ICD Brief 117.
14.01.2019.-20.01.2019.
Greetings from a weary Washington. Our 117th mega edition brings you many examples of progress and growth in updates from 16 countries.
USA
How the Shutdown Is Doing Lasting Damage to National Security
The Atlantic – Carrie Cordero, Joshua A. Geltzer
“As the longest government shutdown in American history drags on, it’s not just hurting the morale of America’s federal workforce and the broader American economy. It’s hurting our national security. Some of the damage is already plainly apparent—but in four crucial ways, its harms will persist long after the government reopens.”
DNC: Target of Russia Cyberattack after 2018 Midterms
Politico Rebecca Morin and Eric Geller
“The Democratic National Committee filed a legal complaint Thursday night alleging that it was the target of a cyberattack by Russia one week after the 2018 midterm elections.”
VC Investments in Cybersecurity Hit Record Highs in 2018
Dark Reading Jai Vijayan
“But rate of funding appears unsustainable, according to Strategic Cyber Ventures.
Investors continued to pour money into the US cybersecurity market last year, as well as into several other countries, notably the UK, China, and Israel.
New data from Strategic Cyber Ventures shows that venture capital investments and average deal sizes involving cybersecurity firms both reached record highs in 2018.”
Federal News Network – Jason Miller
“Add a few more highly sought after skillsets to the ever-growing list of technology talents agencies need to build up. Along with cybersecurity, program management and data science, agencies now need employees who know about artificial intelligence, robotics automation and machine learning. Margie Graves, the deputy chief information officer of the government at the Office of Management and Budget, said the administration is looking far and wide for training and workforce development approaches agencies could borrow from to meet their needs today and in the future.”
Facebook Removes Propaganda Network Linked to Russian Media Group Sputnik
ZD Net Catalin Cimpanu for Zero Day
“Facebook removed today hundreds of pages and accounts that have been linked to employees of Sputnik, a news agency based in Moscow. The social network said the accounts engaged in political influence campaigns across the Baltics, Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Central and Eastern European countries.”
OPINION Chinese IP Sanctions and the Cybersecurity Dilemma
American Enterprise Institute – Claude Barfield
“In a recent blog, I noted that space limitations precluded adequate commentary on a recent Lawfare essay by Jack Goldsmith and Robert Williams, which argued that the “name and shame” policy pursued by both the Obama and Trump administrations had failed to deter Chinese economic espionage and the pilfering of vast amounts of confidential data. What follows is a more extended set of comments.”
Australia
Human Rights Watch Raises Concerns About Australian Cybersecurity and Surveillance Laws
News.com.au Charis Chang
“The latest Human Rights Watch report has raised concerns about proposed new laws in Australia to use facial recognition technology and read encrypted phone messages. In the World Report 2019, the organisation identifies significant human rights abuses in more than 90 countries and territories including Australia.”
Canada
MPs to Study How Canada Can Learn from “Digitally Advanced” Estonia
National Post Stuart Thomson
“Some members of parliament will be studying an age-old question this spring: how can Canada be more like Estonia? Since the fall of the Soviet Union, the tiny Baltic country has turbocharged its government services, becoming the first nation to allow citizens to vote online and offering a slew of amenities through a single digital portal. Wired Magazine even deemed the country “E-stonia, the world’s most digitally advanced society.”
China
China Steps Up Push to Nurture Cybersecurity Companies to Support Digitisation of Economy
South China Morning Post Jane Zhang
“China’s latest cybersecurity park in Beijing has signed up 10 new companies as the country ramps up efforts to develop a domestic cybersecurity industry.”
Denmark
New Strategy for Cybersecurity in the Danish Maritime Sector
“The Danish Ministry of Industry, Business and Financial Affairs has launched a new sectoral strategy for the shipping industry. The strategy is a part of the Danish government’s national strategy for cyber and information security.”
France
French defense chief touts offensive tack in new cyber strategy
Fifth Domain Christina Mackenzie
“PARIS — The French military plans to develop and deploy offensive cyber weapons and improve the protection of its networks from “security events,” Defense Minister Florence Parly announced here this morning.
“’ Today, France is choosing to procure cyber weapons for its military operations. We consider the cyber weapon as a full-fledged operational weapon,’ she said.”
Germany
Germany Considering Ways to Exclude Huawei from 5G Auction
Reuters
“The German government is actively considering stricter security requirements and other ways to exclude China’s Huawei Technologies [HWT.UL] from a buildout of fifth-generation (5G) mobile networks, the Handelsblatt newspaper reported.”
Hungary
Hungary’s Vulnerability to Cyber Attacks Up
“Hungary’s vulnerability to cyber-attacks increased in the fourth quarter of 2018 compared with the third quarter, according to a report by Moscow-based company Kaspersky Lab.”
Israel
High-tech’s Israeli military connection
Automotive News Europe
“The Israel Defense Forces aren’t intended to be a high-tech startup incubator. But the nation’s defense needs are spawning advanced technologies and components that are building blocks for future autonomous vehicles.
The IDF, as Israel’s military is known, is turning out entrepreneurs who are applying both their skills and business culture to automotive ventures, according to auto suppliers that are partnering with them. That culture includes an appetite for calculated risk, a habit of plain speaking, a network of trusted contacts, and a determination to bounce back after setbacks, according to interviews.”
India
India in Final Stages of Setting Up Defence Cyber Agency
The Economic Times
“India is setting up a cyber agency under the Integrated Defence Staff (IDS) to deal with potent threats in the cyber space, Lt Gen M M Naravane, GOC-in-C, Eastern Command, said Tuesday. “
India Saw World’s Largest Data Breach in 2018 Due to Lax Cybersecurity: WEF Report
The News Minute
“In India, the Aadhaar database reportedly suffered multiple breaches that potentially compromised the records of all 1.1 billion registered citizens, the report said.”
Iran
CNBC Kate Fazzini
“Iranian hackers have congregated since at least 2002 in online forums to share tips on the best ways to create successful cyberattacks. Those conversations have given birth to some of the most significant global cybersecurity incidents, including devastating attacks on Saudi Aramco, attacks against the public-facing websites of large banks and espionage campaigns on a wide range of Western targets, according to new research by cybersecurity intelligence firm Recorded Future.”
Russia
Behind Russia’s Cyberwarfare Lies a Serious Case of Cyber-Phobia
The Washington Post – Lincoln Pigman
“After two U.S. election cycles dominated by talk of the cyberthreat from Russia, many Americans see their democracy as deeply vulnerable to influence operationson social networks, as well as penetration of election infrastructure. With no satisfactory safeguard against foreign interference in place and the 2020 presidential election cycle fast approaching, these concerns are likely to persist. But Russia grapples with its own deep cyber insecurity. Notwithstanding their bold moves in cyberspace, Russia’s leaders have spent much of the last decade panicking about cyber tools and the prospect of falling victim to their use by foreign adversaries.”
Singapore
The Straits Times Irene Tham
“Singapore will intensify the use of technology to automate cyber security tasks such as the roll-out of software patches. Also, more security audits and drills will be carried out to sharpen public officers’ readiness to respond to cyber incidents. These new measures to shore up the cyber security of public sector systems were disclosed by Minister-in-charge of Cyber Security S. Iswaran in Parliament yesterday.”
South Korea
South Korea’s Weapon Servers Compromised by Unknown Hackers
ITPro Connor Jones
“The attack was just a small part of a large-scale campaign against the South Korean government. South Korea’s Ministry of Defence has announced that 10 of its critical systems holding information on the military’s weapon systems had been compromised by unknown hackers.”
UK
British Spy Network GCHQ Runs All-Female Classes to Recruit Women Hackers
The Independent Maya Oppenheim
“The GCHQ intelligence service has set up all-women classes in a bid to diversify recruitment for online security experts. Almost 90 per cent of the cyber-skills workforce worldwide is male, according to GCHQ’s cyber-defence arm, the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC).”