Trump Admin Seeking Global Cyber Dominance

Posted on August 16, 2018August 16, 2018 by Denise Simon

Finally!

Archivo:Presidential-policy-directive 20.pdf - Wikipedia ...

President Trump signed an order that reverses the classified rules and cyber processes from the Obama administration, known as IVE PPD 20. It was signed in October 2012, and this directive supersedes National Security Presidential Directive NSPD-38. Integrating cyber tools with those of national security, the directive complements NSPD-54/Homeland Security Presidential Directive HSPD-23.

Per WikiPedia:

After the U.S. Senate failed to pass the Cybersecurity Act of 2012 that August,^[12] Presidential Policy Directive 20 (PPD-20) was signed in secret. The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) filed a Freedom of Information Request to see it, but the NSA would not comply.^[13] Some details were reported in November 2012.^[14] The Washington Post wrote that PPD-20, “is the most extensive White House effort to date to wrestle with what constitutes an ‘offensive’ and a ‘defensive’ action in the rapidly evolving world of cyberwar and cyberterrorism.”^[14] The following January,^[15] the Obama administration released a ten-point factsheet.^[16]

On June 7, 2013, PPD-20 became public.^[15] Released by Edward Snowden and posted by The Guardian,^[15] it is part of the 2013 Mass Surveillance Disclosures. While the U.S. factsheet claims PPD-20 acts within the law and is, “consistent with the values that we promote domestically and internationally as we have previously articulated in the International Strategy for Cyberspace”,^[16] it doesn’t reveal cyber operations in the directive.^[15]

Snowden’s disclosure called attention to passages noting cyberwarfare policy and its possible consequences.^[15]^[17] The directive calls both defensive and offensive measures as Defensive Cyber Effects Operations (DCEO) and Offensive Cyber Effects Operations (OCEO), respectively.

President Trump has taken this action to aid not only the military, but it would work to deter foreign actors, impede election influence and apply new penalties for violations. There have been high worries by officials due to electric utilities and the brute cyber attacks.

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Some lawmakers have raised questions in recent months about whether U.S. Cyber Command, the chief agency responsible for conducting offensive cyber missions, has been limited in its ability to respond to alleged Russian efforts to interfere in U.S. elections due to layers of bureaucratic hurdles.

The policy applies to the Defense Department as well as other federal agencies, the administration official said, while declining to specify which specific agencies would be affected. John Bolton, Mr. Trump’s national security adviser, began an effort to remove the Obama directive when he arrived at the White House in April, the official said.

As designed, the Obama policy required U.S. agencies to gain approval for offensive operations from an array of stakeholders across the federal government, in part to avoid interfering with existing operations such as digital espionage.

Critics for years have seen Presidential Policy Directive 20 as a particular source of inertia, arguing that it handicaps or prevents important operations by involving too many federal agencies in potential attack plans. But some current and former U.S. officials have expressed concern that removing or replacing the order could sow further uncertainty about what offensive cyber operations are allowed.

One former senior U.S. official who worked on cybersecurity issues said there were also concerns that Mr. Trump’s decision will grant the military new authority “which may allow them to have a domestic mission.”

The Obama directive, which replaced an earlier framework adopted during the George W. Bush administration, was “designed to ensure that all the appropriate equities got considered when you thought about doing an offensive cyber operation,” said Michael Daniel, who served as the White House cybersecurity coordinator during the Obama administration. “The idea that this is a simple problem is a naive one.” More here from the WSJ.

Bomb Threat Ground Planes in Chile, Peru, Greece and Argentina

Posted on August 16, 2018August 16, 2018 by Denise Simon

Defense Secretary Mattis just happened to be in Chile.

Defense Secretary James N. Mattis highlights a joint agreement he signed on cooperation between the United States and Chile in cyber operations and protection of Chile’s cyber domain during a visit to Santiago, Chile, Aug. 16, 2018.

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Reported on the 9th: Mattis embarks Sunday, Aug. 12 on his first trip to South America while leading the Department of Defense.

The White House declared 2018 the “Year of the Americas,” and the Secretary’s trip underscores the Department’s strong defense ties with Brazil, Argentina, Chile and Colombia. These relationships are critical to a collaborative, prosperous and secure Western hemisphere.

Secretary Mattis will begin his trip in Brazil, where he will meet with senior officials and defense leaders. He will also speak at the Escola Superior de Guerra, the country’s war college, and visit the national monument to Brazilian service members killed in World War II.

Secretary Mattis will then visit Argentina, where he will meet with senior defense officials to discuss defense issues of mutual interest.

His third stop is Chile to exchange strategic perspectives with senior officials.

Secretary Mattis concludes his trip in Colombia, where he will meet members of the newly elected administration.

***

LIMA (Reuters) – A LATAM Airlines passenger plane that departed Lima for Santiago, Chile, on Thursday was forced to land at an airport in southern Peru due to a bomb threat received by Chilean authorities, Peru’s Transportation Ministry said.

No one was injured on LATAM flight 2369 and a team for deactivating explosives has been notified, the ministry said. “Right now the situation is under control,” it added in a statement on Twitter.

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On the island of Crete in Greece, a German Condor Airways passenger plane made an emergency landing at Chania airport over an alleged bomb threat on board, local media reported.

The aircraft with more than 270 passengers was en route from Egypt’s Hurghada to Duesseldorf, according to Skai broadcaster.

All passengers and 11 crew members safely left the plane after the landing. The reports of the bomb threat are being checked by the police.

Local military officials say the Boeing 757 jet was escorted to Chania airport by two Greek air force F-16 fighters scrambled after the pilot reported the threat, and landed without incident late Thursday.

The airport had been placed on a state of alert but that has since been lifted.

K2/Spice Overdoses, Sadly Very Common

Posted on August 16, 2018August 16, 2018 by Denise Simon

It is sold at convenience stores and costs $20-$50 per 3 grams. It is legal and is undetectable in drug tests.

It has a few names other than laced marijuana, such as K2, Spice, Genie, Mojo or Zohai. Head shops sell it as for the most part it is not regulated in the United States but is banned in most of Europe.

One K2 sample tests negative for Fentanyl as New Haven ...

Synthetic cannabinoid users report some effects similar to those produced by marijuana:

elevated mood
relaxation
altered perception—awareness of surrounding objects and conditions
symptoms of psychosis—delusional or disordered thinking detached from reality

Psychotic effects include:

extreme anxiety
confusion
paranoia—extreme and unreasonable distrust of others
hallucinations—sensations and images that seem real though they are not

People who have used synthetic cannabinoids and have been taken to emergency rooms have shown severe effects including:

rapid heart rate
vomiting
violent behavior
suicidal thoughts

More here

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Chinese manufacturers are shipping thousands of pounds synthetic chemicals into the U.S. to make dangerous recreational drugs – and it’s all legal.

The Drug Enforcement Agency and U.S. lawmakers are struggling to keep up with the influx of new, completely untested, compounds that Chinese chemists offer up online.

Websites for Chinese manufacturers advertise of host of chemical substances that can be bought legally by American citizens and shipped to the U.S.

The drugs go by street names like Spice, Bath Salts, Molly, Smiles and N-bomb. They are meant to mimic the effects of marijuana, cocaine, LSD and other banned substances. Many forms of these drugs were legal until only very recently. More here.

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More than 70 people overdosed in or around a historic Connecticut park near the Yale University campus on Wednesday after receiving what authorities believe was synthetic marijuana laced with the powerful opioid fentanyl. Although there have been no deaths, at least two people suffered life-threatening symptoms, according to authorities.

Connecticut Public Radio‘s Diane Orson reports that at least one person has been arrested in connection with the case.

“After 8:00 [a.m. Wednesday], we ended up with 12 victims in a 40-minute period. That caused us to respond with a multi-casualty incident,” New Haven Fire Chief John Alston said. “It brought out Yale New Haven Hospital, New Haven Police Department, Fire Department, [American Medical Response]. We also have representatives with the DEA here.”

Rick Fontana, the director of emergency operations for New Haven, told Connecticut Public Radio’s Tucker Ives that 72 people were transported to local hospitals while four patients refused treatment on scene, for a total of 76 cases.

“Only a few required admittance to the hospital, and most were discharged or left before any treatment,” Fontana told Ives.

Most of the overdoses occurred on the New Haven Green, a downtown park adjacent to Yale.

“We literally had people running around the Green providing treatment,” Fontana said Wednesday, according to The Associated Press.

“Do not come down to the Green and purchase this K2,” New Haven Police Chief Anthony Campbell told WVIT-TV. “It is taking people out very quickly, people having respiratory failure. Don’t put your life in harm.”

The AP reports, “Paramedics and police officers remained at the park all day as more people fell ill. Some became unconscious and others vomited, authorities said. Emergency responders rushed to one victim as officials were giving a news conference nearby late Wednesday morning.”

Connecticut Public Radio reports:

“[Fire Chief] Alston says the substance appears to be some type of synthetic cannabis, but authorities are not sure. Some of the victims were unconscious and in respiratory distress.

At first, the drug [naloxone] — used to treat narcotic overdoses — appeared not to work. ‘Narcan was not effective here at the scene,’ said Alston. ‘However higher concentrations of it in the emergency room proved effective.’

He says one of the victims still had some of the drug, which has been sent off to a lab for testing.”

The Hartford Courant said authorities had determined that patients had smoked the synthetic cannabinoid K-2 laced with fentanyl.

Officer David Hartman was quoted by the newspaper as saying the patients were being treated for overdose-related respiratory illnesses.

WVIT reports that the man arrested “is believed connected to at least some of the overdoses” and “had drugs on him at the time of his arrest, [but] has yet to be charged in any of the overdose cases.”

Gov. Dannel Malloy said Wednesday that the state Department of Public Health and the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services were assisting New Haven with the rash of overdoses.

“Today’s emergency is deeply troubling and illustrative of the very real and serious threat that illicit street drugs pose to health of individuals,” Malloy said, according to the Hartford Courant. “The substance behind these overdoses is highly dangerous and must be avoided.”

The AP notes, “New Haven first responders were called to a similar overdose outbreak on the Green on July 4, when more than a dozen people were sick from synthetic marijuana. The city also saw more than a dozen synthetic marijuana overdoses in late January. No deaths were reported in either outbreak.”

The latest incident in Connecticut comes as new preliminary estimates on 2017 overdose deaths were released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The CDC said a record 72,000 Americans died last year because of drug overdose — about 10 percent higher than previous figures. It said major causes of the increase in deaths are the growing number of people using opioids and the increased potency of the drugs themselves.

30,000 ISIS Fighters is Not Defeat

Posted on August 14, 2018August 14, 2018 by Denise Simon

Army Col. Sean Ryan, the spokesman for Operation Inherent Resolve, spoke to Pentagon reporters about progress being made against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. He spoke via satellite from Baghdad.

photo

“In Iraq, operations continue to secure areas across the country, as Iraq security forces locate, identify and destroying ISIS remnants,” Ryan said. “Last week alone, … operations across Iraq have resulted in the arrest of more than 50 suspected terrorists and the removal of 500 pounds of improvised explosive devices.”

Progress in Iraq’s Anbar Province

Iraqi forces are moving in Anbar province, in the Hamrin Mountains and Samarra. Reconstruction efforts are ongoing with roads reopening in the north. Iraqi engineers “cleaned the main road between Salahuddin and Samarra of IEDs, making travel safer between the two cities,” he said.

In the Baghdad area, the ISF established central service coordination cells, a program designed to use military resources to enable local communities to restore basic infrastructure and services. “Initial efforts by the coordination cells include trash collection, road openings, maintenance of water facilities,” Ryan said.

Syrian Democratic Forces are preparing for the final assault on ISIS in the Middle Euphrates River Valley. The SDF is reinforcing checkpoints and refining blocking positions ahead of clearance operations in Hajin, Ryan said.

Military Operations, Reconstruction in Syria

In Syria, too, reconstruction efforts go hand in hand with military operations. “In Raqqa, the internal security forces have destroyed more than 30 caches containing 500 pounds of explosives discovered during the clearance operations in the past weeks,” the colonel said.

ISIS remains a concern in both countries, the colonel said. “Make no mistake: The coalition is not talking victory or taking our foot off the gas in working with our partners,” he said.

Defeating ISIS, he said, will require a long-term effort.

“We cannot emphasize enough that the threat of losing the gains we have made is real, especially if we are not able to give the people a viable alternative to the ISIS problem,” Ryan said. “We continue to call on the international community to step up and ensure that conditions that gave rise to ISIS no longer exist in both Syria and Iraq.”

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(UNITED NATIONS) — The Islamic State extremist group has up to 30,000 members roughly equally distributed between Syria and Iraq and its global network poses a rising threat — as does al-Qaeda, which is much stronger in places, a United Nations report says.

The report by U.N. experts circulated Monday said that despite the defeat of IS in Iraq and most of Syria, it is likely that a reduced “covert version” of the militant group’s “core” will survive in both countries, with significant affiliated supporters in Afghanistan, Libya, Southeast Asia and West Africa.

The experts said al-Qaeda’s global network also “continues to show resilience,” with its affiliates and allies much stronger than IS in some spots, including Somalia, Yemen, South Asia and Africa’s Sahel region.

Al-Qaeda’s leaders in Iran “have grown more prominent” and have been working with the extremist group’s top leader, Ayman al-Zawahri, “projecting his authority more effectively than he could previously” including on events in Syria, the experts said.

The report to the Security Council by experts monitoring sanctions against IS and al-Qaeda said the estimate of the current total IS membership in Iraq and Syria came from governments it did not identify. The estimate of between 20,000 and 30,000 members includes “a significant component of the many thousands of active foreign terrorist fighters,” it said.

While many IS fighters, planners and commanders have been killed in fighting, and many other fighters and supporters have left the immediate conflict zone, the experts said many still remain in the two countries — some engaged militarily “and others hiding out in sympathetic communities and urban areas.”

IS fighters swept into Iraq in the summer of 2014, taking control of nearly a third of the country. At the height of the group’s power its self-proclaimed caliphate stretched from the edges of Aleppo in Syria to just north of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad.

With its physical caliphate largely destroyed, the Islamic State movement is transforming from a “proto-state” to a covert “terrorist” network, “a process that is most advanced in Iraq” because it still controls pockets in Syria, the report said.

The experts said the discipline imposed by IS remains intact and IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi “remains in authority” despite reports that he was injured.

“It is just more delegated than before, by necessity, to the wider network outside the conflict zone,” the experts said.

The flow of foreign fighters to IS in Syria and Iraq has come to a halt, they said, but “the reverse flow, although slower than expected, remains a serious challenge.”

While the rate of terrorist attacks has fallen in Europe, the experts said some governments “assess that the underlying drivers of terrorism are all present and perhaps more acute than ever before.” This suggests that any reduction in attacks is likely to be temporary until IS recovers and reorganizes and al-Qaeda “increases its international terrorist activity or other organizations emerge in the terrorist arena,” they said.

The experts looked at the threats posed by IS and al-Qaeda by region:

—ARABIAN PENINSULA: Al-Qaida’s leaders recognize Yemen “as a venue for guerrilla-style attacks and a hub for regional operations.” Yemen’s lack of a strong central government “has provided a fertile environment for al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.” Its strength inside Yemen is estimated at between 6,000 and 7,000, compared with only 250 to 500 IS members in the conflict-wracked country.

—NORTH AFRICA: Despite the loss to IS of the Libyan city of Sirte and continued airstrikes, the extremist group “still has the capacity to launch significant attacks within Libya and across the border, reverting to asymmetric tactics and improvised explosive devises.” Estimates of IS members vary between 3,000 and 4,000, dispersed across Libya. Up to 1,000 fighters in Egypt’s Sinai peninsula have pledged allegiance to IS leader al-Baghdadi. Al-Qaeda is also continuing a resurgence in Libya.

—WEST AFRICA: An al-Qaeda-affiliated coalition has increased attacks on French, U.S., U.N. and other international interests in the Sahel. Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb has urged attacks on French private companies. The Islamic State in the Greater Sahara is active mostly at the Mali-Niger border and has less of a footprint. “Member states assess that terrorists are taking advantage of territorial control and ethnic conflicts to radicalize populations.”

—EAST AFRICA: The al-Shabab extremist group in Somalia, an al-Qaeda affiliate, “remains the dominant terrorist group” in that country, with improvised explosive devices “its weapon of choice.” Despite sustained military action against al-Shabab, “the group has enhanced its capabilities as it retains its influence and appeal.” Member states said IS in Somalia “is fragile and operationally weak,” but “it still presents a threat” because the country remains a focus for possible future operations.

—EUROPE: During the first six months of 2018, “the threat in Europe remained high” but “the tempo of attacks and disrupted plots was lower than during the same period in 2017.” Much activity involved individuals with no prior security records or deemed low risk. IS used the media to urge sympathizers in Europe to conduct attacks in their home countries. Member states expressed concern that returnees could disseminate knowledge and skills related to making drones, explosive devices and car bombs.

—CENTRAL AND SOUTH ASIA: According to an unidentified U.N. member state, IS poses an immediate threat in the region but al-Qaida is the “intellectually stronger group” and poses a longer-term threat. Some leaders of the al-Qaida “core,” including al-Zawahiri and Osama bin Laden’s son, Hamza, are reported to be in Afghanistan-Pakistan border areas. IS continues to relocate some key operatives to Afghanistan. One unidentified government reported newly arrived IS fighters from Algeria, France, Russia, Tunisia and central Asian states.

—SOUTHEAST ASIA: Despite last year’s heavy losses in the Philippines, IS affiliates in the country “are cash rich and growing in membership.” Intermediaries facilitated financial transfers from the IS “core” to Philippines affiliates and arranged bomb-making and firearms training for recruits from Indonesia at camps in the Philippines. Attacks in Indonesia by an IS-linked network using families as suicide bombers could become “a troubling precedent.”

Boy, 11, Hacks into Replica U.S. Vote Website in Minutes

Posted on August 14, 2018August 14, 2018 by Denise Simon

(Reuters) – An 11-year-old boy managed to hack into a replica of Florida’s election results website in 10 minutes and change names and tallies during a hackers convention, organizers said, stoking concerns about security ahead of nationwide votes.

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The boy was the quickest of 35 children, ages 6 to 17, who all eventually hacked into copies of the websites of six swing states during the three-day Def Con security convention over the weekend, the event said on Twitter on Tuesday.

The event was meant to test the strength of U.S. election infrastructure and details of the vulnerabilities would be passed onto the states, it added.

The National Association of Secretaries of State – who are responsible for tallying votes – said it welcomed the convention’s efforts. But it said the actual systems used by states would have additional protections.

“It would be extremely difficult to replicate these systems since many states utilize unique networks and custom-built databases with new and updated security protocols,” the association said.

The hacking demonstration came as concerns swirl about election system vulnerabilities before mid-term state and federal elections.

U.S President Donald Trump’s national security team warned two weeks ago that Russia had launched “pervasive” efforts to interfere in the November polls.

Participants at the convention changed party names and added as many as 12 billion votes to candidates, the event said.

“Candidate names were changed to ‘Bob Da Builder’ and ‘Richard Nixon’s head’,” the convention tweeted.

The convention linked to what it said was the Twitter account of the winning boy – named there as Emmett Brewer from Austin, Texas.

A screenshot posted on the account showed he had managed to change the name of the winning candidate on the replica Florida website to his own and gave himself billions of votes.

The convention’s “Voting Village” also aimed to expose security issues in other systems such as digital poll books and memory-card readers.

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Mark Earley, the elections supervisor in Leon County who is a cybersecurity liaison between state and local officials, questioned how outsiders could obtain the security protocols used by Florida if they weren’t already behind the system’s firewalls. He said that all this “hacking noise” and “misinformation plays into the hands of the folks who are trying to undermine democracy.”

Jeff Kosseff, a lawyer and assistant professor at the United States Naval Academy Cyber Studies Department, said states are struggling with election security threats. He said they should work with outsiders in order to see if there are flaws in their systems.

“All states should look at this as a wake-up call,” Kosseff said. “What were the shortcomings identified and how they can fix it. I don’t think it should be an adversarial.”