It’s been a dramatic week of emergencies. Privacy Shield shut down, Twitter down, Cloudflare down, Iran and China, a growing trend to move companies out of China and numerous others that I will leave for you to discover.
There’s a sampling below.

We lost two great men yesterday. Here’s a brief celebration of their lives.
America lost two civil rights icons in less than 24 hours, Rep John Lewis and Rev. C.T. Vivian Bloomberg 1:43

• EMERGENCY DIRECTIVE (ED 20-03) WINDOWS DNS SERVER VULNERABILITY
• FBI investigates Twitter attack on high-profile celebrities
• Cloudflare DNS goes down, taking a large piece of the internet with it
• Canadian minister promises review after security contracts
• awarded to Chinese-state tech company
• Defying U.S., China and Iran Near Trade and Military Partnership
• EU court kills Privacy Shield, wreaks havoc on digital economy
• Iranian Spies Accidentally Leaked Videos of Themselves Hacking
• Japan to Pay at Least $536 Million for Companies to Leave China
• UK and allies expose Russian attacks on coronavirus vaccine development
• 4 Steps to Prevent Ransomware Attacks (Contributed)

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Cloudflare DNS goes down, taking a large piece of the internet with it
Tech Crunch, Devin Coldewey
“’This afternoon we saw an outage across some parts of our network. It was not as a result of an attack,’ the company said in a statement. ‘It appears a router on our global backbone announced bad routes and caused some portions of the network to not be available. We believe we have addressed the root cause and monitoring systems for stability now. We will share more shortly—we have a team writing an update as we speak.’” Blog report

EMERGENCY DIRECTIVE (ED 20-03) WINDOWS DNS SERVER VULNERABILITY
CIS0A, Christopher C. Krebs, Director
“The last few weeks have been something else, indeed. CISA and our cybersecurity partners have responded to several major vulnerabilities such as Trek TCP/IP (Ripple 20), F5 BIG-IP Traffic Management User Interface (CVE-2020-5902), SAP, and now Microsoft Windows Server. Each of these presents its own unique risks, and our team has worked to amplify awareness of them throughout the cybersecurity community.
However, due to the wide prevalence of Windows Server in civilian Executive Branch agencies, I’ve determined that immediate action is necessary, and federal departments and agencies need to take this remote code execution vulnerability in Windows Server’s Domain Name System (DNS) particularly seriously.”

FBI investigates Twitter attack on high-profile celebrities
OpenAccess Government
“The FBI stated on Thursday (16 July) that it has launched an investigation into the cyberattack after twitter accounts belonging to Kim Kardashian West, Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Elon Musk, Bill Gates, and Kanye West were accessed by hackers to use them to solicit digital currency.”

Bipartisan Members and Experts Agree that H.R. 7331, the National Cyber Director Act, is Essential to Protecting National Security
House Committee on Oversight and Reform
“Washington, D.C. (July 15, 2020)—Today, Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney, the Chairwoman of the Committee of Oversight and Reform, held a hearing to examine U.S. cybersecurity preparedness and the bipartisan H.R. 7331, the National Cyber Director Act, which would create the position of a National Cyber Director to lead national-level coordination of cyber strategy and policy.”

Navy cyber security experts say they plan to deploy shipboard cyber defenses aboard 180 ships by next year
Military and Aerospace Electronics via Defense News
“Delivering cyber baselines enables Navy experts to identify capability risks during a ship’s availability or scheduled modernization.”

AFRICA

Massive Rise in Cybersecurity Awareness Across Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa
IT News Africa, Jenna Delport
“Nearly two thirds (66%) of remote workers in Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa say they are more conscious of their organisation’s cybersecurity policies since the lockdown began – according to a new study from Trend Micro.”

AUSTRALIA

AUSTRALIAN SUPPLY CHAINS COULD SHIFT AWAY FROM CHINA, BUT WILL THEY MOVE ONSHORE?
AU Manufacturing
“Ellie Vaisman, co-founder at Sourci, says there’s a definite trend for medium- and large-sized businesses to shift manufacturing out of China. ‘We’ve actually been helping quite a lot of businesses to diversify their supply chain into countries such as India, which is a really good emerging manufacturing economy, as well as Vietnam and Indonesia as well,’ he tells @AuManufacturing.”

CANADA

Canadian minister promises review after security contracts awarded to Chinese-state tech company
Global News, Sam Cooper & Andrew Russell
“Nuctech, a high-tech company connected to former Chinese president Hu Jintao, has been awarded sensitive contracts in Canada”

Ottawa in talks with Lloyd’s of London for insurance partnership to withstand ‘black swan’ events
Financial Post, Barbara Shecter
“The Canadian government is interested in an “exploratory discussion” with the Lloyd’s of London about creating a public-private insurance partnership to help withstand systemic risks to the economy from “black swan” events such as the coronavirus pandemic, says John Neal, chief executive of the U.K.-based global insurer.”

CHINA

Defying U.S., China and Iran Near Trade and Military Partnership
New York Times, Farnaz Fassihi and Steven Lee Myers
“The investment and security pact would vastly extend China’s influence in the Middle East, throwing Iran an economic lifeline and creating new flash points with the United States.”

EUROPEAN UNION

EU court kills Privacy Shield, wreaks havoc on digital economy
SCMedia, Teri Robinson
“Factoring into the decision by the European Court of Justice is the jumble of state privacy laws currently governing personal data.

The EU court decision in the Schrems II case that effectively kills the Privacy Shield pact hammered out four years ago between the U.S. and EU could cripple multinational companies’ ability to operate as they scramble to scrutinize their data transfer mechanisms.”

ENISA unveils its New Strategy towards a Trusted and Cyber Secure Europe
ENISA

IRAN

Iranian Spies Accidentally Leaked Videos of Themselves Hacking
Wired, Andy Greenberg
“ IBM’s X-Force security team obtained five hours of APT35 hacking operations, showing exactly how the group steals data from email accounts—and who it’s targeting.”

ISRAEL

Cyber attacks again hit Israel’s water system, shutting agricultural pumps
Times of Israel TOI STAFF
“Two cyber attacks were carried out against Israeli water infrastructure in recent weeks, the Ynet news site reported late Thursday. The Water Authority confirmed the report, but said no damage was done to Israel’s water system.”

JAPAN

Japan to Pay at Least $536 Million for Companies to Leave China
Bloomberg
“Fifty-seven companies including privately-held facemask-maker Iris Ohyama Inc. and Sharp Corp. will receive a total of 57.4 billion yen ($536 million) in subsidies from the government, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said Friday. Another 30 firms will receive money to move manufacturing to Vietnam, Myanmar, Thailand and other Southeast Asian nations, according to a separate announcement, which didn’t provide details on the amount of compensation.”

NORTH MACEDONIA

North Macedonia Probes Election Day Cyber Attacks
BalkanInsight, Bojan Stojkovski
The state electoral commission website is still reeling from a cyber attack on Wednesday’s election day and is not yet functioning properly.

“’It is not clear whether the [SEC] website was tested to withstand a large amount of connections for a short period of time, and whether it had the necessary DDoS protection,’ cyber-security engineer Milan Popov told BIRN on Friday.”

PAKISTAN

Pakistani InfoSec researchers to debut at DEFCON Hacking Conference
PtProfit,Babar Khan Javed
“Two top-ranked ethical hackers from Pakistan have been invited to speak at the world’s largest hacker convention.”

CYBER TALENT GAP

Make $100,000/Year By Filling The Cyber Skills Gap
Forbes, Christos Makridis
“A groundbreaking new report by Emsi finds that the United States has less than half the cybersecurity candidates that it needs to handle increasing demand. In other words, help wanted!

While some cities exhibit a bigger gap than others—with Washington DC touting the largest gap—in nearly every case, demand outstrips supply.”

UNITED KINGDOM

UK and allies expose Russian attacks on coronavirus vaccine development
“The NCSC assesses that APT29, also named “the Dukes” or “Cozy Bear” almost certainly operate as part of Russian intelligence services. This assessment is also supported by partners at the Canadian Communication Security Establishment (CSE), the US Department for Homeland Security (DHS) Cybersecurity Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and the National Security Agency (NSA).”

Start-Up That Detects Fake News Raises £2.5m To Prepare For US Elections
BusinessUpNorth
“Logically – a tech start-up using AI to detect misinformation and to provide a fact-checking service to combat fake news – has raised £2.5m to further develop its product in time for the US election.”

OPINION

4 Steps to Prevent Ransomware Attacks (Contributed)
GovTech
Samuel S. Visner is the director of the National Cybersecurity Federally Funded Research and Development Center, operated by MITRE. He is also a professor of cybersecurity policy, operations, and technology at Georgetown University. The opinion expressed is the author’s and does not necessarily reflect the views of MITRE.

“While COVID-19 has made continuity of public services more critical than ever, it has also made them more vulnerable. A few guidelines can help organizations prepare for and prevent ransomware incidents.

City officials in Florence, Ala., recently found themselves between a rock and a hard place when confronted by a ransomware attack that disrupted the city’s email systems and led to a continuing network outage. Paying ransoms can undermine public trust in the government to protect its citizens and ensure their quality of life. But, as Florence Mayor Steve Holt noted, not paying could jeopardize citizens’ personal and financial data.

Florence, unfortunately, is not alone in having to respond to and recover from these kinds of attacks. And the dangers are even greater now as ransomware attackers are making urgent demands of the state and local

In spite of the obvious, I hope that your week has gone well. Our 189^th edition reflects a malaise of rancor and division across our world with a few upbeat stories. Here’s a sampling:

• How the US steamrolled Chinese tech giant out of Five Eyes
• Canada Not Joining U.S. In Warning Against TikTok, Bill Blair’s Office Says
• Hong Kong security law: Police handed power to do warrantless searches, freeze assets, intercept comms, control internet
• Risk for Cyberattacks Heightened as Remote Work Continues
• Cyber Researchers Determine How to Accurately Pinpoint Malicious Drone Operators
• China Is NATO’s New Problem
• UK Cyber Startups Raise Almost £500m During First Half of 2020
• There’s a Fake News Pandemic. Could COVID-19 and Trademarks be the Cure?

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

House’s DHS funding bill would create public-private cyber center
FCW, By Derek B. Johnson
“The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency would receive a hefty budget increase and establish a joint cybersecurity center under a new $56 billion Homeland Security funding bill crafted by the House Appropriations Committee.

The bill would set aside $2.25 billion for CISA operations, about $239 million above 2020 spending levels and nearly half a billion more than the agency requested. Approximately $11.6 million would go toward establishing a new Joint Cyber Center for National Cyber Defense.”

How the US steamrolled Chinese tech giant out of Five Eyes
Brisbane Times Eryk Bagshaw
“Huawei has lost the anglosphere. The telecommunications giant that came to symbolise China’s economic rise and the risks of its unique brand of state-linked corporations will no longer have a role in building Britain’s 5G network or that of any Five Eyes partner.”

One in 2 Companies Unable to Cope with Remote Work Security Risks
Security Boulevard, by Filip Truta on July 10, 2020
“Half of infosec professionals in a recent Bitdefender study revealed that their organization doesn’t have a contingency plan in place, or didn’t know if they did, for a situation like COVID-19 or a similar scenario.”

Biden campaign hires ex-White House official Chris DeRusha as CISO
Cyberscoop, Sean Lyngaas
“Biden’s campaign said Friday it had hired Chris DeRusha, who served as a White House cybersecurity adviser when Biden was vice president, as the campaign’s chief information security officer. “

CANADA

Canada Not Joining U.S. In Warning Against TikTok, Bill Blair’s Office Says
Huffpost, By Althia Raj
“OTTAWA — The Canadian government is not warning against downloads of the popular Chinese app TikTok, Public Safety Minister Bill Blair’s office confirmed Tuesday, though the United States is telling its citizens using the platform means they’re handing their private data over to the Chinese Communist Party.”

FRANCE

France won’t ban Huawei, but encouraging 5G telcos to avoid it: report
“PARIS (Reuters) – The head of the French cybersecurity agency ANSSI said there would not be a total ban on using equipment from Huawei in the rollout of the French 5G telecoms network, but that it was pushing French telcos to avoid switching to the Chinese company.”

Airbus to Maintain French Navy’s Coastal Surveillance Systems
DefenseWorld
“The French Navy has renewed the maintenance contract of its Coastal Surveillance System, SPATIONAV, with Airbus.
The SPATIONAV system has been built under the supervision of the DGA (French General Armament Directorate) for the program direction and the SSF (Service de Soutien de la Flotte) for the sustainment, to support the French authorities gather information, direct maritime surveillance and intervention at sea. ”

HONG KONG

Hong Kong security law: Police handed power to do warrantless searches, freeze assets, intercept comms, control internet
Hong Kong Free Press, KELLY HO
“Hong Kong police will be authorised to conduct searches at private properties without a warrant, restrict suspects’ movements, freeze their assets, intercept communications and require internet service providers to remove information, as the city’s leader handed more powers to the force for implementing the new national security law.”

INSURANCE ADVISORY

Risk for Cyberattacks Heightened as Remote Work Continues
PlanSponsor, AMANDA UMPIERREZ
“To drive the urgency home, lawsuits alleging cyberfraud negligence have been on the rise—MandMarblestone Group (MMG), Nationwide, Abbott Laboratories, Alight Solutions and Estee Lauder have all faced litigation in the past year.”

IRAN

Israel’s alleged Natanz strike ‘as complex as Stuxnet,’ a major blow to Iran
Times of Israel
“Blast at centrifuge assembly facility may have set back development by 2 years, experts tell the NY Times, with series of strikes causing ‘extreme internal and external pressure’”

ISRAEL

Cyber Researchers Determine How to Accurately Pinpoint Malicious Drone Operators
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
“Researchers at BGU have determined how to pinpoint the location of a drone operator who may be operating maliciously or harmfully near airports or protected airspace by analyzing the flight path of the drone.”

LITHUANIA

Lithuania’s central bank is releasing LBCOIN ⁠— its blockchain-based digital collector coin
The Block, Yogita Khatri
“The Bank of Lithuania, the country’s central bank, is set to issue LBCOIN ⁠— its blockchain-based digital collector coin — on July 23.”

NATO

China Is NATO’s New Problem
Foreign Policy, BY LAUREN SPERANZA
“The alliance has been so focused on Moscow that it has missed Beijing’s growing clout across Europe.”

NIGERIA

Nigerian Instagram Star Extradited to U.S. Over Role in Cybercrime Schemes
Security Week, Ionut Arghire
“A Nigerian national who has more than 2.5 million followers on Instagram, where he flaunts his lavish lifestyle, was extradited from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and appeared in court in the United States to face cybercrime-related charges.”

RUSSIA

Russian hacker found guilty for Dropbox, LinkedIn, and Formspring breaches
ZDNet, Catalin Cimpanu for Zero Day
“The jury verdict was passed on Friday during what was the first trial to be held in California since the onset of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.”

UNITED KINGDOM

UK Cyber Startups Raise Almost £500m During First Half of 2020
Infosecurity, James Coker
“UK cyber-startups have raised £496m in funding during the first half of 2020, already close to eclipsing the record £521m invested in these companies last year, according to the London Office for Rapid Cybersecurity Advancement (LORCA)’s new study, The LORCA Report 2020.”

FEATURE

There’s a Fake News Pandemic. Could COVID-19 and Trademarks be the Cure?
National Law Review, Rebeca Echevarria Harasimowicz
“As political divides widen, accusations of differing viewpoints being “fake news” have become almost commonplace. But during the COVID-19 pandemic, fake news has taken a more dangerous and sometimes deadly turn.

Fake news stories with fabricated COVID-19 data, sensational origin stories (it was NOT predicted by Nostradamus or created in a lab in China as a biological weapon), and baseless advice on how to protect against the illness are spreading almost as fast as the virus itself. “

Sent out today to wish you and yours a future of good health, safety and freedom on this US Independence Day! It’s been a dazzling week of interventions leading with a suspicious series of Iranian explosions and a historic multinational police hack of organized crime across Europe, the Middle East and beyond.

Here’s a sampling.

• Analysts: Fire at Iran nuclear site hit centrifuge facility
• How Police Secretly Took Over a Global Phone Network for Organized Crime
• ICD Co-Founder Richard Stiennon’s Interview on Encrochat
• SASC Pushes Cyber Overhaul In New NDAA
• US Cyber Command says foreign hackers will attempt to exploit new PAN-OS security bug
• Cybersecurity spending gets $1.35 billion boost in wake of online attacks against Australia
• ENISA Launches Public Consultation for First Candidate Cybersecurity Certification Scheme
• India TikTok Ban Threatens China’s Rise as Global Tech Power

GLOBAL

How Police Secretly Took Over a Global Phone Network for Organized Crime
Vice, joseph.cox@vice.com
“Police monitored a hundred million encrypted messages sent through Encrochat, a network used by career criminals to discuss drug deals, murders, and extortion plots.

French authorities had penetrated the Encrochat network, leveraged that access to install a technical tool in what appears to be a mass hacking operation, and had been quietly reading the users’ communications for months. Investigators then shared those messages with agencies around Europe.

Only now is the astonishing scale of the operation coming into focus: It represents one of the largest law enforcement infiltrations of a communications network predominantly used by criminals ever, with Encrochat users spreading beyond Europe to the Middle East and elsewhere. French, Dutch, and other European agencies monitored and investigated “more than a hundred million encrypted messages” sent between Encrochat users in real time, leading to arrests in the UK, Norway, Sweden, France, and the Netherlands, a team of international law enforcement agencies announced Thursday.”

ICD Co-Founder Richard Stiennon’s Interview on Encrochat
Richard Stiennon, Chief Research Analyst IT-Harvest, author.
“The Encrochat hack is one of the most astoundingly successful international law enforcement actions ever.“

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

SASC Pushes Cyber Overhaul In New NDAA
Breaking Defense, KELSEY ATHERTON
“ALBUQUERQUE: Sen. Angus King, co-chair of the Cyberspace Solarium Commission, thinks a cyber threat could be as dangerous — or worse — than the COVID-19 pandemic. The Senate Armed Services Committee is listening and has incorporated 11 of the commission’s recommendations in the 2021 NDAA, with another 18 ready to be introduced as amendments.”

US Cyber Command says foreign hackers will attempt to exploit new PAN-OS security bug
ZDNet, Catalin Cimpanu for Zero Day
“Palo Alto Networks disclosed today a major bug that lets hackers bypass authentication on its firewall and corporate VPN products.

Verizon Media, PayPal, Twitter Top Bug-Bounty Rankings
Threat Post, Tara Seals

California’s Big Privacy Law Gets Teeth
Consumer Reports, Kaveh Waddell
“Consumer Reports research shows that people trying to use the mandated controls often run into confusing red tape, and some ultimately give up on the process.”

AUSTRALIA

Cybersecurity spending gets $1.35 billion boost in wake of online attacks against Australia
ABC AU Jade Macmillan
“The Federal Government wants to create more than 500 new jobs in its highly secretive cyber intelligence agency as part of what it says is Australia’s largest-ever investment in cybersecurity.”

ELECTION SECURITY

Discussion: online voting is a long process that can start with voters abroad
Delfi.en
“French officials and Baltic experts debated France’s electoral case study, as the Lithuanian parliament considered diaspora’s internet voting bill this week, and France just completed the second round of municipal elections.”

EUROPEAN UNION

ENISA Launches Public Consultation for First Candidate Cybersecurity Certification Scheme
ENISA
“Today, the European Union Agency for Cybersecurity, ENISA, is launching a month-long public consultation for the first candidate cybersecurity certification scheme, the Common Criteria based European cybersecurity certification scheme (EUCC). The scheme aims to replace the existing schemes operating under the SOG-IS MRA for ICT products, to add new elements and to extend the scope to cover all EU Member States.”

FRANCE

Joint Press Statement of the French Minister of State for European Affairs and the Estonian Minister for Foreign Affairs (Tallinn, 1 Jul. 2020)
France Diplomacy Ministry of State for European Affairs
“At a moment when Europe is facing unprecedented challenges due to the pandemic of Covid-19, France and Estonia have decided to strengthen their cooperation in order to help Europe come out of this crisis united and stronger.”

INDIA

India TikTok Ban Threatens China’s Rise as Global Tech Power
Bloomberg
“China over the past decade built an alternate online reality where Google and Facebook barely exist. Now its own tech corporations, from Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. to Tencent Holdings Ltd., are getting a taste of what a shutout feels like.”

China’s Twitter-like service Weibo removes Modi’s account at the request of India
CNBC Arjun Kharpal

IRAN

Analysts: Fire at Iran nuclear site hit centrifuge facility
Federal News Network, By The Associated Press
“DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A fire and an explosion struck a centrifuge production plant above Iran’s underground Natanz nuclear enrichment facility early Thursday, analysts said, one of the most-tightly guarded sites in all of the Islamic Republic after earlier acts of sabotage there.

Satellite photos show an explosion last Friday that rattled Iran’s capital came from an area in its eastern mountains that analysts believe hides an underground tunnel system and missile production sites. Iran has blamed the blast on a gas leak in what it describes a “public area.”

Another explosion from a gas leak at a medical clinic in northern Tehran killed 19 people Tuesday.”

NATO

Siemens and NATO CCDCOE announce cooperation on cybersecurity for critical infrastructure
Automation.com
“With the new agreement, the parties advance their existing cooperation on cyber security training for power grids.

Colonel Jaak Tarien, Director of the NATO CCDCOE said: ‘Our long-term cooperation with Siemens in training the cyber experts to protect critical infrastructure in general and power grids in particular has been a major asset for the NATO CCDCOE technical cyber defence exercises.’”

SOUTH AFRICA

South Africa’s Postbank Replaces 12 Million Bank Cards After Internal Security Breach Exposes Master Key
CPO Magazine BYRON MÜHLBERG
“Postbank, the South African Post Office Bank, has suffered a major internal security breach, serving to underscore the ever-present threat of insider data theft.”

UNITED KINGDOM

Met police commissioner Dame Cressida Dick said the raids hit organised crime ‘where it hurts most’.

Hundreds arrested as crime chat network cracked
BBC, Danny Shaw
“A top-secret communications system used by criminals to trade drugs and guns has been “successfully penetrated”, says the National Crime Agency.

The NCA worked with forces across Europe on the UK’s “biggest and most significant” law enforcement operation.
Major crime figures were among over 800 Europe-wide arrests after messages on EncroChat were intercepted and decoded.

More than two tonnes of drugs, several dozen guns and £54m in suspect cash have been seized, says the NCA.
While the NCA was part of the investigation, it was initiated and led by French and Dutch police, and also involved Europol – the EU agency for law enforcement cooperation.”

ICD Brief 142.

08.07.2019.-14.07.2019.

Greetings from London. I’ve been meeting with colleagues in Paris and London all week. Last year’s more proactive activities regarding threats and innovations are producing this week’s top news.

USA

Lawmakers, Experts See Combating Russian Disinformation as a “Battle”

“House Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.) is describing the fight against Russian efforts to spread disinformation on social media as a conflict that the U.S. has “got to win.” The Hill

Joint Chiefs Nominee Wants to Boost Information Warfare

“The White House nominee to be the Pentagon’s top uniformed official said the Department of Defense needs to improve its non-kinetic capabilities.” C4isrnet

The Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board Signals It Will Investigate NSA Surveillance, Facial Recognition, and Terror Watchlists Electronic Frontier Foundation

“After a long dormant stretch, the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board (PCLOB) has signaled it’s ready to tackle another big review of government surveillance and overreach. The PCLOB, an independent agency in the executive branch, last published a 2014 report on warrantless surveillance of the Internet by the U.S. intelligence community. While EFF welcomes the PCLOB’s efforts to bring oversight and transparency to the most controversial surveillance programs, we’ve disagreed with some of the Board’s findings, particularly on surveillance under FISA Section 702. So while it’s a good sign that the board is turning its attention to other major issues, its mixed history means it may be a little too soon to get your hopes up.”

Mayors Pass Resolution Against Paying Ransomware Ransoms

“Baltimore Mayor Jack Young announced on Wednesday that the U.S. Conference of Mayors has passed a resolution calling on cities not to pay ransom to hackers who have taken over government computer systems through cyberattacks.” Statescoop

Mozilla Blocks UAE Bid to Become an Internet Security Guardian after Hacking Reports Reuters

“Firefox browser maker Mozilla is blocking the United Arab Emirates’ government from serving as one of its internet security gatekeepers, citing Reuters reports on a UAE cyber espionage program.”

Small Business Cybersecurity Assistance Act Offers Training, Tools, and Resources SmallBizGenius

“If the Small Business Cybersecurity Assistance Act makes it through the Congress, U.S. small businesses will gain access to top-notch cybersecurity training, consulting, tools, and resources developed by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).”

NASCIO Endorses State and Local Government Cybersecurity Act

“The National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO) announced today that it endorsed S. 1846, the State and Local Government Cybersecurity Act of 2019.” Meritalk

New ISA Global Cybersecurity Alliance Accelerates Education, Readiness, and Knowledge Sharing ISA

“The International Society of Automation (ISA), developer of ANSI/ISA 62443 series of automation and control systems cybersecurity standards (adopted by the International Electrotechnical Commission and endorsed by the United Nations), has created an open, collaborative forum to advance cybersecurity awareness, readiness, and knowledge sharing.”

Australia

Defence Gives Penten AU$2.2m to Up Australian Army’s Cyber Capability ZDNET

“Under the deal, Penten will develop technology that seeks to enhance the Australian Army’s capacity to send communications over unsecured networks. A statement from Minister for Defence Industry Melissa Price said funding has also been provided to help the Canberra-based startup develop a cyber-management capability and enhance security countermeasures.”

Baltics/Estonia

RIA Urges Residents to Pay Greater Attention to Data Protection

“In a press release published after reports that data security flaws have allowed outsiders to get access to the data of customers of some Estonian retailers and service providers, the Information System Authority (RIA) urged all individuals and businesses to take a serious approach to data protection.” Baltic Times

China

Second Chinese Cybersecurity Centre Opens in Brussels

“China’s ZTE is opening a cybersecurity centre in Brussels, four months after a similar move by Huawei. ZTE said in a press release that its “lab” will be installed “in the political and administrative heart of the European Union.” Brussels Times

EU

Massive Fines in Travel and Hospitality Illustrate Investments in Cyber Security Are Risk Management Strategies TechZone360

“The EU imposed record fines this week on British Airways and Marriott, in fact the largest fines under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) which is just over one year old.”

ICD Brief 141.

01.07.2019.-07.07.2019.

Greetings from Dulles. This may be a two week edition as I am headed to Paris and London and ports beyond on business and pleasure.

Each week’s brief is a mixture of “intent” and “execution”. This year those intentions are more specific and much more likely to move towards implementation. Witness, today’s edition emanating from Washington, Canberra, Tallinn, Brasilia, Ottawa, Beijing, Brussels, Berlin, Budapest, New Delhi, Jakarta, Tel Aviv, Tokyo, Singapore, and London.