Western military and government officials of NATO's member countries said Russia has been hacking into soldiers' personal smartphones in an effort to "gain operational information, gauge troop strength and intimidate soldiers," reports the WSJ. Russian officials denied any such operation.
Why it matters: Compromised cellphones of NATO soldiers could be exploited in several ways to Moscow's advantage. Russia could gain access to sensitive military information, as well as impact how NATO responds to Russian military actions, such as by sending out fake instructions to NATO troops.
North Korea added a new Internet connection with Russian telecommunications company TransTeleCom, per 38 North. For the last few years, North Korea had relied on a single link from China's Unicom to access the Internet.
Why it matters: The Russian Internet link came just after the United States concluded a major denial of service attack against North Korean state hackers, as The Washington Post reported over the weekend. And it comes at a time when the U.S. is doing all it can to isolate North Korea from the outside world via sanctions — all with the specter of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election lurking in the background.
