CTG's Threat Intelligence Podcast

In early December 2022, German law enforcement arrested 25 individuals suspected of plotting to overthrow the German government. Many questions had arisen about motives and possible outcomes. In this episode, Andreea Troneci from the Extremism team and Peter Roberto from the Europe team join Salomon Montaguth to discuss the impact this has on democracy worldwide.

Cryptocurrency has gained the attention of Main Street and Wall Street and everyone in between. It became a trendsetter in recent years by reaching unimaginable heights and gaining large profits for its users. But now, it has raised concerns in Washington DC. Some politicians are demanding regulations, while others see regulations as defeating the purpose of cryptocurrency. With the recent bankruptcy of FTX, a cryptocurrency exchange, some are questioning the reliability of this currency. In this week's episode, Christine Saddy from the Illicit Financing team joins Salomon Montaguth to discuss the impact it will have.

Many alt-right groups and personalities have taken to other social media sites, which promote free speech, and censor-free zones. Salomon Montaguth joined by Brianna Corrie, from the Counter Threat Strategic Communications team to try and better understand the real impacts this transition to niche social media platforms has.

An independent monitoring company, TankerTrackers, identified Young Yong, a Chinese-owned supertanker, as shipping Venezuelan oil in 2021 disguised using false documents as Malaysian crude oil. The Young Yong was sanctioned in November 2022 for shipping oil from Iran, a state also subject to sanctions and known to have used false documents to disguise the origin of its cargo. Iran and Venezuela are two oil-producing sanctioned states and close allies that signed a 20-year cooperation plan in July 2022 for the oil and petrochemical industries. In a swap agreement signed in 2021, Iran and Venezuela decided to exchange Iranian crude oil condensate for Venezuelan crude oil. Julia Tsarnas from the South America team joins Salomon Montaguth to try and better understand the real impact this may have worldwide.

School shootings have been a topic that has caught the attention of millions across the US. This has led to discussions about gun accessibility, gun restrictions, and safety concerns. Today, we will refer to the 2021 Oxford High School shooting and to the 2022 Central Visual and Performing Arts High School shooting by former students. Public Service Announcement (PSA), this topic may be triggering for some. In this week's episode, Jamie Betances from the Crime team joins Salomon Montaguth to discuss School Shootings.

In early November, President Zelensky from Ukraine warned that any Russian military attacks on infrastructure would potentially leave many without energy. Klitschko advised Kyiv residents to make evacuation plans for attacks destroying the city’s infrastructure. Ukrainian officials are urging residents to leave if power is entirely cut-off. In this week's episode, Jennifer Radlinsky from the Emergency Management, Health, and Hazards team joins Salomon Montaguth to discuss the impact it will have.

Hundreds of far-right supporters gathered in Paris in October to condemn the murder of a 12-year-old girl. The suspected killer is an illegal Algerian immigrant, who was previously ordered to leave the country after her residence permit expired,  leading to calls for authorities to enforce immigration laws. Far-right politicians, were present, and the murder has become a politicized subject for right-wing and far-right French parties, renewing debates over the handling of illegal migration in the country. In this week's episode, Peter Roberto who covers the European region joins Salomon Montaguth to discuss the impact it will have in the region.

In October, the Philippines and the US held military drills consisting of combat readiness maneuvers, mock amphibious assaults, and developing coastal defense tactics involving more than 2,500 American and Philippine marines. These exercises aimed to improve their defense system and to ensure regional security in the regional era of competition. The drills also improved and importantly, facilitated cooperation among allied military groups. The U.S. and the Philippine's relationship extends beyond military agreements to include economic and political interests, as Ferdinando Marco has expressed interest in cooperating with the US in defeating terrorist threats and increasing renewable energy. In this week's episode, Alison Ward who covers the Pacific Asia region joins Salomon Montaguth to discuss the impact it will have globally.

Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) is a Pakistan-based branch of the al-Qaeda Central (AQC), an Islamist militant group seeking to prepare Muslims for a holy war, reclaim Muslim territories, and revive the Islamic caliphate. AQC has a strong history in media production and dissemination of propaganda, establishing a media production arm in 2001 called As-Sahab. The Counter Threat Strategic Communications (CTSC) Team, here at the Counterterrorism Group, has analyzed textual and visual elements on AQC-affiliated websites and forums to identify overarching themes, voices, and narratives in propaganda. This project concludes with recommendations to tech platforms, governments, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), civil society organizations (CSOs), and academia based on the analysis that would allow us to likely detect, deter, and prevent the spread and impact of AQIS content online. In this week's episode, Christie and Brianna from the CTSC Team join Salomon Montaguth to discuss the impact it will have globally.

The Counterterrorism Group intelligence analysts have been examining countries where Democracy has slowly been eroded by extremism. Democracy seems to be challenged by voices that have become louder and louder throughout the years. People around the world have been demonstrating their desire for change, an aim to diminish the status quo. There seems to be a global, political shift taking place. Therefore, we’ve decided to present to our audience a roundtable discussion on extremism in Latin America and Europe.  In this week's episode Paige Biebas from our Extremism Team, Daniel Ruiz from our Latin America Team, and Peter Roberto from our Europe Team join Salomon Montaguth to discuss the impact it will have globally.