Good morning. Here’s your Daily Situational Awareness for Friday, 26 August 2022.
CHINA PREPARING FOR MAJOR CYBERATTACKS ON U.S. AS PART OF TAIWAN REUNIFICATION: Former Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Director Chris Krebs said last week that China is preparing to conduct major cyberattacks on U.S. infrastructure and industry as part of its offensive military plans to force reunification of Taiwan with mainland China. Krebs said China is currently laying the groundwork for its planned attacks and that “every single company out there should be conducting simulations, scenarios, impact assessments, tabletop exercises at the objective level around what’s happening in the Taiwan Straits.” – M.M.
SOLOMON ISLANDS DENIES ENTRY TO U.S. AND U.K. COAST GUARD SHIPS: The Solomon Islands, now under heavy Chinese influence, has denied entry into its waters to two U.S. and U.K. Coast Guard ships. Both ships are conducting patrols to assist partner nations in securing their sovereign waters from illegal fishing and smuggling activity. The Solomon Islands government recently banned foreign journalists who are not respectful of China. Also, a Reuters report out of Australia claimed the Solomon Islands Prime Minister’s office had twice distributed Chinese government money to 39 of 50 members of parliament, allegedly to influence pro-China policies. – M.M.
WHISTLEBLOWER; U.S. SOCIAL MEDIA VULNERABLE TO MANIPULATION BY CHINA, RUSSIA: According to a whistleblower, the former head of Twitter security, Twitter is presently vulnerable to exploitation by foreign governments and may even have foreign spies currently employed at the company. The former Twitter executive, Peiter Zatko, said potential spies could use their positions inside the social media company to conduct surveillance on targets of interest and manipulate public opinion in a manner that threatens U.S. national security. – M.M.
BRICS PRESIDENT: RUSSIA-INDIA TRADE NO LONGER NEEDS USD: BRICS President Purnima Anand claimed that Russia and India no longer need the US Dollar for trade bilateral settlements, pointing to the implementation of a mechanism of mutual settlements in rubles and rupees. Anand also noted that China is developing a similar mechanism of mutual settlements in Rubles and Yuan. – M.S.
BELARUS MOBILIZES RESERVES, CONSCRIPTS FOR MILITARY DRILLS: Belarusian Defence Ministry officials announced the country would be conducting military drills for reservists and conscripts in territorial defense units this weekend. The drills scheduled for Saturday will ostensibly focus on strengthening defensive positions around the Belarusian capital of Minsk. The announcement follows the start of joint exercises between the Belarusian and Russian air forces, which began this week, signaling an increased buildup of military readiness by the Russian ally. – R.P.
IN TODAY’S EARLY WARNING: Mike releases his first BRICS Watch report about China’s strategy to build a China-led world order, plus the team discusses the latest on food security, inflation, and how President Biden’s remarks on Trump supporters yesterday raises the temperature on low intensity conflict. Get access to the rest of this report at https://forwardobserver.com/subscribe
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