// IN TODAY’S EDITION
AI models fail terror tests
Ukraine resumes refinery strikes
US weighs MOAB for Iran
Spyware hidden in online ads
Army eyes wearable drone detector
// ALERT LINE
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| SIGACTS |
(Credit: Robsonphoto / Shutterstock.com)
Most AI Systems Offered Terrorism Assistance when prompted, Study Finds
The nonprofit Tech Against Terrorism tested 134 AI models with terrorism-related requests and found 81 failed its safety benchmark outright and all but two of the rest still gave useful help. All 13 models stripped of their safeguards failed. Requests framed as coming from safety researchers got usable answers nearly nine times as often as those from self-declared terrorists. Founder Adam Hadley said a model that behaves that way "has not been made safe. It has been made polite." Read
Ukraine Resumes Refinery Strikes as Starshield Service Returns, Rejecting Energy Ceasefire
Ukraine struck Russia's Ryazan oil refinery overnight into Thursday, ending a three-day pause on refinery attacks that Kyiv observed under a US-announced energy ceasefire. "The block is out. We're done," Zelensky told the Financial Times. The strike followed Russian missile attacks that knocked out Kyiv's three main power plants and left 600,000 people without power. Ukrainian defense officials also said Starshield, the military version of Starlink, resumed working on moving platforms after more than a day of restrictions. Read
Trump Says Fort Hood Shooter's Execution Will Not Be Livestreamed
Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan will be executed by firing squad as scheduled on Dec. 3, but the execution will not be livestreamed, the administration said Thursday, reversing an earlier plan by the Pentagon to broadcast it. Hasan, a former Army psychiatrist who killed 13 people and wounded 32 at Fort Hood in 2009, was sentenced to death in 2013. The execution, set for Fort Hood, will be the first by the US military since 1961. Read
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| UPDATES |
| CONFLICT UPDATES |
01
US military plans for possible new strikes on Iran include the 21,600-pound “Mother of All Bombs,” CNN reported, with possible targets including energy infrastructure and nuclear sites. The bomb has been used in combat only once, against an Islamic State tunnel complex in Afghanistan in 2017. Read
02
Houthi missiles struck Yemen's presidential palace in Aden on Thursday while Prime Minister Shaya al-Zindani was inside. He was unharmed, but the health minister said five people were killed and 16 wounded. The Houthis said they targeted Saudi-led military headquarters at the compound. Read
03
Drones hit two tankers off Romania's coast, one inside its territorial waters, leaving seven sailors missing. President Nicusor Dan said Romania would respond but did not name Russia, though a NATO military source told Reuters the drones were Russian. Read
| SECURITY UPDATES |
04
An Israeli firm used targeted online ads to install spyware without users clicking anything, Citizen Lab found. The company, Discover-Tech, targeted at least 45 Al Jazeera devices with Candiru spyware, and Google has since cut off its ad access. Read
05
The former OpenAI engineer accused of bugging an executive conference room booked a one-way flight to Saudi Arabia, prosecutors said. The arrest of a Saudi national, has revived fears of foreign spies inside US AI labs, though prosecutors have not alleged any government involvement. Read
06
Police in Ghana and Nigeria arrested 28 people in a US- and UK-backed crackdown on West African scam centers.The four-day operation also identified 117 trafficking victims, while Meta removed more than 3.7 million accounts tied to scams that impersonated police and pushed fake crypto investments. Read
| INDUSTRY UPDATES |
07
The Army is developing a lightweight sensor soldiers could wear to hear approaching drones by their sound. The early-stage lab project would alert troops through their existing tactical apps but has not been field tested, said Beth Ferry, director of the Army's C5ISR Center. Read
08
The Royal Navy destroyer HMS Dauntless has been fitted with two box launchers believed to carry drone interceptors, though the Royal Navy declined to discuss them, citing operational sensitivities. Dauntless is the only Type 45 at high readiness and will escort HMS Prince of Wales. Read
09
A large drone ship is deploying with a US carrier strike group for the first time. The crewless Leidos-built Seahawk is sailing with the USS Theodore Roosevelt group, which left San Diego in late September, and acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao called it "a force multiplier." Read
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| SPECAT |
➤ Military retirees, disabled veterans and Social Security recipients will get a 3.6% cost-of-living raise in 2027, up from 2.8% this year. A veteran rated 100% disabled with no dependents will see about $142 more a month, starting with the Dec. 31 payment.
➤ A predawn SpaceX launch carrying cargo to the International Space Station left a glowing "jellyfish" in the sky Tuesday that was seen from Georgia to New York, as the rocket's exhaust climbed high enough to catch sunlight while the ground stayed dark.
➤ California's Hog Island Oyster Co. pulled about 200,000 oysters from sale after a septic leak at a luxury hotel's tavern sent sewage into a creek that feeds Tomales Bay. State health officials closed the bay's shellfish beds, though no illnesses have been reported.
Download the free Federal Contract Readiness Checklist to see what your company may need to win and deliver federal work. Assess your workforce, payroll, compliance, and security operations, spot gaps that could slow you down, and see what to tackle next. Ready to see where you stand?
| COLLECTION & RESULTS |
// TODAY’S POLL
// YESTERDAY’S RESULTS
Should the US provide full Starlink (Starshield) service to Ukraine's military?
Have your own question that you would like polled? Email us at [email protected]
// ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY
On October 16th, 1964, China detonated its first atomic bomb at the Lop Nur test site in Xinjiang, becoming the world's fifth nuclear power. The 22-kiloton device used enriched uranium rather than the plutonium US analysts had expected.
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