Category: Transport

MIL-OSI Security: PDAAG Roger P. Alford Delivers Remarks to the International Association of Privacy Professionals

Source: United States Attorneys General

Good afternoon. I am pleased to be here today. It is an honor to represent the United States and work with the Assistant Attorney General Gail Slater and the amazing attorneys, economists, and staff and the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice. I also want to thank the IAPP for inviting me to participate in this 2025 Digital Policy Leadership Retreat and Jonathan Zittrain and David Sanger for joining this discussion on such an important and timely topic.

The world today has indeed become a digital world. Almost every company has some digital presence and almost every product sector is touched by digital platforms. Every day, platforms are connecting users and consumers in new and exciting ways. They are introducing novel commercial relationships with ever sophisticated algorithms. While we welcome these changes, we also recognize that these innovations introduce a range of competition issues. At the Department of Justice, we are watching these developments closely, scrutinizing the competitive implications of digital conduct.

The topic for my speech today is where we go from here in applying antitrust law and policy in the digital world. I won’t bury the lede. We are heading towards a better future for the American people that maximizes their consumer welfare in digital markets through the vigorous enforcement of the antitrust laws. In fact, thanks to recent enforcement efforts, we are already beginning to see that world unfold.

Many doubted that would ever be possible. When digital markets first emerged, enforcers had for decades been accustomed mostly to smokestack industries. Products rolled off assembly lines with similar features and prices year after year. These things could be measured and scrutinized quantitatively. We came to think that’s all antitrust enforcers should do.

In contrast, digital markets offered zero price goods, with consumers trading their time and data for services. They were often defined by innovation and dynamism. Those looked like square pegs that didn’t fit the round holes of traditional antitrust analysis.

We had become so used to smokestack industries that many assumed consumer welfare should always be measured in the prices and outputs of the goods that rolled off the assembly line. Privacy, attention, choice, and innovation were afterthoughts. And so some suggested that there could be no antitrust enforcement in many digital markets because traditional measures of consumer welfare were difficult to apply.

Others accepted that premise, but pushed for a divorce between antitrust enforcement and the consumer welfare standard. They thought that to adequately protect competition in digital markets, antitrust needed to abandon its core focus on consumer welfare and have an essentially unlimited lens on its mission to include citizen welfare or a nebulous public interest standard.

We now know that there is a third way. Consumers’ welfare is not merely about the price they pay. Consumers benefit when their privacy is better protected. They pay for digital services in time, attention, and data. Consumer welfare rises when companies innovate, and new technologies disrupt incumbent technologies.

The answer was not to abandon antitrust in digital markets, or to abandon consumer welfare. The answer was to recognize the many dimensions of the competitive process that maximizes consumer welfare online.

I’d like to spend my time today talking about how that principle has played out in recent cases and will continue to inform our work in digital markets in the years to come.

First, our recent successes in protecting consumers from monopoly abuse in digital markets unequivocally demonstrate the continued vitality of the consumer welfare frame in protecting the American people online.

As many of you are aware, the Department of Justice has been vigorously enforcing the antitrust laws against the exclusionary and unlawful conduct of Big Tech for some time now, going back to the first Trump Administration. The DOJ currently has two large, ongoing litigations against Google in particular.

These are historic monopolization cases in which the DOJ earned landmark wins in federal district courts in Washington D.C. and Virginia, finding that Google is a serial monopolist — in general search, in search text advertising, and in multiple segments of the ad-tech stack. These rulings recognize that Google has abused its monopoly status by controlling how digital advertisements are placed on the free and open internet.

The DOJ has proven that Google repeatedly broke the law against monopolization. In response, we have proposed remedies tailored to restore competition and address the competitive harms of Google’s monopoly abuses.[1] In the Google Search case, a decision is expected by the end of the summer, following a three-week remedy hearing this spring. In Google Ad Tech, a remedies hearing is scheduled for early fall. We are hopeful that the federal courts in both cases will issue strong rulings that adopt structural and behavioral remedies to restore competition. Historic monopolization cases call for historic remedies, and our digital freedoms deserve nothing less.

The Google cases represent a bipartisan consensus in favor of vigorous antitrust enforcement. Beginning in the first Trump Administration, these cases reflect an historic commitment by both Republican and Democratic Administrations and almost every State Attorney General to protect consumers from monopoly abuse.

Both of these cases were won with evidence presented within a consumer welfare frame, expanded to account for the unique properties of digital markets. We defined consumer welfare broadly to include not only price, but also quality, output, innovation and anything else that impacts consumers. And we recognized that consumer welfare impacts do not always need to involve the kind of quantitative evidence available in a price-focused case, but that qualitative non-price evidence can be equally valuable.

Judge Mehta’s opinion in Google Search is a great example of the modern approach to addressing all of the determinants of consumer welfare. It mentions privacy 55 times. For example, when assessing the relevant market, it notes how Google compares its privacy to Duck Duck Go.[2] And its overall market definition approach appropriately takes account for the full range of qualitative evidence that bears on defining competition in search. Meanwhile, the Google Ad Tech opinion reminds its readers that the antitrust laws are a “consumer welfare prescription,” and then goes on to examine the many unique attributes of consumer welfare, beyond price and output, in the ad tech markets Google monopolized there.[3]

While we assess the full range of determinants of consumer welfare, that does not mean our analysis is unlimited. The ultimate question for antitrust law remains economic competition in a relevant market. The law does not permit an untethered overall public interest analysis that asks courts to weigh effects across markets or to include non-competition values.

For that reason, we consistently reject arguments that we should excuse harm to competition in order to protect a national champion firm on the theory that this will somehow benefit national security. We don’t accept the premise that shielding our businesses from competition somehow makes us stronger. That’s the Chinese and Russian way. The American way of winning the global economic competition is with strong competition in our domestic firms that makes our companies stronger to compete abroad. That premise has served us well for centuries, and we do not intend to abandon it now.

Let me offer a word of thanks to those who prosecuted these cases. The incredible attorneys, economists, and staff at the Antitrust Division that prosecuted the Google Search case deserve particular mention. Following a ten-week liability trial in 2023 and then a three-week remedies trial in 2025, they outlawyered the other side by presenting strong legal theories in support of critical remedies designed to ensure that our digital spaces will be free and open. No matter what the federal court orders in the remedies phase, the leadership at the Division is incredibly proud of the hard work and dedication of the public servants who have litigated that case.

As Assistant Attorney General Gail Slater has said, “The Google Search case matters because nothing less than the future of the internet is at stake here. Are we going to give Americans choices and allow innovation and competition to thrive online? Or will we maintain the status quo that favors Big Tech monopolies? If Google’s conduct is not remedied, it will control much of the internet for the next decade and not just in internet search, but in new technologies like artificial intelligence.”[4]

As for the Google Ad Tech case, the extraordinary attorneys have won a landmark liability ruling and we anticipate that they will present a strong case for robust remedies in the digital ad tech space. As Attorney General Pam Bondi has said, the ruling in the Antitrust Division’s favor in April in that case was “a landmark victory in the ongoing fight to stop Google from monopolizing the digital public square.” I could not agree more. We are fortunate to have such quality attorneys working to protect the American public.

Let me now turn to some of our thinking about how we will protect consumer welfare in digital markets in the future. Digital technologies have significant implications for virtually all the monopoly conduct and cartels that the DOJ analyzes today. The DOJ has an obligation to husband our resources to enforce the laws where it matters most, to protect markets that most directly impact the average American, markets such as healthcare, housing, agriculture, education, and insurance. Let me focus on just a few of those digital markets.

In healthcare, in particular, we have a mandate to use our resources to ensure American markets in health sectors are more competitive, innovative, affordable, and provide higher quality to patients and consumers. For years, we have witnessed consolidation across healthcare leading to higher prices and lower wages for healthcare workers. We see pharmacy benefit managers and brand name monopolies driving up prescription drug prices. Consolidation and roll-ups of physician practices and hospitals often increase health care costs, raising prices for services, and deteriorating patient outcomes. And algorithms and data increase complexity by playing an ever-larger role in health care markets and practices. We are even seeing algorithmic management technologies gaining a foothold in the health care labor sector, one of the largest labor sectors in the country.[5]

Our recent Las Vegas nursing case is an example of the Department of Justice protecting Americans’ pocketbooks in the health sector. In that case, the Division successfully prosecuted a three-year conspiracy to fix the wages of nurses — capping their wages. As AAG Slater has stated: “Wage-fixing agreements are nakedly unlawful attempts at unjustly profiting off American workers…. The nurses here deserved better, and under President Trump’s leadership, they will be protected.”[6]

The DOJ is committed to combatting monopoly abuse and collusion in the health care sector. This includes collusion that is accomplished by digital algorithms. Our recent statement of interest in the In re Multiplan Health Insurance Provider Litigation is an example.[7] In that case, competitors used a common pricing algorithm to share confidential information to set prices. Such algorithmic sharing of confidential information on digital platforms should be challenged as a violation of the antitrust laws.

The DOJ is focused on algorithmic collusion in housing markets as well. The Division is litigating an ongoing case against RealPage and large landlords for algorithmic collusion affecting the rental prices for millions of Americans.[8] In this case, RealPage has introduced a digital platform that made it easier for landlords to coordinate to dramatically increase rental prices for the average American. RealPage and large landlords actively participated in the illegal pricing scheme, setting their rents by using each other’s competitively sensitive information via common pricing algorithms.[9]

These cases are examples of a growing trend. If we do not take a strong stand now against algorithmic collusion, we will see this new form of price fixing destroying effective competition across a whole range of digital markets.

And still there is more. Algorithmic collusion is only a subset of the issues that algorithms raise for antitrust enforcement. We can see on the horizon new concerns that will be extremely difficult for enforcers to address using traditional antitrust law. Academic work is already exploring how artificial intelligence can be instructed to profit maximize and learn to set prices in a manner consistent with collusion. We are on the verge of autonomous algorithmic collusion.

Regardless of the digital sector, we at the DOJ will follow the facts and apply the law in connection with algorithmic pricing and potential collusion. These issues provide an opportunity for our enforcers to engage critically with the practical realities of how complex technologies are affecting Americans’ lives today and in the future. Artificial intelligence holds so much promise, but it also presents unique challenges. Will these technologies empower anticompetitive behavior targeted at unsuspecting digital citizens? The DOJ must meet this moment and fulfill its mandate to protect competition for the American people.

Let me conclude with a few thoughts about the Antitrust Division’s agenda with respect to mergers in the digital space.

When President Trump announced that Gail Slater would lead the Antitrust Division, he reiterated that Big Tech has stifled Little Tech innovation and competition. We are pro Little Tech and welcome Little Tech innovation. We will bring the antitrust laws to bear on Big Tech to answer for their abuses, but we are open and receptive to procompetitive mergers, especially in Little Tech. We want innovative start-ups to see exit opportunities other than acquisitions by the largest, most dominant players, whose acquisition strategies are often driven as much by their desire to entrench their existing power as they are to drive innovation. The enforcers at the DOJ work tirelessly to promote a competitive landscape to ensure that new ideas get funding, so that startups can compete on the merits and disrupt incumbents.

An embrace of Little Tech recognizes the benefits of venture capital and digital mergers. We want to see venture capital funds flowing to support innovative companies. In healthy, competitive markets, venture capital funds should flow freely.

During AAG Slater’s tenure at the Division, we will challenge anticompetitive mergers. That is already evident in these early months. But the vast majority of mergers do not raise competition concerns, and those that do often can be resolved through negotiation, settlements, and consent decrees. We are committed to providing clear guidance to merging parties on their proposed transactions, welcoming most mergers and only challenging the problematic ones.

In conclusion, let me state what an honor it is for me to return to the Antitrust Division and serve as Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General to AAG Slater. As part of the Republican realignment, President Trump and Assistant Attorney General Slater have a clear vision for robust antitrust enforcement over the next four years. Our paramount focus will be to put consumer welfare first, accounting for the wide range of harms and benefits to consumers and workers that can arise in modern markets.

Yes, competition brings lower prices. But it also brings better quality, improved privacy options, lower advertising loads, greater data portability, more choice, and increased innovations. Competition maximizes consumer welfare by driving businesses to deliver everything consumers want. That makes it the critical tool to protect consumers in our free market system, even in a changing world.

Thank you.

[2] See United States v. Google LLC, 747 F. Supp. 3d 1, 54-55 (D.D.C. 2024).

[3] See United States v. Google LLC, 23-cv-108, 2025 WL 1132012 (E.D. Va. Apr. 17, 2025) (“Google AdTech”).

MIL Security OSI –

June 27, 2025

MIL-OSI Economics: Building security that lasts: Microsoft’s journey towards durability at scale

Source: Microsoft

Headline: Building security that lasts: Microsoft’s journey towards durability at scale

In this blog you will hear directly from Microsoft’s Deputy Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) for Azure and operating systems, Mark Russinovich, about how Microsoft operationalized security durability at scale. This blog is part of an ongoing series where our Deputy CISOs share their thoughts on what is most important in their respective domains. In this series you will get practical advice and forward-looking commentary on where the industry is going, as well as tactics you should start (and stop) deploying, and more.

In late 2023, Microsoft launched its most ambitious security transformation to date, the Microsoft Secure Future Initiative (SFI). An initiative with the equivalent of 34,000 engineers working across 14 product divisions, supporting more than 20,000 cloud services on 1.2 million Azure subscriptions, the scope is massive. These services operate on 21 million compute nodes, protected by 46.7 million certificates, and developed across 134,000 code repositories.

At Microsoft’s scale, the real challenge isn’t just shipping security fixes—it’s ensuring they’re automatically enforced by the platform, with no extra lift from engineers. This work aligns directly to our Secure by Default principle. Durable security is about building systems that apply fixes proactively, uphold standards over time, and engineering teams can focus on innovation rather than rework. This is the next frontier in security resilience.

Learn more about the Secure Future Initiative

Why “staying secure” is harder than getting there

SFI April 2025 report blog

Read the blog ›

When SFI began, Microsoft made rapid progress: teams addressed vulnerabilities, met key performance indicators (KPIs), and turned dashboards green. Over time, sustaining these gains proved challenging, as some fixes required reinforcement and recurring patterns like misconfigurations and legacy issues began to re-emerge in new projects—highlighting the need for durable, long-term security practices.

The pattern was clear: security improvements weren’t durable.

While key milestones were successfully achieved, there were instances where we did not have a clearly defined ownership or built-in features to automatically sustain security baselines. Enforcement mechanisms varied, leading to inconsistencies in how security standards were upheld. As resources shifted post-delivery, this created a risk of baseline drift over time.

Moving forward, we realized that our teams need to establish explicit ownership, standardize enforcement design, and embed automation at the platform level because it is essential to ensure long-term resilience, reduce operational burden, and prevent regression.

Read the latest SFI report

Engineering for endurance: The making of Microsoft’s durability strategy

To transform security from a reactive effort into an enduring capability, Microsoft launched a company-wide initiative to operationalize security durability at scale. The result was the creation of the Security Durability Model, anchored in the principle to “Start Green, Get Green, Stay Green, and Validate Green.” This framework is not a slogan—it is a foundational shift in how Microsoft engineers build, enforce, and sustain secure systems across the enterprise.

At the core of this effort are Durability Architects—dedicated Architects embedded within each division who act as stewards of persistent security. These individuals champion a “fix-once, fix-forever” mindset by enforcing ownership and driving accountability across teams. One example that catalyzed this effort involved cross-tenant access risks through Passthrough Authentication. In this case, users without presence in a target tenant could authenticate through passthrough mechanisms, unintentionally breaching tenant boundaries. The mitigation initially lacked durability and resurfaced until ownership and enforcement were systemically addressed.

Microsoft also applies a lifecycle framework they call “Start Green, Get Green, Stay Green, Validated Green.” New features are developed in a secure-by-default posture using hardened templates, ensuring they “Start Green.” Legacy systems or existing features are brought into compliance through targeted remediation efforts—this is “Get Green.” To “Stay Green,” ongoing monitoring and guardrails prevent regression. Finally, security is verified through automated reviews, and executive reporting—ensuring enduring resilience.

Automating for scale and embedding security into engineering culture

What is Azure Policy?

Learn more

Recognizing that manual security checks cannot scale across an enterprise of this size, Microsoft has heavily invested in automation to prevent regressions. Tools such as Azure Policy automatically enforce best practices like encryption-at-rest or multifactor authentication across cloud resources. Continuous scanners detect expired certificates or known vulnerable packages. Self-healing scripts autocorrect deviations, closing the loop between detection and remediation.

To embed durability into the operational fabric, review cadences and executive oversight play a critical role. Security KPIs are reviewed at weekly or biweekly engineering operations meetings, with Microsoft’s top leadership, including the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Executive Vice Presidents (EVPs), and engineering leaders receiving regular updates. Notably, executive compensation is now directly tied to security performance metrics—an accountability mechanism that has driven measurable improvements in areas such as secret hygiene across code repositories.

Rather than building fragmented solutions, Microsoft focuses on shared, scalable security capabilities. For example, to maintain a clean build environment, all new build queues will now default to a virtualized setup. Customers will not have the option to revert to the classic Artifact Processor (AP) on their own. Once a build is executed in the virtualized CloudBuild environment, any previously allocated resources in the classic CloudBuild will be either decommissioned or reassigned.

Finally, durability is now a built-in requirement at development gates. Security fixes must not only remediate current issues but be designed to endure. Teams must assign owners, undergo gated reviews or durability, and build enforcement mechanisms. This philosophy has shifted the mindset from one-time patching to long-term resilience.

The path to durable security: A maturity framework

Durable security isn’t just about fixing vulnerabilities—it’s about ensuring security holds over time. As Microsoft learned during the early days of its Secure Future Initiative, lasting protection requires organizations to mature operationally, culturally, and technically. The following framework outlines how to evolve toward security durability at scale:

1. Stages of security durability maturity: Security durability evolves through distinct operational phases that reflect an organization’s ability to sustain and scale secure outcomes, not just achieve them temporarily.

Reactive: Durable outcomes are rare. Fixes are implemented manually and inconsistently. Drift and regressions are common due to a lack of enforcement or oversight.

Define: Security fixes are codified in basic processes. Teams may implement fixes, but durability is still dependent on individual vigilance rather than systemic support.

Managed: Security controls are embedded in standardized workflows. Durable design patterns are introduced. Baseline drift is measured, and early automation begins to prevent regression.

Optimized: Durability becomes part of engineering culture. Secure-by-default templates, guardrails, and metrics reduce variance. Real-time enforcement prevents security drift.

Autonomous and predictive: Systems proactively enforce durability. AI-assisted controls detect and self-remediate regressions. Durable security becomes self-sustaining and adaptive to change.

2. Dimensions of security durability: To embed durability across the enterprise, organizations must mature along five integrated dimensions:

Resilience to change: Security controls must remain stable even as infrastructure, tools, and organizational structures evolve. This requires decoupling controls from fragile, manual systems.

Scalability: Durable security must scale effortlessly across expanding environments, including new regions, services, and team structures—without introducing regressions.

Automation and AI readiness: Durability depends on machine-powered enforcement. Manual reviews alone cannot guarantee persistence. AI and automation provide speed, consistency, and fail-safes.

Governance integration: Durability must be wired into governance platforms to provide traceability, accountability, and risk closure across the control lifecycle.

Sustainability: Durable security solutions must be lightweight and operationally viable. If controls are too burdensome, teams will circumvent them, undermining long-term resilience.

3. Key milestones in security durability evolution: Microsoft’s implementation of durable security revealed critical transformation points that signal organizational maturity:

Establish durable security baselines (identity hygiene, patching, config hardening).

Enforce controls through automated policy and self-healing.

Build durability-aware platforms like Govern Risk Intelligent Platform (GRIP) to track regressions and closure loops.

Embed durability reviews into engineering checkpoints and risk ownership cycles.

Drive a durability mindset across teams—from development to operations.

Create feedback loops to evaluate what holds and what regresses over time.

Deploy AI-powered agents to detect drift and initiate remediation.

Each milestone builds a stronger foundation for durability and aligns incentives with sustained security excellence.

4. Measuring security durability: Tracking the stickiness of security work requires a shift from traditional risk metrics to durability-focused indicators. Microsoft uses the following to monitor progress:

Percentage of controls enforced automatically versus manually

Baseline drift rate (how often known-good states erode)

Mean time to regress (how quickly fixes unravel)

Volume of self-healing actions triggered and resolved

Percentage of fixes that meet “never regress” criteria

Durability metadata coverage in systems like GRIP (ownership, status, and closure)

Percentage of engineering teams integrated into durability reporting cadences

Results: From short-term wins to sustained gains

By February 2025, the durability push resulted in:

100% multi-factor authentication (MFA) enforcement or legacy protocol removal remained stable for months.

Teams use real-time dashboards to catch any KPI dips—addressing them before they spiral.

Where previous improvements faded, new ones held firm—validating the durability model.

Get the latest Secure Future Initiative updates

Lessons for any enterprise

Microsoft’s journey offers valuable takeaways for organizations of all sizes.

Durability requires programmatic support

Security doesn’t persist by accident. It needs:

Roles for durability and accountability.

Durable design patterns.

Empowering technologies (automation and policy enforcement).

Regular leadership and architect reviews.

Standardized workflows.

Teams across security, development, and operations must be aligned and coordinated—using the same metrics, tools, and gates.

Culture and leadership matter

Security must be everyone’s job—and leadership must reinforce that relentlessly. At Microsoft, security became part of performance reviews, executive dashboards, and everyday conversation.

As EVP Charlie Bell put it: “Security is not just a feature, it’s the foundation.”

That mindset—combined with consistent leadership pressure—is what transforms short-lived security into long-term resilience.

Security that endures

The Secure Future Initiative proves that durable security is achievable—even at hyperscale.

Microsoft is showing that lasting security can be achieved by investing in:

People (clear ownership and champions).

Processes (repeatable metrics and reviews).

Platforms (shared tooling and automation).

The playbook isn’t just for tech giants. Any organization—whether you’re securing 20 cloud services or 20,000—can adopt the principles of security durability

Because in today’s cyberthreat landscape, fixing isn’t enough.

Secure Future Initiative

A new world of security.

Learn more with Microsoft Security

To see an example of the Microsoft Durability Strategy in action, read this case study in the appendix below. Learn more about the Microsoft Security Future Initiative and our Secure by Default principle.

To learn more about Microsoft Security solutions, visit our website. Bookmark the Security blog to keep up with our expert coverage on security matters. Also, follow us on LinkedIn (Microsoft Security) and X (@MSFTSecurity) for the latest news and updates on cybersecurity.

Appendix:

Security Durability Case Study

Eliminating pinned certificates: A durable fix for secret hygiene in MSA apps

SFI Reference: [SFI-ID4.1.3]
Initiative Owner: Microsoft Account (MSA) Engineering Team

Overview

As part of the Secure Future Initiative (SFI), the Microsoft Account (MSA) team addressed a critical weakness identified through Software Security Incident Response Plans (SSIRPs): the unsafe use of pinned certificates. By eliminating this legacy pattern and embedding preventive guardrails, the MSA team set a new bar for durable secrets management and secure partner onboarding.

The challenge: Pinned certificates and hidden fragility

Pinned certificates were once seen as a strong trust enforcement mechanism, ensuring that only specific certificates could be used to establish connections. However, they became a security and operational liability:

Difficult to rotate: If a pinned certificate expired or was compromised, coordinating a fast and seamless replacement across services was challenging.

Onboarding risk: New services had no safe, scalable path to onboard without replicating this fragile pattern.

Lack of durability: Without controls, the risk of regression and repeated misuse remained high.

The durable fix: Secure by default and enforced by design

The MSA team implemented a durability-first solution grounded in engineering enforcement and operational pragmatism:

Strategy	Action
Code-Level Blocking	All code paths accepting pinned certificates were hardened to prevent adoption.
Temporary Allow Lists	Existing apps using pinned certificates were allow-listed to prevent immediate outages.
Default Deny Posture	New apps are automatically blocked from using pinned certificates, enforcing secure defaults.

This “fix-once, fix-forever” approach ensures the issue doesn’t resurface—even as new partners onboard or systems evolve.

Sustained impact and lifecycle integration

To maintain progress and ensure no regression, the MSA team aligned remediation with each partner’s SFI KPI milestones. Services were removed from the allow list only after completing their transition, closing the loop with full compliance and operational readiness.

This work reinforced several Security Durability pillars:

Preventive guardrails

Owner-enforced controls

Security built into the engineering lifecycle

Lessons and model for the future

This case is a model for how Microsoft is shifting from reactive security work to systemic, enforceable, and scalable durability models. Rather than patching the same issue repeatedly, the MSA team eliminated the root cause, protected the ecosystem, and created a repeatable blueprint for other risky cryptographic practices.

Key takeaways

Eliminating pinned certificates reduced fragility and boosted long-term resilience.

Durable controls were enforced via code, not just process.

Gradual deprecation through partner alignment ensured no disruption.

This sets a precedent for eliminating insecure patterns across Microsoft platforms.

MIL OSI Economics –

June 27, 2025

MIL-OSI USA: Tonko Demands Trump Withdraw Executive Order Attacking Public Science

Source: United States House of Representatives – Representative Paul Tonko (Capital Region New York)

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Congressman Paul D. Tonko led more than 20 members in the House in a letter today calling President Trump to withdraw his Executive Order, Restoring Gold Standard Science. The lawmakers call out the hypocrisy of Trump’s claim to boost scientific standards while slashing federal science programs, attacking scientists and experts, and eroding trust in public science.

“Your administration has proposed slashing the National Institutes of Health budget by nearly 40%, removed and altered essential technical resources targeted diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives that strengthen the rigor and reach of American science, and cast entire disciplines including climate science, public health, and gender equity, as invalid,” the letter reads. “This order continues that pattern, masking efforts to assert political control over science under the guise of accountability.

“If your administration were genuinely committed to trustworthy, reproducible science, you would begin by adequately funding it. This Executive Order is not a return to “gold standard” science. It is a hollow public relations stunt from an administration that has repeatedly weakened America’s scientific credibility and further eroded trust in evidence-based policymaking. We urge you to withdraw this order and instead support policies that meaningfully uphold the independence, integrity, and funding of American science — not just in rhetoric, but in practice.”

Tonko has long been a champion and advocate for protecting scientific standards and protecting independent science. He is the author of the Scientific Integrity Act, bipartisan legislation that sets clear, enforceable standards for federal agencies and federally-funded research to prevent meddling in public science by political and special interests.

A fact sheet of the Scientific Integrity Act can be found HERE.

The full letter can be read HERE and below:

The Honorable Donald J. Trump
President
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500.

Dear President Trump:

We write to express profound concern with your recent Executive Order, Restoring Gold Standard Science. While the principles of transparency, integrity, and reliability this order claims to champion are indeed crucial to good science, it is difficult to take a call for scientific integrity seriously from an administration that has consistently undermined the very foundations of the U.S. research enterprise. This Executive Order does not restore high scientific standards; it cloaks political interference in the language of pro-science reform.

Your administration has proposed slashing the National Institutes of Health budget by nearly 40%, removed and altered essential technical resources, targeted diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives that strengthen the rigor and reach of American science, and cast entire disciplines including climate science, public health, and gender equity, as invalid. This order continues that pattern, masking efforts to assert political control over science under the guise of accountability.

One of the most concerning elements of the order is the requirement that agencies publicly release all “data, analyses, and conclusions” underpinning major policies. While transparency is a fundamental scientific value, this language closely mirrors the flawed Strengthening Transparency in Regulatory Science rule from your first term, a rule that sought to exclude essential studies from Environmental Protection Agency policymaking unless raw data, including sensitive medical information, was made public. Such an approach does not enhance scientific integrity; it undermines it, while also weakening public health protections.

Even more alarming is the provision granting political appointees sweeping power over the interpretation, use, and communication of federal scientific research. By authorizing senior political staff to investigate alleged violations, impose disciplinary action, and unilaterally “correct” scientific outputs, the order invites ideological enforcement and suppresses dissent. That is not scientific integrity — it is its undoing.

True scientific integrity means protecting the independence of science from external manipulation. That’s why the Biden administration required federal agencies to update and strengthen their scientific integrity policies, creating a government-wide framework to safeguard objectivity and shield science from undue influence. Your Executive Order seeks to dismantle that progress. By rolling back policies to 2021 standards, it strips scientists of strong institutional protections and leaves agencies without real accountability.

If your administration were genuinely committed to trustworthy, reproducible science, you would begin by adequately funding it. The so-called replication crisis is not rooted in malicious intent, it is the result of systemic underinvestment and perverse incentives. Researchers, especially those early in their careers, face precarious employment, low pay, and pressure to prioritize novelty over rigor. Yet your Executive Order ignores these structural issues entirely. Instead, it doubles down on austerity, depriving scientists of the time, resources, and institutional support they need to do robust and verifiable research.

You claim scientists are afraid to ask, “inconvenient questions.” But it is your administration’s policies, proposed funding and personnel cuts, and dismissal of widely accepted peer-reviewed science that have created a chilling effect. You are cultivating an environment where researchers fear professional retaliation or public vilification for producing evidence that challenges political narratives. That is the very definition of politicizing science.

Moreover, if you were truly concerned about protecting science from corporate influence, you would be increasing public investment in research to guard against private sector capture. Pulling federal support doesn’t reduce the sway of Big Pharma or Big Ag, it strengthens their influence, allowing profit-driven interests to dictate research priorities at the expense of the public good.

Buzzwords like “transparency” and “interdisciplinary research” cannot substitute for real commitment to the scientific enterprise. Genuine scientific progress demands sustained investment in people, infrastructure, and the freedom to follow the evidence wherever it leads, without censorship, coercion, or fear. Yet your administration has steadily dismantled the conditions necessary for such progress to flourish.

This Executive Order is not a return to “gold standard” science. It is a hollow public relations stunt from an administration that has repeatedly weakened America’s scientific credibility and further eroded trust in evidence-based policymaking.

I urge you to withdraw this order and instead support policies that meaningfully uphold the independence, integrity, and funding of American science — not just in rhetoric, but in practice.

MIL OSI USA News –

June 27, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Second Owner of Fuel Truck Supply Company Incarcerated for Bid Rigging, Market Allocation, and Wire Fraud Conspiracies

Source: US Justice – Antitrust Division

Headline: Second Owner of Fuel Truck Supply Company Incarcerated for Bid Rigging, Market Allocation, and Wire Fraud Conspiracies

The owner of a fuel truck supply company, Kris Bird, 62, was sentenced today in Boise, Idaho, to three months in prison and a $24,000 fine for his role in schemes to rig bids, allocate territories, and commit wire fraud over an eight-year period. Further, Bird was ordered to forfeit to the federal government $1,542,387 as proceeds of his wire fraud offenses. The conspiracies Bird participated in related to contracts to provide fuel trucks that assist the U.S. Forest Service’s efforts to battle wildfires in Idaho and the mountain west.

MIL OSI USA News –

June 27, 2025
MIL-OSI Security: Second Owner of Fuel Truck Supply Company Incarcerated for Bid Rigging, Market Allocation, and Wire Fraud Conspiracies

Source: United States Attorneys General

The owner of a fuel truck supply company, Kris Bird, 62, was sentenced today in Boise, Idaho, to three months in prison and a $24,000 fine for his role in schemes to rig bids, allocate territories, and commit wire fraud over an eight-year period. Further, Bird was ordered to forfeit to the federal government $1,542,387 as proceeds of his wire fraud offenses. The conspiracies Bird participated in related to contracts to provide fuel trucks that assist the U.S. Forest Service’s efforts to battle wildfires in Idaho and the mountain west.

Bird pleaded guilty in March 2025 — two weeks before his trial was set to begin — to the seven-count indictment. The plea followed an investigation that involved evidence from a judicially authorized wiretap and led to charges against two executives in December 2023. Earlier this month on June 5, Bird’s co-defendant, Ike Tomlinson, 61, was sentenced to 12 months in prison and a $20,000 fine for his leadership role in the criminal conduct.

“Mr. Bird stole taxpayer funds allocated for critical wildfire-fighting efforts protecting the American people to line his own pockets,” said Assistant Attorney General Abigail Slater of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division. “The Trump Antitrust Division’s Procurement Collusion Strike Force and its law enforcement partners will continue the fight to ensure that the fraudulent use of taxpayer money results in incarceration.”

“Today’s sentencing underscores the FBI’s commitment to protecting the integrity of our markets,” said Assistant Director Jose A. Perez of the FBI Criminal Investigative Division. “Antitrust violations are not just corporate misconduct, they’re federal crimes that distort competition, drive up costs for consumers and erode public trust. We will continue to work with our law enforcement and regulatory partners to hold accountable those who rig the system for personal gain.”

“Bid rigging is not a victimless crime. It cheats taxpayers and the honest contractors who play by the rules,” said Assistant Inspector General for Investigations Jason Suffredini of the General Services Administration (GSA) Office of Inspector General (OIG). “GSA OIG and our partners remain committed to pursuing those who engage in procurement fraud.”

According to court documents, the co-conspirators coordinated their bids to inflate prices and to determine who would have priority to receive business from the U.S. Forest Service and other federal agencies in the event of a wildfire in a specific geographic area. The co-conspirators further coordinated to exclude and punish potential competitors to further maintain the success of their conspiracy. During the conspiracies, from March 2015 to March 2023, Bird annually submitted false SAM certifications to the federal government covering up his bid-rigging conspiracy and committing wire fraud.

The Antitrust Division’s San Francisco Office, U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Idaho, FBI Salt Lake City Field Office, Boise Resident Agency, and General Services Administration Office of Inspector General investigated the case. Assistant Chief Christopher J. Carlberg and Trial Attorneys Elena A. Goldstein, Daniel B. Twomey, and Matthew Chou of the Antitrust Division’s San Francisco Office, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Sean M. Mazorol for the District of Idaho have been prosecuting the case.

In addition to today’s criminal sentence, in May 2025, the United States, on behalf of the U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Bureau of Land Management, and the U.S. Small Business Administration, entered into a civil settlement with Kris Bird and other related entities and individuals who agreed to pay $781,186 to resolve civil claims after admitting to allegations that they obtained government contracts through bid-rigging and the submission of false SAM Certifications, as well as wrongly obtained a Paycheck Protection Program loan.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Idaho and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Office of Inspector General investigated the civil case. Assistant United States Attorney Robert B. Firpo and Civil Chief James Schaefer are handling the case.

In November 2019, the Justice Department created the Procurement Collusion Strike Force (PCSF), a joint law enforcement effort to combat antitrust crimes and related fraudulent schemes that impact government procurement, grant and program funding at all levels of government—federal, state and local. To learn more about the PCSF, or to report information on bid rigging, price fixing, market allocation and other anticompetitive conduct related to government spending, go to www.justice.gov/procurement-collusion-strike-force. Anyone with information in connection with this investigation can contact the PCSF at the link listed above.

MIL Security OSI –

June 27, 2025
MIL-OSI Security: Second Owner of Fuel Truck Supply Company Incarcerated for Bid Rigging, Market Allocation, and Wire Fraud Conspiracies

Source: United States Attorneys General

The owner of a fuel truck supply company, Kris Bird, 62, was sentenced today in Boise, Idaho, to three months in prison and a $24,000 fine for his role in schemes to rig bids, allocate territories, and commit wire fraud over an eight-year period. Further, Bird was ordered to forfeit to the federal government $1,542,387 as proceeds of his wire fraud offenses. The conspiracies Bird participated in related to contracts to provide fuel trucks that assist the U.S. Forest Service’s efforts to battle wildfires in Idaho and the mountain west.

Bird pleaded guilty in March 2025 — two weeks before his trial was set to begin — to the seven-count indictment. The plea followed an investigation that involved evidence from a judicially authorized wiretap and led to charges against two executives in December 2023. Earlier this month on June 5, Bird’s co-defendant, Ike Tomlinson, 61, was sentenced to 12 months in prison and a $20,000 fine for his leadership role in the criminal conduct.

“Mr. Bird stole taxpayer funds allocated for critical wildfire-fighting efforts protecting the American people to line his own pockets,” said Assistant Attorney General Abigail Slater of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division. “The Trump Antitrust Division’s Procurement Collusion Strike Force and its law enforcement partners will continue the fight to ensure that the fraudulent use of taxpayer money results in incarceration.”

“Today’s sentencing underscores the FBI’s commitment to protecting the integrity of our markets,” said Assistant Director Jose A. Perez of the FBI Criminal Investigative Division. “Antitrust violations are not just corporate misconduct, they’re federal crimes that distort competition, drive up costs for consumers and erode public trust. We will continue to work with our law enforcement and regulatory partners to hold accountable those who rig the system for personal gain.”

“Bid rigging is not a victimless crime. It cheats taxpayers and the honest contractors who play by the rules,” said Assistant Inspector General for Investigations Jason Suffredini of the General Services Administration (GSA) Office of Inspector General (OIG). “GSA OIG and our partners remain committed to pursuing those who engage in procurement fraud.”

According to court documents, the co-conspirators coordinated their bids to inflate prices and to determine who would have priority to receive business from the U.S. Forest Service and other federal agencies in the event of a wildfire in a specific geographic area. The co-conspirators further coordinated to exclude and punish potential competitors to further maintain the success of their conspiracy. During the conspiracies, from March 2015 to March 2023, Bird annually submitted false SAM certifications to the federal government covering up his bid-rigging conspiracy and committing wire fraud.

The Antitrust Division’s San Francisco Office, U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Idaho, FBI Salt Lake City Field Office, Boise Resident Agency, and General Services Administration Office of Inspector General investigated the case. Assistant Chief Christopher J. Carlberg and Trial Attorneys Elena A. Goldstein, Daniel B. Twomey, and Matthew Chou of the Antitrust Division’s San Francisco Office, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Sean M. Mazorol for the District of Idaho have been prosecuting the case.

In addition to today’s criminal sentence, in May 2025, the United States, on behalf of the U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Bureau of Land Management, and the U.S. Small Business Administration, entered into a civil settlement with Kris Bird and other related entities and individuals who agreed to pay $781,186 to resolve civil claims after admitting to allegations that they obtained government contracts through bid-rigging and the submission of false SAM Certifications, as well as wrongly obtained a Paycheck Protection Program loan.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Idaho and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Office of Inspector General investigated the civil case. Assistant United States Attorney Robert B. Firpo and Civil Chief James Schaefer are handling the case.

In November 2019, the Justice Department created the Procurement Collusion Strike Force (PCSF), a joint law enforcement effort to combat antitrust crimes and related fraudulent schemes that impact government procurement, grant and program funding at all levels of government—federal, state and local. To learn more about the PCSF, or to report information on bid rigging, price fixing, market allocation and other anticompetitive conduct related to government spending, go to www.justice.gov/procurement-collusion-strike-force. Anyone with information in connection with this investigation can contact the PCSF at the link listed above.

MIL Security OSI –

June 27, 2025
MIL-OSI: Airloom Energy Takes Critical Step for the Future of U.S. Energy Independence, Resilience and Security with New Pilot Site
Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

LARAMIE, Wyo., June 26, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Airloom Energy, the company pioneering low-cost and resilient U.S. energy generation and backed by Bill Gates’ Breakthrough Energy Ventures, today announced its pilot site groundbreaking near Rock River, Wyoming. At this research and development site, Airloom Energy will build out its first utility-scale turbine, designed to generate more energy at lower cost and increased efficiency amid the U.S.’s prevailing need for energy security and independence.

According to a report from the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC), approximately half of the United States is at risk of energy shortfalls that could cause outages and reduced power supplies by 2035. Combined with surging demand from the increased use of AI and reliance on data centers, global research and advisory firm Gartner predicts 40% of existing facilities around the world will be constrained by access to sufficient power by as soon as 2027. Low-cost, high-efficiency energy is critical for the grid—requiring bold innovation and long-overdue improvements to power system design and deployment.

“Current energy technologies can’t meet the growing complexity and demand of the next decade,” said Neal Rickner, CEO of Airloom Energy. “With growing electricity needs, we need more flexible systems that can be built quickly, and deployed anywhere at large scale. That’s the only way we’re going to achieve and maintain energy security and independence. Airloom’s proprietary, U.S.-manufactured turbines do just that—replacing bulky, costly models with low-cost compact designs that generate more energy in less space. This groundbreaking marks a key milestone in validating our power curve and achieving essential cost efficiencies for wind energy.”

Traditional horizontal-axis wind turbines (HAWTs), are increasingly less cost-competitive and difficult to construct. Made in low volumes and at massive scale, this approach has resulted in restricted innovation, limited sites for deployment, and a stagnation in levelized-cost of energy (LCOE).

Comparatively, Airloom Energy designs a next-generation of turbines that add to the energy mix while yielding substantial cost savings and boosts in efficiency, even without subsidies.
- High-density architecture at utility scale: Airloom Energy’s modular turbines feature rectangular swept areas instead of traditional circular ones, increasing wind capture and improving energy conversion efficiency—meeting the growing need to generate more power in less space as land use and regulations evolve.
- Faster deployment at lower cost: Unlike traditional turbines that can take up to five years to deploy, Airloom Energy’s 30-year turbines—built with low-cost, mass-manufacturable components and minimal infrastructure needs—can be installed in under a year, supporting more reliable energy generation through simplified supply chains.
- Universal deployability, close to home: By using smaller, mass manufacturable parts made in the U.S. to simplify transportation, installation and maintenance, Airloom Energy can deploy its wind turbines at low-wind sites, those with height or viewability restrictions such as airports or military stations, or even in difficult to access mountainous areas or islands that have minimal infrastructure.
“Breaking ground on a first pilot site is a major inflection point for any wind technology product — Airloom has reached this point with remarkable speed and clarity of purpose,” said Paul Judge, former head of Product Management at GE Onshore Wind and advisory board member for Airloom Energy. “What sets Airloom apart is not only its innovative architecture, but the caliber of the team behind it who understand how to move from concept to scale with tenacity and rigor. This pilot is more than a test site; it’s the beginning of a fundamentally new approach to resilient renewable energy generation: wind energy that’s faster to deploy, land-efficient, and built for the energy challenges ahead.”

The groundbreaking keeps Airloom on track to complete its pilot site build out ahead of commercial demos beginning in 2027. At this site, Airloom will be installing and testing its proprietary turbine designs to validate its power curve, ensure efficiency of production, refine cost of deployment, and expand maintenance documentation. Beyond standard onshore integration, Airloom Energy will also evaluate future use cases such as defense, disaster relief, and offshore wind energy generation.

In October 2024, Airloom Energy raised $7.5 million in a seed financing round with participation from Bill Gates’ Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Lowercarbon Capital, WYVC, Crosscut Ventures, WovenEarth Ventures, and others. An additional $5 million in Energy Matching Funds was secured in September 2024 from the State of Wyoming, and a $1.25-million non-dilutive contract from the U.S. Department of Defense in August 2024.

For more information about Airloom Energy’s wind turbine designs, technical roadmap, or investment opportunities, reach out to info@airloom.energy.

About Airloom Energy
Airloom Energy is on a mission to create low-cost, utility-scale, resilient energy generation technology that is simple to manufacture and transport, and can be installed anywhere. Founded and headquartered in Laramie, Wyoming, USA, and led by a world-class team of experts from Boeing, General Electric, Google X, and Deloitte, Airloom is backed by leading investors such as Bill Gates’ Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Lowercarbon Capital, WYVC, Crosscut Ventures, WovenEarth Ventures, and others. For more information, visit the Airloom Energy website at https://www.airloom.energy/, and follow us on LinkedIn.

Press Contact:
info@airloom.energy

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/ae6b52a6-6fe8-464f-9b9f-d917961658a6

The MIL Network –
June 27, 2025
MIL-OSI Analysis: Why flattering Donald Trump could be dangerous

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Jonathan Este, Senior International Affairs Editor, Associate Editor

This article was first published in The Conversation UK’s World Affairs Briefing email newsletter. Sign up to receive weekly analysis of the latest developments in international relations, direct to your inbox.

Once again Donald Trump and his senior team are unhappy with their press coverage. Here’s the US president, fresh from his triumph in The Hague, having persuaded Nato’s leaders to open their wallets and agree to up their defence spending to 5% of GDP (apart from Spain, that is, which can expect to hear of triple-digit tariffs coming its way in the near future) – and do the media focus on Trump’s tour de force? Do they hell. Instead they focus on whether his strikes against Iran had been as successful as he claimed.

As you can imagine, this would have been irksome in the extreme for the president, who might reasonably have expected that the story of the day would be his victory in getting pledges from virtually all Nato’s members to pull their weight in terms of their own defence. Certainly the Nato secretary-general, Mark Rutte, could appreciate the scale of his achievement. Even before the summit, Rutte was talking it up.

“Donald, you have driven us to a really, really important moment for America and Europe, and the world,” he wrote in a message to Trump as the US president prepared to fly to The Netherlands. “You will achieve something NO American president in decades could get done.”

The fact that Trump promptly posted this message to his TruthSocial website suggests how important praise is to the the US president. It’s something that many world leaders (including Benjamin Netanyahu and Vladimir Putin who have become past-masters at pouring honey in the president’s ear) have recognised and are willing to use as a diplomatic tool when dealing with the man Rutte calls “Daddy”.

Sign up to receive our weekly World Affairs Briefing newsletter from The Conversation UK. Every Thursday we’ll bring you expert analysis of the big stories in international relations.

But while flattery as a tactic seems to be effective with the US president, Andrew Gawthorpe, a political historian from Leiden University, cautions that flattery, appeasement and compliance are a flawed approach when dealing with a man like Trump. For a start, he writes it means that not much actually gets done and that problems are often merely avoided rather than solved.

But more worryingly, simply capitulating in the face of Trumpian pressure or ire risks giving this US president the idea that he can do anything he wants. “When his targets roll over, it sends a message to others that Trump is unstoppable and resistance is futile,” writes Gawthorpe. It encourages not just the next presidential abuse of power, but also the next surrender from its victims.

Read more:
Why bending over backwards to agree with Donald Trump is a perilous strategy

We got a taste of what the US president’s anger at being defied sounds like as he prepared to fly to The Netherlands for the Nato summit. Asked about the ceasefire he had negotiated between Israel and Iran, he lashed out at both countries who had breached the peace within hours of agreeing to stop firing missiles at each other. “We basically have two countries that have been fighting so long and so hard that they don’t know what the fuck they’re doing,” he told reporters as he walked to the presidential helicopter.

Psychologist Geoff Beattie, of Edge Hill University, believes this was no accidental verbal slip. Trump wanted to let the world know how angry he was and chose to use the “f-bomb” as a way of showing it. Beattie looks at what this can tell us about the character of the US president – and how it might reflect a tendency to make rapid decisions based on emotional reactions.

Read more:
Trump’s f-bomb: a psychologist explains why the president makes fast and furious statements

And so to Nato

What was remarkable about the Nato summit was that it was condensed to one fairly short session which focused solely on the issue of Nato members’ defence budgets. Usually there’s a much broader agenda. Over the past couple of years the issue of Ukraine has been fairly high on the list, but this time – perhaps to avoid any potential divisions – it was relegated to a side issue.

Perhaps the biggest success for Nato, writes Stefan Wolff, is that they managed to get Trump to the summit and keep him in the room. After all, less than a fortnight previously he walked out of the G7 leaders’ meeting in Canada a day early before authorising the bombing raids on Iran’s nuclear installations (of which more later).

Wolff, an expert in international security from the University of Birmingham (and a regular contributor to this newsletter) believes that the non-US members realised they had little choice but to comply – or at least to be seen to be complying. There’s a significant capability deficit: “European states also lack most of the so-called critical enablers, the military hardware and technology required to prevail in a potential war with Russia.”

So keeping the US president onside – and inside Nato with a remaining commitment to America’s article 5 mutual defence pledge – was top of the list this year and something they appear to have pulled off.

Read more:
At June’s Nato summit, just keeping Donald Trump in the room will be seen as a victory

The fact is, writes Andrew Corbett, a defence expert at King’s College London, that Europe and the US have different enemies these days. Europe is still focused on the foe it faced across the Iron Curtain after 1945, against which Nato was designed as a defensive bulwark.

The US is now far more focused on the threat from China. This means it will increasingly shift the bulk of its naval assets to the Pacific (although the Middle East seems to be delaying this shift at present). This inevitably means downgrading its presence in Europe, something of which European leaders are all-too aware.

The importance of continuing US involvement in European defence via Nato was underlined, as Corbett highlights, by a frisson of unease when it appeared that the US president might be preparing to reinterpret article 5, which requires that members come to the aid of another member if they are attacked.

So there was relief all round when the US president reaffirmed America’s commitment to the principle of collective defence. But one feels Rutte will need to use all his diplomatic wiles to keep things that way.

Read more:
How Nato summit shows Europe and US no longer have a common enemy

The trouble with Iran

Rutte, who has the nickname “Trump whisperer”, is clever enough to know that emollient words will have been just what the US president was looking for given the stress of the past couple of weeks. The decision to launch strikes against Iran was controversial even within his own base as we noted last week.

But by directly engaging in hostility against Iran, Trump risked embroiling the US in the “forever war” that he always promised his supporters he would avoid. The move was freighted with risk. Nobody knew how Iran might retaliate or how the situation could escalate. There was (and remains) the chance that an angry Iran could try to shut down the Strait of Hormuz. This is one of the world’s most important waterways though which 20% of the world’s oil transits. This would have huge ramifications for the global economy, seriously damaging Iran’s Gulf neighbours and angering China, which gets much of its oil from the region.

Read more:
Iran is considering closing the strait of Hormuz – why this would be a major escalation

For now it appears that Iran has contented itself with performative strikes against US bases in Iraq and Qatar, having given advance warning. This token retaliation was made shortly before the ceasefire was negotiated. Despite a defiant message from Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran is reported to be making noises about coming to the negotiating table. A deal to restore calm to the region would be an achievement indeed.

But legal questions remain about the US decision to launch strikes. For a start, Article 2(4) of the UN charter strictly forbids the use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of another state, or “in any other manner inconsistent with the purposes of the United Nations”.

But, as Caleb Wheeler, an expert in international law from the University of Cardiff writes, it’s a rule that has rarely been either observed or enforced. He points out that the Korean War, when following a resolution of the UN security council, a number of countries went to war with North Korea to defend its southern neighbour which had been attacked in violation of article 2(4), was the high watermark of compliance with the UN on conflict.

In most other international conflicts since, the use of vetoes by one or another of the permanent members of the security council has effectively prevented the UN acting the way it was supposed to.

Now, writes Wheeler, there can be little doubt the US has violated article 2(4) by bombing Iran, particularly as Trump expressed his opinion that a regime change might be appropriate. Given that the US is one of the leading lights of the UN, Wheeler thinks you could reasonably expect a degree of condemnation from other world leaders. He worries that the absence of criticism could seriously lower the bar for aggression in the future.

Read more:
Bombing Iran: has the UN charter failed?

And if, as remains unclear at present, Iran’s nuclear programme was not set back by years, as the US claims, but merely by months, then you could expect Tehran to redouble its efforts to acquire a bomb. The Islamic Republic will be mindful of the fact that there has been little talk of bombing North Korea in recent years, for example. Possession of a nuclear deterrent means exactly what it says.

So, conclude David Dunn and Nicholas Wheeler, these strikes which were conducted on what they feel was the false premise of defence against an “imminent” threat from a nuclear Iran, could actually have the opposite effect of encouraging Iran to rapidly develop its own bomb.

Read more:
US attack on Iran lacks legal justification and could lead to more nuclear proliferation

Elon Musk’s geopolitical eye in the sky

After Israel began its latest campaign of airstrikes against Iran earlier this month, the government moved to restrict internet access around the country to discourage criticism of the regime and make it difficult for protesters to organise. But in June 14 in response to a plea over social media, Elon Musk announced, appropriately on X, that he would open up access to his Starlink satellite system.

Joscha Abels, a political scientist at the University of Tübingen, recalls that Starlink became very popular in Iran during the protests that followed the killing of Mahsa Amini in 2022, and which really rocked the regime to its core. He also points to the use of Starlink by Ukraine as a vital communications tool in its defence against Russia over the past three years.

But Abels warns that what is given is also too easily switched off, as Musk did in Ukraine in 2023. At the time a senior Starlink executive warned that the tool was “never intended to be weaponized”. The concern is that such an important tool, which can make or break a regime or cripple a country’s defence, could be a risk in the hands of a private individual.

Read more:
In the sky over Iran, Elon Musk and Starlink step into geopolitics – not for the first time

World Affairs Briefing from The Conversation UK is available as a weekly email newsletter. Click here to get updates directly in your inbox.

– ref. Why flattering Donald Trump could be dangerous – https://theconversation.com/why-flattering-donald-trump-could-be-dangerous-259940

MIL OSI Analysis –

June 27, 2025
MIL-OSI Africa: Eritrea: Cataract Surgery for Over 700 Citizens

Download logo

Cataract surgery is being conducted for 700 citizens from across the country at Berhan Aini National Referral Hospital from 23 to 26 June.

Nurse Gebrezgiabhier Haile, head of health services at the hospital, stated that cataract surgery has already been performed on 500 patients, with an additional 200 surgeries planned in the coming days.

He noted that the program is part of the national plan to conduct cataract surgery for 5,000 patients annually across all regions of the country.

Highlighting that cataract surgery was previously carried out in collaboration with foreign experts, Nurse Gebrezgiabhier explained that the current program is being conducted entirely through internal capacity. He also noted that similar surgeries have been recently carried out in the sub-zones of Afabet, Massawa, and Ghinda in the Northern Red Sea Region, as well as in the Assab sub-zone of the Southern Red Sea Region.

Nurse Gebrezgiabhier further indicated that similar cataract surgeries are planned for next month in the Gash Barka cities of Golij, Barentu, and Teseney, with additional surgeries to follow in August in Asmara.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Ministry of Information, Eritrea.

MIL OSI Africa –

June 27, 2025
MIL-OSI Analysis: Why flattering Donald Trump could be dangerous

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Jonathan Este, Senior International Affairs Editor, Associate Editor

This article was first published in The Conversation UK’s World Affairs Briefing email newsletter. Sign up to receive weekly analysis of the latest developments in international relations, direct to your inbox.

Once again Donald Trump and his senior team are unhappy with their press coverage. Here’s the US president, fresh from his triumph in The Hague, having persuaded Nato’s leaders to open their wallets and agree to up their defence spending to 5% of GDP (apart from Spain, that is, which can expect to hear of triple-digit tariffs coming its way in the near future) – and do the media focus on Trump’s tour de force? Do they hell. Instead they focus on whether his strikes against Iran had been as successful as he claimed.

As you can imagine, this would have been irksome in the extreme for the president, who might reasonably have expected that the story of the day would be his victory in getting pledges from virtually all Nato’s members to pull their weight in terms of their own defence. Certainly the Nato secretary-general, Mark Rutte, could appreciate the scale of his achievement. Even before the summit, Rutte was talking it up.

“Donald, you have driven us to a really, really important moment for America and Europe, and the world,” he wrote in a message to Trump as the US president prepared to fly to The Netherlands. “You will achieve something NO American president in decades could get done.”

The fact that Trump promptly posted this message to his TruthSocial website suggests how important praise is to the the US president. It’s something that many world leaders (including Benjamin Netanyahu and Vladimir Putin who have become past-masters at pouring honey in the president’s ear) have recognised and are willing to use as a diplomatic tool when dealing with the man Rutte calls “Daddy”.

Sign up to receive our weekly World Affairs Briefing newsletter from The Conversation UK. Every Thursday we’ll bring you expert analysis of the big stories in international relations.

But while flattery as a tactic seems to be effective with the US president, Andrew Gawthorpe, a political historian from Leiden University, cautions that flattery, appeasement and compliance are a flawed approach when dealing with a man like Trump. For a start, he writes it means that not much actually gets done and that problems are often merely avoided rather than solved.

But more worryingly, simply capitulating in the face of Trumpian pressure or ire risks giving this US president the idea that he can do anything he wants. “When his targets roll over, it sends a message to others that Trump is unstoppable and resistance is futile,” writes Gawthorpe. It encourages not just the next presidential abuse of power, but also the next surrender from its victims.

Read more:
Why bending over backwards to agree with Donald Trump is a perilous strategy

We got a taste of what the US president’s anger at being defied sounds like as he prepared to fly to The Netherlands for the Nato summit. Asked about the ceasefire he had negotiated between Israel and Iran, he lashed out at both countries who had breached the peace within hours of agreeing to stop firing missiles at each other. “We basically have two countries that have been fighting so long and so hard that they don’t know what the fuck they’re doing,” he told reporters as he walked to the presidential helicopter.

Psychologist Geoff Beattie, of Edge Hill University, believes this was no accidental verbal slip. Trump wanted to let the world know how angry he was and chose to use the “f-bomb” as a way of showing it. Beattie looks at what this can tell us about the character of the US president – and how it might reflect a tendency to make rapid decisions based on emotional reactions.

Read more:
Trump’s f-bomb: a psychologist explains why the president makes fast and furious statements

And so to Nato

What was remarkable about the Nato summit was that it was condensed to one fairly short session which focused solely on the issue of Nato members’ defence budgets. Usually there’s a much broader agenda. Over the past couple of years the issue of Ukraine has been fairly high on the list, but this time – perhaps to avoid any potential divisions – it was relegated to a side issue.

Perhaps the biggest success for Nato, writes Stefan Wolff, is that they managed to get Trump to the summit and keep him in the room. After all, less than a fortnight previously he walked out of the G7 leaders’ meeting in Canada a day early before authorising the bombing raids on Iran’s nuclear installations (of which more later).

Wolff, an expert in international security from the University of Birmingham (and a regular contributor to this newsletter) believes that the non-US members realised they had little choice but to comply – or at least to be seen to be complying. There’s a significant capability deficit: “European states also lack most of the so-called critical enablers, the military hardware and technology required to prevail in a potential war with Russia.”

So keeping the US president onside – and inside Nato with a remaining commitment to America’s article 5 mutual defence pledge – was top of the list this year and something they appear to have pulled off.

Read more:
At June’s Nato summit, just keeping Donald Trump in the room will be seen as a victory

The fact is, writes Andrew Corbett, a defence expert at King’s College London, that Europe and the US have different enemies these days. Europe is still focused on the foe it faced across the Iron Curtain after 1945, against which Nato was designed as a defensive bulwark.

The US is now far more focused on the threat from China. This means it will increasingly shift the bulk of its naval assets to the Pacific (although the Middle East seems to be delaying this shift at present). This inevitably means downgrading its presence in Europe, something of which European leaders are all-too aware.

The importance of continuing US involvement in European defence via Nato was underlined, as Corbett highlights, by a frisson of unease when it appeared that the US president might be preparing to reinterpret article 5, which requires that members come to the aid of another member if they are attacked.

So there was relief all round when the US president reaffirmed America’s commitment to the principle of collective defence. But one feels Rutte will need to use all his diplomatic wiles to keep things that way.

Read more:
How Nato summit shows Europe and US no longer have a common enemy

The trouble with Iran

Rutte, who has the nickname “Trump whisperer”, is clever enough to know that emollient words will have been just what the US president was looking for given the stress of the past couple of weeks. The decision to launch strikes against Iran was controversial even within his own base as we noted last week.

But by directly engaging in hostility against Iran, Trump risked embroiling the US in the “forever war” that he always promised his supporters he would avoid. The move was freighted with risk. Nobody knew how Iran might retaliate or how the situation could escalate. There was (and remains) the chance that an angry Iran could try to shut down the Strait of Hormuz. This is one of the world’s most important waterways though which 20% of the world’s oil transits. This would have huge ramifications for the global economy, seriously damaging Iran’s Gulf neighbours and angering China, which gets much of its oil from the region.

Read more:
Iran is considering closing the strait of Hormuz – why this would be a major escalation

For now it appears that Iran has contented itself with performative strikes against US bases in Iraq and Qatar, having given advance warning. This token retaliation was made shortly before the ceasefire was negotiated. Despite a defiant message from Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran is reported to be making noises about coming to the negotiating table. A deal to restore calm to the region would be an achievement indeed.

But legal questions remain about the US decision to launch strikes. For a start, Article 2(4) of the UN charter strictly forbids the use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of another state, or “in any other manner inconsistent with the purposes of the United Nations”.

But, as Caleb Wheeler, an expert in international law from the University of Cardiff writes, it’s a rule that has rarely been either observed or enforced. He points out that the Korean War, when following a resolution of the UN security council, a number of countries went to war with North Korea to defend its southern neighbour which had been attacked in violation of article 2(4), was the high watermark of compliance with the UN on conflict.

In most other international conflicts since, the use of vetoes by one or another of the permanent members of the security council has effectively prevented the UN acting the way it was supposed to.

Now, writes Wheeler, there can be little doubt the US has violated article 2(4) by bombing Iran, particularly as Trump expressed his opinion that a regime change might be appropriate. Given that the US is one of the leading lights of the UN, Wheeler thinks you could reasonably expect a degree of condemnation from other world leaders. He worries that the absence of criticism could seriously lower the bar for aggression in the future.

Read more:
Bombing Iran: has the UN charter failed?

And if, as remains unclear at present, Iran’s nuclear programme was not set back by years, as the US claims, but merely by months, then you could expect Tehran to redouble its efforts to acquire a bomb. The Islamic Republic will be mindful of the fact that there has been little talk of bombing North Korea in recent years, for example. Possession of a nuclear deterrent means exactly what it says.

So, conclude David Dunn and Nicholas Wheeler, these strikes which were conducted on what they feel was the false premise of defence against an “imminent” threat from a nuclear Iran, could actually have the opposite effect of encouraging Iran to rapidly develop its own bomb.

Read more:
US attack on Iran lacks legal justification and could lead to more nuclear proliferation

Elon Musk’s geopolitical eye in the sky

After Israel began its latest campaign of airstrikes against Iran earlier this month, the government moved to restrict internet access around the country to discourage criticism of the regime and make it difficult for protesters to organise. But in June 14 in response to a plea over social media, Elon Musk announced, appropriately on X, that he would open up access to his Starlink satellite system.

Joscha Abels, a political scientist at the University of Tübingen, recalls that Starlink became very popular in Iran during the protests that followed the killing of Mahsa Amini in 2022, and which really rocked the regime to its core. He also points to the use of Starlink by Ukraine as a vital communications tool in its defence against Russia over the past three years.

But Abels warns that what is given is also too easily switched off, as Musk did in Ukraine in 2023. At the time a senior Starlink executive warned that the tool was “never intended to be weaponized”. The concern is that such an important tool, which can make or break a regime or cripple a country’s defence, could be a risk in the hands of a private individual.

Read more:
In the sky over Iran, Elon Musk and Starlink step into geopolitics – not for the first time

World Affairs Briefing from The Conversation UK is available as a weekly email newsletter. Click here to get updates directly in your inbox.

– ref. Why flattering Donald Trump could be dangerous – https://theconversation.com/why-flattering-donald-trump-could-be-dangerous-259940

MIL OSI Analysis –

June 27, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Wyden, Dingell & Nunn Reintroduce Bill to Prevent Abusers From Targeting Survivors with Technology

US Senate News:

Source: United States Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore)
June 26, 2025
Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senator Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and U.S. Representatives Debbie Dingell, D-Mich., and Representative Zach Nunn, R-Iowa, today reintroduced bipartisan, bicameral legislation to help prevent domestic abusers from using technology to stalk, harass or control survivors.
With today’s rapidly growing digital environment, technology-enabled abuse has taken many forms, including social media platforms, phone-based apps, and specialty spyware programs. Because of the diversity of platforms in today’s growing digital environment, it’s clear that abuse does not require huge financial resources or sophisticated understanding of technology, and survivors rarely have the tools they need to recognize and prevent abuse.
The Tech Safety for Victims of Domestic Violence, Dating Violence, Sexual Assault and Stalking Act would provide new grant funding to clinics and other partnerships focused on domestic violence and technology-enabled abuse prevention. It would also support new training that would give organizations the specialized services necessary to help survivors with a range of experiences.
“As technology continues to evolve, so do the tactics of abusers who are grossly leveraging many different platforms to stalk, harass and control survivors of domestic violence – from tracking them on social media to hacking into their email,” Wyden said. “Survivors deserve support and the tools to protect against abuse in any shape or form. More education, training, and health care clinics are needed.”
“It’s critical that we recognize domestic abuse and sexual harassment often extend beyond physical violence,” Dingell said. “To fully protect survivors, we must keep up with the many ways that abusers can use technology to stalk, harass, control, or otherwise endanger their victims. This legislation will support specialized education and resources for advocates and victim service providers to recognize, prevent, and combat tech-enabled abuse.”
“In the Iowa statehouse, I led efforts to protect survivors from the growing threat of digital abuse. Now, we’re taking that work nationwide,” Nunn said. “This bill strengthens community-based networks that are on the frontlines, giving them the tools to recognize and address tech-enabled abuse and help victims secure their devices. Survivors deserve both safety and support, and this legislation delivers both.”
The legislation would take two steps in combating technology-enabled domestic abuse:

It would authorize a pilot project run by the Department of Justice’s Office on Violence Against Women to establish more tech-enabled abuse clinics. The program would provide $2 million grants for up to 15 clinics and other organizations that support survivors of sexual and domestic violence who are experiencing technology-enabled abuse.

It would establish another grant program, which is also under the DOJ’s Office on Violence Against Women, to ensure nonprofit organizations and higher education institutions develop and implement training and technical assistance for groups working to prevent tech-enabled abuse.

The text of the bill is here.
The Tech Safety for Victims of Domestic Violence, Dating Violence, Sexual Assault and Stalking Act is endorsed by National Domestic Violence Hotline, National Network to End Domestic Violence, Legal Momentum, Clinic to End Tech Abuse, EndTAB, New Beginnings, Natalie Dolci of the Technology-Enabled Coercive Control Initiative (endorsed in her personal capacity), Oregon Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence, Sexual Assault Support Services of Oregon, Center for Hope and Safety of Oregon, and the Oregon Attorney General’s Sexual Assault Task Force.
“Technology facilitated abuse is one of the fastest growing threats victims and survivors face today. The reintroduction of the Tech Safety for Victims of Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault, and Stalking Act is a vital step toward ensuring survivors have the expert support they need to stay safe in an increasingly digital world. We’re deeply grateful to Rep. Dingell, Rep. Nunn, and Senator Wyden for their leadership in advancing meaningful, survivor-centered solutions to this urgent issue,” said Marium Durrani, Vice President of Policy for the National Domestic Violence Hotline.
“Legal Momentum is proud to endorse the Tech Safety for Victims Act to help ensure that survivors of technology facilitated abuse receive the support and services they need and deserve. As technology makes it easier than ever to upend people’s lives, it’s crucial that survivors are protected not just in their homes and communities, but also in the digital spaces where abuse occurs more and more frequently. This legislation would provide critical resources to help survivors reclaim and rebuild their lives after the trauma of cyber abuse,” said Azaleea Carlea, Legal Director at Legal Momentum.
“People experiencing tech-enabled abuse often don’t know where to turn. Our clinic has helped hundreds of New Yorkers over the last few years, but survivors around the country urgently need assistance. This Act could expand access to similar support services and develop knowledge about evolving forms of tech-enabled abuse,” said Thomas E. Kadri, Legislative & Policy Director of the Clinic to End Tech Abuse.
“Programs that serve survivors of gender-based violence need additional support and technical assistance to keep up with increasingly pervasive tech abuse. Failure to provide this enhancement to victim services infrastructure will compromise the safety of survivors of domestic violence, stalking, and sexual assault,” said Natalie Dolci, of the Technology-Enabled Coercive Control Initiative (endorsed in her personal capacity).
“Technology can be weaponized to cause harm or by victims seeking safety. I have heard countless stories about various forms of tech being used to harass, stalk and control someone by abusive partners. This bill is needed to further address all forms of technology and the intersection with violence. It will provide anti-domestic violence organizations with needed funding to further develop Safety planning resources technology and be able to respond effectively to the ever changing tech landscape,” said Keri Moran-Kuhn, Executive Director of the Oregon Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence.

MIL OSI USA News –

June 27, 2025

MIL-OSI Banking: Building security that lasts: Microsoft’s journey towards durability at scale

Source: Microsoft

Headline: Building security that lasts: Microsoft’s journey towards durability at scale

Learn more about the Secure Future Initiative

Why “staying secure” is harder than getting there

SFI April 2025 report blog

Read the blog ›

The pattern was clear: security improvements weren’t durable.

Read the latest SFI report

Engineering for endurance: The making of Microsoft’s durability strategy

Automating for scale and embedding security into engineering culture

What is Azure Policy?

Learn more

The path to durable security: A maturity framework

Reactive: Durable outcomes are rare. Fixes are implemented manually and inconsistently. Drift and regressions are common due to a lack of enforcement or oversight.

Define: Security fixes are codified in basic processes. Teams may implement fixes, but durability is still dependent on individual vigilance rather than systemic support.

Managed: Security controls are embedded in standardized workflows. Durable design patterns are introduced. Baseline drift is measured, and early automation begins to prevent regression.

Optimized: Durability becomes part of engineering culture. Secure-by-default templates, guardrails, and metrics reduce variance. Real-time enforcement prevents security drift.

Autonomous and predictive: Systems proactively enforce durability. AI-assisted controls detect and self-remediate regressions. Durable security becomes self-sustaining and adaptive to change.

2. Dimensions of security durability: To embed durability across the enterprise, organizations must mature along five integrated dimensions:

Resilience to change: Security controls must remain stable even as infrastructure, tools, and organizational structures evolve. This requires decoupling controls from fragile, manual systems.

Scalability: Durable security must scale effortlessly across expanding environments, including new regions, services, and team structures—without introducing regressions.

Automation and AI readiness: Durability depends on machine-powered enforcement. Manual reviews alone cannot guarantee persistence. AI and automation provide speed, consistency, and fail-safes.

Governance integration: Durability must be wired into governance platforms to provide traceability, accountability, and risk closure across the control lifecycle.

Sustainability: Durable security solutions must be lightweight and operationally viable. If controls are too burdensome, teams will circumvent them, undermining long-term resilience.

3. Key milestones in security durability evolution: Microsoft’s implementation of durable security revealed critical transformation points that signal organizational maturity:

Establish durable security baselines (identity hygiene, patching, config hardening).

Enforce controls through automated policy and self-healing.

Build durability-aware platforms like Govern Risk Intelligent Platform (GRIP) to track regressions and closure loops.

Embed durability reviews into engineering checkpoints and risk ownership cycles.

Drive a durability mindset across teams—from development to operations.

Create feedback loops to evaluate what holds and what regresses over time.

Deploy AI-powered agents to detect drift and initiate remediation.

Each milestone builds a stronger foundation for durability and aligns incentives with sustained security excellence.

Percentage of controls enforced automatically versus manually

Baseline drift rate (how often known-good states erode)

Mean time to regress (how quickly fixes unravel)

Volume of self-healing actions triggered and resolved

Percentage of fixes that meet “never regress” criteria

Durability metadata coverage in systems like GRIP (ownership, status, and closure)

Percentage of engineering teams integrated into durability reporting cadences

Results: From short-term wins to sustained gains

By February 2025, the durability push resulted in:

100% multi-factor authentication (MFA) enforcement or legacy protocol removal remained stable for months.

Teams use real-time dashboards to catch any KPI dips—addressing them before they spiral.

Where previous improvements faded, new ones held firm—validating the durability model.

Get the latest Secure Future Initiative updates

Lessons for any enterprise

Microsoft’s journey offers valuable takeaways for organizations of all sizes.

Durability requires programmatic support

Security doesn’t persist by accident. It needs:

Roles for durability and accountability.

Durable design patterns.

Empowering technologies (automation and policy enforcement).

Regular leadership and architect reviews.

Standardized workflows.

Teams across security, development, and operations must be aligned and coordinated—using the same metrics, tools, and gates.

Culture and leadership matter

Security must be everyone’s job—and leadership must reinforce that relentlessly. At Microsoft, security became part of performance reviews, executive dashboards, and everyday conversation.

As EVP Charlie Bell put it: “Security is not just a feature, it’s the foundation.”

That mindset—combined with consistent leadership pressure—is what transforms short-lived security into long-term resilience.

Security that endures

The Secure Future Initiative proves that durable security is achievable—even at hyperscale.

Microsoft is showing that lasting security can be achieved by investing in:

People (clear ownership and champions).

Processes (repeatable metrics and reviews).

Platforms (shared tooling and automation).

The playbook isn’t just for tech giants. Any organization—whether you’re securing 20 cloud services or 20,000—can adopt the principles of security durability

Because in today’s cyberthreat landscape, fixing isn’t enough.

Secure Future Initiative

A new world of security.

Learn more with Microsoft Security

Appendix:

Security Durability Case Study

Eliminating pinned certificates: A durable fix for secret hygiene in MSA apps

SFI Reference: [SFI-ID4.1.3]
Initiative Owner: Microsoft Account (MSA) Engineering Team

Overview

The challenge: Pinned certificates and hidden fragility

Difficult to rotate: If a pinned certificate expired or was compromised, coordinating a fast and seamless replacement across services was challenging.

Onboarding risk: New services had no safe, scalable path to onboard without replicating this fragile pattern.

Lack of durability: Without controls, the risk of regression and repeated misuse remained high.

The durable fix: Secure by default and enforced by design

The MSA team implemented a durability-first solution grounded in engineering enforcement and operational pragmatism:

Strategy	Action
Code-Level Blocking	All code paths accepting pinned certificates were hardened to prevent adoption.
Temporary Allow Lists	Existing apps using pinned certificates were allow-listed to prevent immediate outages.
Default Deny Posture	New apps are automatically blocked from using pinned certificates, enforcing secure defaults.

This “fix-once, fix-forever” approach ensures the issue doesn’t resurface—even as new partners onboard or systems evolve.

Sustained impact and lifecycle integration

This work reinforced several Security Durability pillars:

Preventive guardrails

Owner-enforced controls

Security built into the engineering lifecycle

Lessons and model for the future

Key takeaways

Eliminating pinned certificates reduced fragility and boosted long-term resilience.

Durable controls were enforced via code, not just process.

Gradual deprecation through partner alignment ensured no disruption.

This sets a precedent for eliminating insecure patterns across Microsoft platforms.

MIL OSI Global Banks –

June 27, 2025

MIL-OSI USA: Kean Announces Launch of the 2025 Congressional App Challenge

Source: US Representative Tom Kean, Jr. (NJ-07)

Contact: Riley Pingree

(June 26, 2025) LEBANON BOROUGH, N.J. – Today, Congressman Tom Kean, Jr. announced the opening of the 2025 Congressional App Challenge, one of the most prestigious app competitions for middle and high school students across the country.

The Congressional App Challenge is designed to engage student creativity and encourage participation in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) education fields. This nationwide event allows middle and high school students from across the country to compete against their peers by creating and exhibiting their software application, or “app.” Students can use any programming language (such as Python, JavaScript, C++, Ruby, or block code) and any platform (including PC, web, tablet, robot, mobile).

The submission portal is now open, and students may register and submit their apps through October 30, 2025, at 12:00 PM ET. Students can compete individually or in teams of up to four. All eligible students are encouraged to participate, regardless of prior coding experience.

“The Congressional App Challenge is an incredible opportunity for the next generation of innovators to showcase their creativity and technical talent,” said Rep. Tom Kean, Jr. “Every year, I am inspired by the students of our district, and I look forward to seeing the innovative and impactful apps they create this year. Their work has the potential to give back to our communities, solve real-world problems, and inspire even more young people across New Jersey to pursue careers in STEM.”

The winning app from New Jersey’s 7th District will be displayed in the U.S. Capitol and featured on the official House of Representatives website. Winning students will also be invited to the #HouseofCode Capitol Hill Reception in Washington, D.C. Runners-up will also be selected for recognition.

Learn more and register for the Congressional App Challenge by visiting kean.house.gov/services/congressional-app-challenge-2025.

###

MIL OSI USA News –

June 27, 2025
MIL-OSI Russia: The General Assembly of the World Federation of International Music Competitions was held in China for the first time

Translation. Region: Russian Federal

Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian –

Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News

HARBIN, June 26 (Xinhua) — The 69th General Assembly of the World Federation of International Music Competitions (WFIMC) opened Thursday in Harbin, capital of northeast China’s Heilongjiang Province, bringing together representatives of the world’s leading music competitions to promote in-depth international cooperation in the music field.

For the first time since its inception, the federation is holding its annual general assembly in a Chinese city.

WFIMC President Peter Paul Kainrath noted that Harbin is known for its openness to the world and serves as a window into China’s musical life.

He said the federation sees itself as a bridge builder and hopes that the current assembly will provide inspiration and impetus to WFIMC’s future collaborations with cultural institutions across China.

Harbin Deputy Mayor Wang Bo pointed out that Harbin hosted China’s first symphony concert, the country’s first music school and symphony orchestra, and is known as the cradle of modern Chinese music.

Wang Bo recalled that the Alice and Eleanor Shenfeld International String Competition, which was the first Chinese competition to join the federation, has been successfully held four times and has become an influential international music event.

The vice mayor added that Harbin hopes to establish a closer cooperation mechanism with WFIMC to promote the prosperity and development of global music culture.

Xue Suli, Chairman of the Sisters Shenfeld International Music Society and the Alice and Eleanor Shenfeld International String Competition, stated that the A. and E. Shenfeld Competition has become an important bridge connecting Eastern and Western musical cultures since 2014.

Xue Suli expressed the hope that WFIMC will take advantage of this assembly to strengthen cooperation between all parties and promote exchanges and integration in the world music culture.

According to federation officials, this year’s assembly will examine how music can contribute to building mechanisms for cross-border dialogue, expand its target audience and achieve innovative development in line with the trends of technological change in the current complex geopolitical situation and accelerated digital transformation.

Founded in 1957, WFIMC is a global network of more than 120 international music competitions and 20 prestigious music associations and organizations representing 111 cities in 39 countries. The Federation assists young musicians in their international careers. –0–

MIL OSI Russia News –

June 27, 2025
MIL-OSI: Ignis Energy Announced Final Close of $13.6M Series A Round To Advance Global Geothermal Exploration Portfolio
Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

HOUSTON, June 26, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Ignis H2 Energy Inc. (“Ignis Energy”), a geothermal exploration and development company, announced the final close of its Series A funding round, securing $13.6 million from a global consortium of investors. This milestone builds on the initial close announced in February, which was led by sustainable energy investor alfa8 and included drilling contractor Nabors Industries, climate technology investor The Twynam Group, GEOLOG, and several private investors and family offices.

Ignis Energy is building a globally diversified, risk-balanced geothermal portfolio focused on near-term viability and long-term growth. The company specializes in locating, de-risking, and delivering commercially viable geothermal power. The capital secured in this round enables key projects to reach technical maturity and prepare for capital-intensive development phases.

“In a market chasing breakthrough headlines, Ignis Energy brings the spotlight back to the geology,” said Richard Calleri, CEO, Ignis Energy. “Without proven heat in the ground, there’s nothing to scale. Ignis finds it, proves it, and produces it.”

“Ignis has demonstrated strong execution on its strategy and is already moving rapidly onto the next milestones,” said Guillermo Sierra, VP, Strategic Initiatives, Nabors Industries. “Their commercial focus and speed stand out, and we look forward to continued collaboration on near-term projects and beyond.”

Building a Global, Fit-for-Resource Geothermal Platform

Leveraging decades of oil and gas expertise, Ignis applies proven technologies and exploration workflows to de-risk geothermal projects across high-enthalpy regions. Rather than betting on a single breakthrough, Ignis uses a ‘fit-for-resource’ strategy—tailoring each project to the best commercial technology for its reservoir and market. This includes conventional hydrothermal systems as well as emerging approaches like Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS) and Advanced Geothermal Systems (AGS), where appropriate.

Platform Momentum & Outlook

Ignis is rapidly advancing high-priority assets in Türkiye and the U.S.:
- Türkiye: In Eastern Anatolia, Ignis drilled its first temperature gradient well in Q4 2024, confirming reservoir temperatures and artesian flow. Two deep wells will follow this summer to fully de-risk the Kaynarpınar field and position it as Ignis’ first commercial project—and a model for underexplored geothermal basins.
- Western U.S.: Ignis is advancing surface exploration across five Nevada and one Utah lease, supported by its proprietary AI targeting engine. Drilling in Nevada is expected in 2026, with development of a data center-aligned power plant targeted for 2027.
- Alaska: The Alaska Railbelt grid—supplying two-thirds of the state’s population—faces urgent pressure to replace aging gas-fired capacity and reduce high electricity prices. GeoAlaska, Ignis’ regional partner, plans to drill its first well by mid-2026, backed by three Letters of Intent from major offtakers in the utility, mining, and data center sectors.
“Our vision is pragmatic and region-first,” said Marcus Oesterberg, COO, Ignis Energy. “We don’t chase speculative breakthroughs—we match the right technology to the right resource and build local momentum. Ignis is a geothermal opportunity engine, unlocking real heat under real projects.”

AI-Driven Exploration for a Cleaner Future

Ignis applies AI not as a gimmick, but as a precision tool. Its hybrid system—combining machine learning and computer vision—has already improved lease targeting and accelerated early-stage decision-making. This allows Ignis to move confidently and cost-effectively into underexplored geothermal basins.

About Ignis Energy

Ignis Energy develops commercially viable geothermal projects in the U.S., Türkiye, Indonesia, and Italy. Its region-first, technology-flexible model enables early de-risking and smarter development. The company is targeting 1 GW of producible geothermal reserves by 2030. https://ignisenergy.com/

About alfa8
alfa8 is an entrepreneurial family office that backs builders and technologies driving the energy transition, with a passion for geothermal energy. https://alfa8.co/

About Nabors Industries
Nabors Industries is a global drilling and energy technology leader advancing low-carbon solutions, including geothermal. https://www.nabors.com/

About Twynam
Twynam is a climate-focused investment firm supporting bold, scalable technologies for deep decarbonization. https://www.twynam.com/

About GEOLOG
GEOLOG delivers advanced formation evaluation and real-time geoscience services for energy operators worldwide.

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/358150ec-2d98-480e-a9d8-c3360087b896

The MIL Network –
June 27, 2025
MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Trefusis Park Flood Relief Scheme – June update

Source: City of Plymouth

Here is the latest update on the progress of the Trefusis Park Flood Relief Scheme which, started on site earlier this year.

The first thing that contractor Kier have done is secure the site and remove the topsoil from the park, ready for the heavy earthworks to begin later in the year. They have also employed security staff, so someone is on site round the clock.

Kier have also installed a gate to close the boundary of the children’s playpark to prevent dogs from gaining access.

Residents who live nearby have attended a Meet the Team event. There will be several more of these events over the course of the build with residents being given the opportunity to get involved with some of the plans for planting later on in the project.

Meanwhile, following feedback from residents, teams from the Council have cleared the paths in the woods to the north-east of the park, so that whilst the main recreational space is out of action, this canopied area can still be enjoyed.

Work has also started at the Compton Vale end of the park where a new sewer is being laid.

To ensure that everyone is kept safe during these works, but to avoid closing off access from Compton Vale, a temporary path through the community orchard has been established. This work will continue until the end of July.

Over the next few weeks, work on the main seasonal wetland basins will begin.

This will involve filling in the stream that runs down the western side of the park.

The lovely irises that grow here have been carefully removed and replanted in Central Park.

More information on the scheme can be found here: Trefusis Park Flood Relief Scheme | PLYMOUTH.GOV.UK

MIL OSI United Kingdom –

June 27, 2025
MIL-OSI: Ethereum ETF Momentum Drives Whale Interest in Meme Coin Little Pepe (LILPEPE) Ahead of Stage 4 Presale Jump

Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, June 26, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — As excitement builds around the Ethereum ETF buzz, smart money is pouring into promising altcoins—and Little Pepe (LILPEPE) is catching the attention of whale wallets. With Stage 3 of its presale nearly 93% complete and over $2.33 million raised, LILPEPE is quickly emerging as a top contender in the meme coin space. Backed by an Ethereum-compatible Layer 2 blockchain, the project offers real utility beyond the hype, positioning itself for a strong price surge as it heads into Stage 4.

While most meme tokens are still chasing whatever’s trending, LILPEPE is putting down real roots. It’s creating the kind of infrastructure that could actually shift the direction of the space, and somehow, it’s still trading for less than $0.002 in its presale.

A Meme Coin That’s Actually Building Something

What sets LILPEPE apart is that it’s not just living on someone else’s chain. It’s gone a step further and built its own custom Layer-2 blockchain—something rarely seen in the meme coin scene. Most projects just stick their token on Solana or BNB Chain and call it a day. But LILPEPE actually went for the tough stuff—like fixing insane gas fees, slow transactions, and the fact that a lot of communities have zero real protection.

A Meme Coin with Real Tech

The Little Pepe chain’s fully EVM-compatible, so it works straight out of the box with usual wallets, dApps, and tools. No weird steps, no messing around—just a meme coin that actually took the time to build something smoother and way more user-friendly.

The chain’s actually built with meme projects in mind—it’s not just some repurposed tech. It comes with zero trading taxes, sniper bot protection, and lightning-fast transactions, which is a huge deal if ever been rugged or stuck waiting forever on a slow chain. This isn’t just some surface-level hype or flashy graphics—it’s actual tech built with meme culture at the core.

One of the best parts is a launchpad made to give new meme tokens a safe space to launch—just a cleaner way to get started. And they’re just getting started—staking, community voting through a DAO, and even NFT integration are all lined up next. It’s turning into a full ecosystem, not just another hype token.

Presale Picking Up Serious Steam

LILPEPE’s presale is heating up fast. The early stages have sold out rapidly, raising $500,000 in Stage 1 (at $0.001 per token) and $1.325 million in Stage 2 (at $0.0011). Now in Stage 3, tokens are priced at $0.0012, and over $2.33 million has already been raised, with more than 93% of this stage completed. The presale follows a tiered pricing model meaning early buyers lock in lower prices while supporting the ongoing development of LILPEPE’s Ethereum-compatible Layer-2 network. The next stage will increase the token price to $0.0013, continuing the momentum ahead of its public launch.

Getting in on the presale is super simple. LILPEPE tokens can be purchased using ETH or USDT (ERC-20) directly from supported wallets such as MetaMask or Trust Wallet. For those new to crypto, there’s also an option to buy using a credit or debit card. It’s important to note that USDT transactions still require a small amount of ETH in the wallet to cover gas fees.

A Token Setup Built to Last

LILPEPE’s token supply is actually thought out, not just thrown together. There’s a hard cap of 100 billion tokens, with 26.5 billion set aside for the presale. The rest is split across different parts of the project—13.5 billion for staking rewards, 10 billion for liquidity, 30 billion held in reserve for the chain, and 20 billion saved for marketing and future listings on decentralized exchanges. And here’s a big plus—there are zero buy or sell taxes, so it’s clean and fair whether holding or trading.

The tokenomics are crafted not only to reward early holders but also to ensure sustainable growth through community incentives, ecosystem scaling, and utility integrations planned on the roadmap.

What makes it even better is that Little Pepe’s chain is fully EVM-compatible. That means it works seamlessly with popular wallets, dApps, and crypto tools—no complicated setups or extra steps. It’s designed specifically for meme projects and the roadmap includes upcoming features like DAO governance, an NFT marketplace and creator tools that support community-driven development.

About Little Pepe:

Little Pepe ($LILPEPE) is a next-generation meme coin built for the community, by the community. Inspired by crypto culture’s favorite frog, Little Pepe combines viral meme energy with real utility, launching on a fast, secure Layer 2 blockchain to ensure low fees and high scalability. With over $2.3 million raised in its presale, a growing army of holders, and a transparent roadmap, Little Pepe is more than just a meme—it’s a movement.

For more information about Little Pepe, visit the links below:

Website: https://littlepepe.com/
Twitter/X: https://x.com/littlepepetoken
Telegram: https://t.me/littlepepetoken

Contact Details:
COO – James Stephen
media@littlepepe.com

Disclaimer: This content is provided by Little Pepe. The statements, views, and opinions expressed in this content are solely those of the content provider and do not necessarily reflect the views of this media platform or its publisher. We do not endorse, verify, or guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of any information presented. We do not guarantee any claims, statements, or promises made in this article. This content is for informational purposes only and should not be considered financial, investment, or trading advice. Investing in crypto and mining-related opportunities involves significant risks, including the potential loss of capital. It is possible to lose all your capital. These products may not be suitable for everyone, and you should ensure that you understand the risks involved. Seek independent advice if necessary. Speculate only with funds that you can afford to lose. Readers are strongly encouraged to conduct their own research and consult with a qualified financial advisor before making any investment decisions. However, due to the inherently speculative nature of the blockchain sector—including cryptocurrency, NFTs, and mining—complete accuracy cannot always be guaranteed. Neither the media platform nor the publisher shall be held responsible for any fraudulent activities, misrepresentations, or financial losses arising from the content of this press release. In the event of any legal claims or charges against this article, we accept no liability or responsibility. Globenewswire does not endorse any content on this page.

Legal Disclaimer: This media platform provides the content of this article on an “as-is” basis, without any warranties or representations of any kind, express or implied. We assume no responsibility for any inaccuracies, errors, or omissions. We do not assume any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information presented herein. Any concerns, complaints, or copyright issues related to this article should be directed to the content provider mentioned above.

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/d9f7c50a-36f4-494c-b0e1-ef1e438807e9

The MIL Network –

June 27, 2025
MIL-OSI: Ethereum ETF Momentum Drives Whale Interest in Meme Coin Little Pepe (LILPEPE) Ahead of Stage 4 Presale Jump

Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, June 26, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — As excitement builds around the Ethereum ETF buzz, smart money is pouring into promising altcoins—and Little Pepe (LILPEPE) is catching the attention of whale wallets. With Stage 3 of its presale nearly 93% complete and over $2.33 million raised, LILPEPE is quickly emerging as a top contender in the meme coin space. Backed by an Ethereum-compatible Layer 2 blockchain, the project offers real utility beyond the hype, positioning itself for a strong price surge as it heads into Stage 4.

While most meme tokens are still chasing whatever’s trending, LILPEPE is putting down real roots. It’s creating the kind of infrastructure that could actually shift the direction of the space, and somehow, it’s still trading for less than $0.002 in its presale.

A Meme Coin That’s Actually Building Something

What sets LILPEPE apart is that it’s not just living on someone else’s chain. It’s gone a step further and built its own custom Layer-2 blockchain—something rarely seen in the meme coin scene. Most projects just stick their token on Solana or BNB Chain and call it a day. But LILPEPE actually went for the tough stuff—like fixing insane gas fees, slow transactions, and the fact that a lot of communities have zero real protection.

A Meme Coin with Real Tech

The Little Pepe chain’s fully EVM-compatible, so it works straight out of the box with usual wallets, dApps, and tools. No weird steps, no messing around—just a meme coin that actually took the time to build something smoother and way more user-friendly.

The chain’s actually built with meme projects in mind—it’s not just some repurposed tech. It comes with zero trading taxes, sniper bot protection, and lightning-fast transactions, which is a huge deal if ever been rugged or stuck waiting forever on a slow chain. This isn’t just some surface-level hype or flashy graphics—it’s actual tech built with meme culture at the core.

One of the best parts is a launchpad made to give new meme tokens a safe space to launch—just a cleaner way to get started. And they’re just getting started—staking, community voting through a DAO, and even NFT integration are all lined up next. It’s turning into a full ecosystem, not just another hype token.

Presale Picking Up Serious Steam

LILPEPE’s presale is heating up fast. The early stages have sold out rapidly, raising $500,000 in Stage 1 (at $0.001 per token) and $1.325 million in Stage 2 (at $0.0011). Now in Stage 3, tokens are priced at $0.0012, and over $2.33 million has already been raised, with more than 93% of this stage completed. The presale follows a tiered pricing model meaning early buyers lock in lower prices while supporting the ongoing development of LILPEPE’s Ethereum-compatible Layer-2 network. The next stage will increase the token price to $0.0013, continuing the momentum ahead of its public launch.

Getting in on the presale is super simple. LILPEPE tokens can be purchased using ETH or USDT (ERC-20) directly from supported wallets such as MetaMask or Trust Wallet. For those new to crypto, there’s also an option to buy using a credit or debit card. It’s important to note that USDT transactions still require a small amount of ETH in the wallet to cover gas fees.

A Token Setup Built to Last

LILPEPE’s token supply is actually thought out, not just thrown together. There’s a hard cap of 100 billion tokens, with 26.5 billion set aside for the presale. The rest is split across different parts of the project—13.5 billion for staking rewards, 10 billion for liquidity, 30 billion held in reserve for the chain, and 20 billion saved for marketing and future listings on decentralized exchanges. And here’s a big plus—there are zero buy or sell taxes, so it’s clean and fair whether holding or trading.

The tokenomics are crafted not only to reward early holders but also to ensure sustainable growth through community incentives, ecosystem scaling, and utility integrations planned on the roadmap.

What makes it even better is that Little Pepe’s chain is fully EVM-compatible. That means it works seamlessly with popular wallets, dApps, and crypto tools—no complicated setups or extra steps. It’s designed specifically for meme projects and the roadmap includes upcoming features like DAO governance, an NFT marketplace and creator tools that support community-driven development.

About Little Pepe:

Little Pepe ($LILPEPE) is a next-generation meme coin built for the community, by the community. Inspired by crypto culture’s favorite frog, Little Pepe combines viral meme energy with real utility, launching on a fast, secure Layer 2 blockchain to ensure low fees and high scalability. With over $2.3 million raised in its presale, a growing army of holders, and a transparent roadmap, Little Pepe is more than just a meme—it’s a movement.

For more information about Little Pepe, visit the links below:

Website: https://littlepepe.com/
Twitter/X: https://x.com/littlepepetoken
Telegram: https://t.me/littlepepetoken

Contact Details:
COO – James Stephen
media@littlepepe.com

Disclaimer: This content is provided by Little Pepe. The statements, views, and opinions expressed in this content are solely those of the content provider and do not necessarily reflect the views of this media platform or its publisher. We do not endorse, verify, or guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of any information presented. We do not guarantee any claims, statements, or promises made in this article. This content is for informational purposes only and should not be considered financial, investment, or trading advice. Investing in crypto and mining-related opportunities involves significant risks, including the potential loss of capital. It is possible to lose all your capital. These products may not be suitable for everyone, and you should ensure that you understand the risks involved. Seek independent advice if necessary. Speculate only with funds that you can afford to lose. Readers are strongly encouraged to conduct their own research and consult with a qualified financial advisor before making any investment decisions. However, due to the inherently speculative nature of the blockchain sector—including cryptocurrency, NFTs, and mining—complete accuracy cannot always be guaranteed. Neither the media platform nor the publisher shall be held responsible for any fraudulent activities, misrepresentations, or financial losses arising from the content of this press release. In the event of any legal claims or charges against this article, we accept no liability or responsibility. Globenewswire does not endorse any content on this page.

Legal Disclaimer: This media platform provides the content of this article on an “as-is” basis, without any warranties or representations of any kind, express or implied. We assume no responsibility for any inaccuracies, errors, or omissions. We do not assume any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information presented herein. Any concerns, complaints, or copyright issues related to this article should be directed to the content provider mentioned above.

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/d9f7c50a-36f4-494c-b0e1-ef1e438807e9

The MIL Network –

June 27, 2025
MIL-OSI: Kinematics Strengthens Board Leadership with Appointment of Proven Technology Executive Ross Rosenberg

Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

PHOENIX, June 26, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Kinematics, a leading provider of critical motion control systems that optimize, simplify, and secure energy production with leading bankability, today announced the appointment of Ross Rosenberg to its Board of Directors. Rosenberg is currently the Chief Executive Officer of Magic Leap, a leader in augmented reality (AR) optics, display systems, device services and scalable manufacturing, and he brings extensive experience leading strategic transformations in energy, industrial automation, and enterprise technology companies.

Rosenberg brings over two decades of executive leadership experience across multiple technology sectors. As CEO of Magic Leap, he has led the company’s strategic transformation, expanding its AR device and services business into new markets via technology partnerships. Previously, he served as Chief Strategy Officer at Belden Inc., where he helped transform the $2.5 billion company from a commodity supplier to a global leader in industrial networking and cybersecurity solutions, resulting in 70% revenue growth and significant margin expansion. Rosenberg also served as an operating executive in Bain Capital’s software portfolio and held senior roles at Danaher in industrial automation and motion control.

“Ross’s track record of scaling technology businesses and driving innovation in the energy sector makes him an invaluable addition to our Board,” said John Payne, CEO of Kinematics. “His deep understanding of mission-critical applications and experience transforming industrial companies aligns perfectly with our vision of advancing intelligent motion control solutions for the global solar, mobile industrial, and satellite industries. As we continue expanding our capabilities following the successful P4Q acquisition, Ross’s strategic insights will be instrumental in guiding our next phase of growth.”

Notably, Rosenberg spent six years at First Solar as VP of Global Marketing, Strategy & Corporate Development, where he helped scale the utility-scale solar solutions provider from $500 million to $4 billion in revenue and built a $7 billion contracted backlog in North America. His experience spans the entire solar value chain, from manufacturing and project development to software-based maintenance and predictive analytics.

Rosenberg started his career in M&A advisory, investment banking and corporate roles at PWC, Merrill Lynch and Zebra Technologies. He holds an MBA from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

“I’m excited to join Kinematics’ Board at such a pivotal time for both the company and the solar industry,” said Ross Rosenberg. “Having worked extensively in utility-scale solar, I understand the critical role that reliable, intelligent motion control plays in maximizing energy production and project economics. Kinematics’ combined portfolio of actuators, motors, controllers, and global support capabilities positions the company uniquely to serve the rapidly growing solar market. I look forward to working with John and the team to capitalize on the tremendous opportunities ahead.”

About Kinematics

Founded in 1996, Kinematics is the leading provider of critical motion control solutions. From actuation technology to advanced algorithms, controls, and global support, the company provides a total solution that maximizes power production for the solar industry and improves reliability and safety for industrial and satellite applications. Kinematics supplies engineered systems, sensors, software, and services to move mission-critical equipment into precise position. The company is headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona, and operates globally with facilities in Asia, Europe, and the Americas.

Press Contacts
Kinematics
Matt Clarke
Email: kinematics@teamsilverline.com
Phone: 301.467.7332

Magic Leap, Inc.
For media inquiries for Ross Rosenberg, CEO of Magic Leap Inc.
Email: magicleap@ink-co.com

The MIL Network –

June 27, 2025
MIL-OSI: Aetherium Acquisition Corp. Announces Additional Change of Special Meeting Date

Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

GREENWICH, Conn., June 26, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Aetherium Acquisition (the “SPAC” or the “Company”), a publicly-traded special purpose acquisition company, today announced that its Special Meeting (“Meeting”), previously scheduled at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time on June 27, 2025, has been postponed to 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time on July 7, 2025, and the redemption right deadline has been postponed to 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time on July 2, 2025.

The record date for the Meeting remains May 9, 2025. No changes have been made to the proposals to be voted on by shareholders at the Meeting. Shareholders of the Company who have previously submitted their proxy and who do not want to change their vote do not need to take any action.

On May 23, 2025, the Company filed a definitive proxy statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), on June 3, 2025 the Company filed a revised definitive proxy statement with the SEC and on June 13, 2025 and the Company issued a press release postponing the Meeting from 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time on June 13, 2025 to 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time on June 27, 2025, each in connection with its solicitation of proxies for the Meeting. Before making any voting decision, investors and shareholders of the company are urged to read the definitive proxy statement (including any amendments or supplements thereto) and other documents the company files with the sec carefully in their entirety when they become available as they will contain important information. Investors and shareholders will be able to obtain free copies of the definitive proxy statement (including any amendments or supplements thereto) and other documents filed or that will be filed with the SEC through the web site maintained by the SEC at www.sec.gov.

About Aetherium Acquisition Corp.

Aetherium Acquisition Corp. is a blank check company formed to effect a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization, or similar business combination with one or more businesses. Efforts to identify a prospective target business will not be limited to a particular business, industry sector, or geographical region. However, it intends to focus on companies in Asia (excluding China).

Forward-looking Statements

This press release contains statements that may constitute “forward-looking statements,” including with respect to Aetherium’s pursuit of an alternative business combination. No assurance can be given that Aetherium will successfully seek and consummate such an alternative business combination. Forward-looking statements are subject to numerous conditions, many of which are beyond the control of Aetherium, including those set forth in the Risk Factors section of Aetherium’s public filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Copies are available on the SEC’s website, www.sec.gov. Aetherium undertakes no obligation to update these statements for revisions or changes after the date of this release except as required by law.

Participants in the Solicitation

The Company and its directors, executive officers, other members of management and employees, under SEC rules, may be deemed to be participants in the solicitation of proxies from the shareholders of the Company in connection with the Meeting. Investors and shareholders may obtain more detailed information regarding the names, affiliations and interests of the Company’s directors and officers in the Proxy Statement, which may be obtained free of charge from the sources indicated above.

No Offer or Solicitation

This press release shall not constitute a solicitation of a proxy, consent or authorization with respect to any securities or in respect of the Meeting proposals. This communication shall also not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities, nor shall there be any sale of securities in any states or jurisdictions in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction. No offering of securities shall be made except by means of a prospectus meeting the requirements of Section 10 of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or an exemption therefrom.

Contact:

For investors:

Crocker Coulson, CEO, AUM Media
+1 (646) 652-7185
crocker.coulson@aummedia.org;
Info@aetheriumcapital.com

The MIL Network –

June 27, 2025
MIL-OSI: Chicken Road Game Expands Its Presence in India with Engaging Casual Gameplay and Real-Time Rewards
Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

Gurugram, Haryana, June 26, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) —

In response to the surging demand for accessible and engaging mobile games across India, the widely played Chicken Road Game has formally announced its expansion within the country. This move comes as the developers aim to reach the core of India’s fast-evolving mobile gaming community by offering a lightweight, intuitive, and entertaining game that is already resonating with casual gamers nationwide.

>>> Learn More About Chicken Road Game>>>

As one of the fastest-growing entertainment sectors, India’s mobile gaming market is forecasted to exceed USD 8.6 billion in value by 2027. With over 600 million mobile users, the country offers a fertile ground for innovative digital games that combine fun with engagement. Chicken Road Game aims to meet this opportunity by providing short, skill-based sessions suitable for on-the-go play, whether users are commuting, taking breaks at work, or simply relaxing at home.

“Our mission has always been to deliver gaming experiences that are not only fun but fair and accessible to all. India’s diversity and digital enthusiasm make it an ideal home for Chicken Road’s next phase of growth,” said a spokesperson from the Chicken Road development team.

A Game that Blends Simplicity with Strategy

At its core, Chicken Road is a fast-paced arcade-style mobile game where players guide a cartoon chicken across an obstacle-filled road. The challenge lies in avoiding hazards such as fire traps and navigating shifting paths, all while collecting points. The longer a player survives, the higher the score.

The gameplay may appear simple on the surface, but as the game progresses, players require quick reflexes and strategic thinking to avoid pitfalls. There’s no need for tutorials or lengthy onboarding — the game’s minimalist controls and clean interface allow players to dive straight into the action.

Developers emphasize that Chicken Road’s model is skill-based rather than chance-based, aligning with responsible gaming practices that prioritize player choice and interaction.

Tailored for the Indian Audience

To better serve the Indian market, the Chicken Road team has introduced several localized features and updates, such as:
- Multi-language support in Hindi, Tamil, Bengali, and more.
- Low-data mode for users on limited mobile internet.
- Compatibility with budget smartphones, ensuring gameplay remains smooth across devices.
- In-game notifications aligned with Indian festivals and regional events, creating a culturally relevant experience.
User data from early testing in Tier 1 and Tier 2 cities such as Delhi, Jaipur, Lucknow, and Bengaluru reveals high session engagement and return play, especially among users aged 18–35. Notably, the game has attracted users beyond traditional metro hubs, showing strong performance in semi-urban regions.

Commitment to Fair Play and User Trust

As digital games face increasing scrutiny over user data, security, and play ethics, the Chicken Road Game platform has proactively taken steps to ensure transparency and user safety. These include:
- No in-game gambling or betting mechanics
- No forced ads between sessions
- Optional session time reminders to promote mindful play
- In-app reporting and support for technical issues or feedback
“We believe gaming should be a safe space for everyone,” said the developer’s representative. “That’s why we’ve made it a priority to provide clean, ad-minimized gameplay while putting the player in control.”

Encouraging Skill, Not Spending

Unlike many modern mobile games that rely on in-app purchases or randomized rewards, Chicken Road allows players to progress based on gameplay performance. Its non-pay-to-win design ensures that users who build skill over time see greater progression and results.

This approach also aligns with the increasing call across India for transparent, ethical gaming practices, especially in a mobile ecosystem where young users make up a significant share of players.

Global Roadmap and Future Outlook

The development team behind Chicken Road Game has indicated that its expansion into India is part of a broader push across Asia and other emerging digital economies. Plans for future updates include:
- Leaderboards and friendly competitions
- Collaborations with local content creators
- Limited-time seasonal maps inspired by Indian festivals
Beta versions of these features are currently under testing, and official announcements are expected later this year.

About Chicken Road Game

Chicken Road Game is a casual skill-based mobile game developed by a global team of gaming professionals. With a focus on fast gameplay, player-first design, and mobile optimization, the game has gained popularity across multiple countries for its accessible and rewarding user experience. The game does not involve chance mechanics or wagering, making it suitable for a wide audience of casual players.

Media Contact

Company Name: Chicken Road
Address: 673, JMD Building, Gurugram, Haryana
Website: https://chicken-roadd.com
Email: sumit@chicken-roadd.com
Phone: +91-2049157035
Media Contact: Sumit

Editorial Disclaimer

This press release is intended solely for informational purposes and does not serve as a solicitation, financial advice, or commercial endorsement. The features and availability of Chicken Road Game may change over time and vary by region. All user experiences mentioned are based on publicly available feedback and internal performance metrics.

Attachment
- Chicken-roads
The MIL Network –
June 27, 2025
MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Appointment of the Chancellor of the High Court: June 2025
Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

Press release

Appointment of the Chancellor of the High Court: June 2025

His Majesty The King has been pleased to approve the appointment of The Rt Hon Lord Justice Colin Birss as the Chancellor of the High Court with effect from 1 November 2025.
His Majesty The King has been pleased to approve the appointment of The Rt Hon Lord Justice Colin Birss as the Chancellor of the High Court with effect from 1 November 2025. This appointment follows the retirement of Sir Julian Flaux.

Background

Biography of candidate

The Rt Hon Lord Justice Colin Birss was called to the Bar in 1990 and took Silk in 2008. He started his judicial career as a Deputy Chairman of the Copyright Tribunal in 2009. He was appointed as a Senior Circuit Judge in 2010, as a High Court Judge assigned to the Chancery Division in 2013 and as a Judge of the Court of Appeal in 2021. He is currently the Deputy Head of Civil Justice and Lead Judge for Artificial Intelligence.

The Appointment

The appointment of the Chancellor of the High Court is made by His Majesty The King on the advice of the Prime Minister and the Lord Chancellor following the recommendation of an independent selection panel chaired by Baroness Carr of Walton-on-the-Hill, the Lady Chief Justice. The other panel members were Lady Rose (Justice of the Supreme Court), Helen Pitcher OBE (Chair of the Judicial Appointments Commission), The Rt. Rev. Dr. Barry Morgan (Lay JAC Commissioner) and Mr Tom Cross KC (Professional JAC Commissioner).

The Chancellor of the High Court (CHC) is one of the most senior judges in England and Wales and holds day-to-day responsibility for the operation of the Business & Property Courts (B&PCs) in London and seven city centres across the country, in consultation with the President of the King’s Bench Division. The B&PCs are a global centre of excellence for the resolution of business disputes and hear some of the most complex and high-profile domestic and international specialist civil claims in the world.

The CHC has full responsibility for the Chancery lists of the B&PCs, which includes the Business List, the Insolvency and Companies List, the Intellectual Property List (including IPEC), the Property Trusts and Probate List, the Competition List, the Financial List (jointly with the Commercial Court) and the Revenue List. Those responsibilities include the deployment of the specialist judges who conduct the hearings and the allocation of cases.

Originally created as the office of Vice-Chancellor in 1813 and having undergone a number of changes in role since then, the CHC also presides in the Court of Appeal (Civil Division) and sits at first instance in the B&PCs.

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Published 26 June 2025
MIL OSI United Kingdom –
June 27, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Congressional Prior Authorization Reform Leads Applaud New Prior Authorization Announcement
Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Suzan DelBene (1st District of Washington)

Today, Representatives Suzan DelBene (WA-01), Mike Kelly (PA-16), John Joyce, M.D. (PA-13), Ami Bera, M.D. (CA-06), and Senators Roger Marshall, M.D. (KS) and Mark Warner (VA), co-leads of the bipartisan Improving Seniors’ Timely Access to Care Act, released the below joint statement following a series of commitments from some of the largest private health insurance companies to ease the Medicare Advantage prior authorization process.

“We applaud these commitments, which aim to improve health care access for millions of Americans by easing the Medicare Advantage prior authorization process,” the lawmakers said. “We encourage our House and Senate colleagues to carry this momentum forward and to pass our life-changing legislation, the Improving Seniors’ Timely Access to Care Act, to ensure this progress becomes law.”

Under the announcement, participating health plans commit to:
1. Standardize electronic prior authorization submissions using Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR®)-based application programming interfaces.
2. Reduce the volume of medical services subject to prior authorization by January 1, 2026.
3. Honor existing authorizations during insurance transitions to ensure continuity of care.
4. Enhance transparency and communication around authorization decisions and appeals.
5. Expand real-time responses to minimize delays in care with real-time approvals for most requests by 2027.
6. Ensure medical professionals review all clinical denials.
In May 2025, the lawmakers reintroduced the Improving Seniors’ Timely Access to Care Act.

MIL OSI USA News –
June 27, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Reps. Peters Reintroduces Resolution to Raise Awareness of Veterans’ Post-Traumatic Stress

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Scott Peters (52nd District of California)

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Representative Scott Peters (D-CA-50) and Representative Jack Bergman (R-MI-1) reintroduced a resolution to reduce the stigma that prevents veterans and servicemembers from seeking mental health care. The resolution also encourages leadership of the Armed Forces to support appropriate treatment for servicemembers suffering from post-traumatic stress. The legislation would designate June as National Post-Traumatic Stress (PTS) Awareness Month and June 27th as National PTS Awareness Day.

“Ask servicemembers about their injuries, and they will likely show you the visible scars sustained from their service. What they are more reluctant to share are mental scars – the less visible but equally harmful injuries,” said Rep. Peters. “When 18 of our nation’s heroes die from suicide each day, it’s evident we must break the stigma associated with accessing mental health treatment and embolden our veterans to seek help when they need it.”

“Our Nation has a duty to recognize and respond to the lasting impact of trauma on our Veterans and Service Members,” said Rep. Bergman. “I’m proud to help introduce this bipartisan resolution recognizing June as National Post-Traumatic Stress Awareness Month. Raising awareness is a crucial step toward breaking the stigma and ensuring our heroes get the care and support they’ve earned.”

Read the full text of the resolution here.

Background:

Rep. Peters first introduced the bill during the 115th Congress with the late Rep. Walter Jones (NC-03) and has introduced the legislation in every Congress since. Rep. Peters previously served on the House Armed Services and Veterans’ Affairs Committees.

Representative Peters authored the Veteran Peer Specialist Act, which expanded the peer support specialist pilot program at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). It passed Congress and became law as part of the FY 2022 Omnibus Appropriations bill.

###

MIL OSI USA News –

June 27, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Read More (Steube and Hill Introduce RISE Act)

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Greg Steube (FL-17)

June 26, 2025 | Press ReleasesWASHINGTON — U.S. Representatives Greg Steube (R-Fla.) and French Hill (R-Ark.) this week introduced the Revitalizing Investment, Savings, and Entrepreneurship (RISE) Act to reduce risk on capital investments in American industries by establishing a 15% cap on federal capital gains.“American businesses rely on investment to grow and thrive. Yet, our current tax code burdens entrepreneurs and start-ups by taxing federal long-term capital gains at nearly 24%, creating a costly barrier to investment,” said Rep. Steube. “Investing in America should never be a high-risk, expensive gamble. True long-term prosperity and economic security start when Washington unlocks more capital for U.S. industries. Our bill will cap the federal long-term capital gains tax rate at 15%, empowering investors to fuel economic growth and create good-paying American jobs.”“To build a stronger, more prosperous future, we need policies that unlock capital, reward risk-taking, and drive real growth for all Americans. That is exactly what the RISE Act delivers,” said Rep. Hill. “My bill restores the proven, bipartisan capital gains tax rate that encourages long-term investment in Main Street businesses and drives innovation across our country. With greater access to capital, startups can turn ideas into reality, small businesses will expand and hire, and hardworking Americans will have more opportunity and higher wages.”The RISE Act has the support of the National Taxpayers Union, National Venture Capital Association, and Americans for Tax Reform. Background:

The RISE Act will establish a 15% cap on the federal long-term capital gains tax rate. Under current law, American investors pay nearly 24% in federal capital gains taxes—almost 5% more than the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development average. This includes the 3.8% Medicare surtax on estates, individuals, and trusts.
Both Republicans and Democrats have endorsed lower tax rates on capital gains. Three successive administrations, two Democrat and one Republican, approved reduced top capital gains tax rates in 1997, 2003, and 2010.
In 2012, the Congressional Budget Office and Joint Committee on Taxation recognized that reducing taxes on capital gains provides investors with the resources necessary for “starting, building, and selling new businesses.”

Read the full bill here.

MIL OSI USA News –

June 27, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: IAM Union Transportation Conference Closes with Energy and Enthusiasm
Source: US GOIAM Union

The IAM Union wrapped up its 2025 Transportation Conference in Las Vegas today. Over 800 IAM Union delegates, who work primarily in the airline and railroad industries, participated in the democratic process to attend committee meetings and vote on reports that set the agenda for the near future for IAM transportation members.

View photos here.

Members heard from speakers who spoke to the current state of the labor movement, the public popularity of unions, and threats to steal the power of organized workers.

Watch a video recap here.

“When it comes to this economy, and the corporations, and the richest people, they want to do one thing – divide us,” said AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler. “That’s how they win. But to the workers that make things, move things, and serve things – we could not be more united in the things that matter to us.”

The opening session included remarks from IAM International President Brian Bryant, Air Transport Territory General Vice President Richie Johnsen, General Secretary-Treasurer Dora Cervantes, Air Transport Territory Chief of Staff Edison Fraser, and Western Territory General Vice President Robert “Bobby” Martinez, among others.

Follow continuous updates on X, formerly Twitter, here.

Tuesday through Thursday speakers also included:
- Jason Ambrosi, Air Line Pilots Association President
- Greg Regan, Transportation Trades Department President
- David Heindel, Seafarers International Union President
- Stephen Cotton, International Transport Workers Federation General Secretary
- David Massiah, Antigua and Barbuda Workers’ Union
- Avital Shapira-Shabirow, Histadrut Union International Relations Director
- Carla Siegel, IAM General Counsel
- Arthur Maratea, TCU/IAM National President
- Hasan Solomon, IAM National Political and Legislative Director
- Jonathan Battaglia, IAM Communications Director
- Mary McHugh, Winpisinger Center Director
- Julie Frietchen, IAM Women’s and Young Workers Director
- Nicole Fears, IAM Human Rights Director
- Richard Evans, IAM Veterans Services Coordinator
- Connie Vallas, IAM Associate General Counsel
- Peter Greenberg, IAM International Affairs Director
- Sean Marcil, IAM Membership Assistance Assistant Coordinator
- Derrick S. Monk, Divine Covenant Outreach Center Senior Pastor
- Mitchell Buckley, IAM District 141 Assistant General Chairperson
- Daniel Schwarz, Schwarz and Schwarz Managing Attorny
- Tony Blevins, Guide Dogs of America | Tender Loving Canines President and Director
- John Bragg, Railroad Retirement Board Labor Member
- Damien Anderson, IAM National Benefit Trust Fund Education Director
- Eloiza Rosales, IAM National Benefit Trust Fund Education Manager
- Galen Bullock, Employee Benefit Systems Vice President
- Catherine Cortez-Mastro, United States Senator, Nevada
- Jacky Rosen, United States Senator, Nevada
- Dina Titus, Congresswomen, 1st District, Nevada
- Paul Raymond, National Group Protection Co-CEO
The post IAM Union Transportation Conference Closes with Energy and Enthusiasm appeared first on IAM Union.

MIL OSI USA News –
June 27, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: WAYNE COUNTY – Shapiro Administration to Highlight Devastating Impacts of Proposed Federal Cuts to Medicaid on Rural Communities

Source: US State of Pennsylvania

June 27, 2025 – Honesdale, PA

ADVISORY – WAYNE COUNTY – Shapiro Administration to Highlight Devastating Impacts of Proposed Federal Cuts to Medicaid on Rural Communities

Officials from the Shapiro Administration will join rural health care leaders at Wayne Memorial Hospital to highlight the dangers of proposed federal Medicaid cuts and their negative impact on rural health care providers and residents across the state.

Proposed federal funding cuts could jeopardize health coverage for over 300,000 Pennsylvanians, drive up health care costs, and put hospitals at risk of closure, especially in rural communities. The loss of coverage is likely to result in Pennsylvanians delaying necessary health care and could significantly increase medical costs over time.

Ensuring rural Pennsylvanians have access to quality health care is a top priority for Governor Josh Shapiro. His proposed 2025-26 budget makes common-sense investments in rural health aimed at keeping rural hospitals open and recruiting more high-quality professionals to these facilities.

WHO:
Department of Health Secretary Dr. Debra Bogen
Pennsylvania Insurance Commissioner Michael Humphreys
Department of Human Services Special Advisor Sara Goulet
Wayne Memorial Hospital CEO Jim Pettinato
Wayne Memorial Community Health Centers Chief Quality Officer Kara Poremba
Hospital and Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania CEO Nicole Stallings

WHEN:
Friday, June 27; 11:00 AM

WHERE:
Wayne Memorial Hospital
David Katz Conference Room (2nd Floor)
601 Park Street
Honesdale, PA 18431

MEDIA RSVP:
Media interested in attending must RSVP with the name of the reporter and photojournalist to ra-dhpressoffice@pa.gov.

MIL OSI USA News –

June 27, 2025
MIL-OSI Security: Texas Woman Arrested After 20 Pounds of Cocaine Seized at New Mexico Checkpoint

Source: Office of United States Attorneys

ALBUQUERQUE – A Texas woman is facing federal charges after U.S. Border Patrol agents seized more than 20 pounds of cocaine from her vehicle during a checkpoint inspection south of Alamogordo, New Mexico.

According to court documents, on the afternoon of June 16, 2025, U.S. Border Patrol agents encountered Aurelia Madrid-Marquez, 51, at the Highway 54 checkpoint located South of Alamogordo, New Mexico, driving a minivan with Illinois license plates. During routine questioning, agents conducted a canine inspection of the vehicle, which resulted in a positive alert for narcotics. A subsequent search revealed seven vacuum-sealed bundles containing a white powdery substance concealed in the driver-side floorboard area. Field tests confirmed the substance to be cocaine.

Madrid-Marquez is charged with possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance and will remain in third party custody pending trial, which has not yet been scheduled. If convicted of the current charges, Madrid-Marquez faces up to 10 years in prison.

U.S. Attorney Ryan Ellison, Omar Arellano, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s El Paso Division, and Chief Patrol Agent Walter N. Slosar of the U.S. Border Patrol El Paso Sector made the announcement today.

The Drug Enforcement Administration investigated this case with assistance from the U.S. Border Patrol. Assistant U.S. Attorney Devon Aragon Martinez is prosecuting the case.

A criminal complaint is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

MIL Security OSI –

June 27, 2025
MIL-OSI Security: Serial Armed Robber Sentenced to Over 26 Years Imprisonment for String of Commercial Armed Robberies

Source: Office of United States Attorneys

STATESBORO, GA: A Waynesboro resident was sentenced to federal prison for 10 commercial armed robberies that he committed in Bulloch, Burke, Chatham, Emanuel, Glascock, Jenkins, and Ware Counties.

Cordell Cobb, 24, of Waynesboro, was sentenced to 318 months in prison after pleading guilty to ten counts of Interference With Commerce by Robbery and two counts of Brandishing a Firearm During a Crime of Violence, said Tara M. Lyons, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia. U.S. District Court Judge J. Randal Hall also ordered Cobb to serve five years of supervised release upon completion of his prison term and to pay $12,081 in restitution to the various victimized businesses.

There is no parole in the federal system.

As described in court documents and testimony, on ten different occasions from January 2023 through June 2023, Cobb entered commercial establishments throughout the Southern District of Georgia and brandished weapons before demanding money. Employees in all ten locations provided United States currency to Cobb to avoid physical harm and Cobb left the locations with his ill-gotten proceeds. Following an investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI), Chatham County Police Department (CCPD), Glascock County Sheriff’s Office (GCSO), Bulloch County Sheriff’s Office (BCSO), Jenkins County Sheriff’s Office (JCSO), Waycross Police Department (WPD), Burke County Sheriff’s Office (BCSO), and Emanuel County Sheriff’s Office (ECSO), Cobb was apprehended and ultimately admitted to committing all ten robberies.

“This sentencing reflects the serious consequences of violent crime and the strength of coordinated law enforcement” said GBI Director Chris Hosey. “Communities across Georgia are safer today because of the tireless work of our local, state, and federal partner agencies in bringing this armed robber to justice.”

“We applaud the collaborative efforts of all law enforcement agencies involved in this investigation. Together, we have sent a strong message that armed robbery will not be tolerated, and we will work tirelessly to ensure that those responsible are held accountable,” said Thomas Crawford, ATF Acting Assistant Special Agent in Charge.

This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN).

This investigation took place under the umbrella of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program that has been successful in bringing together all levels of law enforcement to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer.

The case was being investigated by the ATF, GBI, CCPD, GCSO, JCSO, WPD, BCSO, ECSO and prosecuted for the United States by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Bradley R. Thompson and Henry W. Syms, Jr.

MIL Security OSI –

June 27, 2025
MIL-OSI Security: Boston Gang Member Sentenced to More Than Three Years in Prison for Drug Conspiracies

Source: Office of United States Attorneys

BOSTON – A member of the violent Boston-based gang, H-Block, was sentenced yesterday in federal court in Boston for drug conspiracy charges.

Avery Lewis, a/k/a “Wave,” 33, of Dorchester was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Myong J. Joun to 46 months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release. In January 2025, Lewis pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine and one count of possession with intent to distribute cocaine.

Lewis was one of 10 H-Block gang members and associates charged in August 2024 following a multi-year investigation that began in 2021 in response to an uptick in gang-related drug trafficking, shootings and violence. Over 500 grams of cocaine, cocaine base (crack cocaine) and fentanyl, as well as over 20,000 doses of drug-laced paper were seized during the investigation.

According to the charging documents, the H-Block street gang is one of the most feared and influential city-wide gangs in Boston. Originally formed in the 1980s as the Humboldt Raiders in the Roxbury section of Boston, the gang re-emerged in the 2000s as H-Block. Current members of H-Block have a history of violent confrontation with law enforcement, including an incident in 2015 when a member shot a Boston Police officer at point blank range without warning or provocation.

Lewis was a long-time H-Block gang member and daily street-level dealer with a regular roster of customers. Over the course of the investigation, Lewis sold cocaine to an undercover officer on several occasions and coordinated other drug trafficking criminal activities with H-Block gang members.

On April 5, 2023, Lewis was arrested with approximately 250 grams of cocaine in his vehicle. In addition, in March 2024, Lewis was involved in an altercation with a Boston Police Department officer, leading to the officer being struck by a bullet fired by a concealed gun in Lewis’s possession resulting in state charges. Lewis was sentenced to seven to nine years in state prison in that matter.

According to court records, Lewis’ criminal history includes a 2017 cocaine conviction for possessing 86 bags of cocaine inside his apartment as well as a 2013 conviction for unlawfully possessing a firearm with an obliterated serial number.

Lewis is the first defendant to be sentenced in the case.

United States Attorney Leah B. Foley; Boston Police Commissioner Michael Cox; Stephen Belleau, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration, New England Field Division; Randy Maloney, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Secret Service, Boston Field Office; Ted E. Docks, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division; and Jonathan Mellone, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General, Northeast Region made the announcement. The investigation was supported by the Massachusetts State Police; Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office; Massachusetts Department of Corrections; and the Braintree, Quincy, Randolph and Watertown Police Departments. Assistant United States Attorney John T. Dawley of the Organized Crime & Gang Unit and Jeremy Franker of the Justice Department’s Violent Crime & Racketeering Section are prosecuting the cases.

The case was investigated under the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF). OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. For more information about Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces, please visit Justice.gov/OCDETF.

The details contained in the charging documents are allegations. The remaining defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

MIL Security OSI –

June 27, 2025

Category: Transport

Why “staying secure” is harder than getting there

SFI April 2025 report blog

Engineering for endurance: The making of Microsoft’s durability strategy

Automating for scale and embedding security into engineering culture

What is Azure Policy?

The path to durable security: A maturity framework

Results: From short-term wins to sustained gains

Lessons for any enterprise

Durability requires programmatic support

Culture and leadership matter

Security that endures

Secure Future Initiative

Learn more with Microsoft Security

Appendix:

And so to Nato

The trouble with Iran

Elon Musk’s geopolitical eye in the sky

And so to Nato

The trouble with Iran

Elon Musk’s geopolitical eye in the sky

Why “staying secure” is harder than getting there

SFI April 2025 report blog

Engineering for endurance: The making of Microsoft’s durability strategy

Automating for scale and embedding security into engineering culture

What is Azure Policy?

The path to durable security: A maturity framework

Results: From short-term wins to sustained gains

Lessons for any enterprise

Durability requires programmatic support

Culture and leadership matter

Security that endures

Secure Future Initiative

Learn more with Microsoft Security

Appendix:

Appointment of the Chancellor of the High Court: June 2025

Background

Biography of candidate

The Appointment

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