Our picksCOVID-19 & Ransomware | Cyber Reskilling | Russia Prepares for 2020 Interference, and more

Can China Use the Pandemic to Displace the U.S.? (Ali Wyne, Defense One)
Distrust of Beijing may be growing, but so too is alarm over Washington’s ineptitude.
As in the aftermath of the 2008 global financial crisis, many observers are speculating that the coronavirus pandemic will boost China’s global influence, and diminish that of the United States. It is not difficult to understand their reasoning – chief among them the incompetence and confusion which marked the Trump administration’s response.The U.S. response to the pandemic has gone from insouciance to incoherence, with the federal government and state governments increasingly clashing over how best to balance the imperatives of safeguarding public health and stimulating economic recovery. Perhaps most alarmingly, the United States struggled to provide its hardest-hit hospitals with personal protective equipment almost immediately after the virus breached its borders. Its domestic dysfunction deepens alongside its international abdication: the New York Times observed recently that “this is perhaps the first global crisis in more than a century where no one is even looking to the United States for leadership.”

FBI Warns of Secret Russian Interference in 2020 Elections (Lauren Theisen. New York Daily News)
The Department of Homeland Security and the FBI have warned states that Russia could try to interfere in the upcoming 2020 elections by secretly advising campaigns and candidates, an Associated Press report said on Monday. In a memo sent on Feb. 3, U.S. officials outlined eight potential tactics that Russia could use in the coming months, including what they call the “high” threat of a repeat of 2016, when Russian military hackers leaked emails stolen from the Clinton campaign.

German Authorities Charge Russian Hacker for 2015 Bundestag Hack (Catalin Cimpanu, ZDNet)
The same hacker was previously charged in the US in 2018 for hacking the DNC and WADA.

“Russian, Iranian and Chinese” Hackers Have Targeted COVID-19 Research Labs in U.S. and U.K. as Countries Race to Develop a Vaccine First (Alice Cachia, Daily Mail)
Agencies say criminals have been discovered trying to spy on healthcare bodies. The hacking campaigns comes after European leaders pledged to raise £6.5billion to help develop a coronavirus vaccine. The first country to do so will undoubtedly achieve huge geo-political influence. Dominic Raab admitted this afternoon that hacking attacks had taken place.

How COVID-19 Is Changing the Game on Ransomware (Derek B. Johnson, FCW) States, municipalities and critical infrastructure have borne the brunt of the ransomware, which historically has not been treated as a national security risk by federal policymakers until very recently. The financial pressures facing cities and states because of the coronavirus has changed this equation.

Cyber Reskilling Academy Attracts New Federal Security Pros (Gienna Shaw, FedTech)
The popular pilot program expands the government’s security capabilities and teaches workers new skills.

American Universities Must Stop Covering for the Chinese Community Party (R. Richard Geddes and Barry Strauss, National Review)
Too often, links to the Communist ideology supporting the Chinese regime’s pernicious actions are omitted in higher education.