Cyber Security & Surveillance
(Pierluigi Paganini – Security Affairs) Masjesu is a stealthy botnet active since 2023, advertised as a DDoS-for-hire service. It targets IoT devices like routers and gateways, spanning multiple architectures. Designed for persistence, it executes carefully, avoiding high-profile IP ranges such as the U.S. Department of Defense to remain undetected and survive long-term, favoring low-key attacks over mass infection. “The Masjesu botnet, a sophisticated, commercially-run Internet of Things (IoT) threat, has been operational and evolving since early 2023, continuing into 2026. Its primary focus is stealth, and it is offered as a “Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS)-for-hire service,” typically marketed via Telegram. It targets a wide array of IoT devices, such as routers and gateways, across multiple architectures (including i386, MIPS, ARM, and AMD64).” reads the report published by Trellix. “Built for persistence and low visibility, Masjesu favors careful, low-key execution over widespread infection, deliberately avoiding blocklisted IP ranges such as those belonging to the Department of Defense (DoD) to ensure long-term survival.”. Masjesu hides its strings, configs, and payloads with XOR encryption to bypass static detection. It scans random IPs and exploits vulnerabilities in devices from D-Link, GPON, and Netgear to spread. Its C2 setup uses multiple domains and fallback IPs and runs TCP, UDP, and HTTP flood attacks. – Masjesu botnet targets IoT devices while evading high-profile networks
(Pierluigi Paganini – Security Affairs) A massive alleged breach has hit China’s National Supercomputing Center (NSCC) in Tianjin. A hacker claims to have exfiltrated over 10 petabytes of highly sensitive data, including military, aerospace, and missile-related information. The facility supports around 6,000 clients, including scientific and defense organizations, raising serious concerns about national security and data exposure. Cyber experts reviewing leaked samples say the attacker breached the system with relative ease and quietly exfiltrated massive volumes of data over several months without being detected. A group calling itself “FlamingChina” shared samples on Telegram, claiming the dataset includes sensitive research in aerospace, military, bioinformatics, and fusion. – The alleged breach of China’s National Supercomputing Center can have serious geopolitical consequences
(Pierluigi Paganini – Security Affairs) Malware targeting industrial control systems (ICS) poses a serious risk to critical infrastructure, with threats like Stuxnet, Industroyer, Triton, Havex, and BlackEnergy already demonstrating the ability to disrupt operations, cause outages, and even inflict physical damage. Recent research shows that ICS vulnerability disclosures nearly doubled between 2024 and 2025, driven in part by increased interest from threat actors targeting sectors such as energy, manufacturing, and utilities. A key concern is the exposure of ICS devices to the internet, especially those using legacy protocols like Modbus. Widely used in industrial environments to enable communication between sensors and controllers, Modbus lacks basic security features such as encryption and authentication. This makes internet-exposed devices particularly vulnerable, as attackers can both read and modify data without needing credentials. To better understand the scale of the issue, researchers conducted a global scan for devices responding on port 502, the default port for Modbus. Out of 311 initial responses, 179 were identified as likely real ICS devices after filtering out honeypots and unreliable data. These devices were found across multiple countries, with the United States hosting the largest number (57), followed by Sweden (22) and Turkey (19). – Internet-Exposed ICS Devices Raise Alarm for Critical Sectors
Europe
(Rudy Ruitenberg – Defense News) Restoring wild forests, peat bogs and wetlands on Europe’s borders would establish defensive barriers that are hard to cross for enemy armored units, at a fraction of the cost of concrete anti-tank ditches while bringing environmental benefits, researchers said. For tropical coasts, re-establishing mangrove forests could play a similar role. “Defensive rewilding” combines national security and climate resilience by strategically locating rewilding projects to create natural barriers that impede, delay or channel invading forces, researchers Sam Jelliman, Brian Schmidt and Alan Chandler wrote in an article for the RUSI Journal published on April 7. At the same time, rewilding allows for carbon storage and more biodiversity, they said. – Researchers propose ‘rewilding’ Europe’s borderlands to repel enemies
France
(Rudy Ruitenberg – Defense News) France is in talks with manufacturers about an intermediary solution to replace the country’s aging Leclerc main battle tank, as a project with Germany to develop a next-generation tank is delayed, Armed Forces Minister Catherine Vautrin told lawmakers on Wednesday. The French-German project for the future Main Combat Ground System, which was supposed to produce the Leclerc’s successor, is about a decade behind schedule, Vautrin told lawmakers in a hearing on Wednesday. The minister presented government plans to spend an additional €36 billion ($42 billion) on defense in the 2026-2030 period. – France mulls fallback tank for delayed MGCS program in defense update
Greenland
(Reuters/Al Arabiya) Greenland’s Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen said on Thursday that he represents a proud nation seeking to maintain global order, pushing back against the latest comments about the Arctic island by US President Donald Trump. Trump on Wednesday vented his frustration with NATO as relations reached a crisis point over the Iran war, stating that the military alliance was not around when needed, and that he still remembered Greenland, a “BIG, POORLY RUN, PIECE OF ICE.” – Greenland prime minister rebuffs Trump remarks as NATO tensions rise
Israel/West Bank
(Reuters/Al Arabiya) Israel has approved the establishment of dozens of new Jewish settlements in the West Bank, an Israeli watchdog group said on Thursday, amid a rise in settler attacks on Palestinians across the occupied territory. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government has not formally announced the establishment of the 34 new settlements, many of them outposts in far-flung areas of the mountainous territory, the Peace Now watchdog group said in a statement. – Israel approves dozens of new settlements in West Bank, watchdog says
UK
(Muvija M and Catarina Demony – Reuters/Defense News) Britain deployed military vessels to prevent any attacks on cables and pipelines by Russian submarines which spent more than a month in and around British waters earlier this year, its defense minister John Healey said on Thursday. Britain accused Russia of using the distraction of events in the Middle East to try to conduct the covert operation in the High North maritime region, home to key shipping routes and critical infrastructure such as undersea cables. – UK says it deployed military to deter Russian submarines from attack on undersea cables
US
(Patrick Tucker – Defense One) A planned satellite constellation will be able to image any location on Earth every 15 minutes and take more detailed images, a novel capability that could reveal even the nimblest and stealthiest military maneuvers, its developer says. On Thursday, Vantor announced plans to enlarge its current fleet of 10 satellites “five-fold” with spacecraft that will produce images with 20cm resolution—better than its current 30- and 40cm imagery. The company also plans to add two dozen high-revisit/lower-res satellites. When the constellation is complete some time after 2029, Vantor officials said it will vault the company to the forefront of the space-imagery industry. “The geo accuracy of our exquisite data combined with the revisit data—we can actually fuse that data and have highly accurate imagery that nobody else can do,” Vantor CEO Dan Smoot said in an interview. – ‘Hybrid constellations’ are making it hard for militaries to hide – Defense One
(David DiMolfetta, Alexandra Kelley, Patrick Tucker – Defense One) Anthropic’s decision to keep close hold on a powerful frontier AI model, paired with a new initiative to study its effects on global networks, is prompting intelligence-community discussions about the ways such tools might help friendly and adversary forces alike. On Tuesday, Anthropic unveiled Project Glasswing, a bid to raise AI-powered defenses before AI-enabled attackers can overwhelm critical software. “The fallout — for economies, public safety, and national security — could be severe. Project Glasswing is an urgent attempt to put these capabilities to work for defensive purposes,” the AI company said in a blog post. – Spy agencies eye new Anthropic AI model that spots cyber flaws – Defense One
(Meghann Myers – Defense One) As the Army works to gather and organize data to support battlefield decisions, it has created a task force to help with small, short-term problems—and in the longer term, to shape the service’s overall approach to data management. The Army Data Operations Center went live on April 3, service officials told reporters on Tuesday, and so far its small team of civilian and soldier data and software engineers have received seven requests from different organizations to help deconflict. “It used to be about firepower, but it isn’t really about that anymore,” said Lt. Gen. Jeth Rey, the Army’s chief of staff for command, control, communications, cyber operations, and network architecture. “It’s really about who can get the data to make decisions faster, to dominate.” – Army operations center is trying to solve battlefield data problems in real time – Defense One
(Mile Stone – Reuters/Defense News) Small defense industry artificial intelligence startups are suddenly fielding calls from generals, combatant commanders and deep-pocketed investors, after the souring relationship between the Pentagon and its once-favored AI vendor, Anthropic, reinforced the need to diversify and increase the number of AI providers for the military. In the weeks since the Department of Defense’s troubled relationship with Anthropic burst into public view and led to the company being kicked out of the U.S. military, new defense-focused AI companies like Smack Technologies and EdgeRunner AI say they have experienced a shift in interest that would have been unimaginable just months ago. They have received a surge of overtures about possible contracts and meeting requests and been approached by investors who previously showed no interest. – Pentagon’s ouster of Anthropic opens doors for small AI rivals
War in Iran/Middle East/Gulf and beyond
(Agencies/Al Arabiya) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday he ordered his cabinet to open direct talks with Lebanon to disarm Hezbollah and establish “peace relations” between the two countries. “In light of Lebanon’s repeated requests to open direct negotiations with Israel, I instructed the cabinet yesterday to begin direct negotiations with Lebanon as soon as possible,” his office wrote in a statement. – Israel’s Netanyahu says instructed cabinet to begin direct negotiations with Lebanon
(Al Arabiya) Lebanon’s president said Thursday that the only solution to end the war with Israel is an immediate ceasefire followed by direct talks with the neighboring country. “The only solution to the situation Lebanon is experiencing is through a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon, followed by direct negotiations,” President Joseph Aoun was quoted as telling a visiting delegation to the presidential palace. – Lebanon’s president says only solution is ceasefire and direct talks with Israel
(AFP/Al Arabiya) Pakistan praised “restraint” in the Middle East war on Thursday, but condemned ongoing Israeli attacks on Lebanon as Islamabad prepared to host expected talks between Iran and the United States. Both Washington and Tehran have confirmed their participation in peace talks brokered by Pakistan, although the schedule is still to be confirmed. Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif met Thursday with the country’s army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, who jointly “appreciated the restraint demonstrated by all sides,” according to the premier’s office. – Pakistan hails ‘restraint,’ slams Israeli strikes on Lebanon ahead of US-Iran talks
(Agencies/Al Arabiya) German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Thursday he did not want US-Iran war to place any further strain on relations between the United States and its European NATO partners. “We do not want – I do not want – NATO to split. NATO is a guarantor of our security, including and above all in Europe,” he said, speaking to journalists. – Merz warns against NATO split over Iran war, Israeli aggression in Lebanon
(Reuters/Al Arabiya) Some of Lebanon’s hospitals could run out of life-saving trauma medical kits within days as supplies near depletion following mass casualties from large-scale Israeli strikes over the past day, the World Health Organization said on Thursday. – Lebanon’s hospitals may run out of vital medical supplies within days, WHO warns
(Reuters/Al Arabiya) NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has briefed some capitals that US President Donald Trump wants concrete commitments within the next few days for help securing the Strait of Hormuz, two European diplomats told Reuters on Thursday. Rutte met with Trump in Washington on Wednesday, amid tensions within the alliance over the Iran war. – NATO’s Rutte told allies Trump wants Hormuz commitments within days, diplomats say
(Al Arabiya) Iran-backed Hezbollah said Thursday its fighters were engaged in point-blank clashes with Israeli forces in the south Lebanon town of Bint Jbeil, famous for a fierce battle between the two sides in 2006. – Hezbollah says engaging Israeli forces directly in south Lebanon town of Bint Jbeil
(Al Arabiya) Iran’s parliament speaker on Thursday said Lebanon was a key part of the two-week ceasefire with the United States, warning that violations would bring severe consequences, following massive Israeli strikes on Lebanon. – Iranian officials warn Israeli strikes on Lebanon put ceasefire agreement at risk
(Al Arabiya) The UAE’s air defense systems did not detect any ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, or UAVs launched from Iran over the past hours, the Ministry of Defense said on Thursday. – UAE airspace free of any air threats during past hours: Defense ministry
(AFP/Al Arabiya) The head of Iran’s nuclear energy agency on Thursday ruled out any restrictions on the country’s enrichment of uranium, saying the demand by the United States and Israel “will not come true.” – Iran rules out restrictions on enrichment program: Nuclear chief
(AFP/Al Arabiya) The EU said Thursday that freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz must be ensured with “no payment or toll whatsoever,” after Iran suggested it could charge for letting ships through. A full reopening of the vital Gulf waterway remains a key point of contention as talks are due to start after Iran and the United States announced a two-week ceasefire following over a month of hostilities. – EU slams Hormuz toll idea, urges unrestricted freedom of navigation
(AFP/Al Arabiya) Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday said Israel would keep hitting Iran-backed Hezbollah “wherever necessary,” the day after deadly Israeli strikes pummeled Lebanon. “We are continuing to strike Hezbollah with force, precision, and determination,” Netanyahu said on his personal X account. – Israel will continue to strike Hezbollah ‘wherever necessary’: Netanyahu
