All posts tagged: Espionage

Former cyber executive turned whistleblower accuses IBM of covering up several data breaches

Former cyber executive turned whistleblower accuses IBM of covering up several data breaches

Published by skeptic

A former IBM cybersecurity executive accused the company of getting hacked three times in the previous decade by foreign governments and then covering up the breaches.  In a lawsuit unsealed this week but filed in 2020, William Barlow, who was IBM’s vice president of threat intelligence until August 2019, said IBM concluded Chinese hackers breached its core network between 2013 and 2016 but that the company then covered up the breaches and never disclosed them. Barlow also said at least two IBM subsidiaries were also breached, and that IBM covered up those breaches as well. Barlow alleged in his complaint that IBM’s core network was “routinely hacked by foreign state actors and others,” adding that data was frequently stolen and government agencies were “never notified.”  While the alleged breaches date back more than a decade, the news shows that cyberattacks, even those affecting large public tech companies such as IBM, sometimes never get disclosed, either to the public or to relevant government authorities. IBM is a major cybersecurity vendor to the U.S. federal government, which …

UK spy chief warns of rising Russia, China threat to the West

UK spy chief warns of rising Russia, China threat to the West

Published by Sam Flores

Anne Keast-Butler, director of GCHQ, pictured during CYBERUK 2024 on May 14, 2024, in Birmingham, England. Matthew Horwood for CYBERUK | Getty Images News | Getty Images Britain and its allies have a “narrowing window” to keep ahead of security risks posed by China, Russia and other adversaries, the U.K.’s top intelligence agent will warn on Wednesday. In a rare public speech, Anne Keast-Butler, the director of GCHQ — the U.K.’s intelligence, cyber and security agency — will say Britain is at a “moment of consequence,” with the country facing increasingly brazen behavior from hostile nations. “China is now a science and tech superpower with sophisticated capabilities across their intelligence, cyber and military agencies,” Keast-Butler is set to say, according to excerpts from the speech released ahead of time by her office. “The ground beneath our feet is shifting,” as AI continues to develop swiftly, she will say, with new technologies creating a “narrowing window for the U.K. and allies to stay ahead.” Earlier this month, two men became the first in history to be found …

EU’s intelligence hub eyes bigger role in security overhaul – POLITICO

EU’s intelligence hub eyes bigger role in security overhaul – POLITICO

Published by Sam Flores

INTCEN has no operational espionage capabilities of its own; instead, it analyzes intelligence shared voluntarily by EU countries and passes its assessments to senior officials in the EEAS, the Commission and the European Council. The renewed attention lends fresh weight to a unit often dismissed as toothless — and comes as officials in Brussels and national capitals have floated the question of whether the EU needs its own spy agency. The EU’s new European Security Strategy, which is being drafted by the Commission and the EEAS, should be published this summer. It is expected to use an expansive definition of security that goes beyond defense to include economic security, supply chains, preparedness and partnerships with countries outside the EU, a fourth person briefed on the strategy told POLITICO. The document, which has been advertised as a “grand strategy,” is expected to be short and to include a geopolitical threat assessment, a status report on European security, and a roadmap for future action, the person said. The roadmap will propose up to 10 major ideas for …

Bahrain jails nine defendants for life for ‘cooperating’ with Iran’s IRGC | Espionage News

Bahrain jails nine defendants for life for ‘cooperating’ with Iran’s IRGC | Espionage News

Published by Sam Flores

Convictions handed down amid an intensified crackdown by Bahraini authorities on individuals accused of having ties to Tehran. Published On 24 May 202624 May 2026 Bahrain has sentenced nine people to life in prison for carrying out what authorities describe as “hostile and terrorist acts” in cooperation with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Two other defendants were also jailed for three years each after being convicted of collaborating with the IRGC in what prosecutors described as “terrorist and espionage” activities, state media reported on Sunday. Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list The convictions were handed down during an intensified crackdown by Bahraini authorities on individuals accused of ties to Tehran. The crackdown followed a wave of Iranian strikes on Bahrain after the United States and Israel launched their war on Iran in late February. Iran began striking all of its Gulf neighbours in response, saying it was targeting American interests, including military bases. Prosecutors said some of the defendants photographed vital and strategic sites in Bahrain on behalf of the IRGC. Others …

‘Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan: Ghost War’ Review: A Solid, Safe, Espionage Endeavor

‘Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan: Ghost War’ Review: A Solid, Safe, Espionage Endeavor

Published by skeptic

Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan is back in Ghost War, the first full-length movie starring John Krasinski as the famed CIA operative. The movie, directed by Andrew Bernstein (who directed episodes of the TV series), premieres on Prime Video on Wednesday. If you’re at all familiar with the four-season series that preceded it, you’re about to get more of the same. Well, sorta. When Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan TV series premiered, I was all in. Truthfully, I am a sucker for espionage stories and spy thrillers, and I write about TV, so having Clancy’s iconic character make the leap to episodic storytelling was a no-brainer for me to tune in. I didn’t stick with it, though.  Jack Ryan feels more at home in self-contained, big-budget action films. Just look at the previous iterations of the character as played by Alec Baldwin, Harrison Ford, Ben Affleck and Chris Pine. Well, three years after the original series concluded, we’re getting a new Jack Ryan movie — except, it’s not in theaters. Read more: Prime Video: The 31 Absolute Best Shows …

0,000 reward to catch Monica Witt wanted on espionage charges in Iran

$200,000 reward to catch Monica Witt wanted on espionage charges in Iran

Published by Sam Flores

The FBI is offering a $200,000 reward for information leading to capture and prosecution of a former U.S. Air Force counterintelligence specialist who defected to Iran in 2013 and was later charged with revealing classified information to the Tehran government.  Monica Elfriede Witt, 47, was indicted by a federal grand jury in February 2019 on charges of espionage, including transmitting national defense information to the government of Iran. Keywords for this article Source link

US orders travelers on Air Force One to throw away gifts, pins, and burner phones after China trip

US orders travelers on Air Force One to throw away gifts, pins, and burner phones after China trip

Published by skeptic

President Trump and a delegation of U.S. officials left Beijing on Friday after two days of high-level talks with the Chinese government, led by President Xi Jinping. Before boarding Air Force One, White House staffers and reporters had to surrender various items collected during the trip, including staff burner phones, credential badges, and lapel pins issued by China. Those traveling on Air Force One threw those objects in a bin at the bottom of the plane’s stairs, according to a journalist in the White House press pool.  “Nothing from China allowed on the plane,” Emily Goodin, the White House correspondent for the New York Post, wrote in a post on X. Photos from the trip show several people in the U.S. government delegation, including Trump, White House communications director Steven Cheung, Apple chief executive Tim Cook, Nvidia’s Jensen Huang, and Secret Service agents, all sporting pins on their coat lapels.  Contact Us Were you on the Air Force One trip to China for the summit? Do you have more information about the order to throw …

‘Disposable spies’: Poland records unprecedented number of Russian espionage cases

‘Disposable spies’: Poland records unprecedented number of Russian espionage cases

Published by Sam Flores

Last year and the year before saw a rise in espionage activity in Poland, “primarily on the part of Russian and closely allied Belarusian special services as well as China”, the Internal Security Agency (ABW) said in a report published on May 6.  As a result, Poland conducted as many counter-intelligence investigations in 2024 and 2025 as it had in the previous three decades.   European law enforcement and intelligence officials began noticing these efforts back in 2022, The New Yorker reported in February. Job offers began appearing in online chat groups, usually on Telegram, directed at Russian-speaking populations – Russians, but also Belarusians and Ukrainians. Polish intelligence services came up with a name for these isolated agents recruited by Russian intelligence – jednorazowi agenci – or “single-use agents”. The ABW report said Russian intelligence services were gradually shifting from single-use agents to more “professional” networks to carry out sabotage and other campaigns across Europe. “’Disposable spies’ are very useful for generating chaos, radicalising public opinion, strengthening intergroup antagonisms, distracting attention and testing the resilience of …

Austria expels 3 Russian diplomats over alleged espionage – POLITICO

Austria expels 3 Russian diplomats over alleged espionage – POLITICO

Published by Sam Flores

“Espionage is a security issue for Austria,” Foreign Minister Beate Meinl-Reisinger told POLITICO. “This government has made a policy shift and is taking consistent action against it. We have made this unmistakably clear to the Russian side, also with regard to the ‘forest of antennas’ at the Russian mission.” Meinl-Reisinger said it was “unacceptable” for the officials to invoke their diplomatic immunity to carry out spying operations in Austria, and said the country would move to tighten the espionage provision in the criminal code to curb the illicit activity. As a result of its proximity to the Iron Curtain, Vienna was a hotbed for foreign spies throughout the latter half of the 20th century. Because the country’s criminal code punishes only espionage actions that directly target Austria, it continues to be seen as a relatively safe haven for intelligence agents. Since the start of the Kremlin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Austria has revoked the diplomatic status of 14 Russian officials found to “have engaged in acts incompatible with their diplomatic status.” However, around 220 staff …

Germany summons Russian ambassador, citing ‘direct threats’ | Russia-Ukraine war News

Germany summons Russian ambassador, citing ‘direct threats’ | Russia-Ukraine war News

Published by Sam Flores

Berlin calls undefined threats ‘an attempt to undermine support for Ukraine and test our unity’. Published On 20 Apr 202620 Apr 2026 Berlin has summoned the Russian ambassador to condemn what it calls “direct threats” against “targets in Germany”. The threats, which were not detailed, are aimed at undermining Germany’s support for Ukraine in its war with Russia, Berlin’s Federal Foreign Office said in a statement on Monday. Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list “Our response is clear: we will not be intimidated. Such threats and all forms of espionage in Germany are completely unacceptable,” the foreign ministry said in a social media post. The Russian embassy provided no comment. Last week, Russia’s Ministry of Defence published a list of 21 companies that Moscow believes are subsidiaries of Ukrainian defence companies or suppliers of key components. At least three German firms were among those listed as supplying drones, also known as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), to Ukraine. The post included a vague suggestion that those locations could be targeted. “The European public should …