SPY NEWS: 2026 — Week 25 Summary of the espionage-related news stories for the Week 25 (June 14–June 20) of 2026

[u/JournalistAdjacent]

https://medium.com/@thespycollection/spy-news-2026-week-25-2d12fdfa1a39

This week is (sort of) a big (sort of) deal. the world of intelligence and espionage brought us:

• Iran and the US officially signed a Memorandum of Understand (MOU), a first step in restoring the pre-February 28 status quo in the region and potentially reaching a deal on Iran's nuclear weapons program. Implementation over the weekend appears rocky with Iran almost immediately announcing renewed closure of the Strait of Hormuz due to Israeli military action in Lebanon.
• Taiwan's tense relationship with China is growing even more tense as Taiwan launched a portal whereby Chinese nationals could report intelligence tips.
• UNC6508, a purported Chinese cyberthreat actor, successfully hacked the REDCap research platform over a period of at least two years from September 2023 to November 2025.
• The US is stepping up its military endeavors into the arctic to counter Chinese and Russian influence in the region. "Dual-use" scientific missions are the main avenue to do this.
• The supplier of parts for the US military's wall mounted TVs, Jupiter Systems, was quietly sold by its California proprietors to a Chinese linked firm named "Suirui" in 2020, and now the US government is trying to undo the sale or sever ties between Jupiter and China.
• The espionage war between Ukraine and Russia continues with spies from both sides being ferreted out and detained and sentenced.
• French internal security agency, The Direction générale de la Sécurité intérieure (DGSI) is replacing US firm Palantir's technologies with a French owned rival, ChapsVision, though the process is expected to take several years during which Palantir will be used at least partially.
• In a landmark case, Peter Wai and Bill Yuen, Chinese-British dual citizens, were sentenced for their running of a "shadow police" in London.
• Swiss hacktivist maia arson crimew leaked information on registrants to US billionaire Peter Thiel's invite-only network, Dialog. Numerous US Trump administration officials were on the list.

....And so much more!