If the Iran Nuclear Deal Collapses, Iranian Hackers Will Target These U.S. Companies

 

If the Iran nuclear deal fails, U.S. companies will suffer never-before-seen security breaches thanks to Tehran’s “hacker army.”

This particular cyber militia has been honing its skills and expanding since 2013. That’s when then-Iranian President Hassan Rouhani increased the country’s cybersecurity spending 12-fold, Business Insider reported in 2015. Rouhani allocated roughly $19.8 million to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (Tehran’s military) to up its cyber capabilities.

Iranian state-backed cyber spies becoming increasingly skilled, says report

 

A group of cyber spies with close links to the Iranian government is becoming increasingly competent and adept, and could soon bring down entire computer networks, according to a leading cyber security firm. The California-based cyber security company FireEye said that it has been monitoring the operations of the mysterious group of cyber spies since 2013. The company, whose clients include Sony Pictures, JP Morgan Chase and Target, said that the Iranian group appears to be especially interested in gathering secrets from aviation, aerospace and petrochemical companies.

Moscow beefs up air defense with 4 new all-altitude radar stations

From the Kremlin mouthpiece, Russia Today:

Four mobile radar stations designed for S-300 and S-400 air defense batteries have been added to the shield covering Moscow against airstrikes. The new all-altitude detectors can track up to 100 targets, be they missiles, drones or manned aircraft.

The addition of the hardware was announced on Saturday by Deputy Commander of the Aerospace Defense Forces, Major General Kirill Makarov.

Bears Buzz Alaska Again — Russian military again flies strategic bombers near Alaska

If they can reach the northern California coast with aged bombers during dry runs, imagine what the capabilities will be in 2020 when over 70% of their forces are modernized.

Russian strategic bombers conducted flights within the U.S. defense zone close to northern Alaska and the Aleutian Islands last week in Moscow’s latest incident of nuclear saber rattling against the United States, according to defense and military officials.

Two Bear H nuclear-capable bombers were detected flying into the military’s Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) near the Aleutians, where a strategic missile defense radar is located, and Alaska’s North Slope region by the Arctic and Chukchi Seas on April 28 and 29, military officials told the Washington Free Beacon.

Lt. Cmdr. Bill Lewis, a spokesman with the U.S. Northern Command, confirmed the fighter intercept of the latest bomber incursion but declined to provide details.

F-35 design problems make night flying impossible, increase risk of being shot down, U.S. pilots warn

If F-35s are recommended to avoid going in the clouds or bad weather, that means that civilian airliners are more capable than the nation’s latest mililtary jets. That speaks volumes about the state of the U.S. military and what is happening to it. It’s crumbling.

From radars that don’t work, to blurry vision from the aircraft’s sophisticated helmet, to an inability to fly through clouds, the report, which includes pilot comments, paints a picture of a jet nowhere near ready for real-life operations.

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The testing, which was supposed to determine whether aircraft the U.S. had already bought from Lockheed Martin were good enough to start training U.S. fighter pilots with, was actually supposed to take place in August 2011.

‘Credible Deterrence’: Germany Plans to Deploy Armed Drones

First comes the merging of states via political and social solidarity. Then, next is the “European Army” member nations have been calling for. Sometime later, and through an upcoming “United States of Europe” lead and dominated by Germany, meet your new king of the northern hemisphere and next world superpower. Some who say China would be the next might be in for a huge surprise.

A document obtained by SPIEGEL ONLINE indicates the German government is preparing to procure armed drones for foreign combat. Opposition politicians are outraged by the development and note that the use of weapons-equipped unmanned aircraft is legally dubious and possibly unethical.

Bowing to pressure from the German armed forces, the Bundeswehr, the federal government in Berlin is preparing to deploy armed, unmanned drones in foreign conflicts. In an answer to an official query made by the far-left Left Party, which has been obtained by SPIEGEL ONLINE, the German government wrote that its experience in foreign combat operations has made it clear that reconnaissance vehicles must be armed “in order to provide protection against sudden and serious changes in the situation.”

Report: Nazis plotted radioactive attack on NY

Coming from a country that has a rich history in technological know-how, breakthroughs and advanced concepts, such as the jet engine and hypersonic bombers, this comes as no surprise. Terrorism via sabotage was also planned during this time.  Had the Nazis not been stopped, a Fourth Reich would not be underway.

The Nazis secretly planned to drop a radioactive bomb on New York City from supersonic space rocket, a plot that never panned out but may have paved the way for modern space travel, the Daily Mail reported, citing historians.

According to the report, the head of the German air force during World War II, Hermann Goering, set up a lab and a team of leading scientists to look into the possibility of mounting a radioactive attack on America’s most populous city.

Russia and India Sign $3 Billion Weapons Agreement

India agreed Monday of last week to buy $2.9 billion worth of Russian military equipment, as Russian President Vladimir Putin paid a visit to the longtime Kremlin ally. The quantities at play here mean these transactions are, literally, a big deal. It’s the equivalent of one fifth of Russia’s total defense sales in 2012. Germany, the world’s third-largest arms exporter, approved a total of $7.1 billion worth of exports in 2011.

The agreement says India will buy kits to assemble 42 Sukhoi-30 fighter jets for $1.6 billion, and 71 Mi-17 military helicopters for $1.3 billion. Russia has custom designed the jets specifically for India, and they are engineered to become the very backbone of the nation’s air force. Russia and India have also recently collaborated on a supersonic missile for the Sukhoi-30s, and India is rumored to be equipping this jet to deliver its nuclear weapons. “We agreed to strengthen the partnership of Russia and India in the area of military equipment cooperation further and advance new projects, including creating joint ventures and transferring technology,” Putin said after his meeting with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Iran claims it decoded all data from captured CIA drone

Revolutionary Guard suggests encrpyted information was recovered from an RQ-170 Sentinel that went down near Afghanistan border

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran’s Revolutionary Guard on Monday said it has decoded all of the data from an advanced CIA spy drone captured last year.

Britain to Give Up the Crown Jewel of Its Defense Industry

Britain is planning to hand over the single most important company in its history to a European conglomerate. British defense giant bae Systems is in talks about merging with European Aeronautic Defense and Space Company (eads), the Franco-German company that owns Airbus, it announced September 12.

BAE is literally the stuff of legends. The names of the planes manufactured by the companies that eventually merged to form the conglomerate have been stamped on the minds of generations of young boys: the Sopwith Camel, the De Havilland Mosquito, the Hawker Hurricane, the Harrier jump jet, and the most legendary of Britain’s airplanes, the Supermarine Spitfire.

Just over 60 years ago, the Spitfire and Hurricane were used to save Britain. These two planes denied Germany the air superiority it needed to launch an invasion. Now Britain is planning to hand over the company that saved its life to a foreign conglomerate.

The deal would give away control over Britain’s most important defense contractor, and make the new conglomerate the top arms seller in the world.

For plans to have progressed this far, the deal must have already received preliminary approval from the British government.

Under the proposed merger, bae systems would make up 40 percent of the new company and eads 60 percent.

Without bae, Britain will have little left of an independent defense industry. It is overwhelmingly Britain’s most important defense company. Nearly one in every five pounds spent by the Ministry of Defense went to bae or one of its subsidiaries in the financial year 2009-2010. It received around £4 billion. The next biggest recipient of defense spending, Babcock, received £1.1 billion.

And it’s not just an aerospace company. Its subsidiaries built the Navy’s first operational submarine and Britain’s main battle tank.

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Today, it’s considered foolish or bigoted to be concerned about Britain surrendering its defense industry. But even France and Germany aren’t doing anything as foolish as Britain. They haven’t given up control of their key defense companies.

French defense giants Dassualt Aviation and Thales Group retain their independence. eads owns 46.32 percent of Dassault, but 50.55 is independent. It didn’t sign control over to eads. Germany, too, retains control of key companies like ThyssenKrupp, Rheinmetall man Military Vehicles and many others.

eads is important for the Germany and French industries. But they could get by without it—they have other companies they could turn to.

But for Britain, bae is essential. If this deal goes ahead, Britain would have to rely on companies beyond its control for its nuclear submarines, many of its ships and planes, its tanks and much of the other equipment for its army.

Britain would be doing what even France and Germany haven’t dared. It put almost all of its key defense industry eggs in one basket, and now it wants to hand the basket to someone else to look after.

It should be obvious that this is extreme foolishness. But even Britain’s conservative newspapers have supported the scheme.

One of Winston Churchill’s many prescient quotes, from his book on World War i titled The World Crisis, attacks the attitude that surfaces time and time again in peace time—that war is “too foolish, too fantastic to be thought of” in our modern times. “Civilization has climbed above such perils,” people say. They give their multitude of excuses for why this time it is different. “Are you quite sure?” asks Churchill. “It would be a pity to be wrong. Such a mistake could only be made once—once for all.”

He warned of Germany’s history of striking like a “bolt from the blue.”

The government may not believe a bolt from the blue is coming. But surely defense planning is all about planning for the worst. Britain is betting its long-term defense on the friendliness of France and Germany.

The merger isn’t definitely set to go ahead. And the prime minister hasn’t given his final consent. But the fact that such a foolish idea has been entertained so seriously, and even been tacitly approved by the government, is deeply worrying. It shows a surprising level of foolishness for Britain.

But this is exactly what the Bible said would happen.

Hosea 7:11 calls Britain “a silly dove, without sense” (for more information on Britain’s identity in Bible prophecy, write for our free book The United States and Britain in Prophecy). It says that “they go to Assyria,” which, as we’ve pointed out, is Germany.

Full article: Britain to Give Up the Crown Jewel of Its Defense Industry (The Trumpet)

U.S. preparing F-35s modified to Israel’s specifications

In a statement on Aug. 28, the Pentagon did not specify the development for Israel’s JSF. But the statement provided the first indication that the aircraft ordered by Israel could contain features not found in the off-the-shelf model of the fifth generation aircraft.

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In July, Israel and the United States were said to have agreed on the integration of Israeli-origin subsystems in JSF. The agreement envisioned the installation of Israeli electronic warfare and communications systems in a configuration that would eventually be made available to other JSF clients.

Full article: U.S. preparing F-35s modified to Israel’s specifications (World Tribune)

U.S. missiles infected with Chinese fakes — Report confirms ‘84,000 suspect electronic parts installed’

WASHINGTON – Fake electronic components from China have been discovered in thermal weapons sights delivered to the U.S. Army on mission computers for the Missile Defense Agency’s Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, missiles and on military aircraft, including several models of helicopters and the P-8A-Poseidon, according to federal investigators.

Suspected electronic parts were found in the Forward Looking InfraRed, or FLIR, Systems being used on the Navy’s SH-60-B. The counterfeit parts were delivered by Raytheon, which alerted the Navy.

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The military aircraft that have been affected include the SH-60B, AH-64 and CH-46 helicopters; and the C-17,  C-130J, C-27J and P-8A Poseidon airplanes

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A defense subcontractor in Texas had sold the components to Raytheon. The components prior to that sale traveled through four states and three countries, originating with a company called Huajie Electronics Ltd in Shenzhen, China.

Suspect parts also were found in the C-130J and C-27J, two military cargo planes equipped with display units that provide the pilot information on aircraft performance, engine status, fuel use, location and warning messages, according to documentation from Senate investigators.

The display units were manufactured by L-3 Display Systems, a division of L-3 Communications. L-3 Display Systems manufactures the display units for Lockheed Martin, which is the prime contractor for the C-130J. For the C-27J, L-3 Display Systems manufactures the display units for Alenia Aeronautica, a subcontractor to L-3 Integrated Systems.

Display Systems, however, learned that a memory chip used in the display units was a suspect counterfeit. By the time it was noticed, however, the company had installed counterfeit components in more than 500 display units, including in units for the C-27J, the C-130J and C-17 aircraft, and the CH-46 helicopter used by the Marine Corps.

Full article: U.S. missiles infected with Chinese fakes — Report confirms ‘84,000 suspect electronic parts installed’ (WND)