Short Takes – 2-6-23

Cyber Insights 2023 | ICS and Operational Technology. SecurityWeek.com article. Pointing with alarm but no attacks called out. Pull quote: “Ronnie Fabela, CTO and co-founder at SynSaber, also sees scope for improvement in standards. “From the practitioner side of ICS cybersecurity, 2023 will continue to see an overwhelming message of guidance, regulation, media, and FUD about topics such as ransomware, threat actors, and nation-states,” he says.”

Scientists fear valley fever may be on the rise, on the move in US. TheHill.com article. Pull quote: ““Another big issue with valley fever is that climate change, we really think that climate change is driving the spread of that particular fungus,” Marty said.”

What we know about Chinese balloon sightings during Trump presidency. TheHill.com article. Pull quote: ““That it flew briefly over some part of the continental U.S., that’s one thing, but what we saw this week, it’s unprecedented and that’s why everyone’s reacting the way they’re reacting,” Rubio said.”

Procurement: Substantial Side Effects Of The Ukraine War. StrategyPage.com article. South Korean arms industry. Pull quote: “Demand for military equipment because of the Ukraine War has made it possible for South Korean firms to also offer their non-military exports, which are also high-quality and competitively priced. South Korea is also the 7th largest exporter in the world and 40 percent of its GDP comes from exports. South Korea has the 1oth largest economy in the world. This is remarkable for a country with only 50 million people. Per-capita income is also in the top ten and is twenty times larger than in North Korea. South Korea’s annual defense budget has grown to nearly $50 billion a year, one of the three largest behind (China and Japan) in East Asia.”

‘Major Leap’ in Bird Virus Threatens Yet Another Pandemic. TheDailyBeast.com article. Pull quote: “Higher egg prices will be the least of our problems if large-scale zoonosis ever triggers a human bird-flu pandemic. And that’s why scientists and health officials keep a close eye on H5N1 and related HPAIs as they spread and mutate. For epidemiologists, the bird-flu outbreak at the mink farm in northwestern Spain was a giant red flag. An ominous sign that major zoonosis might be getting more likely.”

Pentagon ‘did not detect’ previous Chinese spy balloons: US general. TheHill.com article. Pull quote: ““We did not detect those threats,” VanHerck told reporters. “The intel community after the fact — I believe as has been briefed already — assessed those threats from additional means of collection and made us aware of those balloons that were previously approaching North America or transited North America.””