Good morning. Here’s your Daily Situational Awareness briefing for Wednesday, 04 August 2021. You can receive this daily intel brief by signing up at https://forwardobserver.com/daily-sa
TODAY’S BRIEFING:
- Situational Awareness
- Massive Chinese telecom hack revealed
- Grazing conditions slip again
- Tanker incident highlights Deception Ops
- CDC tests their limits
- Senate continues debate on infrastructure
Subscribers can also watch the full briefing starting at 10am Central here: https://forwardobserver.com/early-warning-show/
SITUATIONAL AWARENESS
CYBER: China is suspected of conducting another persistent cyber espionage campaign, this time against numerous telecommunications companies in Southeast Asia. The attack and collection efforts used a similar exploit to the Microsoft Exchange attack, which the U.S. and U.K. blamed on China. The PLA-linked Naikon APT, Soft Cell, and APT 27 groups accessed the Call Detail Records, Domain Controllers, Web Servers and Microsoft Exchange servers since at least 2017. The investigator, Cybereason, wouldn’t say if they found similar intrusions on U.S. telecom networks, only that their detection methodology is available for use. (Analyst Comment: China is infamous for exploiting any and all means of digital communication, it is likely at least portions of U.S. carriers will be impacted following an investigation. – D.M.)
GRAZING: The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s crop report indicates little change to grazing conditions. Across the U.S. pasture and ranges continue to struggle with 42% rated as “very poor or poor”. Grazing rated as good or excellent fell by a percentage as droughts persist across many states. The ultimate impact on carcass weight and time to slaughter will be determined this fall. (AC: Mike will be back this week to discuss what he learned from the cattle industry and what their future looks like. Check back for tomorrow’s Economic Warning report for more info. – D.M.)
TANKER: Off the coast of the UAE, Iranian-backed forces seized an oil tanker. According to British maritime alerts, the Asphalt Princess was boarded by militants and began sailing for Iran. According to defense and maritime analysts, the entire incident was for show as the vessel was eventually released without further incident. The ordeal highlights the potential inaccuracy of open-source data systems such as the Automatic Identification System, used recently for many military-deception operations. The Iranians are taking increasingly provocative action but have yet to elicit a response from the U.S. or U.K. other than an appeal to the U.N. (AC: Initial reports were fabricated and disseminated via twitter, designed to confuse a potential response by flooding the niche coverage with disinformation. – D.M.)
EVICTION: The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) extended their eviction moratorium until October 3rd. The measure is intended to be “targeted” and not nationwide with specific requirements for tenants, landlords and property owners including making partial payments. The county transmission rate must be “substantial or high” as defined by the CDC. This is already being challenged in court by the National Apartment Association as they seek relief from the moratorium. According to CDC Director Rachel Welensky’s statement, less than 750,000 people applied for rent assistance since March. (AC: The Supreme Court’s single-page decision held the CDC did not possess the authority to do this. “In my view, clear and specific congressional authorization (via new legislation) would be necessary for the CDC to extend the moratorium past July 31,” Kavanaugh wrote. – D.M.)
SENATE: The Senate’s infrastructure bill is slogging through more than 250 proposed amendments. Republicans are fully aware many of their amendments will not be approved and will not “substantively change the bill”. Regarding the amendment and debate process, Senate Majority Leader Schumer (D-NY) said, “It can go rather slowly, of course, without that cooperation. In either case, the Senate is going to stay here until we finish our work.” (AC: The Senate doesn’t have a House in session to receive legislation, meaning this bill can sit in mire until the reconciliation plan is ready. The majority party is unlikely to give up ground in their spending priorities, given the proximity to the midterms. – D.M.)
HAZARDS WARNING
HURRICANE SEASON: An area of low pressure is expected to enter the Eastern Caribbean in the next 24 hours, while the system is moving slowly, shallow and warm waters give this the potential to gain momentum as it continues along a northwestern track at 10-15 MPH. The systems off the coast of Africa are not projected to have an impact to the U.S.
In today’s Early Warning briefing, Dustin examines the effects and weaponization of migration in hybrid warfare and Max also details upcoming Far Left activity. Upgrade your Situational Awareness to Early Warning here: https://forwardobserver.com/subscribe