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November 30, 2023 Treasury’s New North Korea Sanctions Highlight the Problem With North Korea Sanctions The U.S. Department of the Treasury sanctioned a virtual currency mixer yesterday for serving as a key money laundering tool for North Korean hackers and other cybercriminals. While the department contended... November 30, 2023 As Iran’s Economy Grows, Inflation Remains an Achilles’ Heel The Statistical Centre of Iran on November 27, 2023, reported a 7.1 percent increase in Iran’s gross domestic product (GDP) between June and August, almost half of which was due to energy sector growth.... November 27, 2023 Government-Industry Collaboration Minimized Damages Following Hack of Australian Ports DP World Australia, an international firm specializing in cargo logistics and port operations, detected a hack in mid-November, forcing the company to limit operations at four of the nation’s largest... November 24, 2023 Can Tehran Neutralize Its Pension Fund Time Bomb By Raising the Retirement Age? Iran’s Majlis, its de facto parliament, voted to raise Iran’s retirement age on November 19. This decision comes as the government deals with the potential for pension system default that could both... November 17, 2023 Iran’s Nuclear Program Expands Despite U.S. Sanctions Relief The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN nuclear watchdog, reported new data on Wednesday indicating Tehran has expanded its nuclear program since September. The Islamic Republic’s nuclear... November 16, 2023 Washington Should Sanction Chinese Companies Providing Vehicles to Russian Military Moscow revealed last week that its military has received over 500 Chinese-made off-road vehicles and soon plans to get nearly 1,600 more. This is not the first time that Russian forces have acquired Chinese-made... November 15, 2023 Congress Should Take Away Iran’s $10 Billion Sanctions Relief Just five weeks after the Hamas October 7 massacre, the State Department re-issued a sanctions waiver on November 14 enabling Hamas’s terror sponsor, Iran, to use more than $10 billion in previously inaccessible funds held in Iraq. ... November 8, 2023 The Counter Ransomware Initiative Takes the Fight to Hackers — But Commitments Appear Lackluster At the White House’s third annual Counter Ransomware Initiative (CRI) summit this week, participating countries expanded their efforts to combat ransomware by launching information-sharing platforms... November 7, 2023 How the U.S. Can Slash Tehran’s Oil Revenue Tehran exported 1.4 million barrels per day of crude oil last month, of which 74 percent went to China. The Biden administration has deliberately relaxed the enforcement of oil sanctions since taking office,... November 7, 2023 Boeing’s Cyber Incident Highlights Need for Greater Information Sharing Boeing confirmed last Wednesday it was experiencing a cyber incident affecting parts of its global services business but not the flight safety of Boeing aircraft. This incident highlights the need for... November 7, 2023 Saudi Arabia Buys Time for Normalization Talks With America and Israel Saudi Arabia has extended a deadline for bids from foreign companies to build the kingdom’s first nuclear power reactors. The extension could allow Riyadh, Jerusalem, and Washington to finalize normalization... November 7, 2023 Russia’s Wagner Group to Transfer Air Defense System to Hezbollah, U.S. Intel Says U.S. intelligence reportedly believes that Russia’s Wagner paramilitary organization plans to send Hezbollah a short-range air defense system that currently belongs to the Syrian military. Moscow may... November 2, 2023 More Cyber Collaboration Between TSA and Industry Will Put Railroad Operators on the Right Track The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) announced updates to three security directives last week aimed at strengthening the cyber resilience of passenger and freight railroads. The new guidance... October 23, 2023 Hamas’ Cryptocurrency Use Draws Attention to Terror Finance Enforcement Gaps More than 100 Democratic and Republican members of Congress sent a letter to the White House last Tuesday urging the Biden administration to take action to stop terrorist organizations from raising funds... October 18, 2023 Israel’s War Against Hamas Will Take Time A senior Israeli official reportedly said on Tuesday that the Jewish state has struck more than 5,000 targets in Gaza with the goal of eliminating Hamas, even if it takes “months or years.” The objective... October 18, 2023 How Palestinian Terrorists Yet Again Killed Palestinians, Lied to the Media Israel once again stands falsely accused of killing Palestinian civilians, this time by bombing a hospital in Gaza on Tuesday. However, the responsibility lies with a misfired rocket launched by the terrorist... October 17, 2023 Beijing Refuses to Condemn Hamas, Steps Up Criticism of Israel China refuses to condemn either Hamas’ war crimes or its shock assault on Israel last week, an approach that mirrors its response to other conflicts, especially the Russia-Ukraine war. In casting itself... October 17, 2023 International Law Accepts No Excuses for Murder, Hostage-Taking Several activist groups, including chapters of the Democratic Socialists of America, have attempted to justify the Hamas murder, torture, and kidnapping of civilians in Israel by invoking a supposed “right... October 16, 2023 U.S.-UAE Cybersecurity Cooperation Marks Needed Collaboration in the Region The United States and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Monday announced a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on cybersecurity cooperation. Against the backdrop of surging Iranian and criminal cyberattacks... October 12, 2023 Skills-based Hiring Can Address Cyber Workforce Shortfalls On an overwhelmingly bipartisan basis, the House of Representatives on October 2 passed the Modernizing the Acquisition of Cybersecurity Experts Act, which would eliminate all minimum educational requirements... October 10, 2023 Egyptian Kills Two Israeli Tourists and Local Guide, but Cairo Remains Silent The day after Hamas launched its surprise attack on Israel, an Egyptian security officer — apparently acting on his own — killed two Israeli tourists and their local tour guide in Alexandria. The action... October 10, 2023 Turkey Actively Supports Hamas, Refuses to Condemn Massacre Following the deadly terrorist attacks in Israel by Hamas, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan refused to condemn the perpetrators, instead commenting on Sunday, “it’s our responsibility to stand... October 8, 2023 Israel at War as Death Toll Exceeds 600 A day after suffering the worst terrorist assault in its history, Israel was still struggling on October 8 to recapture all of its Gaza border communities from Hamas terrorists while taking the battle... October 6, 2023 Ransomware Attack on Hospitals Highlights Need to Ensure Continuity of Patient Care McLaren Health Care, one of Michigan’s largest hospital systems, is still recovering from a ransomware attack last week that caused outages in patient care services. This is yet another in a series of... October 2, 2023 Turkey Defies Rule of Law With Life Sentence for Rights Activist Turkey’s highest appeals court last week upheld a life-long prison sentence for human rights activist and philanthropist Osman Kavala. The court’s decision violates several binding rulings by the European... September 19, 2023 U.S. Sanctions Turkish Entities for Fueling Russia’s War Machine The Biden administration on Thursday imposed sanctions against five Turkey-based entities and a Turkish national for facilitating sanctions evasion by Russian companies supporting Russia’s military or... September 14, 2023 West Bank Rocket Fire Seeks to Open New Front Against Israel Palestinian terrorists operating near Jenin in the northern West Bank launched a rocket at Israel on September 10, the seventh attempted rocket attack from the area since June. Given that Palestinians... August 25, 2023 Iran’s Nuclear ‘Concession’ May Not Be One at All The Wall Street Journal reported on August 11 that Iran has slowed its accumulation of 60 percent enriched uranium — whose production entails 95 to 99 percent of the effort to make weapons-grade uranium... August 21, 2023 U.S. Sanctions Target Turkey-Backed Militias in Syria, but Not Turkish Authorities The U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions on Thursday against a pair of Turkey-backed Syrian militias — the Suleiman Shah Brigade and the Hamza Brigade — responsible for serious human rights abuses,... August 16, 2023 Iran’s Pension Funds Are a Fiscal Time Bomb Waiting to Explode Protests by Iranian retirees have surged this year, with demonstrations last week in several of Iran’s largest cities. Their calls to increase meager government pensions are both a cry of desperation... August 15, 2023 UK Sanctions Turkish Entities Supplying Electronics to Russia UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly last week announced “new sanctions on individuals and businesses outside Russia supporting Putin’s illegal invasion of Ukraine,” including two Turkish businesses... August 14, 2023 Biden Establishes Review Process to Regulate China-Bound Investment in Key Industries President Joe Biden signed an executive order on Wednesday that enables the Treasury Department to review and block outbound private-sector investment in China within key industries that are critical to... August 10, 2023 New U.S., UK, Canadian Sanctions Target Former Lebanese Central Bank Governor The United States, in coordination with the United Kingdom and Canada, imposed sanctions today on former Lebanese Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh and three of his associates. Washington once considered... August 3, 2023 Continued Hezbollah Impunity Risks Regional Explosion Three years ago this week, in a Beirut blast widely blamed on Hezbollah, one of the world’s largest-ever non-nuclear explosions killed over 220 people, wounded 7,000, and destroyed or damaged 74,000... August 3, 2023 Alleged Turkish Money Launderer to Face Trial A Utah court last week released Turkish businessman Sezgin Baran Korkmaz, whom Austria extradited last year, as he awaits trial in U.S. federal court for several money laundering schemes that allegedly... July 26, 2023 America’s Food Supplies Face Growing Cyber Threats Produce giant Dole disclosed to federal and state regulators earlier this month the impact of a February 2023 ransomware attack that cost the company $10.5 million. As the food and agriculture sector increasingly... July 21, 2023 Pending ICJ Case Threatens to Demand Unconditional Israeli Withdrawal from West Bank The United States and other governments have until July 25 to submit their first round of written statements in an International Court of Justice (ICJ) case that could establish a new legal framework demanding... July 21, 2023 Beijing Mounts Record-Breaking Warship Deployments Around Taiwan as Island’s Presidential Election Approaches China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) deployed a record number of warships near Taiwan this month, surpassing a previous high established after former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s travelled... July 19, 2023 Massive Healthcare Data Breach Demonstrates Need to Implement Cybersecurity Best Practices The largest U.S. healthcare provider confirmed last week that a breach of its external data storage system exposed the personal information of at least 11 million patients. The largest data breach of a... July 18, 2023 Ransomware Attack on Japanese Port Is a Warning to U.S. Shipping Japan’s largest port suffered a ransomware attack earlier this month, halting all shipments through the port for two days. This security incident underscores the need to strengthen the resilience of... July 17, 2023 UNHRC Special Rapporteur Report Justifies Terrorism, Ignores Israeli Security Needs United Nations special rapporteur Francesca Albanese released last Monday her latest assessment of “the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967.” In her report,... July 14, 2023 Biden Is Wrong: Ukraine Needs ATACMS President Joe Biden said Wednesday that while he is considering granting Kyiv’s request for the Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS), Ukraine has already received “equivalent” missiles from other... July 10, 2023 OPCW Meeting Sets Up Critical Opportunity to Sideline Russia The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) will convene this week for a thrice-yearly meeting of its Executive Council (EC). The 41-nation policy-making body has a chance to hold Russia... July 7, 2023 IDF Dismantles Terror Infrastructure in 48-Hour Operation in Jenin On July 5, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) withdrew from the Jenin Refugee Camp, concluding a significant but limited military operation in the northern West Bank in response to months of sustained terror... July 7, 2023 Israel Should Strengthen Ties with Taiwan I recently visited Taiwan as the guest of its president, Tsai Ing-wen, with a delegation comprised of leaders from the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a think tank based in Washington, DC, and some... July 5, 2023 Cooperation Between Israel and Its Neighbors Can Defeat Shared Cyber Threats Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) last week launched a new cyber threat intelligence sharing platform, dubbed Crystal Ball, to help combat ransomware and other cyberattacks. The joint effort demonstrates... June 26, 2023 U.S.-South Korean Cyber Cooperation Can Combat North Korean Threats Washington and Seoul held a high-level cybersecurity meeting over the course of three days last week as a follow-up to a joint pledge in April to increase cyber defense collaboration. This type of dialogue... June 23, 2023 New Iran Deal Could Spell End to IAEA Investigation Washington is reportedly prepared to conclude a new Iran deal that would limit U.S. pressure on Tehran to cooperate with nuclear inspectors and address the regime’s possible atomic weapons activities,... June 21, 2023 In the Tri-Border Area, Hezbollah Agents Are Again in the Wind An Argentinian federal judge issued an international arrest warrant last week against four Lebanese nationals suspected of involvement in the July 1994 terror attack against the AMIA building, the Jewish... June 21, 2023 Sanctioned Russian Bank to Begin Money Transfers to Turkey VTB Bank, Russia’s second-largest lender, announced last week that it would more than double the number of countries to which retail clients can transfer funds, with Turkey as one of the key new destinations....

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