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Securing Tomorrow: Your Daily Dose of Cyber Safety, Tech Trends, National Security News, and Inspiration.
“A good plan violently executed now is better than a perfect plan executed next week.”
-General George S. Patton
I. National Security: Key developments in national security, particularly cyber and technological warfare.
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No missiles, no problem. F-15 crews dropped bombs on Iranian drones.
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During Iran’s massive April 2024 drone and missile attack on Israel, U.S. Air Force F-15 crews ran out of air-to-air missiles after downing numerous drones, forcing them to improvise by attempting to use bombs against aerial targets. According to Lt. Gen. Derek France, commander of Air Forces Central, one F-15 had only a GBU-54 laser-guided JDAM left and tried to drop it on an Iranian drone—a highly unusual tactic since JDAMs lack the proximity fuzes that make air-to-air missiles effective. The bomb missed, as did two other F-15 attempts, but France called it “innovation on the fly” under extreme conditions. The engagement occurred during a coordinated Iranian strike involving 170 drones, 120+ ballistic missiles, and 30 cruise missiles launched by Iran and Houthi allies. Although dropping bombs on flying targets is rare, there is precedent: in 1991, an F-15 successfully destroyed an Iraqi helicopter with a laser-guided bomb. Since then, the Air Force has fielded the Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System (APKWS)—a cheaper, laser-guided rocket with a proximity fuze—allowing F-15Es to carry up to 42 rockets and better handle mass drone swarms in the future. Click here to read more.
II. Tech Trends: Updates on emerging technology trends shaping the digital world.
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Qualcomm announces Snapdragon X2 Elite and Extreme for Windows PCs
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Qualcomm has unveiled its second-generation Snapdragon X2 chips for Windows PCs, splitting the lineup into the Elite and Elite Extreme versions, which the company claims are “the fastest and most efficient processors for Windows PCs.” Built on 3nm technology with a 3rd-gen Oryon CPU of up to 18 cores (two hitting 5GHz, a first for Arm CPUs), the chips deliver up to 31% faster CPU performance at the same power or 43% lower power use, alongside a new GPU offering 2.3x better performance per watt. AI tasks get a boost from an 80 TOPS Hexagon NPU, which Qualcomm says is the fastest in any laptop. The Extreme variant reportedly achieves up to 75% faster CPU performance than rival chips like Intel’s Core Ultra 9 and AMD’s Ryzen AI 9 HX 370. Qualcomm is also touting multi-day battery life, stronger gaming support through a new high-speed cache, and Adobe workflow speedups. Notably, the X2 series can scale up to 50W power levels, moving beyond just thin-and-light laptops, with availability expected in the first half of 2026. Click here to read more.
III. Inspiration: Articles centered on faith that offer guidance and reflection.
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Kirk’s Death ‘Fuel In the Tank for the Believer’ Sparking Revival, Friend Says
- Two weeks after Charlie Kirk’s assassination, his close friend David Engelhardt, a New York City pastor, attorney, and Turning Point USA board member, told Regent University’s TPUSA chapter that Kirk’s death is already fueling a revival among believers, saying, “Just like the blood of the martyrs fueled the church, the loss of Charlie’s life…is fuel in the tank of the believer to stand for righteousness.” Engelhardt emphasized that Kirk’s faith always outweighed his politics, noting the significance of the wound to his throat — the very voice he used to proclaim truth — and pointed to John 12:24 as a reminder that Kirk’s sacrifice will bear spiritual fruit, encouraging students to follow Christ as Charlie did. Click here to read more.
IV. Cyber Safety: A focus on the latest cybersecurity threats, tips, or breaches impacting individuals and organizations.
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TikTok update: Trump to sign executive order on Thursday declaring deal in works
- President Donald Trump is set to sign an executive order on Thursday declaring that a deal to divest TikTok’s U.S. operations from its Chinese owner, ByteDance, is officially in the works. The order will extend the mid-December enforcement deadline of the 2024 law that bans TikTok unless it separates fully from Chinese ownership. Under the pending deal, TikTok’s signature algorithm will be cloned and retrained on U.S. user data, ensuring compliance with national security requirements. American investors are also being lined up to take over TikTok’s U.S. assets. Trump, who credits TikTok’s 170 million American users and his own 15 million followers on the app with helping secure re-election, has called the platform vital for his political outreach. The White House also recently launched its own official TikTok account to boost engagement. Click here to read more.
V. Shield of Israel: Coverage from The Jerusalem Post, providing an Israeli perspective on ongoing conflicts.
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Netanyahu ahead of flight to NYC: Palestine recognition is ‘disgraceful capitulation’
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sharply criticized the recent recognition of a Palestinian state by several world leaders, calling it a “disgraceful capitulation” to terrorism as he prepared to depart for New York City to address the United Nations General Assembly. Netanyahu stressed that such recognition “will not bind Israel in any way” and vowed that a Palestinian state would not be established. His upcoming trip includes a Friday UNGA speech and a Monday meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump before returning to Israel Tuesday morning. Protests erupted at Ben-Gurion Airport as Netanyahu departed, with demonstrators opposing the war in Gaza, demanding the return of hostages, and objecting to the appointment of David Zini as Shin Bet chief. At the UNGA, Trump reinforced his stance against concessions to Hamas, while Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni tied potential Palestinian recognition to the release of Israeli hostages and exclusion of Hamas from power. Click here to read more.
