THE DAILY PRAETORIAN: Cybersecurity Trends – 10/16/24

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

“United we fought and united we prevail.”

-Chester W. Nimitz

China on ‘insidious’ path, says US Army Pacific commander after Taiwan exercise
China’s recent military exercise, Joint Sword 2024B, saw a record 153 warplanes crossing the Taiwan Strait median, as well as the participation of the aircraft carrier Liaoning and two dozen ships, marking Beijing’s continued military modernization. This exercise came shortly after Taiwan’s National Day and President Lai Ching-te’s speech, with China justifying the drills as a response to Taiwan’s foreign relations and stance on independence. U.S. Army Pacific Commander Gen. Charles Flynn expressed concern over China’s incremental military buildup, calling it a threat to Indo-Pacific stability, but noted that Chinese aggression has bolstered U.S. leadership and security partnerships in the region.

For more on China’s military activities and their implications for Taiwan and the Indo-Pacific, click here to read more.

What Gmail did to email
When Gmail launched in 2004, its generous storage space revolutionized email services, offering a full gigabyte of space for free compared to the limited storage of paid services. Over the years, Gmail has added various features like labels and snoozing emails, which many, including the writer, have found helpful. However, newer additions such as autocomplete and AI suggestions can be intrusive. Despite frustrations, Gmail’s cloud-based storage offers convenience, making it easy to access old emails, unlike the pre-cloud days when emails were stored locally on a hard drive. The piece reflects on the evolution from localized email storage, which offered more privacy, to today’s cloud-based systems, which prioritize accessibility but at the cost of some privacy.

For more on the evolution of Gmail and email storage, click here to read more.

For Church to be relevant, it must avoid childish things
In Milan Kundera’s The Book of Laughter and Forgetting, the Czech author suggests that humanity is becoming more childlike, a notion echoed by Douglas Murray’s critique of modern Christianity in his recent Spectator article. Murray reflects on how the Church of England, through events like the “silent disco” in Canterbury Cathedral and an upcoming rave in Peterborough Cathedral, has drifted from its sacred mission. The transformation of these cathedrals, originally built for worship, into venues for entertainment highlights the Church’s loss of confidence in its Gospel foundations. This shift towards childishness, Murray argues, is a product of theological liberalism, which, despite being pioneered by intellectual figures, has led to a trivialization of faith. The Church, he warns, must resist the pull of cultural infantilization and reclaim a mature, transcendent faith.

For more on the Church’s struggles with modernity, click here to read more.

MacOS bypassing VPNs and leaking traffic after update, report reveals
Security researchers at Mullvad have discovered that the macOS firewall may malfunction after system updates, potentially leaking traffic for VPN users. The issue, which started with macOS 14.6 and was addressed in the recent 15.1 beta, causes the firewall to disregard rules, allowing some apps to bypass the VPN. Mullvad recommends users test for leaks by creating firewall rules or checking VPN traffic. Many macOS users have reported recurring issues after updates, including default setting resets and apps launching unexpectedly, leading to increased security risks.

For more on macOS firewall issues and VPN traffic leaks, click here to read more.

Biden humanitarian envoy says Israel is too close an ally to suspend arms – report
A Biden administration official, Lise Grande, reportedly told humanitarian aid groups that Israel is too close of an ally for the U.S. to suspend arms shipments over issues related to blocking food and medicine from entering Gaza, according to a POLITICO report. During an August 29 meeting, Grande emphasized that while the U.S. would apply international pressure through the UN, it would not halt weapon shipments to Israel. She described Israel as being part of a “tight circle of very few allies” with special considerations. Despite the humanitarian concerns in Gaza, the U.S. government remains committed to supporting Israel militarily, and recent efforts have reportedly led to improvements in the aid situation, including the reopening of the aid route to northern Gaza.

For more on the U.S. stance, click here to read more.