Director, Counterintelligence 

 

 Current Terrorist 

 Threat Condition

NASA CI/CT MONTHLY NEWS UPDATE – April 2015 

This monthly newsletter is published to increase NASA personnel awareness of significant current 

issues related to counterintelligence, counterterrorism, and counterintelligence cyber matters. To 

learn more about CI/CT awareness, or to schedule a CI/CT presentation, please contact the CI 

POC located on the last page. 

Significant Counterterrorism (CT) Issues: 

ISIS SIGNALS TUNISIAN PRESENCE WITH BARDO MUSEUM ATTACK

A militant Islamist attack in Tunis on 18 March 2015 that killed at least 20 

foreigners represents a major inflection point in a country where terrorist 

attacks are rare. 

http://www.criticalthreats.org/west-africa/ferris-bardo-museum-attack-march-20-2015

TERROR TRIUMVERATE: ISIS, Al QAEDA, BOKO HARAM TRAINING TOGETHER 

IN MAURITANIA

The world’s three most infamous terrorist organizations are working 

together at Al-Qaeda-run training camps in the Sahara Desert in Mauritania, 

where dozens of recruits from the U.S., Canada and Europe are being 

indoctrinated into violent jihad and training for attacks that could expand 

the so-called caliphate across West Africa. 

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2015/03/24/terror-triumvirate-isis-al-qaeda-boko-haram-training-together-inmauritania/

Significant Counterintelligence Issues: 

US BUSTS RUSSIAN SPY RING, CHARGES THREE WITH ESPIONAGE

Authorities in the United States have charged three Russian citizens, two of 

them diplomats, with operating a New York-based spy ring on orders from 

Moscow. The FBI eventually uncovered that the two were in fact 

employees of the SVR, Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service.

http://intelnews.org/2015/01/27/11611/

THE INSIDE STORY OF IRAN’S STEALTH JET THIEF

Before Mozaffar Khazaee’s arrest, he had access to high-tech military 

hardware through his jobs with leading defense contractors. The work he did in 

the engineering field showed a technical acumen missing from his foray into 

espionage. 

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/03/03/the-inside-story-of-iran-s-stealth-jet-thief.html

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Significant Cyber Issues: 

RUSSIA TOPS LIST OF NATION-STATE CYBER THREATS AGAINST U.S. 

The U.S. has elevated its appraisal of the cyber threat from Russia, the U.S. 

intelligence chief said recently, as he delivered the annual assessment by 

intelligence agencies of the top dangers facing the country. 

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/russia-tops-list-of-nation-state-cyber-threats-against-u-s/

CIA CHIEF: TERRORISM MORPHING INTO DIFFERENT THREATS 

Terrorism is morphing into different types of threats, including cyberattacks that can impact nations across the globe, the director of central 

intelligence said in New York last week. John Brennan told the Council 

on Foreign Relations (CFR) that terror attacks in Europe, the Middle East, 

Africa and Central Asia show the terror threat is changing. 

http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=128373

Analyst Notes – Items to Watch:

 The reports of the imminent demise of ISIS are greatly exaggerated. ISIS continues its 

significant expansion in Syria and in some areas of Iraq. ISIS “affiliates” in the Middle East and 

Africa are slowly growing in numbers and influence, as shown by recent attacks in Yemen and 

Tunisia. The latest ISIS threat towards targeting U.S. service personnel in the United States 

shows how media savvy ISIS has become. Widespread espionage continues, with many nations 

attempting to bolster their economies and militaries by stealing U.S. technology in multiple 

ways, from cyber-attacks, to using agents posing as students or employees. With cyber-attacks 

becoming common, more threat information is becoming available; including admission from the 

Chinese that they have created special “Blue Army” units to conduct cyber attack’s and 

espionage. Recent attacks on banking industry mainframes and utility companies computer 

control systems shows that the threat posed by cyber-attacks is growing exponentially. The 

NASA CI/CT division will continue to monitor these threats and any others that emerge in the 

future that have the potential to harm NASA or its equities.

NASA CI Offices:

Ames Research Center: 

Armstrong Flight Research Center

Glenn Research Center:

Goddard Space Flight Center

Jet Propulsion Laboratory:

Johnson Space Center: 

Kennedy Space Center:

Langley Research Center:

Marshall Space Flight Center:

NASA Headquarters:

Stennis Space Center:

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