Overnight Cybersecurity: Trump national security strategy calls out Russian cyber threat | Kaspersky sues over federal ban

2017年12月18日星期一

Overnight Cybersecurity: Trump national security strategy calls out Russian cyber threat | Kaspersky sues over federal ban | Surge in new malware

Welcome to OVERNIGHT CYBERSECURITY, your daily rundown of the biggest news in the world of hacking and data privacy. We're here to connect the dots as leaders in government, policy and industry try to counter the rise in cyber threats. What lies ahead for Congress, the administration and the latest company under siege? Whether you're a consumer, a techie or a D.C. lifer, we're here to give you ...

THE BIG STORIES:

--TRUMP STRATEGY CALLS OUT RUSSIA FOR 'OFFENSIVE CYBER': President Trump's formal national security strategy calls Russia out for waging "offensive cyber efforts to influence public opinion" in other countries, an apparent reference to Moscow's interference in the 2016 presidential election. The administration released the 55-page document Monday afternoon, shortly before Trump delivered remarks on the strategy in Washington. "Russia uses information operations as part of its offensive cyber efforts to influence public opinion across the globe," the document states. "Its influence campaigns blend covert intelligence operations and false online personas with state-funded media, third-party intermediaries, and paid social media users or 'trolls.'" The U.S. intelligence community has concluded that Russia sought to interfere in the election through cyberattacks and disinformation. Moscow's aim, according to U.S. officials, was to undermine democracy, damage Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and help Trump. Trump has at times appeared to cast doubt on the intelligence community's assessment, as special counsel Robert Mueller pursues an investigation into whether his campaign coordinated with Moscow. While the national security document does not mention Russian election meddling specifically, it appears to reference Russia's efforts at several points.

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--TRUMP MADE FEW MENTIONS OF CYBER DURING HIS REMARKS at the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington, D.C., Monday afternoon, but said: "We will develop ways to counter those who use new domains such as cyber and social media to attack our nation or threaten our society." The national security document lays out the administration's plan to defend national critical infrastructure and federal networks from cyberattacks, including by bolstering security of government systems, identifying and prioritizing risks to critical infrastructure, and imposing "swift and costly consequences" on actors who target the U.S. with cyberattacks. It also says that the administration will ramp up efforts to attribute and respond to malicious state and non-state cyber actors, including by enhancing cyber tools "across the spectrum of conflict."

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--KASPERSKY TO CHALLENGE HOMELAND SECURITY BAN IN COURT: Kaspersky Lab plans to file an appeal in federal court challenging the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) ban on government agencies using the company's software, founder Eugene Kaspersky revealed Monday. "One of the foundational principles enshrined in the U.S. Constitution, which I deeply respect, is due process: the opportunity to contest any evidence and defend oneself before the government takes adverse action," Kaspersky wrote in an open letter. DHS issued a binding directive in September banning federal agencies from using Kaspersky Lab products, citing the potential security threat that could come from working with the Moscow-based firm. The agency claimed the decision was based on "open source" data -- information already in the public view, like newspaper accounts and congressional hearings. There have been subsequent media reports of at least one Russian intelligence operation using Kaspersky antivirus software to identify and steal classified files. Kaspersky Lab said it plans to argue two key points about the DHS directive. First, that Kaspersky was not given enough time to contest allegations before a ban was issued. Second, that the open-source documents available at the time of the ban were based more on innuendo than a technical threat that Kaspersky could analyze and respond to.

President Trump recently signed the National Defense Authorization Act, which contained a provision barring agencies from using Kaspersky products. Even without the DHS directive, the Kaspersky ban would still be codified in law.

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A CAPITOL HILL UPDATE:

GOP LAWMAKERS ASK FOR PROBE OF HOUSE INTEL 'LEAKS': Republicans are calling on lawmakers to open an inquiry into the House Intelligence Committee after members of the press received "privileged information" that was leaked from a closed-door interview with Donald Trump Jr. earlier this month.

The interview was part of the committee's ongoing investigation into Russian interference in the election.

Reps. John Ratcliffe (R-Texas), Lee Zeldin (R-N.Y.) and Mia Love (R-Utah) sent a letter on Monday to Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) urging them to investigate the leaks. Their request comes one week after Trump Jr. asked the House Intelligence panel to investigate how information from his meeting on Dec. 6 made it into the hands of the press.

In their letter, the Republican lawmakers urged House leaders to remove any member of the Intelligence panel found to have violated committee rules, while also advocating for "appropriate disciplinary action" for staff members found leaking such information.

"Significant evidence that serious leaks have occurred in relation to the [House Intelligence Committee] investigation into alleged Russian meddling of the 2016 election must be immediately addressed," the trio said in a statement.

"Members or staff who may have violated rules by leaking sensitive information to the press or other outside entities must be promptly removed from this investigation and proper inquiries undertaken without delay," they urged, while underscoring the importance of the committee's "integrity" being preserved.

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A REPORT IN FOCUS:

Cybersecurity giant McAfee on Monday released its threat report covering the third quarter of 2017.

During the time period, the company counted 57.6 million new samples of malware, an all-time high and an increase of 10 percent over the previous quarter. This means that four new samples were created every second. The new variants increased the total count of malware in the company's sample database to 780 million. New variants of ransomware in particular rose by 36 percent.

According to the research, fileless malware that takes advantage of Microsoft PowerShell surged by a whopping 119 percent.

The company said that mobile malware in particular increased by 60 percent over the previous quarter, driven by an increase in ransomware targeting Android devices that blocks users from accessing their screens.

Raj Samani, McAfee's chief scientist, said that the latest research "revealed that attackers' threat designs continue to benefit from the dynamic, benign capabilities of platform technologies like PowerShell, a reliable recklessness on the part of individual phishing victims, and what seems to be an equally reliable failure of organizations to patch known vulnerabilities with available security updates."

"Although attackers will always seek ways to use newly developed innovations and established platforms against us, our industry perhaps faces a greater challenge in the effort to influence individuals and organizations away from becoming their own worst enemies," Samani said.

To read the full report, click here.

A LIGHTER CLICK: Still need holiday gifts? Vogue has a list of ideas for the tech lover in your family.

WHAT'S IN THE SPOTLIGHT:

FIRST-RESPONDER APP FLAWS: A pilot project launched by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has discovered critical flaws in 18 mobile applications used by public safety officials to respond to emergencies.

The department's Science and Technology Directorate established the program in order to test how vulnerable smartphone apps used in the public safety sector are to cyberattack, including ransomware and spyware, and whether certain apps have coding vulnerabilities that could compromise device security, expose sensitive data, or allow for spying.

DHS announced Monday that 32 of the 33 popular iOS and Android apps tested raised security and privacy concerns. The program turned up "critical flaws" in 18 of the apps, including some that made apps vulnerable to what are called "man-in-the-middle" attacks -- which occur when a hacker intercepts communications between two systems. The apps in question were not named or described.

The project was launched three months ago by DHS in partnership with the Association of Public Safety Communications Officials and Kryptowire, a mobile app vetting company.

DHS said that project participants have worked with developers to address security and privacy concerns in 14 of the applications.

To read the rest of our piece, click here.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

Links from our blog, The Hill, and around the Web.

Homeland Security, private sector launch election security group. (The Hill)

Hackers demand ransom for California voter database. (The Hill)

A new Android malware is capable of a broad array of attacks. (The Hill)

GOP chairman worried by Trump's stance on Russian interference. (The Hill)

Twitter launches hate speech crackdown. (The Hill)

OP-ED: Serious progress made on the Wassenaar Arrangement for global cybersecurity. (The Hill)

British security official says Russia poses increasing cyber threat. (Reuters)

A deep dive on the Pentagon's cyber operations against the Islamic State. (The Washington Post)