ISDEI Instituto de Seguridad, Defensa y Estudios Internacionales

A massive international ransomware campaign apparently using hacking tools stolen from the NSA struck computers across the world Friday, shuttering British hospitals and hobbling a Spanish telecom. As many as 74 countries in all were hit by the attack. The ransomware, named "WanaCrypt0r 2.0," appears to use the stolen NSA Windows hacking tool "Eternal Blue." Ransomware makes computers or files unusable until a victim pays a ransom. One antivirus company alone reported capturing tens of thousands of instances of the apparently enormous ransomware attack. “We have observed a massive peak in WanaCrypt0r 2.0 attacks today, with more than 36,000 detections, so far," Avast Threat Lab Team Lead Jakub Kroustek said in a statement. According to Kroustek, most of the targets are in Russia, Ukraine, and Taiwan. But some of the most damaging attacks have taken place in western Europe. British hospitals were forced to refuse patients after coming under the cyberattack, Reut...

Click to see the full-size map The Syrian Army’s Tiger Fores have libeated the strategic Jirah Military Airbase from ISIS terrorists in the provinye of Aleppo. Syrian troops are in the Jirah Military Airbase: Click to see the full-size image The military airbase was the last major ISIS stronghold on the way to the important ISIS-held town of Maskaneh that will likely become the next target of the government advance in the province of Aleppo. Click to see the full-size map

Click to see the full-size image On Friday, the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) recaptured the village of Rafi from ISIS terrorists in the northern Raqqa countryside. On Thursday, the SDF captured the village of Khirbet Khan north of the headquarters of the 17th Division. These advances put the SDF in few kilometers away from the northern entrance of Raqqa. From its side, ISIS claimed that 104 “PKK militants” (Kurdish fighters) were killed as a result attacks by ISIS militants in the vicinity of Karama and Al-Jadidat in the eastern Raqqa countryside and in the village of Al-Ajzawi in the western Raqqa countryside. Click to see the full-size image ISIS targeted a gathering of Kurdish fighters in the village of Ruyan with a Konkurs missile. Click to see the full-size image Click to see the full-size image Click to see the full-size image ISIS attacked positions of the Kurdish fighters in the village of Qadisiyah with mortars. Click to see t...

Buzzfeed  released  photos of servicemen of the US Special Operations Forces operating alongside with Western-backed “moderate rebels” in southern Syria. This force is a tool used by Washington in order to increase its influence in the area alongside the Syrin-Iraqi border. According to reports from local sources, US Special Operations Forces servicemen operate alongside with militants affilated with the Free Syrian Army in the area, even assisting them in a direct combat against some ISIS units. At the same time, “moderate rebels” have used a lack of the ISIS manpower in the area, capturing some settlements and making some selfies in order to show a “large-scale” battle against ISIS terrorists in southern Syria. Photos released by Buzzfeed:

Click to see the full-size map Lebanese Hezbollah has began handing over its positions on the Syrian-Lebanese border to the Lebanese Army. On Friday, Hezbollah fighters handed over its positions near Ballat Tufail, Juroud Brital, Ham and Ma’raboun in the eastern chain of the Lebanese mountains. Earlier this week, Hezbollah Leader, Hassan Nasrallah, that Hezbollah will hand over all its points on the Syrian-Lebanese border to the Lebanese Army after it had successfully secured the borders. Nasrallah also announced that Hezbollah is ready to provide a safe evacuation of militants and their families from the Jaroud Arsal area to any opposition-held area in Syria. Nasrallah added that Hezbollah is also ready to work with the Syrian government to bring back to Syria as many refugees that agree to return as possible. Meanwhile the Lebanese Army Intelligence arrested “Ahmed Mohammed Amoun”, a Syrian national. “Amoun” is linked to the ISIS commanders: “Abu al-Ola Alansari” and “M...

Russian fire arms giant Kalashnikov Concern has recently confirmed that it was  developing a new type of unmanned combat ground vehicle  (UCGV). According to the company, its proposed  UCGV will weigh as much as 20 tons  and will feature both a machine gun and a number of laser-guided anti-tank missiles. Kalashnikov Concern CEO Alexei Krivoruchko first confirmed this during an interview with the Russian media outlet Tass. The company is yet to release details of the vehicle prototype. The new unmanned combat vehicle will weigh three times as much as its predecessor, the seven-ton BAS-01G Soratnik tank, or  about as massive as a U.S. Army M1126 Stryker ICV. New Mega-tank’s predecessor is no slouch The company was named after Mikhail Kalashnikov,  a World War II veteran who invented the AK-47 assault rifle. It was believed Kalashnikov Concern has manufactured some 100 million AK-74 assault rifles worldwide. The company is ...

By Finian Cunningham   US President Donald Trump is being widely accused of a «Nixonian» cover-up after he took the drastic step of firing James Comey, the head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Comparisons are made by Washington politicians and pundits of disgraced former President Richard Nixon who sacked an independent investigator looking into the Watergate scandal back in 1973 in what became know as the Saturday Night Massacre. Only, according to Trump’s critics, this is much worse than Watergate. That’s because Nixon – who was later forced to resign from the presidency in 1974 – was covering up criminal spying on American political rivals, while Trump is allegedly involved in a conspiracy with a foreign enemy state, Russia. That’s treasonous and a capital crime, in their view. But hold it a moment. Richard Nixon was actually guilty of aiding a cover-up over a real case of burglary for political espionage on opponents. That burglary – by «the Plumbers» – involve...

This is the newst update of the ‘U.S. Carrier Strike Groups Locations Map’ exclusive series showing the approximate locations of U.S. Carrier Strike Groups on a weekly basis. SouthFront: Analysis & Intelligence tracks locations of U.S. aircraft carriers using the available open-source information. No classified information was used in production of the map. Click to see the full-size map Carrier strike group (CSG) is an operational formation of the United States Navy. It is centered on an aircraft carrier and a carrier air wing (CVW) of 65 to 70 aircrafts. It’s composed of roughly 7,500 personnel, an aircraft carrier, at least one cruiser, a destroyer squadron of at least two destroyers and/or frigates. A carrier strike group also, on occasion, includes submarines, attached logistics ships and a supply ship. Carrier strike groups comprise a principal element of U.S. power projection over the world’s oceans.