01Set/23

The Necessary Sanctification of Ryan Palmeter – By Federico Borgonovo & Silvano Rizieri Lucini

Terrorism, ,

On the 26th August 2023, a new far-right terrorist attack occurred in the United States. The attacker, Ryan Palmeter drove to a supermarket in a predominantly African-American neighbourhood and then opened fire with a PSA-15 semi-automatic rifle and a Glock G20. He then committed suicide when the police arrived.  Evidence of the modus operandi adopted emerged from the information gathered in open source. We identified two types of information sources:

Continue reading →
30Ago/23

Wagner Digital Ecosystem: what happens after Prigozhin’s Death – By Federico Borgonovo & Giulia Porrino

Security, , ,

After the March of Justice, announced on June 23, the evolution of the relationship between Russian President Vladimir Putin and PMC Wagner head Yevgeny Prigozhin was discussed at length. On August 23, exactly two months later, one of the private jets on which Yevgeny Prigozhin and Dmitry Utkin, considered his right hand, were traveling crashed en route between Moscow and St. Petersburg.

Continue reading →
13Ago/23

Soccer hooliganism episode in Athens: lessons from a security perspective – by Maria Chr. Alvanou

Security, ,

An episode of hooligan violence, with a 22-year-old man dying from multiple stab wounds took place in Athens, Greece, the night before Tuesday’s UEFA Champions League qualifying soccer match between teams AEK (Greece) and visiting Dinamo Zagreb (Croatia).[1] Additionally to one man violently losing his life, there are 8 people injured (Croatian and Greek) and the clashes were especially violent.

Continue reading →
26Giu/23

PMC Wagner and Allied Mercenaries, Aftermath of the March by – Federico Borgonovo & Giulia Porrino

Communication, Intelligence, Security, Terrorism, , , ,

During the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, PMC Wagner exploited online and offline support of some military groups, including:

  • Española, a parallel battalion of Russian ultras led by Alexander Shum and with a special training centre near San Petersburg.
  • Rusich, a reconnaissance, sabotage and assault group, directly attached to the PMC Wagner.
  • Serb members, active since the deployment in Syria. Those are linked with several ultras’ communities.
  • Níðhöggr (Nidhogg), a little unit near to the Scandinavian right-wing militia funded by an actual Wagner member.  

All these units were orbiting around the PMC Wagner as embedded support groups. Starting from their online propaganda we theorized a pro-Wagner alliance system (figure 1).

Continue reading →
01Giu/23

CounteR Project Newsletter’s Issue #6

Research, , ,

CounteR Project Newsletter’s Issue #6 is now released and its full text is available here.
The spring edition marks CounteR’s successful entering into the third year of project implementation and provides insights from the fourth consortium meeting, held in Toulouse – France. In Issue #6, we continue presenting the scientific publications, authored by consortium members. Notably, ICON’s CEO Ian Castillo gives a special interview, in which he talks about CounteR’s scientific and technological advantages that contribute to making Europe a safer place.
Follow CounteR on Twitter and on LinkedIn to make sure that you stay up-to-date with exciting project updates.
The previous issues of the CounteR newsletter can be found here: Issue #5, Issue #4, Issue #3, Issue #2, and Issue #1.
Thе CounteR Project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No. 101021607. 

07Mag/23

Gli arresti di nove Latin Kings a Milano: i preoccupanti legami con i leader in Ecuador e la mafia albanese – by Giovanni Giacalone

Security, , ,

Il 19 aprile 2023 un’operazione della Polizia di Stato, coordinata dalla Procura di Milano, ha portato all’arresto di nove appartenenti alla pandilla sudamericana “Latin Kings”, fazione “Chicago”, tutti tra i 20 e i 36 anni e accusati di associazione a delinquere, tentato omicidio, lesioni personali, rissa, danneggiamento, furto aggravato e lancio pericoloso di oggetti. Continue reading →

29Mar/23

Terrorist plot in Greece reported to be thwarted: first comments on operational questions – by Maria Chr. Alvanou

Terrorism,

Greek law enforcement authorities have announced that they have dismantled a terror network planning to conduct attacks in Greece[1].  According to media reporting on the subject, 2 men of Pakistani origin have been arrested as part of a terror network whose head is also Pakistani organizing the criminal activities from Iran. Continue reading →

15Mar/23

Correlation Is Not Causation: Wagner e migranti come attori della guerra cognitiva – by Giulia Porrino

Communication, Intelligence, Migration, Terrorism, ,

Nella giornata di lunedì il Ministro della Difesa Guido Crosetto e il Ministro degli Affari Esteri Antonio Tajani hanno denunciato la presenza della PMC Wagner dietro l’aumento degli sbarchi sulle coste italiane, triplicati rispetto allo stesso periodo nel 2022. Secondo i Ministri si tratta di una strategia di guerra cognitiva che i mercenari russi stanno attuando per destabilizzare l’Europa. Non si è fatta attendere la risposta di Prigozhin (su Telegram), che ha negato di essere al corrente di quanto sta accadendo.

Continue reading →
12Mar/23

Guerra cibernetica e guerra russo-ucraina: la disinformazione. Conferenza on line il 16 marzo 2023 – 10:00

Event, , , , ,

Guerra cibernetica e guerra russo-ucraina: la disinformazione.

Conferenza on line il 16 marzo 2023 ore 10:00 con la partecipazione del Generale Alexander Potity del SSSCIP-State Service of Special Communications and Information Protection of Ukraine e Head of the Department of Security of Information Systems and Technologies. Place: MS Teams platform: https://tiny.pl/wkbg5 Continue reading →