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Jul 28, 2020

#AlertaVenezuela: July 28, 2020

By Atlantic Council's DFRLab

On July 21-23, 2020, Twitter accounts petitioning U.S. President Donald Trump for a military intervention in Venezeula also pushed four hashtags to trend that promoted anti-socialist messaging against Juan Guaidó and Nicolás Maduro. The accounts, all of which had set their locations to Venezuela, showed signs of inauthenticity and platform manipulation, such as posting duplicative content and creating fake engagement.

Disinformation Venezuela

Trackers and Data Visualizations

Jul 26, 2020

Software supply chain security: The dataset

By Will Loomis, Stewart Scott, Trey Herr, Sara Ann Brackett, Nancy Messieh, and June Lee

Want to dive deeper into the Breaking Trust database? You have come to the right place.

Cybersecurity Technology & Innovation

Report

Jul 26, 2020

Breaking trust: Shades of crisis across an insecure software supply chain

By Dr. Trey Herr, William Loomis, Stewart Scott, June Lee

Software supply chain security remains an under-appreciated domain of national security policymaking. Working to improve the security of software supporting private sector enterprise as well as sensitive Defense and Intelligence organizations requires more coherent policy response together industry and open source communities.

Cybersecurity Defense Technologies

Feature

Jul 26, 2020

App stores in focus

By Trey Herr, June Lee, Will Loomis, and Stewart Scott

App stores and hubs are a popular target for software supply chain attacks on large numbers of users, exploiting trust in proprietary app ecosystems and the security of storefronts like Play Store and App Store.

Cybersecurity Technology & Innovation

Feature

Jul 26, 2020

Deep impact: States and software supply chain attacks

By Trey Herr, June Lee, Will Loomis, and Stewart Scott

States have used software supply chain attacks to great effect. Hijacked updates have routinely delivered the most crippling state-backed attacks, thanks in part to a continued failure to secure the code-signing process.

China Cybersecurity

Inflection Points

Jul 26, 2020

U.S.-China confrontation is like nothing we’ve seen before

By Frederick Kempe

The escalating confrontation between the United States and China is so perilous because the world’s two largest economies – and the two defining countries of their times – are navigating uncharted terrain. It isn’t a struggle over “world domination,” which no country has ever achieved, but it could have significant impact on “world determination.”

China Conflict

EnergySource

Jul 24, 2020

The ACWA Power–Air Products joint venture for green hydrogen: A new Saudi energy policy?

By Jean-François Seznec and Samer Mosis

In early July 2020, the city of Neom and ACWA Power of Saudi Arabia signed a joint venture agreement with Air Products of the United States to build the largest green hydrogen and green ammonia plant in the world. As the energy transition gains speed, this announcement is a significant step forward in establishing a new role for Middle Eastern oil-exporting countries in a future global economy less dependent on hydrocarbons. That said, the scale and relative inexperience of key project partners means the project still faces an uphill battle.

Energy & Environment Energy Markets & Governance

EnergySource

Jul 24, 2020

Searching for the missing link: Options for firm zero-carbon power

By Stephen S. Greene

“Firm” zero-carbon generation resources, which are not necessarily intended to run all the time, but can be available at any time, will be needed to complement renewable resources in the future, without emitting the CO2 produced by today’s fossil energy system. These resources might include, for example, fossil-fuel power plants with carbon capture, nuclear power plants with improved dispatchability, geothermal power, and bio-fueled generators. But the path to developing, and certainly deploying, such resources has been slower and more fraught than for renewables; these “firm” electricity generation resources represent a missing link in the path towards a decarbonized electricity grid.

Energy & Environment Nuclear Energy
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#AlertaVenezuela

Jul 22, 2020

#AlertaVenezuela: July 22, 2020

By Atlantic Council's DFRLab

Representatives aligned with Luis Parra, Maduro’s illegitimately installed National Assembly president, announcing on July 19 that he had been hospitalized after “apparent pneumonia.” Pro-Maduro accounts used Parra’s name to convey news about his condition and to promote Maduro regime’s hashtags on Twitter. “Luis Parra” trended as a keyword on Venezuela between July 19-21, 2020.

Disinformation Venezuela

Conflict, Risk, and Tech

Jul 22, 2020

Troubled vision: Understanding recent Israeli–Iranian offensive cyber exchanges

By JD Work and Richard Harknett

Reported Iranian intrusions against Israeli critical infrastructure networks and alleged Israeli actions against Iranian proliferation-associated targets pose substantial new challenges to understanding ongoing competition and conflict in the Middle East.

Cybersecurity Iran