THE DAILY PRAETORIAN: Cybersecurity Trends – 11/3/25

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

“The mind is not a vessel to be filled but a fire to be kindled.”

-Plutarch

Guardsman learns to fly autonomous Black Hawk in less than an hour
A U.S. Army National Guard soldier with no prior aviation experience successfully piloted Sikorsky’s optionally‑piloted Black Hawk using only a handheld tablet during the Northern Strike 25‑2 exercise in Michigan, remotely lifting a 2,900‑lb water‑buffalo sling load, delivering troops to drop zones from over 70 nautical miles away on Lake Huron, simulating a medevac and completing six HIMARS launch‑tube hookups, demonstrating the aircraft’s ability to switch between manned and autonomous operation via DARPA‑developed Matrix technology and highlighting its potential for contested‑logistics missions. Click here to read more.

Apple TV’s new name now comes with a new sound
Apple has refreshed its streaming brand by dropping the “Plus” from Apple TV and unveiling a new multi‑colored logo accompanied by a three‑tier intro soundscape composed by Finneas—Billie Eilish’s brother—who describes the five‑second main cue, a one‑second sting for trailers and a longer 12‑second version for theatrical Apple Studios releases, aiming to create a memorable “mnemonic” that listeners will hear repeatedly while binge‑watching shows like Ted Lasso, Severance or Disclaimer. Click here to read more.

Christians Gather for International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church
Christians worldwide observed the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church, with Voice of the Martyrs Vice‑President Todd Nettleton urging believers to “put ourselves in their place” and pray for those imprisoned or mistreated for their faith, citing Hebrews 13:3; he recounted a recent Asian trip in which an Indian pastor, after four months in jail, was protected by a Muslim inmate and later encouraged by a newly‑arrived fellow pastor, illustrating how fellowship and prayer can sustain believers amid persecution, especially in countries like India that rank among the world’s most hostile environments for Christians. Click here to read more.

SIM farms expose weaknesses in telecom and authentication ecosystems
Recent law‑enforcement crackdowns on SIM‑farm networks in Europe—most notably a raid in Vilnius that seized 1,200 SIM‑box devices and 40,000 active SIMs linked to over 3,200 fraud cases and roughly €5 million in losses—have exposed systemic weaknesses in telecom identity verification and the continued reliance on insecure SMS‑based OTPs; experts blame lax KYC checks, bulk prepaid SIM sales and poor cross‑operator visibility, urging telecoms, regulators and financial platforms to adopt stronger behavioral detection, limit bulk purchases and move toward phishing‑resistant authentication methods, while acknowledging that SMS 2FA will persist in the short term. Click here to read more.

Following the money: How AI can expose hidden Hezbollah, Hamas networks – analysis
AI is emerging as a powerful tool to uncover the hidden financial networks that fund Hezbollah and Hamas—networks that have historically cloaked money in charities, trade deals, drug trafficking and cryptocurrency wallets—by analyzing the massive digital footprints left by every wire transfer, invoice and crypto transaction and flagging anomalies that human analysts miss; recent takedowns of Hezbollah-linked operations in Paraguay and the Ivory Coast illustrate how AI can detect irregular donation rounding, undervalued shipments and suspect crypto wallets in real time, allowing banks and governments to freeze assets before they finance weapons or attacks, though the technology alone won’t end terrorism, it can dramatically improve the ability to disrupt terror financing. Click here to read more.