The top defense officials of the United States, Australia and Japan expressed their opposition to “concerning and destabilizing” activities in East Asia during the 13th Trilateral Defense Ministerial Meeting in Hawaii on Thursday. Australian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence Richard Marles, Japanese Minister of Defense Kihara Minoru and U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd...
The U.S. Department of the Treasury has blocked all American property interests of several persons who were found helping Hassan Moukalled and his money-changer company CTEX Exchange avoid U.S. sanctions for supporting the Lebanon-based militant group Hezbollah. The department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control identified two of Moukalled’s sons, Firas and Rayyan, as among his...
The United States and Sweden have agreed to closely cooperate on matters related to cyberthreats. Tobias Billstrom, Swedish minister of foreign affairs, said following a bilateral dialogue in Washington, D.C., on Thursday that collaborating with the U.S. on cyber and digital issues contributes to a safer Sweden and complements the country’s membership with the European...
The United States has condemned the malicious cyber operations launched by Russia’s General Staff Main Intelligence Directorate against Germany and other European targets. “We join Germany in attributing specific malign activity carried out by APT28 that targeted a German political party,” the Department of State said in a statement Friday. “We call on Russia to...
Lithuania’s Minister of National Defence Laurynas Kasciunas has invited American defense companies to invest in his country. During a recent meeting with William LaPlante, U.S. undersecretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment, Kasciunas mentioned Rheinmetall’s plan to build an ammunition factory in Lithuania and added that he hopes other defense companies will follow suit. “We...
Cybersecurity agencies from the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada have issued a joint warning about Russian hacktivists’ threat to operational technology systems. A new report titled “Defending OT Operations Against Ongoing Pro-Russia Hacktivist Activity” revealed that pro-Russia threat actors have compromised small-scale OT systems across North America and Europe. “This year we have...
South Korea is looking to invest around $4.6 billion to build its defense capabilities by acquiring new weapons systems through the late 2030s. On Friday, the country’s Defense Acquisition Program Administration approved defense spending plans for new SM-3 missiles and four frigates and the local development of an air-to-air missile. While DAPA said the two...
The United States and the United Arab Emirates have vowed to boost cooperation on technology security under the Cooperative Technology Security Program Execution Plan. The program mandates the U.S. Defense Technology Security Administration’s International Cooperation Directorate to guide other nations’ defense and security sectors in safeguarding critical local and U.S.-origin military technologies. DTSA Director Michael...
Sweden will deploy military forces to Latvia to participate in NATO’s Enhanced Forward Presence, Forward Land Forces. In preparation, Stockholm has ordered the Swedish Armed Forces to draft a plan for next year’s deployment. “As a NATO member, Sweden is part of NATO’s collective defense and will contribute broadly to its activities and defense of...
Sahara Thunder, a company identified as a front for Iran’s Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics, faces sanctions in the United States for facilitating the design, development, manufacture and sale of drones in support of Russia’s war in Europe. According to the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, the Russian government...
