Our picksA risk analysis of Huawei 5G; immigration enforcement dominates DHS; Iranian cyber-espionage tools, and more
· A risk analysis of Huawei 5G
· America retains long-term national advantages over China
· Under Trump, immigration enforcement dominates Homeland Security mission
· Microsoft unveils two secret data centers built for classified government data
· Polluted water from Camp Fire is poisoning Paradise, Calif.
· Mueller Report reveals shocking new details about Trump, Russia, obstruction
· Mueller: Trump told his aides to interfere in the investigation, they just didn’t listen
· Mueller on obstruction: Evidence prevents “conclusively determining no criminal conduct occurred”
· Facebook bans British far-right groups and their leaders
· Source code of Iranian cyber-espionage tools leaked on Telegram
· Why a hacking operation by a proto-state in Ukraine could spell trouble for the U.S.
A risk analysis of Huawei 5G (Nicholas Weaver, Lawfare)
Telecommunications networks are special—they are designed to enable wiretapping. Mandates such as the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA) in the U.S. and similar requirements elsewhere effectively require that the network operator use equipment that contains surveillance hooks to answer government requests. The Greek government personally experienced the drawbacks inherent in this design when unknown parties compromised the Athens cellular network to spy on government officials.
Because of this, telecommunications companies and countries that upgrade their networks must consider the risk of wiretapping when deploying new cellular equipment. Right now, this calculation is playing out in the debate around whether the U.S. and others should use Huawei 5G equipment. There are effectively three options: use Huawei equipment, ban Huawei equipment or simply not upgrade to 5G.
America retains long-term national advantages over China (Ali Wyne, National Interest)
Washington increasingly appears to be preparing for an indefinite struggle against Beijing.
Under Trump, immigration enforcement dominates Homeland Security mission (Nick Miroff ,Shane Harris and Josh Dawsey, Washington Post)
Built on a hill in Southeast Washington, the new $5 billion headquarters of the Department of Homeland Security has a commanding view of the nation’s capital, a sentry post meant to symbolize DHS’s role as protector of the United States.
But as thousands of DHS employees relocate to the new campus this month, the agency’s mission is shifting under President Trump. Fixated on the surge in border crossings, Trump has been purging the department’s leadership.
The shake-up, critics say, has accelerated DHS’s transformation under Trump from an agency primarily focused on counterterrorism to one defined by its immigration enforcement efforts and increasingly embroiled in some of the White House’s most controversial initiatives.
Microsoft unveils two secret data centers built for classified government data (Frank Konkel, Defense One)
Microsoft is building data centers and expanding security capabilities to compete with Amazon to host sensitive government data.
Polluted water from Camp Fire is poisoning Paradise, Calif. (Tony Bizjak, The Sacramento Bee)
Weeks after the Camp Fire roared through Butte County last November, devouring entire towns, officials made an alarming find: The Paradise drinking water is now laced with benzene, a volatile compound linked to cancer.
