Red tape that tears us apart: regulation fragments Indo-Pacific cyber resilience | The Strategist The fragmentation of cyber regulation in the Indo-Pacific is not just inconvenient; it is a strategic vulnerability. In recent years, governments across the Indo-Pacific, including Australia, have mov...

My piece for ASPI: www.aspistrategist.org.au/red-tape-tha...

As a regulatory nerd who wrote on cyber reg fragmentation while helping out at ASPI, I've put this on my reading list: www.lse.ac.uk/asset-librar...

The Risk of Making Offensive Cyber the New Shiny Silver Bullet :: EU Cyber Direct

'... the broader European architecture – sanctions, attribution, intelligence-sharing, crisis management, and diplomatic cost imposition – is strengthened in ways that every Member State can contribute ... requires coordination'.
eucyberdirect.eu/blog/the-ris...

'The more productive framing is one of complementarity in which a small number of capable states develop and employ offensive tools, ...

'The disagreement between von der Leyen and Kallas over establishing an internal intelligence cell to counter Russian hybrid activities is a reminder that EU-level consensus on sensitive capabilities is not guaranteed ...

'The EU's designation of Integrity Technology Group came roughly fourteen months after US OFAC sanctioned the company and eighteen months after the initial Five Eyes advisory ... in the seven years since the EU has adopted the cyber sanctions regime, ... use it five times.

'Across the Atlantic, the United States is bold in publicly promoting cyber capabilities as part of its national power but at the same time diminishing investments in CISA and other critical parts of the infrastructure that enable protection and resilience.

'The first point to consider is European states might have different perceptions of threats and expectations regarding the urgency with which these should be dealt with.

'... Germany is drafting legislation to allow its foreign intelligence services to conduct cyber operations abroad and Latvia is also warming up to cyber operations as a deterrent.

'Some states are building explicit statutory mandates for offensive cyber — the Netherlands published a Defence Cyber Strategy in 2025 that moved from reactive to proactive operations,

Ransomware attack continues to disrupt healthcare in London nearly two years later More than 18 months after a ransomware attack disrupted care at hospitals in South East London, documents show at least one NHS trust is still working without fully restored systems and managing large...

Due to one critical and concentrated pathology provider being ransomwared around two years ago.
therecord.media/ransomware-n...

'[SLaM] said it had not been possible to quantify the impact of delays on diagnosis or treatment, despite recording incidents linked to missing or delayed results'.

'The trust said these workaround processes carried risks including delays, transcription errors and the potential for patient misidentification. Its data recorded 122 patient safety incidents of incorrect, unavailable or delayed pathology results as of January 2026.

'... no pathology reports for SLaM patients have been available in the London Care Record ... and that normal service had not resumed for the trust'.

'Copies of emails said clinicians at SLaM were warned not to rely on the timely return of blood results. Critical results are being communicated by phone, while full reports are being delivered as paper or PDFs and manually uploaded into patient records.

'It estimated the entering of 161,560 pathology reports into patient records had been delayed as of early January 2026.

'At South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust (SLaM), pathology systems have not been restored as of publication ... without electronic requesting or reporting and relying on paper processes and manual uploads.

Cartels Unbound: Hybrid Warfare and the New Criminal Insurgency - HSToday Drug cartels have evolved into hybrid non-state actors, blending criminal enterprise with insurgent tactics—controlling territory, deploying military-grade weapons, and using drones for surveillance, ...

Colombia now experiences a drone attack approximately every 38 hours'.

'As cartels increasingly employ military-grade weapons, advanced tactics, and drone capabilities, their transformation into hybrid non-state actors becomes unavoidable'.
www.hstoday.us/subject-matt...

Cheap Interceptor Drones Proven In Ukraine Protected U.S. Troops Against Iranian Shaheds The Army's top official lauded the Merops drone's performance defending against Iranian long-range kamikaze drones.

'We put everybody into a group who could make decisions on the fly

'... neither the payload nor range of the far more expensive Patriot munitions, they can be deployed in great numbers giving them the ability to cover larger geographical areas'.
www.twz.com/land/cheap-i...

'The reason we’ve been able to move fast since the conflict in Iran started is because of work 10, 12, 14 months ago to reorganize our acquisitions department.

'... from a 16-step decision-making process ... and it could take two to seven years to purchase something.”

'When the conflict kicked off, within about eight days, we [US Army] were able to purchase…13,000 Merops [interceptor UAVs] about $15,000 a piece right now ... as they scale, they’ll get less than [$10,000] and we’re able to take Shaheds down that cost $30,000 to $50,000 ...

'However, no operations have taken place due to a dispute in government over where the vessels should be held and which department will pay for them'.
archive.md/UPM2Q

'The Royal Navy has not seized any sanctioned Russian oil tankers because of concerns in Whitehall that the cost of berthing and maintaining the vessels could reach tens of millions of pounds.

'The NHS App was the first government-sponsored app to offer passkeys as a login option for its services. Close partnership between the NHS and the NCSC has been central to accelerating wider UK adoption of passkeys'.
www.ncsc.gov.uk/blogs/streng...

US Navy ends USS Boise submarine overhaul after price tag soars The U.S. Navy began a maintenance overhaul on the USS Boise in 2024 for $1.2 billion.

Lol

www.navytimes.com/news/your-na...

26-075MR Viva Energy reassesses accounting approach after ASIC review, resulting in $25 million impairment | ASIC Fair, strong and efficient financial system for all Australians.

'ASIC reviewed the financial report of Viva Energy for the year ended 31 December 2024 and raised concerns about its approach to impairment testing of its convenience retail sites'.

Not ideal to see such poor corporate governance at a CNI asset operator.
www.asic.gov.au/about-asic/n...

'Viva Energy Group Limited ... changed an accounting judgement applied in its financial report for the year ended 31 December 2025, resulting in an increase in impairment expenses of $25 million. This follows a[n ASIC] review ...

Oil tanker docks at Port of Galway after blockade lifted The oil tanker Thun Gemini has docked at the Port of Galway after being stuck since Friday morning due to the blockade that was in place, Fuels for Ireland have confirmed.

'Protesters restricting access to Rosslare Europort in Co Wexford have also stood down their protest'.

All I see is ideologically motivated targeting of CNI assets. Physical security hazard management matters!
www.rte.ie/news/ireland...

'Overnight protesters had constructed a barrier of railings, wooden pallets and felled trees along the bridge leading to the terminal at the Port of Galway, which is a key fuel depot. [Nothing says tree-hugger like felling trees.]

'Protesters also parked trucks and tractors ...

Reported 12 April:

'The oil tanker Thun Gemini has docked at the Port of Galway after being stuck since Friday morning due to the blockade that was in place ...

'The blockade at Galway Port by fuel protesters ended following an early morning garda operation.