THE DAILY PRAETORIAN: Cybersecurity Trends – 01/05/26

Securing Tomorrow: Your Daily Dose of Cyber Safety, Tech Trends, National Security News, and Inspiration.

“Data is the new oil.”

– Clive Humby

This Is What The Night Stalkers’ MH-60M Direct Action Penetrator Brought To The Venezuelan Op
The Night Stalkers’ MH‑60M Direct Action Penetrator (DAP) Black Hawk played a pivotal role in the U.S. raid that seized Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, flying low‑altitude, night‑time attack runs that combined heavy armament—including 70 mm rockets, Hellfire missiles, a 30 mm M230 cannon, and forward‑firing miniguns—with advanced sensors such as terrain‑following radar, infrared/EO turrets, and laser designators to locate and engage targets precisely; its lightweight stub‑wing pods and multi‑station armament support structure let operators swap weapons quickly, while built‑in defensive suites—CIRCM laser countermeasures, radar and missile warning sensors, and electronic jamming—protected the aircraft from MANPADS and other threats; the DAP’s in‑flight refueling probe extended its range for the deep‑penetration mission, and its robust communications array kept it linked to supporting SOAR assets, enabling coordinated strikes on fortified positions, armored vehicles, and air‑defense systems during the operation. Click here to read more.

Nvidia CEO Huang says next generation of chips is in full production
Jensen Huang announced at CES 2025 that Nvidia’s next‑generation chips are now in full production and can deliver roughly five times the AI computing power of the company’s prior devices, a leap he attributes to a proprietary data technique that boosts performance despite only a modest increase in transistor count; he unveiled the Vera Rubin platform, which will combine up to 72 graphics units and 36 new central processors per flagship chip and can be linked into pods containing more than a thousand chips, while also introducing “context memory storage” to speed chatbot responses and new co‑packaged‑optics networking switches to connect massive machine clusters; Huang highlighted Nvidia’s open‑source software for autonomous‑vehicle decision‑making and noted growing competition from AMD, Google’s own AI silicon, Broadcom and Cisco, emphasizing that the upcoming chips aim to stay ahead in the rapidly evolving AI market. Click here to read more.

How 5 Evangelical Leaders Reacted to U.S. Action in Venezuela
Evangelical leaders across the United States praised President Donald Trump’s weekend raid that captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, framing the operation as a decisive stand against oppression, corruption, and drug trafficking; Franklin Graham thanked Trump for reducing illicit drug flows and urged prayers for Venezuelan churches, while Pastor L. Gilberto Corredera highlighted the personal anguish of his Venezuelan‑majority congregation and called for prayerful humility and a peaceful transition of power; Samuel Rodriguez celebrated the event as a moral reset affirming God‑given liberty, and Daniel R. Suhr argued that the raid fits within presidential authority and historical precedent, likening it to the 1990 Noriega operation; Albert Mohler warned that the aftermath will be crucial, insisting the strike was justified but predicting intense international criticism and urging vigilance over future U.S. actions. Click here to read more.

Cyberattack Unlikely in Communications Failure That Grounded Flights in Greece
Greek authorities say the nationwide radio‑communication failure that halted air traffic on Sunday was not a cyberattack, though investigators are still probing the root cause; noisy interference across primary and backup channels forced the shutdown of Athens and Thessaloniki airports, grounding about 120 flights and diverting many others, which left thousands of travelers stranded until operations gradually resumed Monday. Eurocontrol helped reroute aircraft, and a newly formed committee—including civil‑aviation officials, the Greek air force, Eurocontrol and a state cyber‑defence agency—has launched a judicial inquiry and internal probe to determine why the outage occurred. Click here to read more.

End of uncertainty: Why Tehran now takes Trump’s warnings seriously – analysis
Iran’s leaders, who once dismissed President Donald Trump’s harsh rhetoric, now treat his warnings as genuine threats after a series of decisive U.S. actions—direct strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities in June, the abrupt capture of Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro, and public statements promising immediate retaliation if Iranian forces kill protesters—have lent credibility to his words; faced with the prospect of U.S.‑Israeli military escalation and mounting domestic unrest, Tehran appears to be tempering its crackdown, deliberating between a brutal suppression that could trigger American intervention, a retaliatory strike against Israel that might invite overwhelming Israeli force, or a restrained approach that risks further protest spread, while senior officials reportedly draft contingency plans to flee the country. Click here to read more.