Category Archives: trump administration

Here’s what John Bolton had to say about cybersecurity policy in his new book

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In his new book, former national security adviser John Bolton says that squabbling amongst Trump administration officials hobbled the White House’s efforts to issue new policies that shaped the U.S. government’s offensive and defense cyber-operations. The book, “The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir,” which CyberScoop obtained, provides an insider’s view of the U.S. government’s largely secretive approach to revamping cyber policy in the last two years. Aside from cyber-operations, Bolton paints President Donald Trump as preoccupied and angered by cybersecurity-related issues, as well as all too willing to use hacking to prop up his political goals in negotiations with China and Ukraine. “We needed to do two things: first, we needed a Trump Administration cyber strategy, and second, we needed to scrap the Obama-era [offensive cyber-operations] rules and replace them with a more agile, expeditious decision-making structure,” Bolton writes of his time negotiating new policies with national security and intelligence officials in 2018. […]

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Gamaredon, a hacking group with a fixation on Ukraine, deploys new email compromise tools

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A Russian-speaking espionage group has been using new email hacking tools in a multi-month campaign intended to infiltrate unidentified government organizations, according to new research. The group, known as Gamaredon, has spent the last six months inundating the organizations with spearphishing emails and not bothering to cover their tracks, the Slovak anti-virus company ESET said Thursday. The researchers declined to name the government targeted. But historically, Gamaredon is one of multiple Russia-linked groups that has spied on Ukrainian government and corporate officials. And they are one of the more conspicuous ones. “They make no effort to stay under the radar,” Jean-Ian Boutin, ESET’s head of threat research, told CyberScoop. “One hypothesis is that they are doing that to create a state of constant dread in their targets.” One of the hacking tools uses a victim’s Microsoft Outlook account to send spearphishing messages to people in their contact address book. Another tool injects malicious code into Microsoft Office documents. The […]

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UK cyber agency launches review of Huawei presence in 5G networks

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The United Kingdom’s cybersecurity agency is reviewing the impact that new U.S. sanctions on Chinese telecommunications company Huawei could have on Britain’s deployment of 5G technology. The review by the National Cyber Security Centre is welcome news for U.S. officials who have lobbied their U.K. counterparts to ban Huawei gear out of concerns over espionage. And it’s a potential change of fate for Huawei’s business in the U.K. after officials decided in January to allow the telecom giant’s equipment in up to 35% of the country’s 5G deployments — albeit not in the most sensitive parts of those networks. “Following the U.S. announcement of additional sanctions against Huawei, the NCSC is looking carefully at any impact they could have to the U.K.’s networks,” the NCSC said in a statement to CyberScoop on Tuesday. “The security and resilience of our networks is of paramount importance.” Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s office, according […]

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Huawei sues FCC for icing U.S. business, claiming a lack of evidence

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Huawei is suing the Federal Communications Commission over a measure passed last month that limits the Chinese telecommunication firm’s ability to conduct business in the U.S. The suit, filed in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, which has jurisdiction over Huawei’s headquarters in Texas, involves the FCC’s recent decision to designate Huawei as a security risk. It blocks U.S. firms from using government subsidies to purchase Huawei equipment. The suit alleges the U.S. government flouted Huawei’s due process rights, and represents the $107 billion company’s latest effort against a Trump administration effort to isolate Huawei from the construction of 5G cellular infrastructure. “The FCC claims that Huawei is a security threat, but FCC Chairman Ajit Pai has not provided any evidence,” Song Liuping, Huawei’s chief legal officer said Thursday during a press conference in Shenzhen, China, according to The New York Times. The FCC did not return a request for comment. The suit against the FCC demonstrates how Huawei increasingly […]

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Federal cyber chief: Supply chain security against foreign influence needs work

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Although the U.S. government is working to prevent foreign telecommunications firms like Huawei from building 5G networks in the U.S. and abroad, there are still few answers on how to secure the government’s technology supply chain, according to federal Chief Information Security Officer Grant Schneider. “Could [a company] come under the influence of a foreign adversary in any way shape or form? Is there quality where we need it to be? … How do we ensure their supply chain and the parts that they’re taking in and putting inside their box are actually the parts they’re expecting?” Schneider said at the Fortinet Security Summit, produced by FedScoop and StateScoop. “I don’t think we have an answer on what are the solutions to all those [questions.]” The administration also isn’t clear yet on whether the government itself should be assessing which contractors are meeting requirements, or whether that assessment should be completed elsewhere, according to Schneider. “As we look at […]

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Trump’s national security adviser warns Canadians against Huawei 5G tech

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A top White House official warned Canadians this weekend against allowing China-based Huawei to help in building out Canada’s next generation 5G telecommunications networks. “The technology allows China to put together profiles of the most intimate details, intimate personal details, of every single man, woman and child in China,” President Donald Trump’s national security adviser, Robert O’Brien, said at the Halifax International Security Forum, according to CBC News. “When they get Huawei into Canada or other Western countries, they’re going to know every health record, every banking record, every social media post; they’re going to know everything about every single Canadian,” O’Brien said. Given that China has a law that would require Chinese companies to yield to Chinese intelligence agencies’ requests, the Trump administration and lawmakers are concerned that Beijing could use Huawei and other Chinese-based companies for spying. O’Brien threatened that Canadian-U.S. intelligence-sharing could be affected if Canada goes through […]

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Citing security concerns, senators call on White House to appoint coordinator for 5G issues

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A bipartisan group of senators wants the Trump administration to appoint a top official to coordinate policy for issues related to 5G communications, saying the current marketplace for the technology poses an “unprecedented security challenge” to the U.S. and its allies. “China’s leadership [in 5G], combined with the United States’ increased reliance on high-speed, reliable telecommunications services to facilitate both commerce and defense, poses a strategic risk for the country,” the senators wrote Tuesday to White House national security adviser Robert O’Brien, advising him to tap a senior official to coordinate 5G policy across federal agencies. The chairman and ranking member of Senate committees dealing with intelligence, foreign relations, defense and homeland security all signed the letter. U.S. officials have long fretted that Chinese telecommunications companies like Huawei are in prime position to shape 5G deployments around the world. Those networks, which promise must faster connectivity, would be ripe for Chinese […]

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Sen. Menendez questions Twitter about former employees spying for Saudi Arabia

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Sen. Bob Menendez has a lot of questions for Twitter and the Trump Administration after the Justice Department charged two former Twitter employees with spying on behalf of Saudi Arabia. Menendez, a New Jersey Democrat who serves as ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has written two letters, one to State Department officials and another to Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, asking for details on how Saudi Arabia was able to exploit an American company’s internal systems for its own goals. He also wants to know what Twitter, and the Trump Administration, are doing about it. “As we know from the brutal murder of Jamal Khashoggi, Saudi officials carefully surveil social media for any critical voices,” Menendez wrote, referring to The Washington Post columnist who was an espionage target before he was murdered in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul last year. “However, these public charges reveal the extent to which Saudi Arabia is exploiting American companies […]

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U.S. officials release framework for notifying public of foreign interference in elections

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The Trump administration on Friday released a framework describing the process by which it would notify Congress, state and local officials, the private sector, and the public about foreign interference in U.S. elections. The framework supplements existing laws, under which the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security alert victims of cyber intrusions and other malicious activity. The document is recognition that, in cases of foreign attempts to disrupt the electoral process, more communication with the public is needed. One key factor in the notification process, according to a one-page summary released by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, is whether public disclosure of a foreign interference operation will deter the activity and protect the public, or instead re-amplify the adversary’s message. If DHS’s cybersecurity agency or a member of the intelligence community wants to disclose foreign interference activity beyond what is required by law, an interagency group of intelligence officials will […]

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FCC chair pitches rules to block Huawei, ZTE

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Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai revealed a proposal Monday that would bar U.S. communications companies from using federal subsidies to buy Huawei and ZTE equipment and services. It’s the latest push from the Trump administration to block Chinese-owned telecommunications equipment and services from being used in the U.S. due to national security concerns. Pai’s proposal would prevent communications companies from using the FCC’s $8.5 billion service fund, known as the Universal Service Fund, from buying equipment that poses a “national security threat” to the U.S. Pai specifically cites Huawei and ZTE. “We need to make sure our networks won’t harm our national security, threaten our economic security, or undermine our values. The Chinese government has shown repeatedly that it is willing to go to extraordinary lengths to do just that,” Pai said in a statement. “As the United States upgrades its networks to the next generation of wireless technologies — […]

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