European law enforcement agency Europol’s mandate is set to substantially widen, while the organisation’s budget and human resources will grow considerably in the coming years if new proposals by the European Commission proceed as planned. New powers for the agency to analyse big data, develop new encryption tools, unilaterally request the launch of European Union-relevant investigations at national level, exchange investigative information with the private sector, and exploit stronger links to other EU entities are all part of the plan.  The...

The US government announced the imposition of sanctions on Turkey’s defence acquisition organisation on 14 December under the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) over the Turkish acquisition of Russian S-400 (SA-21 ‘Growler’) air-defence system.  Under the sanctions, Washington is targeting Turkey’s defence procurement organisation: the Presidency of Defence Industries (SSB). Blocking sanctions and visa restrictions through the Department of the Treasury’s Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons (SDN) Li...

The US government announced the imposition of sanctions on Turkey’s defence acquisition organisation on 14 December under the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) over the Turkish acquisition of Russian S-400 (SA-21 ‘Growler’) air-defence system.  Under the sanctions, Washington is targeting Turkey’s defence procurement organisation: the Presidency of Defence Industries (SSB). Blocking sanctions and visa restrictions through the Department of the Treasury’s Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons (SDN) Li...

An investigation into the hacking of a cyber-security company appears to have revealed a global intrusion campaign affecting US government networks, among other targets. FireEye – one of the world’s largest cyber-security companies – announced on 8 December that it had been the victim of an intrusion by a “nation with top-tier offensive capabilities”. On the company’s blog, Chief Executive Officer Kevin Mandia stated that the attackers had “used a novel combination of techniques not witnessed by us or our partners in the past”.  The FireEye c...

The Palestinian Authority (PA) has resumed security co-operation with Israel after six months and following the election victory of US President-elect Joe Biden, senior PA security officials confirmed to   Janes  in November 2020. A Palestinian security analyst consulted by   Janes  considered the resumption a good gesture and a message to Biden, whom Palestinians expect to sponsor a return to peace talks with Israel to alter course from the policies of outgoing US President Donald Trump on the Israeli-Palestinian...

The proliferation of open-source intelligence (OSINT) in the 2010s has enabled professionals and amateurs to exploit a wealth of freely available information that can provide a picture of global events. Powerful tools have become more readily available that can track military assets, including the Automatic Identification System (AIS) on many maritime vessels, automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B) and other systems for tracking aircraft via their transponders, commercial electro-optical and synthetic aperture radar satellite imag...

France is facing renewed protests over a controversial draft security law which, among other provisions, stipulates that no-one may post, on any platform, videos in which a national security officer may be identified. Following outbreaks of often violent protests during the weekends of 21–22 and 28-29 November over Article 24 of the draft, President Emmanuel Macron announced on 30 November that the article would be redrafted. The rest of the bill – which passed a first parliamentary reading on 24 November, at the same time as further protests...

Austrian Minister of the Interior Karl Nehammer on 4 November announced plans to reform the national domestic intelligence service, the Office for the Protection of the Constitution and Counterterrorism (Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz und Terrorismusbekämpfung: BVT), in response to the terrorist attack in Vienna on 2 November that killed four people.  Following the attack, Nehammer highlighted intelligence failures, indicating that the perpetrator – Kujtim Fejzulai – had been identified by the BVT before the attack. BVT director Erich Zwettl...

Russia’s Security Council (Sovet Bezopasnosti: SB) was established in 1992, the direct successor of its Soviet counterpart to the Soviet Security Council, although during the 1990s it was often of questionable value, acting more as a half-way house for officials on their way to retirement. It is technically an arm of the powerful Presidential Administration (Administratsiya Prezidenta: AP), the institution that has emerged as Russian President Vladimir Putin’s primary agency of management.  In practice, the SB is an autonomous body, especiall...

NATO’s ‘Cyber Coalition 2020’ (CC20) exercise to defend the allies against cyber attacks, which took place on 16–20 November, embraced a number of firsts for the annual event. These included a wholly new scenario tailored to modern cyber operations, optional storylines based on protecting either military or civil critical infrastructure, and extensive testing and use of deceptive methods to deflect cyber opponents and gather metrics on their tactics. For the first time, CC20 was also conducted wholly in a virtual format due to the Covid-19 pa...

The UK government has received GBP700,368.01 (USD935,723) in fines between March and September for export control violations, the Department of International Trade revealed in a notice to exporters on 24 November.  Fines of between GBP1,000 and GBP211,250 were issued to exporters across 19 settlement actions for unlicensed exports of dual use goods, military goods and related activity controlled by the Export Control Order 2008.  A spokesperson for Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC), which handles enforcement actions related to violatio...

The United States formally withdrew from the international Open Skies treaty on 22 November, fulfilling the Trump administration’s pledge made in May.  The US, which has been flying the OC-135B in the Open Skies role, withdrew from the international treaty on 22 November. (US Air Force)  “On May 22, the United States exercised its right pursuant to paragraph 2 of Article XV of the Treaty on Open Skies by providing notice to the Treaty Depositaries and to all States Parties of its decision to withdraw from the Treaty, effective six months fro...

Since the early 1990s, Somalia has been more readily assigned the status of a ‘failed state’ than perhaps any other country. Central government authority ended with the collapse of Siad Barre’s 22-year regime in 1991, ushering in an extended period during which viable, nationwide security institutions were absent. Clan warfare dominated into the early 2000s, alongside more than a dozen failed attempts to form a government, including by exiled leaders in Djibouti and Kenya.  The Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) very briefly established a degree o...

Disinformation campaigns that target the EU’s military and civil security missions in Africa and elsewhere to undermine their credibility are rising, according to EU officials. A new approach to analyse and counter the problem will be launched in the coming months.  “The simple fact is all our missions are being targeted by disinformation,” said Admiral Hervé Bléjean, head of the EU Military Staff and its operational headquarters, Military Planning and Conduct Capability (MPCC). Adm Bléjean and others addressed their remarks to a 16 November...

Australian special forces deployed in Afghanistan between 2005 and 2016 were involved in the unlawful killing of 39 prisoners and civilians and the cruel treatment of two other individuals, according to a report by the Inspector-General of the Aust...

As the polar ice mass above the Arctic Circle rapidly retracts due to global warming, diminishing ice is leading to increased maritime access to Arctic sea routes. The decrease in permanent sea ice, especially from June to September, has exposed coastal borders, driven increased military activity, and set the stage for the Arctic region to play a prominent role in geostrategic competition.    Royal Danish Navy Thetis-class frigate HDMS   Triton  (F358) transits Godthab Fjord in August 2020 during Canadian Operation ‘Nan...

The huge increase in the sale and transport of waste plastic has created lucrative and varied opportunities for unscrupulous businesses and organised crime groups (OCGs) to exploit. With the plastics industry continuing to grow and international trade routes for waste becoming increasingly complex, law enforcement agencies (LEAs) face major challenges in monitoring and tackling the problem, while also facing mounting political and civil society pressure for effective action.  The global market for recycled plastics was valued at USD32.6 bill...

On 6 November, the US Department of the Treasury sanctioned Gebran Bassil, head of the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) – the leading Christian party in Lebanon and close ally of the powerful Iran-backed Hizbullah – under the 2016 Global Magnitsky Act. Bassil, the son-in-law of President Michel Aoun and presidential aspirant, is the most notable figure outside Hizbullah to have been designated to date in Lebanon. Significantly, he was sanctioned for alleged corruption rather than for the FPM’s 14-year alliance with Hizbullah.  Nevertheless, Leba...

Fighting has intensified in Afghanistan in recent months, with US Forces-Afghanistan (USFOR-A) describing the number of enemy-initiated attacks (EIAs) registered between 1 July and 30 September as “above seasonal norms”, according to a report by US Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) John Sopko.  Released on 5 November, the SIGAR’s latest quarterly report cited USFOR-A as saying that “average daily enemy-initiated attacks in Afghanistan were 50% higher this quarter (July–September) than last quarter (April–June)”...

A suspected Islamic State sympathiser carried out a shooting attack in central Vienna, Austria, late on 2 November, leaving at least four people dead. At the time of writing, a further seven people were critically wounded in hospital and police had begun a series of arrests in connection with the attack.  The attack highlighted the ongoing terrorist threat in Europe from Islamist extremists. Despite the destruction of its self-declared ‘caliphate’ in March 2019, the Islamic State remains an imminent danger to Europe by inspiring lone-wolf att...