Do Russian attacks on Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure weaken the resolve of Ukrainian citizens? Drawing on new survey data, Philipp Chapkovski and Ivan S. Grigoriev find that while the multiple hardships caused by the war weigh heavily on the happiness of Ukrainians, they do not shake their core belief in victory. War is not only fought on battlefields – it’s … Read more
Dec 16, 2024Ravie LakshmananCyber Attack / Cyber Espionage The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU or SSU) has exposed a novel espionage campaign suspected to be orchestrated by Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) that involves recruiting Ukrainian minors for criminal activities under the guise of “quest games.” Law enforcement officials said that it detained two FSB … Read more
A financial firm registered in Canada has emerged as the payment processor for dozens of Russian cryptocurrency exchanges and websites hawking cybercrime services aimed at Russian-speaking customers, new research finds. Meanwhile, an investigation into the Vancouver street address used by this company shows it is home to dozens of foreign currency dealers, money transfer businesses, … Read more
Generative AI has a plethora of well-documented misuses, from making up academic papers to copying artists. And now, it appears to be cropping up in state influence operations. One recent campaign was “very likely” helped by commercial AI voice generation products, including tech publicly released by the hot startup ElevenLabs, according to a recent report … Read more
Dec 06, 2024Ravie LakshmananSpyware / Mobile Security A Russian programmer accused of donating money to Ukraine had his Android device secretly implanted with spyware by the Federal Security Service (FSB) after he was detained earlier this year. The findings come as part of a collaborative investigation by First Department and the University of Toronto’s Citizen … Read more