Good morning. Here’s your Daily Situational Awareness for Tuesday, 01 March 2022. You can receive this daily briefing by signing up at https://forwardobserver.com/daily-sa
TODAY’S BRIEFING:
- North Korea resumes missile tests
- Freedom convoy numbers fizzle, arriving later than expected
- China’s ‘most advanced’ cyber tool
- Ag futures rise on global instability
UPGRADE TO EARLY WARNING AND GET THESE BRIEFINGS:
- Russia-NATO SITREP: CONVOY APPROACHES KYIV, INFO OPS GONE WILD
- Indo-Pacific SITREP: U.S. SENDS HIGH-LEVEL DELEGATION TO TAIWAN, CHINA PREPARES TO ACCEPT RUSSIA INTO CIPS
- In Focus: BIG TECH ACTIONS BRING CONCERN FOR CYBER ESCALATION
- Far Left Activity Rollup & Outlook
SITUATIONAL AWARENESS
NORTH KOREA RESUMES MISSILE TESTS: North Korea conducted its eighth missile test of 2022. Sunday’s launch flew about 190 miles from North Korea toward Japan but landed outside its territory. Japan’s defense minister said, “If North Korea deliberately carried out the missile launch while the international community is distracted by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, such an act is absolutely unforgivable… and we cannot overlook considerable missile and nuclear advancement.” (Analyst Comment: Beyond saber-rattling, North Korea will continue to take advantage of the destabilized geopolitical order. As the war is likely to escalate in Europe, North Korea seeks to gain new concessions on Western sanctions. China will likely continue its support of North Korea’s antagonism in the Pacific. – D.M.)
FREEDOM CONVOY NUMBERS FIZZLE, ARRIVING LATER THAN EXPECTED: The trucking protest convoy is showing fewer participants than expected. Groups still en route to Washington D.C. are expected to arrive later this week. Last month, protest organizers were aiming to have the group ready in time to protest mandates and restrictions during President Biden’s State of the Union address. One group out of California had to disband due to too few members at the second stop. Additionally, the National Park Service approved a revised permit indicating a reduction to less than 1/6th of previously estimated attendees. (AC: Relaxing mandates and the Ukrainian crisis are slowing the momentum for the trucker protests. A number of protest groups are still expected to arrive outside the D.C. area but with fewer numbers than anticipated. The federal government has also increased its security measures which will be better equipped to limit any blockades. – D.F.)
CHINA’S ‘MOST ADVANCED’ CYBER TOOL: Symantec’s Threat Hunter team identified a Chinese-linked malware called Backdoor.Daxin. The cybersecurity team said, “Daxin is without doubt the most advanced piece of malware Symantec researchers have seen…Daxin appears to be optimized for use against hardened targets, allowing the attackers to burrow deep into a target’s network and exfiltrate data without raising suspicions.” Targets include government networks and critical infrastructure operators. (AC: Symantec suspects this persistent collection effort reached initial operational capacity in 2013 and likely spread across networks for nearly a decade. China’s ability to access troves of government and infrastructure data remains an unanswered breach of national security. Their long-term collection efforts provide critical information to out-maneuver cybersecurity measures and Western political interference. – D.M.)
Symantec’s analysis of the Chinese-linked Daxin malware. Credit: Symantec
AG FUTURES RISE ON GLOBAL INSTABILITY: Agriculture sector future prices are increasing at or near daily limits with periodic volatility. The primary driver is war in Europe and concerns over the ability to meet global grain demand with Ukrainian port closures and harvests in question. Grain speculators are also eyeing lower-than-expected yields in South American corn following sustained droughts. (AC: Expect continued price increases at the grocery store. A prolonged Russian campaign in Ukraine will severely disrupt the international agriculture market as the warring nations account for 30+% of wheat production. Conflicts will exacerbate market volatility alongside global drought conditions. Processed products will see the sharpest increase in price and reduction in availability. – D.M.)
HAZARDS WARNING:
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