Information operations continue to figure prominently in terrorist groups' use of the Internet, which is why disruptive cyberattacks by states belonging to the civilized world have such difficulty countering them. Another trend in terrorists' use of cyberspace is emerging in financing: cryptocurrencies are beginning to assume a more important role in bankrolling their operations.

Bloomberg reports that Russian probes of US electoral processes seem to have been more extensive than feared. Cozy and Fancy Bear between them may have prospected systems in as many as thirty-nine states, and they're expected to be back. The probes seemed to involve reconnaissance, but also attempts at voter registration data manipulation.

With respect to influence operations, Trend Micro is warning that fake-news-as-a-service is now available in online black markets. It's pricey, but payoff could be high—one service available for $400,000 offers election manipulation. How effective such services may be is so far anyone's guess.

Microsoft issued ninety-six patches yesterday, and in an unusual move reached back to fix WannaCry-related issues in the beyond-end-of-life Windows XP. Also unusual is Redmond's warning to expect exploitation by state-sponsored threat actors. Adobe pushed fixes for Shockwave and Flash.

In industry news, Verizon's Yahoo! acquisition has finally closed. Prevalent has bought Datum Security, and both Delta Risk and Trusona announce new funding rounds.

China's Communist Party is pushing that country's information regulation bodies to establish tighter control over the Internet.

The CrashOverride threat to electrical grids may be greater than at first thought. The story is developing rapidly.