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☆ Federal workers feel less engaged in their jobs for the 2nd year in a row: 'It's heading in the wrong direction'
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( Oma Seddiq | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Federal employees feel generally less engaged in their jobs for the second year in a row. "There's all kinds of more demand being put on these federal employees. That said, good leaders were able to improve engagement," Stier said. In fact, over the longer term, focusing on the employee engagement will actually improve the chances of better delivery of all these services." The issue is particularly worrisome, Stier said, for younger federal workers aged 30 to 39, who reported the lowest engagement and satisfaction score of 59.5.

U.S. officials have said some giving battlefield casualty estimates from Ukraine appeared to have been altered to understate Russian losses. Ukraine said its president and top security officials met on Friday to discuss ways to prevent leaks. The Pentagon said that over the weekend, U.S. officials spoke with allies and had notified the relevant congressional committee about the leak. Some of the most sensitive information is purportedly related to Ukraine's military capabilities and shortcomings. Michael Mulroy, a former senior Pentagon official, played down the lasting impact of the leak.

☆ Trump again defends Putin and rips into DeSantis for calling him an 'authoritarian gas station attendant' and a 'war criminal'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( Kelsey Vlamis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Ron DeSantis called Putin "basically a gas station with a bunch of nuclear weapons." Trump knocked DeSantis over the comments, claiming the rhetoric could lead to war. Trump has a long history of defending Putin and called his justification for invading Ukraine "genius." —Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) March 29, 2023Representatives for DeSantis and Romney did not immediately respond to Insider's requests for comment. In the interview last week in which he called Putin a war criminal, DeSantis said his comments had been "mischaracterized."

☆ Top Democrat gives 'failing grade' to Biden administration on classified documents
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( Ginger Gibson | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

WASHINGTON — Sen. Mark Warner, the Democratic chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, chided the Biden administration Wednesday for the lack of information being shared about classified documents that were found at the homes of current and former presidents. "This is where the Biden administration gets an absolute failing grade," Warner said on MSNBC's "Andrea Mitchell Reports." Lawmakers have become increasingly critical of administration officials ignoring requests to be briefed on the classified documents that have been found. Hundreds of pages of documents with classified markings were recovered from Mar-a-Lago, former President Donald Trump's Florida home and private club. Months later, a handful of documents were found at an office used by current President Joe Biden before he was elected.

[1/2] A computer keyboard lit by a displayed cyber code is seen in this illustration picture taken on March 1, 2017. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel/Illustration/File PhotoWASHINGTON, March 27 (Reuters) - At least 50 U.S. government staffers stationed in 10 countries were targeted with commercial hacking tools, commonly known as spyware, a senior administration official said, highlighting the growing threat by offensive cyber vendors and prompting the White House to introduce rules to hinder the spying. The senior administration official cited Reuters' prior reporting as a reason for the broader internal government review. The new executive order is designed to apply pressure on the secretive industry by placing new restrictions on U.S. government defense, law enforcement and intelligence agencies' purchasing decisions, a senior administration official said. "We needed to have a standard where if we know that a company is selling to a country that is engaged in these outlined activities, that in and of itself is a red flag," said the senior administration official.

☆ Asian Americans are anxious about hate crimes. TikTok ban rhetoric isn’t helping
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-26 | by ( Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +15 min

And the Chinese government’s authoritarian approach to numerous other issues clashes with important American values, said many Asian Americans interviewed for this article. Concerns about China have gone mainstream as US national security officials and lawmakers have publicly grappled with state-backed ransomware attacks and other hacking attempts. People rallied during a "Stop Asian Hate" march to protest against anti-Asian hate crimes on Foley Square in New York, on April 4, 2021. But to Chu, the incident was an example of the way politics surrounding China, technology and national security have fueled anti-Asian sentiment. “Asian American issues are American issues, and all Americans deserve to be treated with respect.

☆ U.S. carries out air strikes in Syria after deadly attack
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] U.S. Joint Chiefs Chair Army General Mark Milley speaks with U.S. forces in Syria during an unannounced visit, at a U.S. military base in Northeast Syria, March 4, 2023. REUTERS/Phil Stewart/File PhotoWASHINGTON, March 23 (Reuters) - The U.S. military carried out multiple air strikes in Syria on Thursday night against Iran-aligned groups who it blamed for a deadly drone attack that killed a contractor, injured another and wounded five U.S. troops, the Pentagon said. The strikes were in retaliation for an attack against a U.S.-led coalition base near Hasakah in northeast Syria at approximately 1:38 p.m. (1038 GMT) on Thursday, it said. U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said the strikes targeted groups affiliated with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps. "The airstrikes were conducted in response to today’s attack as well as a series of recent attacks against Coalition forces in Syria by groups affiliated with the IRGC," Austin said in a statement.

☆ Missile attack targets U.S. base in east Syria - security source, media
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BEIRUT, March 24 (Reuters) - A U.S. base at the Al-Omar oil field in Syria's northeast was targeted with a missile attack on Friday morning, according to Lebanese pro-Iranian TV channel Al Mayadeen and a security source. The source told Reuters the attack took place at around 11 a.m. (0900 GMT) and it was unclear whether it had caused casualties. Thursday's attack took place at a coalition base near Hasakah in northeast Syria, the Pentagon said in a statement. The U.S. intelligence community assessed that the one-way attack drone was Iranian in origin, the Pentagon said, a conclusion that could further aggravate already strained relations between Washington and Tehran. Reporting by Orhan Qereman Writing by Timour Azhari Editing by Andrew Cawthorne and Frances KerryOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ U.S. contractor killed, five service members and contractor wounded in suicide drone strike in Syria
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( Courtney Kube | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

US forces patrol near the countryside of Rumaylan (Rmeilan) in Syria's northeastern Hasakeh province near the Turkish border, on December 2, 2022. A U.S. contractor was killed and five U.S. service members and one U.S. contractor were wounded Thursday when a suicide drone hit a coalition base near Hasakah in northeast Syria just before 2 p.m. local time, the Defense Department said in a statement. "Our thoughts are with the family and colleagues of the contractor who was killed and with those who were wounded in the attack earlier today," he said. Two wounded service members were treated on-site, while three others and the wounded U.S. contractor were evacuated to medical facilities in Iraq. The attacks, mainly by drones and rockets, are believed to have carried out by Iran or Iranian-backed proxies.

☆ A key air defense system wasn't working right when a drone killed an American in Syria, pushing the US to retaliate with force
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The main air defense system at a coalition airbase was "not fully operational" when the attack unfolded, The New York Times reported on Friday. One US official told the Times that the Avenger defense system could have been suffering from a maintenance problem. The drone, which the US intelligence community suspects is of Iranian origin, killed a US contractor and wounded five American service members and an additional contractor. The three injured service members and the contractor were transported to a coalition medical facility in Iraq, while the other two injured service members were treated on site. Austin said his thoughts are with the family and colleagues of the contractor who was killed and also with the wounded service members.

[1/2] U.S. Joint Chiefs Chair Army General Mark Milley speaks with U.S. forces in Syria during an unannounced visit, at a U.S. military base in Northeast Syria, March 4, 2023. The attack against U.S. personnel took place at a coalition base near Hasakah in northeast Syria at approximately 1:38 p.m. (1038 GMT) on Thursday, it said. The other two wounded American troops were treated at the base in northeast Syria, the Pentagon said. Thousands of other Islamic State fighters are in detention facilities guarded by Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, America's key ally in the country. American officials say that Islamic State could still regenerate into a major threat.

☆ George W. Bush misrepresented our work at CIA to sell the Iraq invasion. It's time to call him what he is: 'A liar.'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-21 | by ( Mattathias Schwartz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +16 min

Two former CIA officials spoke to Insider before the 20th anniversary of the US invasion of Iraq. They gave a firsthand account of the George W. Bush administration's attempts to misrepresent intelligence and assert a connection between Saddam Hussein and al-Qaeda. The closest they came was this alleged, and apparently nonexistent, help that Iraq gave al-Qaeda [via Atta] in bringing about the attacks. Alice: Today, people say that Bush was looking to justify the invasion of Iraq. Pretty soon it became clear that the administration was focused on this alleged meeting between Atta and Iraqi intelligence in Prague.

☆ The Biden administration considered probing Elon Musk's Twitter purchase over national security concerns, report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-21 | by ( Pete Syme | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The Biden administration reportedly considered an official review of Elon Musk's Twitter takeover. The White House had national security concerns over its foreign investors, per Bloomberg. Changpeng Zhao, the Binance CEO; Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal; and Qatar's sovereign wealth fund are all investors in Musk's Twitter. Some in the Biden administration considered whether Musk's deal should be brought in front of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, which can block business transactions over security concerns, Bloomberg reported. In response to Insider's request for comment on the government's concerns, Twitter responded with a poop emoji – an auto-reply Musk announced Sunday.

☆ Biden signs legislation to declassify certain intelligence on Covid pandemic origins
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( Spencer Kimball | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

President Joe Biden on Monday signed legislation requiring the Office of the Director of National Intelligence to declassify information on any possible links between a lab in China and the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic. Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines now has 90 days to declassify all information on possible links between the Wuhan Institute of Virology and the origin of Covid. The Federal Bureau of Investigation has also concluded that the pandemic likely began with a lab incident in Wuhan, China, the agency's director Christopher Wray told Fox News. The pandemic began three years ago in Wuhan, China, though it's still unknown how Covid spread to people. The intelligence community was divided in a 2021 report ordered by Biden that reviewed information on the pandemic's origins.

☆ Factbox: Iraq War: quotes from the conflict and its aftermath
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +9 min

BAGHDAD, March 15 (Reuters) - Here are some notable quotes from before, during and after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003 that toppled Saddam Hussein. - U.S. President George W. Bush referring to Iraq, Iran and North Korea in his State of the Union Address. - Saddam Hussein in message to U.N. General Assembly. - Saddam Hussein on first day of invasion. A lot of people put their reputations on the line and said the weapons of mass destruction is a reason to remove Saddam Hussein," - Bush.

☆ The next world power will be the first to harness the power of AI, former defense official argues in new book
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-12 | by ( Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +17 min

Paul Scharre, a former defense official, argues AI dominance will determine the next global power. The battle for AI power will revolutionize world militaries and economies. His book, "Four Battlegrounds: Power in the Age of Artificial Intelligence," was released on February 28. In his latest book, "Four Battlegrounds: Power in the Age of Artificial Intelligence," Scharre explores how the international battle for the most powerful AI technology is changing global power dynamics. Over time, regulation in some fashion of AI technology; probably much of which will be sector-specific.

☆ Russia can't make new missiles fast enough to keep up its attacks, so massive strikes are becoming rarer, UK intel says
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-10 | by ( Chris Panella | Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Russia can't make new missiles fast enough, leading to less frequent attacks on Ukraine, UK intel says. The intelligence suggests Russia is struggling to "stockpile a critical mass" for larger strikes. US and UK officials have previously said Russia is using munitions faster than it can produce them. UK intelligence said Russia fired "an unusually large number" of Kh-47 Kinzhal ballistic missiles. A top UK envoy, meanwhile, said in late 2022 that Russia was working to obtain ballistic missiles from Iran to bolster its stockpile.

☆ House votes unanimously to declassify intelligence on origins of Covid pandemic, sending bill to Biden
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-10 | by ( Spencer Kimball | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

The House of Representatives on Friday unanimously voted to declassify information on possible links between the Wuhan Institute of Virology and the Covid-19 pandemic, sending the bill to President Joe Biden. The Senate also voted unanimously earlier this month to require Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines to declassify such information. President Joe Biden ordered the intelligence community in 2021 to provide an updated analysis of how the pandemic emerged. The intelligence agencies were divided on how Covid started spreading among humans, though they said a natural original and a lab leak were both plausible. The intelligence community agreed that Covid was not developed as biological weapon, and most agencies assessed that the virus was not genetically engineered.

☆ The US military has been testing pulsed energy on animals trying to recreate the mysterious 'Havana Syndrome' symptoms: report
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-10 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The US military has been carrying out and funding testing on various animals. The testing is aimed at seeing if radio frequency waves cause the mysterious sickness known as "Havana Syndrome." US intelligence determined last week that the ailment is likely not caused by a foreign adversary or weapon. A defense official told Insider that the Department of Defense, in accordance with congressional requirements, "continues to address the challenges posed by" anomalous health incidents, "including the causation, attribution, mitigation, identification, and treatment for such incidents. The official did not comment on the reported testing on primates but said that the testing at Wayne State University is aimed at alleviating "the deficits associated with traumatic brain injury."

☆ Wagner Group mercenaries are being butchered in Ukraine, but US intel expects them to keep stirring up trouble elsewhere on Russia's behalf
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-09 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The notorious Wagner Group has operated around the world on Russia's behalf for years. For years, the Wagner Group has put boots on the ground in countries across Africa and the Middle East. A pedestrian walks past a mural depicting the logo of the Russian mercenary 'Group Wagner' and a slogan in Russian on January 20, 2023 in Belgrade, Serbia. Graves of Russian Wagner mercenary group fighters are seen in a cemetery near the village of Bakinskaya in Krasnodar region, Russia, January 22, 2023. Like Russia's regular military, Wagner has endured heavy losses on the battlefield.

☆ U.S. intel chiefs warn Putin is expanding his nuclear weapons arsenal as the war in Ukraine drags on
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( Amanda Macias | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

The warning from the nation's top spymasters comes as Russia intensifies its now year-long fight in Ukraine and as Putin threatens to withdraw from a key nuclear arms treaty. "Heavy losses to its ground forces and the large-scale expenditures of precision-guided munitions during the conflict have degraded Moscow's ground and air-based conventional capabilities and increased its reliance on nuclear weapons," the intelligence community wrote. Putin, whose country boasts the largest arsenal of nuclear weapons in the world, has previously rattled the nuclear saber on the heels of Ukrainian advances on the battlefield. The West, meanwhile, has described Putin's threats of using nuclear weapons as "irresponsible" and an attempt to reassert Russia's dominance in the region. Last month, Putin upped the ante by announcing he would suspend participation in the New START treaty, a crucial nuclear arms reduction agreement.

☆ CIA future will be defined by US technology race with China, director says
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] The seal of the Central Intelligence Agency is shown at the entrance of the CIA headquarters in McLean, Virginia, U.S., September 24, 2022. REUTERS/Evelyn HocksteinWASHINGTON, March 8 (Reuters) - The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency’s future will be defined by America's ongoing technology race with China, agency director William Burns said on Wednesday during a Senate hearing. Burns’ remarks followed the release of the Annual Threat Assessment of the U.S. Intelligence Community, which pointed to China as the biggest national security threat facing America. “It's also the main determinant of our future as an intelligence service as well.”The CIA director was speaking during Congress’s so-called Worldwide Threats hearing, also featuring other heads of the U.S. intelligence community, including National Security Agency Director Gen. Paul Nakasone, National Intelligence Director Avril Haines, Defense Intelligence Agency director Lt. Gen. Scott Berrier and Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Christopher Wray. Gen. Nakasone, the NSA director, testified China's cyber operations have grown more aggressive recently.

☆ Russia tried to influence U.S. elections in 2022 and will do it again, nation's top intel agency says
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( Kevin Breuninger | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Russia conducted malign influence operations in the 2022 U.S. midterm elections and is using increasingly clandestine means to "penetrate the Western information environment," the U.S. intelligence community said in a new report Wednesday. The 2023 report came four months after the most recent midterm elections, where concerns about Russian influence efforts were more muted in comparison with the two previous presidential election cycles in 2016 and 2020. Trump — who during that campaign had called on Russia to find his then-rival Hillary Clinton's emails — later questioned whether Russia interfered in the 2016 election. In 2022, for instance, the office determined that Russia "almost certainly" sees U.S. elections as opportunities for malign influence to influence its foreign policy goals. "These activities can include disseminating false content and amplifying information perceived as beneficial to Russian influence efforts or conspiracy theories."

☆ US senators unveil bipartisan bill empowering Biden to ban TikTok and other services
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-07 | by ( Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Washington CNN —A dozen US senators unveiled bipartisan legislation Tuesday expanding President Joe Biden’s legal authority to ban TikTok nationwide, marking the latest in a string of congressional proposals threatening the social media platform’s future in the United States. The legislation, called the Restricting the Emergence of Security Threats that Risk Information and Communications Technology (RESTRICT) Act, does not target TikTok specifically for a ban. In the case of TikTok, lawmakers have said China’s national security laws could force TikTok’s Chinese parent, ByteDance, to provide access to TikTok’s US user data. The bill specifically directs the Secretary of Commerce to “identify, deter, disrupt, prevent, prohibit, investigate, or otherwise mitigate” national security risks associated with technology linked to those countries. But those have expanded to include makers of surveillance cameras and, more recently, apps and software makers such as TikTok.

☆ TikTok data collection, influence operations potential draw U.S. NSA concern
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/Elizabeth FrantzWASHINGTON, March 7 (Reuters) - U.S. National Security Agency Director Paul Nakasone on Tuesday expressed concern during congressional testimony about Chinese-owned video app TikTok's data collection and potential to facilitate broad influence operations. Asked by Republican Senator Tommy Tuberville about any concerns he has about TikTok's influence on American children, Nakasone told a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, "TikTok concerns me for a number of different reasons." Nakasone ended his comments by asserting that the TikTok platform could enable sweeping influence operations. The NSA, part of the Defense Department, is the agency responsible for U.S. cryptographic and communications intelligence and security. CFIUS and TikTok have been in talks for more than two years aiming to reach a national security agreement.

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