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The Intelligence Gazette
French DGSI's new hiring cell, Rosgvardia's deputy directors, Tel Aviv boosts Albanian cyber, New York jet-setter wins case against Moscow

Appointments, reforms and the issues at stake: every Monday, Intelligence Online serves up snippets big and small from the global intelligence community. This week we home in on Paris, Tel Aviv, Tirana and Moscow.

FranceDGSI's new recruitment cell.

RussiaA new deputy for Zolotov.

Israel/AlbaniaTel Aviv pledges cyber security boost to Tirana.

France/RussiaMoscow loses case in Paris court.

Germany, UAE
Veterans of Germany's defunct cyber firm FinFisher pursue new avenues

Ex-Finfisher CEO Georg Magg has been appointed to head the European branch of US cybersecurity firm SilverSky, while Martin Johannes Münch, the brains behind Finfisher's Trojan Horse, is now in the UAE.

Turkey, United States
Kroll tracks down alleged blackmailers in Anatolian gold mines

The Canadian mining group Centerra has had a series of setbacks in Turkey. It hired corporate intelligence firm Kroll to investigate former employees it accused of orchestrating a blackmail operation against it.

France
France's security interceptions unit feels pinch of staff shortages

The inter-ministerial GIC (Groupement Interministériel de Contrôle), which operates France's security interceptions, is having trouble filling its ranks as its workload piles up.

UAE
Dubai steps up anti-money laundering policy

The United Arab Emirates is working hard to make its tools compliant with the standards of the Financial Action Task Force, as it's still on the anti-money laundering institution's "grey list". Dubai's financial regulator has begun to take tougher action on companies that are slow to get on board.

Moldova
Moldova's new spy chief takes up duties in a climate of high tension

The new head of Moldova's Security and Intelligence Service already has a lot on his plate. He will have to deal with interference by Russian agents and potential unrest in Transnistria, as well as coordinating aid from the country's allies and leading negotiations with the EU.

United States
JS Held says unexpected goodbye to chief operating officer Frank Holder

A small shockwave has just swept through the US private investigation market. Industry veteran Frank Holder has been sacked by consulting group JS Held, which has been expanding fast on this market over the last year.

Ukraine
Russian-Dutch OSINT firm Social Links suffers collateral damage from Ukraine war

The Russian-founded open source intelligence company Social Links, which is seeking to distance itself from Moscow, is taking flak over its alleged links to Russian intelligence.

Sweden
New Swedish anti-fake news agency boosts online investigation capacity to counter Russian threat

Like their counterparts in other Western countries, Sweden's intelligence services are looking for open source intelligence contractors to help them combat Russian propaganda.

Germany, United States
How a small Lockheed squad helped the F-35 land in Berlin

Consultants of the US defence giant used an unprecedented geopolitical conjuncture to secure a F-35 fighter jet order from the new German government.

United States
Linkedin strengthens threat intelligence with former Facebook staff

Professional social network Linkedin has been singled out as a Chinese intelligence data source and is strengthening its threat intelligence department by recruiting from Meta (formerly Facebook), which has been extending its teams in this field over the past three years.

The Corporate Intelligence Village Voice
Wallbrook, ESL & Network, EUBAM

Appointments, financial results, new contracts: each week, we report on events both big and small that matter in the global corporate intelligence community. This week we go to London, Paris and Brussels.

LondonWallbrook beefs up China team.

ParisMontlahuc's moves to leave ESL & Network pave way for firm's integration into ADIT.

BrusselsEUBAM competition gets underway.

Israel
After setbacks, Candiru makes timid public entrance

Blacklisted by the US and exposed by the cybersecurity firm Eset, Israel's Candiru will break with its usual discretion to present its technology at interceptions trade fair ISS World.

France
Arrest of French cybersecurity agency volunteer calls cyber ransom negotiation into question

As in the "real world", the payment of ransoms in cyberspace is of concern to governments and insurance companies, as the recent arrest of a French 'ethical' hacker has highlighted.

United States
Pentagon seeks fake news automated detection grail

For one of the components of its counter-disinformation programme INCAS, US defence research agency Darpa is betting on artificial intelligence to combat foreign influence campaigns, with help from high-tech firms Sift and Protagonist.