🔥 Diddy Did It...

Good Morning. The Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore collapsed early Tuesday after being struck by the container ship Dali, causing vehicles to plunge into the river, with potential casualties.

The Dali, headed to Sri Lanka, had all 22 crew accounted for with no injuries.

The bridge, a key infrastructure since 1977 carrying over 11 million vehicles annually, significantly impacts the Port of Baltimore, a smaller container port.

The incident has halted port traffic, with potential for container flow redistribution to larger ports.

THE BOTTOM LINE UP FRONT

Federal Agents Raid Sean “Diddy” Combs’ Residence in Sex Trafficking Scandal Investigation

Federal agents have conducted raids on the homes of hip-hop mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs in Los Angeles and Miami as part of an investigation led by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents in New York, stemming from allegations made against Combs in a lawsuit.

Lawsuit Linked Search  

The searches are linked to a lawsuit filed in New York by a former girlfriend, accusing Combs of sex trafficking. HSI, which handles cases involving the illegal movement of people and contraband, including sex trafficking, has yet to disclose specifics about the ongoing investigation.

Legal Challenges 

Combs faces multiple lawsuits, including one from R&B singer Cassandra Ventura, who alleges physical abuse, sexual slavery, and rape over a ten-year relationship. The federal lawsuit, filed in Manhattan, adds to the legal pressures confronting the music and business entrepreneur.

INTERNATIONAL SECURITY & DIPLOMACY

Counterterrorism

• An explosive device killed seven soldiers in Chad during a patrol near Lake Chad, an attack the government attributes to Boko Haram extremists from Nigeria, as confirmed by interim president Mahamat Deby Itno. This incident marks a concerning escalation of violence in the region, where Boko Haram's decade-long insurgency has expanded from Nigeria to neighboring countries, resulting in over 36,000 deaths, mainly in Nigeria.

• A suicide bomber in northwest Pakistan attacked a vehicle with an explosive-laden car on Tuesday, resulting in the deaths of five Chinese nationals and their Pakistani driver, according to police and government officials. The victims, identified as construction workers and engineers, were en route to the Dasu Dam, Pakistan's largest hydropower project, in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province's Shangla district.

• Sen. Marco Rubio revealed that FBI Director Christopher Wray confirmed the existence of a trafficking network smuggling individuals into the U.S. with ties to ISIS. Rubio's comments came during an ABC News interview, connecting this revelation to concerns over ISIS-K's capacity for international terrorism, highlighted by a recent deadly attack in Moscow and the group's resurgence post-Afghanistan withdrawal.

Military & Defense

• Indonesia's military has detained 13 soldiers following the circulation of a video on social media depicting the abuse of a man believed to be a Papuan separatist, showcasing acts of violence including kicking and water torture. The incident, confirmed by army spokesperson Brig. Gen. Kristomei Sianturi to have occurred on February 3 at a military outpost in Puncak, Central Papua province, has prompted a rare admission and response from the Indonesian armed forces.

• A proposed bill aiming to extend compulsory military service to include ultra-Orthodox Jewish students, who have been historically exempt, has sparked a major debate in Israel, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warning it could threaten government stability. The proposed legislation seeks to modify current conscription policies by extending service duration, increasing the age for reservists, and curtailing exemptions for yeshiva students, coming in the wake of the ongoing conflict with Hamas that began on October 7.

• Two Polish military engineers were killed on Monday in southern Poland when TNT exploded during a training exercise at a military facility, according to Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz. The incident, which took the lives of two sappers from a chemical regiment in Solarnia, Silesia, has prompted the defense minister to express condolences on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, extending thoughts and prayers to the families of the deceased soldiers.

• Japan's government announced on Tuesday a relaxation of military equipment export restrictions, specifically to facilitate future international sales of an advanced jet fighter being developed in collaboration with Britain and Italy, marking the second such policy change in less than four months.

Cybersecurity

• A whitepaper released by the Foundation for Defense of Democracies on Monday advocates for the establishment of a new Cyber Force as the seventh branch of the U.S. military, aimed at enhancing cybersecurity operations to better counter adversaries online, a recommendation supported by input from around 75 anonymous service members.

• Apple customers have reported sophisticated phishing attacks exploiting a seeming flaw in Apple's password reset function, which bombards their devices with relentless system-level prompts, rendering the devices unusable until they respond to each notification. Following this overwhelming flood of prompts, scammers, masquerading as Apple support via caller ID spoofing, contact victims to claim their accounts are compromised and deceitfully ask for verification of a one-time code to gain access.

• A new strain of "TheMoon" malware botnet has been discovered targeting and infecting outdated routers and IoT devices across 88 countries, affecting thousands of small office/home office (SOHO) networks. This variant, associated with the "Faceless" proxy service, allows cybercriminals to anonymize their online activities by routing traffic through compromised devices, with Black Lotus Labs reporting 6,000 ASUS routers hit within a 72-hour span starting in early March 2024.

• ETH Zürich researchers in Switzerland have successfully executed Rowhammer attacks, which manipulate memory bits to compromise security, on systems using AMD Zen 2 and Zen 3 CPUs, previously thought to be less vulnerable. These attacks, which have now been demonstrated on DDR4 and, for the first time, DDR5 memory, underline that AMD systems are as susceptible to Rowhammer exploits as their Intel counterparts, significantly broadening the potential attack surface.

Counterintelligence & Espionage

• South Korea's defense ministry announced plans for the early April launch of its second military spy satellite, following the successful deployment of the first satellite via a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from California last December. This upcoming launch, which will take place from a U.S. military base in Florida, is part of South Korea's ambition to establish a network of five spy satellites by 2025, with final consultations for the launch currently in progress.

• Britain's investigatory powers watchdog has criticized the UK National Authority for Counter-Eavesdropping (UK NACE) for unlawfully attempting to eavesdrop in an effort to identify a journalistic source, an endeavor that ultimately failed. Granted new powers in October 2021 to gather communications data for national security purposes, UK NACE is responsible for safeguarding the country's most sensitive information and sites, both domestically and in embassies worldwide.

• Cybersecurity experts are urgently seeking ways to combat a sharp rise in online disinformation campaigns targeting African nations and international entities within the continent, with a reported quadrupling of such incidents in 2023. The Africa Center for Strategic Studies notes 189 disinformation campaigns last year, posing significant risks to the political stability and economic reliability of nearly 18 African countries facing elections in the near future.

Transnational Organized Crime

• Bulgarian customs officials seized approximately 170 kilograms (370 pounds) of cocaine hidden in a fruit container aboard the cargo ship Madison 2, which was transporting bananas from Ecuador and had stopped in Malta, prosecutors announced Tuesday. The district prosecutor, Georgi Chinev, estimated the value of the confiscated drugs at 6.2 million euros ($6.8 million).

• The United States and Cyprus announced plans on Tuesday to formalize their cooperation in combating money laundering, sanctions evasion, and other financial crimes, with an upcoming agreement that enables Cypriot law enforcement to tap into U.S. expertise, including assistance from the FBI and the Department of Justice.

• At a news conference held by the Homeland Security Investigations Miami Field Office, a Barrett .50 caliber rifle was showcased, highlighting the agency's efforts in combating arms trafficking. Webb County Sheriff's booking photos were released for Gerardo Rafael Perez Jr. and Antonio Osiel Casarez, accused of participating in a conspiracy to traffic weapons, including the displayed Barrett .50 caliber rifle.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Manhattan-based startup Viam, led by founder and CEO Eliot Horowitz, has undergone a strategic rebrand rather than a pivot, expanding its focus beyond robotics firms to embrace a broader range of technologies including IoT, smart homes, and industrial automation.

Expanding Horizons 

The company decided to rebrand to capture a wider audience after feedback indicated potential clients were deterred by the exclusive emphasis on robotics, according to Horowitz. This shift aims to make Viam's platform more accessible to industries involved in food processing, PLC automation, and more.

Beyond Robotics 

Viam's vision encompasses a diverse array of sectors that utilize sensors, actuators, and computing power, moving beyond its initial robotics-centric outreach. The rebrand reflects an effort to align the company's messaging with its broader application across different industries, emphasizing its utility in IoT, smart homes, and industrial automation.

In other news…

⚕️An emerging tiny chip Innovation has the potential to transform medical technology, opening the door for the potential use of implantable and wearable sensors in biomedical micro devices.

🪢Founded by twin sisters, who are both engineers, Thoras.ai is expected to advance automation for resource allocation on Kubernetes workloads.

🔔Transforming recycled silicon to boost electric vehicle range will be cheaper and establish competition, says Ionobell, a seed stage startup claiming to innovate a silicon material to even the EV market playing field.

🚀 EV startup Evari, in its continued mission to extend EV range and eliminate fossil fuels for home heating, has turned to the study of rocket science to solve its heat pumps problems.

DEALS & FUNDING

Adam Neumann, co-founder of WeWork, has placed a bid exceeding $500 million to repurchase the office-sharing giant, once valued at $47 billion before its descent into bankruptcy, according to a confidential source.

Bid and Financing 

Details on how Neumann intends to secure financing for his over $500 million bid remain unclear, with information coming from sources preferring to stay anonymous due to the sensitive nature of the discussions.

WeWork's Rise and Fall 

Under Neumann's leadership, WeWork achieved a peak valuation of $47 billion, becoming the most valuable U.S. startup. However, aggressive expansion strategies, prioritizing growth over profit, and Neumann's unconventional management style led to his removal in 2019 and the collapse of a highly anticipated initial public offering.

In other news…

🔏 Greylock has backed Bedrock Security with $10 million in a bid to boost the seed-stage funding and help organizations to manage the risk associated with cloud and gen-AI products.

🧪 0G Labs has raised $35 million in its push for modular blockchain storage and decentralized AI.

🛡️ DeNexus Inc., specializing in cyber risk modeling for industrial networks, has partnered with cybersecurity firm Cipher Security LLC to address cyber risks in operational technology and industrial control systems within critical infrastructure sectors. This collaboration will enhance DeNexus's risk assessment models by integrating Cipher's advanced data on vulnerabilities and security controls, enabling more accurate loss projections and recommendations for risk mitigation.

🤖 Cybersecurity startup Cyera, focusing on AI as the next frontier in enterprise data protection, is nearing the completion of a funding round that will raise nearly $300 million and triple its valuation to $1.5 billion, with Coatue Management leading the investment.