2 x 10^39 Rubles

1. The gray zone explained

The Cipher Brief has a great piece by former US Deputy Director of National Intelligence Beth Sanner. 

The U.S. faces "gray zone" threats—aggressive actions not defined as traditional war—from adversaries like Russia, China, and Iran. These include cyberattacks, sabotage, and disinformation. There's a need to define these threats, develop a coordinated response involving government and private sectors, enhance deterrence by denial and punishment, and collaborate internationally to address these challenges effectively. Coordination and proactive strategy are imperative to manage and counteract these gray-zone activities.

2. Details about Russian underwater drones

The Cyber Shafarat reports on Russian underwater drones designed for mine clearance, enhancing naval security by detecting and neutralizing mines to ensure safe navigation. They could also be used for undersea sabotage.

Developed by Roselectronics, Tactical Missile Weapons Corporation, and Rostec, these drones integrate with Russia’s military modernization programs. Equipped with high-resolution video cameras and, they reportedly operate effectively in deep water, murky conditions, and contested environments. While offering advantages in reconnaissance and mine clearance, limitations include vulnerability to electronic warfare, and relatively short battery life. Future enhancements may involve expanded operational depth, AI integration, and swarm deployment. Beyond mine clearance, these drones have potential for sabotage operations, targeting submarine cables, aligned with Russia's hybrid warfare strategy. Addressing these threats involves advanced monitoring and rapid response systems to protect global communications infrastructure.

3. Chinese-linked APT eyes South Asian targets

A new report by Unit 42 sheds light on a cluster of cyber espionage activity.

CL-STA-0048 is a Chinese-linked activity cluster targeting South Asian high-value entities, including telecoms, using techniques like "Hex Staging" and exfiltration over DNS, triggered by pings. It exploits vulnerabilities in IIS, Apache Tomcat, and MSSQL services. The campaign uses tools like PlugX backdoor and Cobalt Strike.

4. Lithuania's intel chief calls for spies to serve more time

Lithuania's State Security head, Darius Jauniškis, calls for harsher penalties for espionage, comparing Lithuania's 4-15 year sentences to Russia's 15-20. Amid regional tensions, he cites evolving court attitudes, referencing spy cases like Eduardas Manovas, accused of spying for Russia's GRU since 2018.

5. Russian TV wants (not quite) a googol from Google

Claims against Google by Russian TV channels over suspended YouTube accounts total 1.81 duodecillion rubles (that’s equivalent to roughly 20 undecillion US dollars–if that helps) due to compounding fines for non-compliance with a Russian court order. This amount is many, many, many...many times more money than exists in the world, and likely more money than will ever exist in the world.