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The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) is one of the most powerful and feared organisations in Iran, playing central roles in the country’s projection of power, internal security and economy. Among the organisation’s many prominent military duties, the corps operated what was Iran’s formidable ballistic missile arsenal. The IRGC also…

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Scientists at one of the world’s leading universities have created a threat list warning of the risks posed by artificial intelligence. Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have published an AI Risk Repository which lists over 700 different ways in which AI could threaten society. From job displacement and privacy violations to the potential for mass destruction, MIT describes the repository as the most comprehensive catalogue of AI risks to date. The most alarming risks outlined in the database are the potential for AI to be weaponised by criminals, rogue states, or even terrorist groups. AI systems designed…

Two NATO members have said Russian drones violated their airspace, as one reportedly flew into Romania during night-time attacks on neighbouring Ukraine while another crashed in eastern Latvia the previous day. The revelations have led to a severe condemnation of Moscow’s action by NATO and resulted in calls for a joint response from the Western military alliance. One of the drones reportedly flew into Romania on Sunday during a night-time attack on neighbouring Ukraine, while another crashed in eastern Latvia the day before. Bucharest dispatched F-16 fighter jets to monitor the skies and issued text warning alerts to the residents…

By James Bandler, ProPublica, A.C. Thompson, ProPublica and FRONTLINE, and Karina Meier, FRONTLINE This story was originally published by ProPublica. From attempting to incite racially motivated violence to encouraging attacks on critical infrastructure, the alleged crimes planned and advertised by extremists on Telegram go far beyond the charges facing CEO Pavel Durov. This story is part of a collaboration between FRONTLINE and ProPublica that includes an upcoming documentary. In late December, a 26-year-old construction worker in Sarasota County, Florida, used his phone to send a flurry of ominous online posts. Alexander Lightner, tapping away on his Samsung Galaxy, announced his intention to commit mass murder, according…

Iranian state-sponsored hackers have launched an espionage campaign targeting individuals perceived as threats to the regime. The cyber spies operate fake job websites, luring unsuspecting job seekers into giving up their personal information, which Iran then uses to spy on them. The operation, uncovered by the U.S. cybersecurity firm Mandiant, dates back to 2017 and is believed to be part of a broader effort to silence those who oppose the Iranian regime, targeting Iranian dissidents, activists, and human rights advocates. Ofir Rozmann, Mandiant APT researcher, told National Security News: “Iranian individuals targeted by this campaign may reveal themselves to the…

Up to 16,000 Russian soldiers have been killed in Ukraine since April, new front line casualty estimates have revealed. The astonishing figures come from a data project carried out by the BBC’s Russia service and independent Russian media outlet Mediazona. The project only records deaths it has been able to identify from official reports, the media and satellite analysis of Russian graveyards, so the numbers are likely to be a conservative estimate of total deaths.  Mediazona said that “as of August 30, we know the names of 66,471 Russian soldiers killed in the war”. Previously, in April, it announced it had found more…

Defence chiefs from the US and South Korea are set to hold high level talks about the nuclear missile threat from North Korea, it has been announced.The fifth meeting of the Extended Deterrence Strategy and Consultation Group (EDSCG) is expected to take place on September 4th and will focus on assessing the progress of joint efforts by the allies to deter North Korea’s military threats. The talks will address ways to enhance cooperation between the two countries to bolster “extended deterrence” against North Korea. Details of the talks emerged after the communist state tested a new fleet of suicide drones…

Ten years ago, Pavel Durov had already made a name for himself in tech as the founder of VKontakte (VK). To those who knew him, he was always ambitious, gifted, and academically brilliant, having graduated from St. Petersburg State University with a degree in philology. His first venture with VK, which he co-founded in 2006, grew to be Russia’s largest social media platform and earned him the nickname “Russian Zuckerberg”. By the age of 28, he had developed the idea for a new messaging app, and in 2013, Telegram was born. In just ten years, Telegram had amassed a user…