ZeroFox Physical Security Intelligence Daily Brief - March 28, 2024

ZeroFox Physical Security Intelligence Daily Brief - March 28, 2024

ZeroFox physical security experts collect, curate, and analyze information derived from open and proprietary sources for comprehensive context of the circumstances surrounding global events. Here is today’s daily roundup of major developments.

Brief Highlights

• ZeroFox Intelligence Flash Report: Terror Threat Ahead of European Summer Events
• Russia Amps Up Online Campaign Against Ukraine Before U.S. Elections
• Zelensky Dismisses Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council

ZeroFox Intelligence Flash Report: Terror Threat Ahead of European Summer Events

A number of European countries have stepped up security following the attack carried out by Islamic State-Khorasan (IS-K) operatives in Moscow on March 22, 2024. On March 25, 2024, French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal announced that authorities had increased the country’s official security threat designation to its highest level. This measure was implemented following a deadly terrorist attack by IS-K on a concert hall outside Moscow, Russia. Authorities in France and Germany in particular are in a heightened state of alert in the run-up to the Euro 2024 soccer tournament held across Germany and the Paris Olympics due to take place between June and August 2024. European authorities are warning that the Islamic State (IS) threat to Europe is at its highest level in years. This is likely a reflection of the increased threats since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war and the large upcoming spectator events rather than of the group's capabilities, which remain diminished.

Russia Amps Up Online Campaign Against Ukraine Before U.S. Elections

Russia has reportedly escalated its online campaigns to obstruct military support for Ukraine, employing harder-to-detect technologies to promote isolationism before the U.S. elections. Recent reports indicate Russia's improved concealment of its influence operations, prompting the U.S. Treasury Department to impose sanctions on two Russian firms allegedly backing the Kremlin's efforts. According to ZeroFox’s brief about influence campaigns, adversarial nation states, politically motivated cyber threat actors, and members of the public will almost certainly be responsible for the dissemination of election-related misinformation, disinformation, and malinformation-exacerbating simmering social, political, and geopolitical issues.

Zelensky Dismisses Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council

On March 26, 2024, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky replaced the Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine Alexei Danilov with the head of the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine, Alexander Litvinenko. Danilov's dismissal marks the latest shakeup of Ukraine's defense leadership.