Really valuable framing of “transparency as a strategic requirement, not just a challenge to be overcome,” in this paper by Riam Kim-Mcleod. It’s specific to the UK’s National Cyber Force but I think should ring true across many security and intelligence organisations.

ICYMI: A newly-proposed cybercrime service is promising to turn stolen data from ransomware attacks into a more profitable commodity, raising fresh concerns about whether hackers could begin systematically exploiting at scale the enormous volume of personal information they have hoarded.

NEW: The European Commission on Monday sought to play down the impact of a cyberattack on parts of its public web infrastructure, saying there was no evidence its internal systems had been compromised and suggesting the data obtained by hackers may already be in the public domain.

Interesting from @jgreig.bsky.social, w/ confirmation of "historical" data from FBI. Imagine attempting to conduct hostile operations in the U.S. and **you have access to the personal email account** of the counterintelligence agency's director. What would you burn that access for? A cheap info op?

ICYMI: Last week the British government said it would tighten rules on political donations after two major reports warned that foreign interference in U.K. democracy is becoming more complex and harder to counter. There are questions over whether the rules are being tightened enough.

How it started: How it's going:

The European Commission on Thursday opened an investigation into Snapchat and warned four pornographic platforms they could face penalties for failing to follow child safety laws.

New: The British government sanctioned Xinbi, a Chinese-language cryptocurrency marketplace accused of enabling large-scale online fraud and human exploitation, in a move on Thursday targeting the financial infrastructure behind global scam networks.

New: The U.K. government will try out various social media restrictions on certain families as part of a pilot program to inform its decisionmaking about a potential social media ban for some teens. Courtesy of @suzannesmalley.bsky.social

Britain’s National Cyber Security Centre warned Tuesday that a rise in so-called “vibe coding” could reshape the software-as-a-service industry while introducing new cybersecurity risks if organizations fail to adapt.

I'm surprised nobody's invented a contactless £1 for a trolley yet.

Not a comparison I was expecting.

Fascinating thread

For @economist.com subscribers, tune in to Inside Defence this evening for my interview with Sir Alex Younger, the former head of MI6, who told me that he believes Iran has the upper hand in the war at present. We also talked about espionage & alliances. www.economist.com/insider/insi...

If I'm not mistaken this story in the Irish examiner (www.irishexaminer.com/news/arid-41...) might be the first time in history “Irish intelligence officials” have been credited with an intelligence assessment about anything other than Ireland?

New: The Trump administration is not considering cyber “letters of marque” or allowing private companies to carry out cyberattacks on behalf of the U.S. government, senior White House officials said this week, pushing back on growing speculation about the role of industry in U.S. cyber operations.

EXCLUSIVE: The number of searches about Americans conducted by the FBI in a controversial foreign intelligence database rose by roughly 35 percent in 2025, according to a letter by a senior agency official obtained by Recorded Future News. therecord.media/new-data-sho...

I have solved the oil crisis.

This chap appears to have given himself a rather unfortunate job title on LinkedIn.

Do I know anyone with access to TGStat / Telemetr / Telegram Analytics who might be able to help me find some deleted / edited posts?

Meta said Wednesday it disrupted an influence operation linked to Iran that used “sophisticated fake personas” on Instagram to build relationships with U.S. users before introducing political messaging.

Meta said it removed 159 million scam ads in 2025, amid calls from U.S. lawmakers for an investigation into the company’s “facilitation of and profiting from” fraudulent advertising.

Read more, in @raphae.li’s story here: www.reuters.com/world/us/for...

The British government on Monday unveiled a new fraud strategy that shifts more responsibility for stopping scams onto telecom companies, technology platforms and financial firms, but critics question whether it goes far enough.

BREAKING: Andrew Milne, the solicitor who has been buying up hundreds of freeholds in Sheffield and then demanding money from homeowners, has been sentenced to a 24 month community order and 300 hours of unpaid work for “grossly offensive and menacing” emails to the court reporter Daniel Cloake.

SCOOP: The iPhone mass hacking toolkit used by Russian spies was developed at U.S. military contractor L3Harris, former employees said. The Coruna toolkit was used against Ukrainians and by Chinese cybercriminals, according to Google. But the toolkit was initially developed for Western governments.

Russian state hackers are carrying out a global campaign to compromise Signal and WhatsApp accounts belonging to government officials and military personnel, Dutch intelligence warned Monday.

Has anyone seen any attempts to locate the UAE/AWS drone strike sites yet?

👀

Leaked documents provide a frightful look into the Iranian regime's surveillance apparatus.

🇬🇧🇺🇸🇨🇦🇯🇵🇦🇺🇸🇪🇫🇮 New: A group of Western and Indo-Pacific nations launched a coalition on Tuesday aimed at shaping the security foundations of next-generation 6G mobile networks, as China accelerates its own research and investment in the technology.

"Giants" is plural too...

In an advisory alert, Britain's National Cyber Security Centre says there was “likely no current significant change in the direct cyber threat from Iran to the UK, however due to the fast-evolving nature of the conflict, this assessment may be subject to change.” Orgs are urged to be alert.

How does he sleep at night?

A Moscow resident has been accused of trying to extort money from the notorious Conti ransomware group by posing as an officer of Russia’s Federal Security Service, according to local media reports. ✍️ @darynant.bsky.social

🇩🇪Germany’s Federal Court of Justice has rejected 🇲🇦Morocco’s lawsuit against Die Zeit over its reporting on the Pegasus #spyware, reinforcing press freedom protections. www.zeit.de/politik/ausl...

Well, well, well. It seems the authorities in Beijing are increasingly concerned about domestic IP theft. As the ancient Chinese saying goes: “我没想到豹子会吃掉我的脸。” Link: www.globaltimes.cn/page/202602/...

Hackers tied to one of North Korea’s most sophisticated state-backed groups have been seen deploying Medusa ransomware in financially-motivated attacks on at least two institutions therecord.media/north-korean...

I guess us reading this kind of thing is called 'hopium' is that right? Source: tass.ru/politika/265...

Candid and well-written look behind the Chagos deal by @benjudah.bsky.social, HT to @paulfscott.bsky.social for flagging it.

Crocuses in the garden opening up this weekend with a lovely bit of sunshine. Snowdrops in the background of course. Time to start some indoor seeding, some California poppies and Livingstone daisies that'll hopefully be ready to move outside once we've got past the chance of any more frosts!

Russia’s intensifying cyberattacks, sabotage and covert influence operations across Europe show the Kremlin is preparing for a prolonged confrontation with the West, Dutch intelligence agencies said in a report published this week.

Looks like a pair of little house sparrows at my bird feeder this morning. The female at the front is a terribly messy eater...

@mrjamesob.bsky.social Bedford CC dealing with the bigots like an absolute boss.

British hardware is still being used to power the suicide drones behind Russia’s devastating attacks on Ukrainian cities and its civilians, a Times investigation with @occrp.org @tijd.be @kyivindependent.com and others has found. www.thetimes.com/uk/defence/a...

China appears to be using a secret training platform to rehearse cyberattacks against the critical infrastructure of its closest neighbors, according to a cache of leaked technical documents reviewed by Recorded Future News.

China appears to be using a secret training platform to rehearse cyberattacks against the critical infrastructure of its closest neighbors, according to a cache of leaked technical documents reviewed by Recorded Future News.

Shocked to read daft outrage in GB News. The UK's last operational parachute deployment was in 1956!

I have no doubt that other countries, including Ireland, have been victims too

New: Norway’s domestic security agency's has disclosed that the Chinese state-sponsored espionage campaign tracked as Salt Typhoon compromised network devices in Norwegian organizations.