🔥 PRC Interference in Canada

Good Morning. If you're thinking about going to an upcoming sporting event, keep on high alert.

The UEFA Champions League quarter-finals have received credible threats from the Islamic State, leading to heightened security measures for these games.

French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin has stated that these threats are not limited to France but affect all quarter-final matches.

Despite this, UEFA intends to proceed with the scheduled games, ensuring that adequate security precautions are in place.

— 🐈‍⬛ Acoustic Kitty

THE BOTTOM LINE UP FRONT

Canadian intelligence unearthed data revealing that Chinese officials could have funneled approximately $250,000 to "threat actors" within Canada ahead of the 2019 election. Findings reveal that China has used such tactics to interfere in Canada’s last two elections.

Transfers

Intelligence documents reveal a complex network involving transfers of around $250,000 by Chinese officials to actors within Canada, aimed not at political candidates directly but potentially at activities constituting foreign interference.

Influence Campaign

The investigation into financial transactions before the 2019 Canadian election reveals China's potential involvement in providing support to actors intended to influence the country's democratic institutions in its favor.

INTERNATIONAL SECURITY & DIPLOMACY

Counterterrorism

• Pakistani authorities have mobilized over 100,000 police and paramilitary forces to secure mosques and markets for the Eid al-Fitr celebrations, set to begin Wednesday pending moon sighting.

• Gunmen killed six policemen and wounded two others in an ambush on a police convoy in Iran's southeast Sistan and Baluchistan province, as reported by state-affiliated media.

• Three Tanzanian soldiers were killed and three others wounded by a mortar shell in eastern Congo, as announced by the Southern African Development Community (SADC) on Monday.

• Jordan faces growing but peaceful protests amid the Gaza conflict, with demonstrators rallying near the Israeli Embassy in Amman. These protests, fueled by the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas, aim to challenge Jordan's stability and its 1994 peace treaty with Israel.

Military & Defense

• France, Egypt, and Jordan have called for a "permanent" and "unconditional" cease-fire in Gaza, advocating for a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict. In a joint opinion piece in Le Monde, French President Emmanuel Macron, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, and King Abdullah II of Jordan demanded an end to the Gaza war, citing "catastrophic human suffering.”

• Serbia is nearing an agreement to buy 12 French Rafale fighter jets, a significant shift from its traditional reliance on Russian military equipment, President Aleksandar Vucic announced during his visit to Paris.

• Six North Sea-bordering countries—Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Norway, the United Kingdom, and Denmark—have inked an agreement to safeguard critical underwater infrastructure against foreign sabotage and attacks. The move aims to bolster cooperation in protecting energy infrastructures and enhances regional security.

Cybersecurity

• GBI Genios, a prominent database provider for German media, universities, and libraries, reported a significant disruption to its services due to a ransomware attack, according to a LinkedIn announcement on Tuesday. The Munich-based firm, a joint subsidiary of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and the Handelsblatt Media Group, anticipates the outage to last several days, affecting its wide array of offerings including archives, business information, and e-books.

Counterintelligence & Espionage

• The court-martial of Navy Chief Fire Controlman (Aegis) Bryce Steven Pedicini, charged with espionage, is set to begin Tuesday and is scheduled to conclude by April 19, as per the Navy's trial docket. Pedicini, who is accused of passing classified information to a foreign government employee, has opted for a trial by judge rather than a military jury.

• Iran has freed two conservationists, Niloufar Bayani and Houman Jowkar, who were imprisoned on espionage charges for their work with the endangered Asiatic cheetah. Released as part of an amnesty marking Eid al-Fitr, they were among over 2,000 prisoners pardoned.

• The French DT26 long-range surveillance drone was put through its paces in the Djibouti desert, demonstrating its versatility in multi-role operations from March 10 to 20, 2024.

Transnational Organized Crime

• Italian and French law enforcement, with support from Europol, arrested 63 individuals linked to a sophisticated operation producing over six million euros ($6.52 million) in counterfeit banknotes. The operation, primarily based in Naples and known as the "Napoli Group," was responsible for distributing high-quality fake euro banknotes across Europe.

• Spanish authorities have confiscated over 16 tonnes of cocaine hidden within boiler fuel pellets, dismantling a major drug trafficking network operating between Latin America and Europe. The seizure, involving a joint task force of National Police, customs, and tax agents, targeted a group that ingeniously compressed cocaine into tiny pellets using hydraulic presses.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Google ventures further into hardware innovation with the development of its custom Arm-based CPU named Axion, aimed at enhancing AI operations within its data centers. Alongside Axion, Google is launching an upgraded version of its Tensor Processing Units (TPU) AI chips. The tech giant plans to integrate Axion to boost AI functionalities across its services, including YouTube ads and the Google Earth Engine, before offering it to Google Cloud business clients later this year.

Axion's Role in Google's Ecosystem

The Axion CPU is designed to support a wide array of AI-driven workloads, providing a significant performance uplift in Google's internal operations.

Performance and Accessibility

Google's Axion CPU promises a 30% improvement over standard Arm processors and a 50% enhancement compared to current Intel chips, marking a significant step forward in cloud computing performance.

In other news…

🦙 Meta has confirmed it will release its LLaMA-3 open-source large language model (LLM) within the next month, according to a report from TechCrunch.

🛰️ Russian forces in Ukraine are extensively utilizing Starlink satellite internet terminals to coordinate military activities, including attacks in eastern Ukraine and Crimea. These terminals, products of Elon Musk's SpaceX, are notably being employed for battlefield communication, drone control, and operation of other military technologies.

DEALS & FUNDING

Cyera, a company specializing in data security, has successfully raised $300 million in a Series C funding round, catapulting its valuation to $1.4 billion. This substantial financial milestone underscores the rapid growth and ambitious trajectory of the firm, which only emerged from stealth mode in 2022.

Innovative Data Security Solutions

Cyera offers a comprehensive suite of data security tools designed to manage and protect data across various environments, from cloud and SaaS to data lakes and on-premises systems.

Strategic Expansion and Industry Impact

Under the leadership of co-founder and CEO Yotam Segev, Cyera aims to use the newly acquired funds to enhance its data security platform and expand its global team.

In other news…

🎯 StrikeReady hits a milestone with $12 million in a Series A funding round led by 33N Ventures, with participation from Hitachi Ventures, Monta Vista Capital, and several key cybersecurity executives. StrikeReady is an early-stage startup specializing in modernizing cybersecurity command centers.

🕶️ Singapore-based startup StealthMole, specializing in dark web threat intelligence with a focus on Asia, has secured $7 million in Series A funding. The funding round was led by Korea Investment Partners (KIP) and received contributions from Hibiscus Fund and Smilegate Investment. Founded in 2022, StealthMole employs artificial intelligence to scrutinize data from the dark web, deep web, and other sources, aiming to offer comprehensive risk assessments and threat monitoring services.