INTELLIGENCE ONLINE

France
Security firms fuming over TotalEnergies Tripoli contract

Total's compliance service says the company's deal with Marcus Security and Basalt is above board, but regular private security suppliers are up in arms.

Singapore, United States
ST Engineering builds up its presence in Washington as it looks to boost its drone capacities

To improve its naval drone expertise, ST Engineering is drawing on the services of a small army of consultants, many with a US Navy background. Some of them recently joined a low-profile special purpose acquisition vehicle.

Israel
NSO's big data successor Bold looks to expand in Europe

Bold Analytics, which took over the big data activities of the Israeli cyber-intelligence firm NSO, is looking to develop its business in Europe.

China, Thailand, United States
Thai defence firm ACEIS clarifies links with China to lure US

In a bid to build stronger ties with the US defence industry, Thai firm ACEIS has had to clarify any potential associations that could be made online between it and Chinese companies, especially strategic ones.

Finland
New NATO member Finland launches electronic warfare overhaul

Since joining the alliance in April, the Finnish army has embarked on a complete rethink of its technical intelligence technologies strategy. This shift comes as the SIGINT market undergoes significant changes, with Swedish manufacturers being overtaken by their US and Israeli rivals.

Spotlight | United States
FBI alerted of Russian oil trader Niels Troost's secret US business interests

Troost has largely gone underground since being named in news reports as a key energy broker for Russia. He denies charges of sanctions busting or any illegal activities, but recently cancelled a trip to New York, according to a source.

South Korea
S2W pins hopes for EU breakthrough on language model trained on dark web

In mid-May, South Korean threat intelligence company S2W published research on the first language model pretrained on the dark web. Now the firm is eager to enter the European market, but experts in the field remain sceptical.

Spotlight | China
Premier Li Qiang plies pressure on China International Capital Corp boss

China's freshly created national financial regulator, the State Administration for Financial Regulation under the authority of the Chinese premier, has launched its first investigation, focusing on the CICC bank.

Ukraine, United Kingdom
Intelligence firm Raedas donates to NGO helping rebuild Ukraine

Andrew Wordsworth, a favourite of Russian high-net-worth individuals in need of litigation support services, has funded his daughter Ada Wordsworth's KHARPP organisation, which is involved in the reconstruction of buildings in Ukraine.

France
DGSE relocation pushed back by two years

The future DGSE headquarters in Vincennes, scheduled for 2028, will now not be ready until 2030. Work has not even begun yet.

Israel
Cyberintelligence firm Blue Ocean's mystery clients revealed

The usually low-profile Israeli cyberintelligence firm Blue Ocean has been in the spotlight since obtaining export licences for a Southeast Asian country and a European country. Intelligence Online has the low-down on which ones.

Spotlight | Ukraine
Ukrainian and Western intelligence services consider options for collaboration on vetting foreign combatants

Informal consultations are currently underway between the SBU, Interpol and various Western intelligence services that could lead to new standardised procedures for sharing data on individuals wanted in their countries of origin.

The Agencies' Gazette
FSO, ex-COS in Abu Dhabi, NATO and Taiwan, DNI in demand on drones

Appointments, reforms and the issues at stake: every Monday, Intelligence Online serves up snippets big and small from the global intelligence community from Moscow to Paris, via Taipei and Washington.

RussiaFSO regulates military service

FranceFormer COS liaison chief ordered to return extra pay

TaiwanNATO slows down rapprochement with Taipei

United StatesAll drone policies point to the DNI

Europe, France, Greece, United States
Indictment exposes SVR industrial spy's former defence partners

While the US Department of Justice's probe into Greek businessman Nikolaos Bogonikolos focuses on goods illegally exported to Russia's intelligence services, the man at the heart of the investigation long worked in the same circles as several European defence groups.

Cyprus, United Kingdom
Oligarchs' fixers look for fixers of their own to help them escape sanctions

The consultants operating behind the scenes for their already sanctioned former Russian oligarch clients are themselves being increasingly targeted by Western sanctions. They are looking for investigators to help them avoid or at least reduce the impact of those measures.