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U.S. Offers Reward for Information on Russian DarkSide Cybercrime Group
The United States has announced a reward of up to $10 million for information leading to the identification or location of any individual holding a “key leadership” position in DarkSide, a cybercrime group believed to be tied to Russia.The DarkSide syndicate was behind the attack on Colonial Pipeline – the largest publicly disclosed cyberattack against critical infrastructure in the United States.
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Face Recognition Is So Toxic, Facebook Is Dumping It
Facebook’s decision to end its face-recognition program comes at a time when face recognition technology is receiving push back, criticisms, and legislative bans across the United States, and the globe.
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Government Action Needed to Ensure Insurance Against Major Hacking of Driverless Vehicles: Experts
Government action is needed so driverless vehicles can be insured against malicious hacks which could have potentially catastrophic consequences, experts say. Traditional vehicle insurance wouldn’t cover the mass hacking of driverless cars, and an incident like this could cost the industry tens of billions of pounds.
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U.S. Sanctions NSO Group, Israeli Maker of Pegasus Spyware
The U.S. authorities said the NSO Group’s spyware helped authoritarian governments “silence dissent.” The new measures will limit NSO Group’s access to U.S. components and technology.
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The Ripple Factor: Weather Extremes Amplify Economic Losses
Weather extremes can cause economic ripples along our supply chains. A new study shows that if they occur at roughly the same time the ripples start interacting and can amplify even if they occur at completely different places around the world.
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Hackers-for-Hire Drive Evolution of Threat Landscape
Cybersecurity threats are on the rise. The new edition of the ENISA Threat Landscape (ETL) highlights the surge in cybercriminality motivated by monetization using ransomware or cryptojacking. Supply-chains attacks also rank highly among prime threats because of the significant potential they have in inducing catastrophic cascading effects.
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Targeted: Masterminds of Global Ransomware Attacks Against Critical Infrastructure
Twelve individuals who were wreaking havoc across the world with ransomware attacks against critical infrastructure have been targeted as the result of a law enforcement and judicial operation involving eight countries.
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Warning Issued Over the Unintended Consequences of Wind for Achieving Net Zero Targets
In the run-up to the COP26 global climate summit in Glasgow, an expert on geoengineering and energy transition highlights the need for joined up thinking if the U.K. is going to find the optimal use of the North Sea to achieve Net Zero targets.
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FCC Revokes China’s Telecom Rights to Operate in U.S.
The FCC on Tuesday revoked China’s Telecom rights to operate and provide services in the United States, and gave the company sixty days to terminate its operations. “Promoting national security is an integral part of the Commission’s responsibility to advance the public interest, and [Tuesday’s] action carries out that mission to safeguard the nation’s telecommunications infrastructure from potential security threats,” the FCC said.
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U.S. Tightens Export Controls on Items Used in Surveillance of Private Citizens, other Malicious Cyber Activities
The Commerce Department has released an interim final rule, establishing controls on the export, reexport, or transfer (in-country) of certain items that can be used for surveillance of private citizens or other malicious cyber activities.
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Piracy, Armed Robbery Incidents on the High Seas Decline, but Threats Remain
The first nine months of 2021 saw the lowest numbers of piracy and armed robbery incidents on the high seas since 1994. While the reduction of reported incidents is a welcome, the International Maritime Bureau warns that seafarers must remain vigilant as violence against crew remains high in many areas of the world.
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Growing the U.S. AI Workforce
A new policy brief Georgetown University’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology (CSET) addresses the need for a clearly defined artificial intelligence education and workforce policy.
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U.S. Leads Global Conference to Combat Ransomware Attacks
The White House is holding a two-day international conference starting Wednesday to combat ransomware computer attacks on business operations across the globe that cost companies, schools and health services an estimated $74 billion in damages last year.
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China’s Belt and Road Initiative: Profits, Not Development
A new study found that, during the pre-Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) era, China and the U.S. were overseas spending rivals. However, China is now outspending the U.S. and other major powers on a more than 2-to-1 basis. Beijing’s lending to low-income and middle-income countries is provided on less generous terms than loans from OECD-DAC and multilateral creditors.
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The Effect of Imports of Neodymium Magnets on U.S. National Security
The Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) has initiated an investigation to determine the effects on U.S. national security from imports of Neodymium-iron-boron (NdFeB) permanent magnets.
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The long view
Need for National Information Clearinghouse for Cybercrime Data, Categorization of Cybercrimes: Report
There is an acute need for the U.S. to address its lack of overall governance and coordination of cybercrime statistics. A new report recommends that relevant federal agencies create or designate a national information clearinghouse to draw information from multiple sources of cybercrime data and establish connections to assist in criminal investigations.
Trying to “Bring Back” Manufacturing Jobs Is a Fool’s Errand
Advocates of recent populist policies like to focus on the supposed demise of manufacturing that occurred after the 1970s, but that focus is misleading. The populists’ bleak economic narrative ignores the truth that the service sector has always been a major driver of America’s success, for decades, even more so than manufacturing. Trying to “bring back” manufacturing jobs, through harmful tariffs or other industrial policies, is destined to end badly for Americans. It makes about as much sense as trying to “bring back” all those farm jobs we had before the 1870s.
The Potential Impact of Seabed Mining on Critical Mineral Supply Chains and Global Geopolitics
The potential emergence of a seabed mining industry has important ramifications for the diversification of critical mineral supply chains, revenues for developing nations with substantial terrestrial mining sectors, and global geopolitics.
Are We Ready for a ‘DeepSeek for Bioweapons’?
Anthropic’s Claude 4 is a warning sign: AI that can help build bioweapons is coming, and could be widely available soon. Steven Adler writes that we need to be prepared for the consequences: “like a freely downloadable ‘DeepSeek for bioweapons,’ available across the internet, loadable to the computer of any amateur scientist who wishes to cause mass harm. With Anthropic’s Claude Opus 4 having finally triggered this level of safety risk, the clock is now ticking.”