Huawei and the Chinese surveillance network in Africa

Editor’s note: This article was written by Eren Ersozoglu and originally published on Grey Dynamics.  Since 2012, the U.S. has accused Huawei of being a potential tool for surveillance abroad. While on the surface Huawei is not state-owned, Chinese legislation requires companies to assist in national intelligence work. And this should be viewed in the […]

Managing performance during high stress contingencies

When you are under immense performance stress and need to complete tasks, there is a tendency to want to speed up your actions. The consequence of doing this is that you are likely to make mistakes. Even worse, the faster your thinking process becomes under stress, the more you might second guess yourself. This is […]

Digital Security: How surveillance cameras uncovered a Mossad assassination

We’ve been drawing more attention to digital security and privacy as of late, largely due to our upcoming digital security guide, which will become available in about a week. The inspiration for the guide was born from the need for a basic repository of easy-to-implement digital security hygiene practices that end-users (all of us with […]

Why the US will never fully back an independent Kurdistan

The ongoing ethnic and religious strife in Iraq creates an opportunity for Kurdish nationalists to realize their aspirations and declare independence. Although the Kurds are a nation with a common culture, a shared identity, and have civic organizations that pursue nationalistic-type goals, they still do not have an internationally recognized state. And as we shall […]

How 9/11 Changed the Way the Federal Government Manages Crises

Though discussion over whether protection or emergency management should receive fiscal priority has been ongoing for many years, reforms in response to 9/11 changed the whole debate. Following the 9/11 terror attacks, the administration of George W. Bush, with the permission of Congress, defined presidential disaster declaration authority as a national security instrument, thus drastically […]

Here’s how criminals hack your accounts and ruin your life

At SOFREP, we’re passionate about digital security and privacy. Nick has done an amazing job covering the specifics of encrypted communications. I have attempted to provide an overview of how to establish secure comms in a manner that enables one to rely on commercially available “military-grade” encryption. Our aim is to enhance privacy, protect civil […]

How firefighters operate amid the pandemic

This article was written by Frumentarius, a former Navy SEAL, former CIA officer, and currently a Lieutenant in a career fire department in the Midwest. It was originally published on Sandboxx. A dual-company fire station in a typical American city of 160,000 is fully-staffed 24 hours per day, seven days a week, 365 days a […]

The death of Osama bin Laden and the rise of al-Qaeda in Somalia

Although the death of Osama bin Laden on May 2, 2011, marked a triumphant day for the United States, the death of the charismatic leader of al-Qaeda did not mark the end of his terrorist organization. Al-Qaeda continues to operate globally and still poses a severe threat to international and homeland security. Of particular interest […]

FBI accidentally reveals name of Saudi suspected of supporting 9/11 terrorists

Yahoo News recently reported a mistake they found in an FBI court filing. In the filing, the FBI neglected to redact mention of the name of Mussaed Ahmed al-Jarrah, a Saudi diplomat whom FBI agents had suspected of directing material support to two of the Saudi 9/11 hijackers that crashed a plane into the Pentagon, […]

The Killing of Muhammad Gulzar: Did Greek troops really kill a Pakistani refugee?

Editor’s note: On May 8, the prominent German magazine Der Spiegel  published an article arguing that Greek security forces shot dead a Pakistani illegal immigrant who was trying to enter the country from Turkey. The article was based on the findings of Nick Waters, a former British officer working for the investigative site Bellingcat. Over […]

7 lessons on Special Operations selection & mental health

“The final weapon is the brain; all else is supplemental.” SOF Assessment and Selection (A&S) courses are designed to bring the suck, in a number of different ways, to everyone privileged enough to receive an invitation to be a SOF candidate. Despite the suck, there’s a total beauty to a struggle that methodically breaks down […]

Exclusive: Investigating the unlawful practices of the cold-blooded Saudi Crown Prince

The purpose of this piece is to share the results and preliminary analysis of SOFREP’s online investigation into the reportedly unlawful imprisonment and continued detention of the crown prince’s cousin, Princess Basmah bint Saud bin Abdulaziz al-Saud. A general overview of her plight and why it matters was recently published here. We recommend reading the […]