Observers note that ISIS/ISIL (a.k.a. the Caliphate) conducts information operations, but that its more aggressive cyber capabilities remain obscure. There's little mystery about its information operations: ISIS's favored social media platform, "The Dawn of Glad Tidings," communicates messages like "We will drown you in blood" (without signs of cognitive dissonance).

ISIS's opponents in the Assad regime's camp deploy more familiar capabilities: they've long served up RAT (remote access Trojan) campaigns.

Schneier evaluates al Qaeda encryption software, along with recent stories about its provenance.

Nextgov reports that some US Nuclear Regulatory Commission personnel were apparently successfully phished. A foreign intelligence service is suspected, but there's no attribution yet.

Australian security services find evidence of snooping in the foreign minister's phone. Sources say they know which country did it, but for now they're not saying.

Reports of BND surveillance produce a strong reaction (as expected) from the Turkish government.

The Community Health data breach (disclosed, note, in an 8-k filing with the SEC) is a curious one. It has the look and feel of conventional (if sophisticated) cyber crime (as Radware notes), but Mandiant attributes it to "APT 18," a Chinese group that normally probes the defense and aerospace sectors (and that's been associated with the Chinese government, although Mandiant stops short of direct attribution). CrowdStrike calls the group "Dynamite Panda," if you're keeping score, and connects it to hacks directed against human rights groups and the chemical industry.

The Supervalu data breach investigation proceeds. Observers have begun calling it "another Target."