Moroccan hacktivists hit Saratoga County (in upstate New York, USA) to protest Israeli actions in Gaza. The episode points to something genuine hacktivists share with physical-space demonstrators: it's more about the demonstration than the disruption.

That said, it's worth turning to the ongoing cyber conflict among Russia and its targets in the near abroad. Forbes warns of "false flag" attacks, and, while this is a useful reminder of the inherent difficulties of attack attribution in cyberspace (a difficulty cyber attacks share with terrorist actions), the attacks the article discusses aren't really false flag operations. State cyber operations do indeed use front groups, but true false flags seem less common than fronts or (internal) provocations.

The Turla cyber espionage campaign, generally attributed to Russia, continues to infest diplomatic networks, with particular attention devoted to former Soviet republics and Warsaw Pact alumni.

CyberVor prompts discussion of the ethics of disclosure and the packaging of security services.

Last week's Gamma International hack, which leaked information on the distribution and use of the FinFisher lawful intercept tool, remains in the news. One of those claiming responsibility for the hack (who's anonymous-with-a-small-a) says it was easy, and publishes a how-to guide to penetrating non-cooperating networks. (A DIY competitor of FinFisher, in a way.)

Microsoft is increasingly unwelcome in China (but IBM seems to be doing alright there). Huawei, in bad odor with the US, finds customers in Canada.

IBM announces acquisition of Lighthouse Security. Gemalto sees SafeNet as an encryption and authentication cloud security play.