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UPI
28-05-2025
- Politics
- UPI
Latin America serves as platform for Russian espionage
Latin America has become a strategic hub for Russian operatives seeking to operate beyond the direct surveillance of U.S. and European agencies, according to the U.S. Intelligence Community. File Photo by Tasos Katopodis/UPI | License Photo May 28 (UPI) -- U.S. and NATO intelligence reports have documented an increase in Russian espionage activity in Latin America, particularly since the start of the war in Ukraine in 2022. The region has become a strategic hub for Russian operatives seeking to operate beyond the direct surveillance of U.S. and European agencies, according to the U.S. Intelligence Community. Recent investigations reveal that Russia has used countries like Brazil as launchpads to create false identities and conduct international espionage. Over the past two decades, Russia has expanded its footprint in Latin America through trade agreements, military cooperation, cultural diplomacy and intelligence operations, said Luis Pacheco of the Security College in Washington. This expansion reflects a geopolitical effort to counter U.S. influence in the region. "Although not always visible, Russian intelligence has cultivated networks of influence, disinformation and surveillance, acting as a silent tool of power," said Pacheco. Intelligence services in Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay have reported activity by Russia's SVR and GRU intelligence agencies. In addition to on-the-ground espionage, these entities are accused of spreading disinformation, launching cyberattacks and carrying out psychological operations aimed at swaying public opinion, destabilizing pro-Western governments and promoting Kremlin-aligned narratives. "Russian intelligence serves as a tool of geopolitical deterrence, sending a message that Moscow can also exert strategic influence in Latin America, a region traditionally within Washington's sphere of influence," Pacheco said. Uruguay has a notable history involving Russian espionage. In September 2022, Alejandro Astesiano, the head of security for President Luis Alberto Lacalle, was arrested for leading a criminal network that forged documents to help Russian citizens obtain Uruguayan passports. Authorities estimate that the network facilitated as many as 10,000 passports, charging roughly $20,000 each. More recently, Brazilian counterintelligence expelled nine Russian agents who had obtained Brazilian documents. According to officials, Uruguay's intelligence service tracked SVR agents into Brazil and alerted local authorities. The investigation included cooperation from the CIA and other Western intelligence agencies concerned that SVR presence aimed to influence opinion in favor of Russia's stance on the war in Ukraine. A New York Times investigation detailed growing Russian espionage activity in Brazil, describing the country as a key platform for covert Kremlin operations. One notable case is that of Sergey Vladimirovich Cherkasov, a GRU agent who posed as a Brazilian national under the name "Victor Muller Ferreira." In his book El Topo (The Mole), Argentine journalist Hugo Alconada recounts the 2023 arrest in Slovenia of a Russian spy couple carrying Argentine passports. Artjom Viktorovič Dulcev and Anna Valerevna Dulceva allegedly lived under false identities in Buenos Aires between 2012 and 2019. Their mission reportedly focused on gathering intelligence about Argentina's massive Vaca Muerta oil reserve in the south of the country.
Skift
14-05-2025
- Business
- Skift
How Risk Managers Keep Their Own Attendees Safe
Other events could take a page from the volumes of safety advice that Riskworld, the world's largest gathering of global risk professionals, creates for its attendees. Need to make sure your next meeting is safe for attendees? Use the playbook from Riskworld 2025. Its web site covers everything from security at McCormick Place Convention Center, where the event took place last week with nearly 11,000 attendees, to business travel safety. There's information on emergency procedures, a list of prohibited items (including firearms and explosives, but also things like pamphlets deemed disruptive to the event), a directory of nearby urgent care facilities and pharmacies, and a custom video created for attendees. Many of the tips apply to attendees at any conference: 'Remove your registration badge when you leave the convention center;' 'Do not display hotel guest room keys in public;' and 'Only use the main entrance of your hotel.' Preparing for the Unknown It's hard to identify the single biggest threat to a large event like Riskworld because there are so many, said Stuart Ruff-Lyon, chief events and sales officer at RIMS, the risk management society, which puts on the annual conference — the world's largest gathering of global risk professionals. RIMS had to activate its own crisis management plan in 2023 when a fatal shooting in Atlanta forced the organizers to cancel the final day of the conference at the Georgia World Congress Center, about two and a half miles away. With the shooter, who killed one and injured four, still at large, they sent home 9,000 attendees and 300 exhibitors. 'Violence and cyberattacks remain a top concern,' Ruff-Lyon said. 'But it isn't always threats that we have to address. When you bring thousands of people to one location, event organizers are bound to have attendees experience illnesses, weather concerns, challenging facility layouts, complicated shuttle routes, and other potential obstacles that are unique to the destination.' Multifaceted Security Plan RIMS employs security guards during the show to monitor entrances and exits to the convention center. Merrill Herzog, whose team includes former members of the U.S. Intelligence Community and U.S. Special Operations, manages on-site security for Riskworld. Chicago police and medical staff are also on site during the conference. 'In addition to those key players, everyone from our shuttle bus providers to our housing vendors are involved in security calls leading up to Riskworld, as well as taking part in the on-site security walk-through the day before the show begins,' Ruff-Lyon said. The entire RIMS staff pitches in to help. 'We count on their eyes and ears to address issues before they escalate.' Riskworld is also the first conference in the world to use a smart, incident-response technology called Gabriel Protects, which allows an attendee to notify the security command center of an issue, then provides instant communication to the attendee and visual surveillance of the area. Challenges With Changing Locations RIMS changes up its risk management plan for Riskworld every year. 'When a large-scale event moves from location to location annually, the biggest change is the security team itself,' said Ruff-Lyon. 'Moving from the San Diego Convention Center to McCormick Place in Chicago required RIMS and the security team to assess the layout of the new convention center, understand where egresses were, and devise a plan that made the most sense.' Then they had to make sure everyone was on board, from convention center leaders, to city executives, to the local police force. After the show, the organizers do a recap with all the partners and then start preparing six months out for the next year's show (to be held in Philadelphia May 3-6, 2026).
Yahoo
21-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
The Intelligence Community's AI Revolution
The relentless march of artificial intelligence (AI) is not confined to Studio Ghibli memes and automated email responses. It is rapidly becoming a central pillar of national security strategy. Within the labyrinthine corridors of the U.S. Intelligence Community (I.C.), which includes the military, CIA, and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), among other organizations, an AI transformation is underway. It's driven by the promise of AI to collect previously indecipherable data, uncover hidden connections, and anticipate threats with unprecedented speed and scale. Yet, as the I.C. races towards an AI-infused future, profound questions about governance, ethics, privacy, and due process loom large. The journey towards AI adoption within the intelligence world is not merely a technological upgrade; it is a fundamental reshaping of how the state collects and acts upon information, with consequences only beginning to come into focus. The path to integrating AI into the I.C. has been shaped by shifting politics and evolving technology. President Donald Trump's first administration issued an Artificial Intelligence Ethics Framework for the Intelligence Community. A "living guide" more than a rigid checklist, it aimed to steer personnel through the ethical design, procurement, and deployment of AI, emphasizing consistency with broader principles. It was an early acknowledgment that this powerful new tool required careful handling. The Biden administration built upon this foundation, signaling a stronger push toward AI governance and implementation. Key initiatives included appointing chief AI officers across agencies, establishing the AI Safety Institute (AISI), cultivating AI talent within the federal government, and issuing executive orders on AI infrastructure. This era reflected a growing consensus on the strategic necessity of AI, coupled with efforts to institutionalize risk management and responsible development practices. In short, both Trump 1.0 and the Biden administration pursued a cautious, "safety" focused AI strategy—welcoming experimentation but only with elaborate ethical safeguards. Times have changed. AI has progressed. Rivals have gained ground and international coordination on responsible AI development has waned. The second Trump administration has pivoted away from earlier AI norms. As I previously noted, it has adopted a more aggressive, "America First, America Only" approach. Vice President J.D. Vance has repeatedly emphasized deregulation at home and protectionism abroad, prioritizing U.S. dominance in chips, software, and rulemaking. This shift could dramatically accelerate AI deployment within the I.C. and may be seen as necessary for maintaining the U.S. intelligence advantage. The Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) Memorandum M-25-21 frames AI adoption as a mandate while potentially exempting the I.C. from procedural safeguards that apply elsewhere. It encourages interagency coordination—sharing data and insights to normalize AI use—and intra-agency flexibility, empowering lower-ranking staff to experiment with and deploy AI. The result is a decentralized, varied implementation with an overall direction to hasten and deepen the use of AI. A glance at how the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) team has deployed AI shows what may come. DOGE has empowered junior staff to deploy AI in novel, perhaps unsupervised, ways. They've used AI to probe massive federal datasets with sensitive information, identify patterns, spot alleged waste, and suggest reforms to substantive regulatory programs. Replicated in the I.C., this approach could bring major civil liberties and privacy risks. Taken together, the policy signals suggest that by the end of 2025, the public can expect AI to be comprehensively adopted across virtually every facet of intelligence gathering and analysis. This isn't just about facial recognition or predictive maintenance, where the Department of Defense already leans on AI. It's a leap towards full reliance on AI in the intelligence cycle, with increased acceptance of its recommendations and minor human review. Imagine AI drafting situational reports (SITREPs), instantly adopting the required format and tone while synthesizing critical information. Picture AI discovering previously invisible connections across disparate datasets—historical archives, signals intelligence, open-source material, and even previously unreadable formats now rendered accessible through AI. Consider the collection possibilities. U.S. Customs and Border Protection has already used machine learning on drones to track suspicious vehicles, previewing a future where AI significantly enhances intelligence across disciplines, fusing them into a real-time, AI-processed stream of intelligence. The entire intelligence cycle—from planning and tasking to collection, processing, analysis, and dissemination—is poised for AI-driven optimization, potentially shrinking timelines from days to hours. This AI-first vision, backed by the National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence along with private sector actors such as Scale AI, requires not only technological integration but also the development and deployment of novel sensors and data-gathering methods. More importantly, it demands new standards for data collection and storage to create "fused" datasets tailored for algorithmic consumption. The goal isn't just more data—it's different data, structured to maximize AI utility on an unprecedented scale. Where a human might process roughly 300 words per minute, advanced AI like Claude can read and analyze approximately 75,000 words in the same time. Initiatives like Project SABLE SPEAR demonstrate the capabilities and raise concerns about civil liberties and privacy. The Defense Intelligence Agency greenlit that project in 2019, tasking a small AI startup with a simple yet vague task: to illuminate fentanyl distribution networks. Given minimal background and open source data, the company's AI systems produced astounding results: "100 percent more companies engaged in illicit activity, 400 percent more people so engaged," and "900 percent more illicit activities" than analog alternatives. Six years later, advances in AI, along with direct guidance from the administration to increase AI use, suggest that similar projects will soon become standard. Such a shift in the intelligence cycle will demand new organizational structures and norms within the I.C. Concepts must evolve to mitigate automation bias—the tendency to over-rely on automated systems. "Augmenting cognition" rather than simply replacing analysts will be crucial to balancing AI's speed with human nuance. Regular audits must ensure that the reduced procedural barriers to AI use don't create unintended consequences. The drive for efficiency could erode longstanding checks and balances. Herein lies the crux of the civil liberties and privacy challenge. The anticipated AI-driven I.C. will operate under a new data paradigm characterized by several alarming features. Vast amounts of information will be collected on more people. AI's hunger for data, paired with new sensors and fused datasets, will expand the scope of surveillance. Much of the collected information will be inferential. AI excels at finding patterns and generating predictions—not facts—about individuals and groups. These predictions may be inaccurate and hard to challenge. Audit and correction opportunities will dwindle. The complexity of sophisticated AI models makes it difficult to trace why a system reached a conclusion (the so-called "black box" problem), hindering efforts to identify errors or biases and complicating accountability. Data erasure becomes murky. If sensitive information is embedded in multiple datasets and models, how can individuals guarantee that information about them, especially inferential data generated by an algorithm, is truly deleted? This confluence of factors demands a radical rethinking of oversight and redress mechanisms. How can individuals seek explanation or correction when dealing with opaque algorithmic decisions? What does accountability look like when harm arises from an AI system—is it the fault of the programmer, the agency, or the algorithm itself? Does the scale and nature of AI-driven intelligence gathering necessitate a "new due process," designed specifically for the algorithmic age? What avenues for appeal can meaningfully exist against the conclusions of a machine? Navigating this complex terrain requires adhering to robust guiding principles. Data minimization—collecting only what is necessary—must be paramount, though it runs counter to the technology's inherent demand for data. Due process must be proportionate to the potential intrusions and built into systems from the outset, not added as an afterthought. Rigorous, regular, and independent audits are essential to uncovering bias and error. The use of purely inferential information, particularly for consequential decisions, should be strictly limited. Proven privacy-enhancing technologies and techniques must be employed. Finally, constant practice through realistic simulations, war games, and red teaming is necessary to understand the real-world implications and potential failure modes of these systems before they are deployed at scale. While the potential benefits for national security—faster analysis, better prediction, optimized resource allocation—are significant, the risks to individual liberties and the potential for algorithmic error or bias are equally profound. As the I.C. adopts these powerful tools, the challenge lies in ensuring that the pursuit of security does not erode the very freedoms it aims to protect. Without robust ethical frameworks, transparent governance, meaningful oversight, and a commitment to principles like data minimization and proportionate due process, AI could usher in an era of unprecedented surveillance and diminished liberty, fundamentally altering the relationship between the citizen and the state. The decisions made today about how AI is governed within the hidden world of intelligence will shape the contours of freedom for decades to come. The post The Intelligence Community's AI Revolution appeared first on
Yahoo
25-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Russia has ‘seized the upper hand' in Ukraine war, intel community warns
U.S. intelligence agencies sounded the alarm on Ukraine's dwindling battlefield prospects against Russia in an annual report released Tuesday. The 2025 Annual Threat Assessment of the U.S. Intelligence Community — released by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence in conjunction with top officials' testimony at a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing — warns that Moscow has "seized the upper hand" in the war over the past year and "is on a path to accrue greater leverage" to force favorable terms in its negotiations with Ukraine and the West. Intelligence agencies see continued Russian military resilience despite heavy battlefield losses — replenishing personnel and ratcheting up its industrial capacity. "Even though Russian President [Vladimir] Putin will be unable to achieve the total victory he envisioned when initiating the large-scale invasion in February 2022, Russia retains momentum as a grinding war of attrition plays to Russia's military advantages," the report states. "This grinding war of attrition will lead to a gradual but steady erosion of Kyiv's position on the battlefield, regardless of any U.S. or allied attempts to impose new and greater costs on Moscow." The analysis comes as President Donald Trump presses for a pact to end the war after he campaigned on negotiating a settlement between Russia and Ukraine within the first 24 hours of his presidency. U.S.-Ukraine ties, however, are the most turbulent they've been since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. Trump's push also has Ukraine's advocates in the U.S. and Europe concerned that a potential deal may be on terms that are too favorable to Russia. However, the assessment casts doubt on Russia or Ukraine's desire for a deal. Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy are "interested in continuing discussions" to end the war, the report concludes, but both leaders "probably still see the risks of a longer war as less than those of an unsatisfying settlement." "Regardless of how and when the war in Ukraine ends, Russia's current geopolitical, economic, military, and domestic political trends underscore its resilience and enduring potential threat to U.S. power, presence, and global interests," the intelligence report argues. The intelligence community report also prominently addresses threats posed by drug cartels, listing them first, in addition to terrorist groups and other transnational criminal groups. Senate Intelligence Chair Tom Cotton said it's the first time the report highlights illicit drug groups before other major threats. The move reflects the Trump administration's focus on border security and cracking down on undocumented immigration. In her opening remarks at the Senate worldwide threats hearing, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said non-state criminal groups and terrorists are "what most immediately and directly threatens the United States and the well-being of the American people." The report points to fentanyl and other illicit drugs trafficked by transnational criminal organizations but also noted that some groups "are conducting other illegal activities that challenge U.S. security, such as human trafficking, cyber operations, money laundering, and inciting violence." Beijing represents "the most comprehensive and robust military threat" to the U.S., the report adds in its assessment. Intelligence agencies argue China will likely ratchet up coercive actions against Taiwan, and the report predicts "steady but uneven" progress by China in developing the military capabilities needed to invade the self-governing island and deter a U.S. intervention. The report points to continued military advances by Beijing, including the development of long-range missiles, the expansion of its navy and the modernization of ground forces. China, the intelligence agencies assess, 'remains intent' on expanding and overhauling its nuclear arsenal. Beijing also likely has developed a 'multifaceted, national-level strategy' to supplant the U.S. as the world's leader in artificial intelligence by 2030. The intelligence community also maintained its assessment that Iran isn't currently building a nuclear weapon, but notes that "pressure has probably built on [Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei] to do so." "In the past year, there has been an erosion of a decades-long taboo on discussing nuclear weapons in public that has emboldened nuclear weapons advocates within Iran's decision-making apparatus," the report states. Iran will use its missile capabilities and nuclear program to buttress its influence in the Middle East and continue to aid militant groups to counter Israel and the U.S. But the report also notes that the fall of the Assad regime in Syria and the military degradation of the militant group Hezbollah "have led leaders in Tehran to raise fundamental questions regarding Iran's approach."
Washington Post
30-01-2025
- Politics
- Washington Post
Live updates: Tulsi Gabbard faces Senate confirmation hearing for intelligence chief
Fealty to President Donald Trump and his views has proved to be a prime requisite for his cabinet nominees, and Tulsi Gabbard, his pick for intelligence czar, is no exception. That was not always the case in Trump's first term. His first director of national intelligence, Dan Coats, angered the president with his frank assessments of Russia, North Korea and Iran — views that did not accord with Trump's. The director of national intelligence position was created in the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks to better coordinate the sprawling U.S. intelligence machinery. If confirmed, Tulsi Gabbard would oversee 18 spy units, ranging from the CIA to a Treasury office that tracks terrorist and other illicit financing. The newest member of the U.S. Intelligence Community? That would be U.S. Space Force's intelligence shop. Tulis Gabbard was once a left-wing Democrat who served as vice chair of the Democratic National Committee. In 2016, she endorsed Sen. Bernie Sanders in the Democratic presidential primary and ran herself for the party's nomination four years later.
