ZeroFox Physical Security Intelligence Daily Brief - January 8, 2025

ZeroFox Physical Security Intelligence Daily Brief - January 8, 2025

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

• Indonesia Joins BRICS
• Ongoing Violations of the Ceasefire in Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo
• North Korea Fires Suspected Hypersonic Missile in its First Provocation of 2025

Indonesia Joins BRICS

Brazil announced on January 7, 2025, that Indonesia had joined the BRICS group of countries as a full member. Brazil is the current chair of the BRICS group, which welcomed Indonesia to join in 2023 and now sees the country formally adopted into the bloc. For Indonesia, joining BRICS is keeping with a longstanding policy of creating and endorsing alternate power structures. The other BRICS countries, meanwhile, will be happy to see a fast-growing economy and one of the world’s most populous countries lending its strength to the coalition.

Ongoing Violations of the Ceasefire in Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo

The ceasefire violations in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) by the Rwanda-backed M23 armed group is being condemned. The continued advances by the M23 group, including the taking of Masisi town this weekend, damage efforts to reach a negotiated peace in eastern DRC while harming and displacing civilians in the area. To end the conflict and suffering, it is vital that both the DRC and Rwanda uphold their commitments to the Angola-mediated Luanda Process and ensure that the reinforced ad hoc verification mechanism is operational.

North Korea Fires Suspected Hypersonic Missile in its First Provocation of 2025

North Korea has fired an intermediate-range ballistic missile into the East Sea near the coast of South Korea and Japan. It was the first ballistic missile launch this year and comes two weeks before the inauguration of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump. According to the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the military detected a flying object presumed to be an intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) that was launched from the Pyongyang area into the East Sea outside Japan's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). South Korean officials have warned that North Korea could take advantage of its political crisis by engaging in military activity and increasing cross-border tensions.