THE OPEN SOURCE REPORT

Tuesday, January 24, 2023

The Cipher Brief curates open source information from around the world that impacts national security and delivers it to your inbox M-F.  Here's a look at today's headlines, broken down by region of the world:  

In the Americas...

Former Senior FBI Official Accused of Secretly Working for Russian Oligarch.   A former senior FBI official was charged by federal prosecutors on Monday who say that he secretly worked for sanctioned Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska.  Charles McGonigal, who retired from the FBI in 2018 pled not guilty to four criminal charges that include sanctions violations and money laundering.  McGonigal worked for the FBI for 22 years and rose to one of the country’s most important counterespionage positions as Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Counterintelligence Division in New York City.  New York Times Reuters US Department of Justice Washington Post

Biden Nominates Envoy on North Korea Human Rights.  President Joe Biden nominated Julie Turner as special envoy for human rights in North Korea on Tuesday.  The special envoy position has been vacant since 2017.  Turner is a long-time diplomat and current director of the Office of East Asia and the Pacific in the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor at the Department of State.  Reuters White House

Western Europe

Poland Formally Requests German Approval to Send Tanks to Ukraine.  Poland’s defense minister announced Tuesday that Poland has submitted a formal request asking Germany to approve the re-export of Leopard battle tanks to Ukraine.  German defense sources say Poland is seeking to deliver up to 14 Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine.  Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki previously said this permission is “of secondary importance” and that Warsaw could still transfer the tanks as part of a coalition of countries with Leopards.  German Foreign Minister Anna Baerbock has signaled that Berlin will allow other countries to re-export the tanks to Kyiv.  She recently told a French media outlet that if Germany is formally asked, they ‘will not stand in the way’.  CNN Deutsche Welle Politico Reuters

Koran Burning in Stockholm Creates Further Division Between Sweden, Turkey on NATO Bid.  Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says that Sweden should not expect Turkey’s support for its NATO membership bid.  Erdogan’s comments came after a protest which included a burning of a copy of the Koran, took place near the Turkish embassy in Stockholm.  Sweden’s Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom declined to comment on Erdogan’s comments, while US State Department spokesman Ned Price says that Sweden and Finland are ready to join NATO.  Price reportedly refused to comment on whether Erdogan’s comments signaled a closed door for Sweden.  Reuters reports that the Koran burning was carried out by Rasmus Paludan, leader of Danish far-right political party Hard Line.  Paludan has reportedly carried out similar protests in the past.  Finland’s Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto told Reuters that a “time-out” is needed to allow tensions over the protests to pass, though he also said that Finland is ready to join NATO even if Sweden’s application is stalled.  BBC Reuters Washington Post

Germany Charges Five for Allegedly Planning Overthrow of Government.  German prosecutors charged five people with high treason for allegedly planning to kidnap Germany’s health minister and threaten to kill him to topple the German government.  German prosecutors said the group planned to “create civil-war like conditions in Germany” to depose the government and appoint a new leader.  Deutsche Welle Reuters

Former Wagner Commander Arrested in Norway.  Norwegian authorities have arrested Andrei Medvedev, a former commander in Russia’s Wagner Group who fled to Norway earlier this month to seek asylum.  Police say he is being held on charges of illegally entering into Norway.  Medvedev is the first reported Wagner official to defect to the West.  His lawyer previously said he left Wagner after witnessing war crimes committed by the group in Ukraine.  Gulagu.net, a Russian prisoners’ rights group, warns that he could be facing deportation to Russia, though Norwegian authorities and Medvedev’s lawyer deny this.  Al Jazeera BBC Reuters

Central and Eastern Europe

US Believes Russian Intelligence Responsible for Bombing Campaign in Spain. Reports from the New York Times and CNN say that current and former US officials believe that Russian intelligence agents directed far-right groups to conduct a terrorism campaign in Madrid last year.  The campaign, which included letter bombs sent to Spain’s Prime Minister and the US and Ukrainian embassies in Madrid was thought to have been linked to Spain’s support for Ukraine.  Investigators probing the attacks have in recent weeks focused on a group known as the Russian Imperial Movement.  The group was deemed an international terrorist organization by the US and Spanish investigators say they tracked prominent members of the group to Spain. The Russian officers involved in the operation are believed to work for the main directorate of the GRU according to US officials.  CNN New York Times 

Russia Says Military Reforms in Response to NATO Expansion, Ukraine.  The new head of Russian military operations in Ukraine, Valery Gerasimov, told reporters that Russia’s recent military reforms aim to counter an unprecedented level of Western military hostilities.  In his first comments since being appointed to lead Russia’s invasion of Ukraine earlier this month, Gerasimov highlighted the threat of NATO expansion, namely with Finland and Sweden, and accused the “collective West” of waging a hybrid war against Russia through Ukraine.  The new reforms include the establishment of additional military districts and movement of units closer to NATO's eastern boundary.  Reuters

Senior Ukrainian Officials Resign as Part of Anti-Corruption Investigations.   Multiple senior Ukrainian officials announced their resignations Tuesday morning following comments by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy that personnel changes were coming.  Some of the resignations are linked to an ongoing anti-corruption investigation.  Among the senior officials who resigned are a deputy prosecutor general, a deputy defense minister and the deputy chief of staff in Zelenskiy's office.  The moves are part of a rare shakeup in the leadership in Kyiv, which has been relatively stable throughout the war with Russia, with the exception of a purge involving Ukraine’s intelligence agency back in July of last year.  BBC Reuters Washington Post

Asia

US Reportedly Confronts China with Evidence of Russian Support for War in Ukraine.  Bloomberg is out with a new report, citing anonymous individuals who claim to have knowledge of the matter, that says the US has reportedly confronted China with evidence that shows Chinese companies are providing some level of support to Russia in its war in Ukraine.  The individuals declined to specify what type of support is being provided but indicated that it involved non-lethal military aid and economic assistance that stops just short of clear sanctions violations.  Bloomberg says that the US National Security Council, the Central Intelligence Agency and the Chinese Embassy in Washington did not respond to requests for comment. Bloomberg

China Warns Japan Against ‘Political’ Curbs on Chinese Business.  A top Chinese diplomat warned Japan on Wednesday against “political” measures targeting Chinese business and said Tokyo should not “ideologize” supply chains.  The diplomat, Liu Jinsong, who heads Asia affairs at China’s foreign ministry, made the comments after Japan, along with South Korea, imposed restrictions on flights from China over Covid-19 concerns.  Despite the tourism tensions, Liu played up business ties between China and Japan and urged the two neighbors to keep “non-economic” issues like national security or “third-party factors,” in an apparent reference to the US, from interfering too much with trade cooperation.  South China Morning Post

UN Aid Chief Visits Kabul, Raises Women’s Rights Concerns.  UN aid chief Martin Griffiths visited Kabul on Monday and raised concerns over the deterioration of women’s rights in Afghanistan.  The UN said Griffiths maintained calls for the Taliban to restore Afghan women’s ability to work and attend school, noting that the restriction on female employees in particular has significantly disrupted humanitarian operations.  The Taliban’s acting foreign affairs minister told Griffiths to publicize Afghanistan’s achievements like amnesty for former opponents.  Reuters RFE/RL

Middle East and Northern Africa

US, Israel Start Historic Joint Military Drills.  The US and Israel began a major joint military exercise on Monday.  A senior US defense official said the exercises, known as “Juniper Oak”, is reportedly the largest ever between the two countries and aims to deepen integration between the US and Israeli militaries.  The drills will include live-fire exercises and involve 6,400 US forces.  The US aircraft carrier George HW Bush strike group will participate, along with a significant number of fighter jets.  The drills come amid ongoing regional tensions over Iran.  NBC News Reuters

Russia, Syria Restore Air Base for Joint Use.  The Russian Defense Ministry said Monday that Russia and Syria restored the al-Jarrah military air base in northern Syria for joint use.  The air base, which is in range of Syria’s northern border, was recaptured from Islamic State in 2017.  Reuters

Lebanese Judge Charges Top Officials Over Beirut Blast.  A judge in Lebanon charged two of the country’s top generals,a former army chief and Lebanon’s then-prime minister Hassan Diab over the August 2020 Beirut port explosion.  A court summons says that the accused have been charged with homicide with probable intent.  Sources add that the two generals are Lebanon’s spy chief and State Security director.  The judge handed out the charges after unexpectedly restarting the investigation into the Beirut blast.  Lebanon’s chief prosecutor is challenging the charges by saying that the judge cannot proceed until judicial authorities rule on the matter.  Al Jazeera Associated Press Reuters

US, EU, UK Sanction Iran Over Protest Crackdown.  The US, European Union and UK imposed fresh sanctions on Iranian entities and individuals over Tehran’s crackdown on anti-government protests.  The US targeted an economic body that supports the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, as well as several IRGC security officials.  The EU sanctions targeted 30 Iranian officials and organizations linked to the crackdowns.  And Britain’s measures included asset freezes on top Iranian security, judicial and military leaders.  Associated Press Politico Reuters

Sub Saharan Africa

US Condemns Joint Naval Exercises with South Africa, Russia and China.  South Africa announced last week that it has scheduled joint naval exercises for next month in partnership with the Russian and Chinese militaries.  The drills, known as ‘Mosi’ are set to take place between February 17-27 near strategically important shipping routes.  A spokesman for the US Embassy in Pretoria says the US notes ‘with concern’ the planned exercises and referred to Moscow’s ‘brutal and unlawful’ war in Ukraine.  Reuters South China Morning Post

Cyber & Tech

Microsoft Investing Billions More in OpenAI.  Microsoft announced Monday that it is making a “multiyear, multibillion dollar investment” into OpenAI, the startup behind generative artificial intelligence systems like ChatGPT and DALL-E2.  The investment, which some media outlets report would be $10 billion, builds upon years of support from Microsoft for the burgeoning AI company.  Microsoft says its capital will go towards supercomputer and cloud-computing development for OpenAI and that both companies will be able to commercialize resulting AI products.  The two tech companies face challenges of high costs to develop and run the AI systems and potential legal challenges to AI products.  Reuters South China Morning Post TechCrunch

FBI Says North Korean Hacker Groups Behind $100 Million US Crypto Heist.  The FBI says that the North Korean hacker groups Lazarus Group and APT38 were behind the theft last June of $100 million in digital assets from US crypto firm Harmony’s Horizon bridge.  The FBI said the groups used the Railgun privacy protocol in early January to launder $60 million of ethereum stolen in the theft.  Some of the ethereum was then sent to virtual asset providers and converted to bitcoin.  The FBI says North Korea uses crypto thefts to fund its ballistic missile and nuclear weapons programs.  Reuters

LAUSD Says SSNs Leaked in September Ransomware Attack.  The Los Angeles Unified School District notified several contractors that sensitive information, including Social Security numbers, was leaked in the ransomware attack against LAUSD last year.  School district officials said they found that the contractor information was leaked after recent investigations identified that documents like payroll records were compromised in the attack.  LAUSD initially denied such sensitive employee information was stolen.  The Record

Riot Games Crippled by Social Engineering Attack.  Video game developer and esports organizer Riot Games says several of its systems were compromised due to a social engineering cyberattack from last week.  The incident has temporarily impacted the company’s ability to release and patch content.  Riot Games did not release specific details on the social engineering attack.  The Record

Indian Education App Flaw Exposes Data of Millions of Teachers, Students.  A flaw in an app run by India’s Education Ministry has exposed the personally identifying information of millions of Indian teachers and students.  A UK-based researcher discovered the flaw in the Digital Infrastructure for Knowledge Sharing app, or Dishka, which was used by Indian students to access coursework during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.  The researcher said Dishka data was stored on an unsecured cloud server, leaving it vulnerable to anyone who knew how to access it.  Dishka support reportedly did not respond to the researcher’s alert about the vulnerability.  The Indian Education Ministry did not respond to comment on the matter.  Wired

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