Insider espionage
An Army reservist who also is a New York City police officer has been charged with being an “intelligence asset” for China, monitoring the Tibetan independence movement in the U.S. Court files state that Tibetan expatriate Baimadajie Angwang worked for handlers at the Chinese consulate in New York. [node:read-more:link]
The director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Christopher Wray, has told a Senate committee that his plan to “impose risks and consequences on cyber adversaries” will involve closer cooperation with the broader intelligence community. He also cited a recent escalation of indictments against alleged cyber criminals, including some linked to the Chinese, Iranian and Russian governments. [node:read-more:link]
The Finnish telecom giant Nokia has contracted with British Telecom to provide 5G technology for BT’s “radio access network” as well as replacing its Chinese competitor, Huawei, in BT’s other networks. The government announced in July that all service providers would be prohibited from installing new Huawei technology next Jan. 1 and remove all existing installations by 2027 due to U.S.-driven national security concerns. [node:read-more:link]
The controversial advent of 5G technologies will dramatically increase the number of internet-connected devices but it also increases opportunities for hackers. The U.S. Government Accountability Office has found the government’s national 5G strategy lacking in that it only partly addresses five of six key concerns and ignores the sixth. [node:read-more:link]
Two European telecom service providers have chosen 5G technology from Finland’s Nokia Corp. for their networks in Belgium, dropping China’s Huawei. The decision followed months of diplomatic pressure from the U.S., which considers the Chinese technology a national security risk. [node:read-more:link]
The National Security Agency has issued an advisory that Chinese-connected adversaries are targeting vulnerable U.S. systems. “It can be hard to prioritize patching and mitigation efforts,” says NSA Cybersecurity Director Anne Neuberger. “While these vulnerabilities are already public, they’re still being successfully leveraged by malicious cyber actors,” highlighting the need for action. [node:read-more:link]
State-sponsored cyber activity by China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea pose the “greatest strategic threats” to Canada’s critical infrastructure, intellectual property and politics, according to the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security. In its latest threat assessment report, the agency within the Communications Security Establishment says the foreign cyber attacks are “almost certainly” continuing. [node:read-more:link]
The federal government’s use of polygraphs in security screenings has been questioned by the National Security and Intelligence Review Agency. It focuses in a new report on the Canadian Security Intelligence Service and the Communications Security Establishment, flagging limited oversight of polygraph use and warning that the tests could have “profound negative impacts on an employee's mental health if not used appropriately.” [node:read-more:link]
Former U.S. Navy analyst Jonathan Pollard, imprisoned in 1985 after pleading guilty to spying for Israel, has been welcomed to Tel Aviv by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Pollard was paroled in 2015 but prohibited from foreign travel for at least five years. Israel had granted him citizenship in 1995. [node:read-more:link]
Cameron Ortis, the former director general of the RCMP’s national intelligence centre, faces three more charges under the Security of Information Act. Relating to unauthorized communication of special operational information, they are in addition to the original charge in September that he was preparing to share sensitive information with a foreign entity or terrorist organization. [node:read-more:link]
Israel’s military has disclosed that it has foiled a move by Palestinian Hamas militants to hack into Israeli troops’ smartphones. It uncovered the plot several months ago but let it continue under surveillance until they shut it down. Dozens of troops were targeted by Hamas agents posing as young women, enabling them to download malware. [node:read-more:link]
Seven variants of a malware program associated with North Korea prompted the U.S. intelligence community to issue a warning 17 February to the public and private sectors. The “Hidden Cobra” program evidently includes a remote-access trojan which would enable hackers to upload and download files as well as monitor victims’ microphones, clipboards and screens. [node:read-more:link]
A former Defense Intelligence Agency analyst faces up to 10 years in prison for sharing classified information with two journalists in 2018. Henry Frese has pled guilty. One of the journalists was his girlfriend at the time, a national security reporter for the CNBC business network. [node:read-more:link]
A Chinese citizen has pleaded guilty to taking photographs of a U.S. Navy base in Florida. His arrest is similar to the cases of three other Chinese nationals caught photographing the base in Key West. [node:read-more:link]
Former Defence Minister and now Conservatives Party leadership contender Peter MacKay said 25 February that if he eventually was able to form a government, he would not permit Huwei 5G communications technology to be used in Canada. His statement, in which he also said Britain would eventually reverse its decision to permit limited 5G use, came during a wide-ranging interview. [node:read-more:link]
