Iran promised retaliation after a US airstrike in the outskirts of Baghdad early today killed Iranian Major General Qassem Soleimani, commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard's Quds Force. One of Soleimani's principal collaborators, Iraqi militia commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, was also killed. Reuters cites US sources as saying the strike was intended to disrupt further plans by militia aligned with Iran to attack US targets, including the US embassy in Iraq. Iranian operations against US assets and interests have long been asymmetric and, despite recent rocket and mob attacks, are likely to remain so. Observers expect an increase in cyber conflict, and the Telegraph takes a look at the current state of Tehran’s capabilities.
Taiwan’s government has adopted a rumor-control program that appears to be enjoying some success, the Wall Street Journal reports, against Chinese disinformation campaigns mounted against the island republic’s elections.
Travelex, a major London-based international currency exchange, is still working to restore online services after finding what it called a “software virus” in its systems on New Year’s Eve. The exchange is still able to conduct in-person transactions manually, and it has reassured customers that no personal data were compromised.
Little new is known about the attack on RavnAir, but apparently maintenance software specific to the airline group's Dash 8 twin-turboprop aircraft was affected. It's publicly unknown how or why the incident occurred, but the Register quotes speculation that this may have been a ransomware attack.
British businesses feel the effects of California's CCPA, SC Magazine reports.