Chemical Facility Security News: Short Takes

Sunday, November 23, 2025

Short Takes – 11-23-25

AI trained on bacterial genomes produces never-before-seen proteins. ArsTechnica.com article. Pull quote: “Given that their system appears to work, the researchers decided to prompt it with just about everything: 1.7 million individual genes from bacteria and the viruses that prey on them. The result is 120 billion base pairs of AI-generated DNA, some of it containing genes we already knew about, some of it presumably containing truly novel stuff. It’s not clear to me how anyone would productively use this resource, but I’d imagine there are some creative biologists who will think of something.”

H5N5 Avian influenza confirmed in Grays Harbor County resident. DOH.WA.gov article. Pull quote: “A Grays Harbor resident who was hospitalized with influenza symptoms in early November has been confirmed to have influenza A H5, a type of avian influenza. Additional testing shows the virus to be H5N5, an avian influenza virus that has previously been reported in animals but never before in humans. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and DOH currently consider the risk to the public from avian influenza to be low.”

On the Malicious NuGet Packages Containing Logic Bombs. Siemens.com article. Pull quote: “The malicious nature of the software seems to be only relevant to yet unknown, non-Siemens software which includes these packages. If this software implements a client to communicate with Siemens PLCs via legacy PUT/GET protocol, the manipulations can randomly close the connection to the device and/or cause silent failures when writing data to the PLC. The integrity of the PLC software is not affected.”

Marjorie Taylor Greene Says She Plans to Resign in January. NYTimes.com article (free). Pull quote: “But throughout her metamorphoses, Ms. Greene has remained deeply frustrated with her party and with the lack of any change in how Washington works. In her Friday evening post, she referred to “never-ending personal attacks, death threats, lawfare and ridiculous slander and lies” that she had endured in the public eye.”

Oil facility hit by large explosion in Venezuela. HazardOnTheNet.net article. Pull quote: “An investigation committee has been set up to determine the causes of the incident and rule out an act of sabotage by enemies of Venezuela, PDVSA added. Following process safety events in the country, Venezuelan officials have frequently labelled incidents as “terrorist attacks” or “sabotage” without providing evidence. Critics have said process safety incidents such as explosions and fires at the country’s oil facilities are more likely to be a result of underinvestment, mismanagement, and a lack of maintenance.” Someone is likely to claim that this is a result of US attack on the facility.

Amazon security boss: Hostile countries use cyber targeting for physical military strikes. TheRegister.com article. Pull quote: “In January 2024, the IRGC's cyber arm began conducting targeted searches for AIS location data for a specific shipping vessel, and on February 1, 2024, US Central Command reported a missile strike by Houthi forces against that ship. "While the missile strike was ultimately ineffective, the correlation between the cyber reconnaissance and kinetic strike is unmistakable," Moses wrote.”

Measles outbreak in Arizona and Utah could spell the end for U.S. elimination status. NBCNews.com article. Pull quote: “Exposures have been reported at emergency departments and urgent care clinics in the [Washington] county, as well as in Salt Lake County. Several exposures were reported at Water Canyon Elementary School in Hildale, which is just across the border from Mohave County, Arizona, where all but four of the state’s 137 cases this year have been recorded.”

Hazardous Materials: Adjusting Registration and Fee Assessment Program. Federal Register PHMSA NPRM withdrawal. Summary: “PHMSA is withdrawing its proposed rulemaking [link added] that would have increased registration fees for persons who transport, or offer for transportation, certain categories and quantities of hazardous materials.”

Attack, defend, pursue—the Space Force’s new naming scheme foretells new era. ArsTechnica.com article. Pull quote: “The Space Force also signaled its openness to accommodating “popular names” to go along with the official designations, similar to the F-16 fighter jet, which is known as the Fighting Falcon, and the F/A-18 is the Hornet. “Names must be brief,” the Space Force instruction says. “Use no more than two short words. Choose a name that characterizes the mission and operational capabilities of the weapon system.”” Two letter ‘code’ designates mission type (12 types) and where system will work (8 types).