrupted, as well as about 20 Israeli, town and consumer websites. Gil Messing, chief of staff at Check Point Software Technologies, which monitors global cyber threats, noted that Killnet, Anonymous Sudan and other pro-Palestinian and Iranian hackers have become “very active.” In addition, threat groups associated with Iran and China have intensified misinformation campaigns to promote Hamas interests, according to Mandiant researchers. Anne Neuberger, White House deputy national security adviser for cyber and emerging technology, confirmed U.S. support for Israel’s cybersecurity defenses, saying “we are already surging support for anything our Israeli partners need.” Yossi Appleboum, Sepio chief executive for cyber risk management, said that phishing attacks have tripled since Sunday, with hacker emails masquerading as aid organizations in attempts to deploy malware through attachments and QR codes. Wall Street Journal
European Commission Expands Warning to Social Media on Banned Terrorist Content. The European Commission, the executive branch of the EU, has issued a warning to social media companies that it will fully apply provisions of the DSA (Digital Services Act) and the TCO (Terrorist Content Online) Regulation to curtail disinformation on media platforms. Specifically, the Commission reminded platforms that “content circulating online that can be associated to Hamas qualifies as terrorist content, is illegal, and needs to be removed.” It urged online platforms “to fully comply with EU rules.” The warning follows on earlier EU contacts with Elon Musk’s X and Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta platforms. Misinformation has appeared on a variety of outlets, including doctored images, misidentified videos, and images of graphic violence. Reuters
Chinese Scientists Report Breakthrough in Quantum Computer Problem Solving. Scientists involved in China’s national quantum research program report that a recent quantum computer operation solved an extremely complex mathematical problem in a millionth of a second. The JiuZhang 3 prototype computer also achieved a one million-fold increase in calculation speed over it predecessor, according to a pape in the Physical Review Letters journal. After increasing the number of photons from 76 to 113 in the first two versions of the machine, the research team led by Pan Jianwei of the S&T university in Hefei, achieved an advance to 255 in the latest version. Researchers using Jiuzhang 3 solved a complex problem based on Gaussian boson sampling, which simulates light particles passing through a maze of crystals and mirrors. Initially proposed as a physical game with no specific purpose, some recent studies suggest that boson sampling could have cryptographic applications. Frontier, a traditional supercomputer in the U.S., would take over 20 billion years to complete the same task. South China Morning Post
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