Since February of last year when the Mandiant Report was released, China has been at the forefront of cyber security news. It has become apparent that the PRC is waging all-out economic warfare through the use of widespread cyber espionage, intellectual property theft and massive data-exfiltration operations. China has a long history of copy-cat behavior and convoluted laws regarding intellectual property rights which support their various motivations for engaging in cyber espionage. Although much of this activity has been attributed to the Comment Crew (also referred to as APT1 by Mandiant), there are several organizations within the PRC’s hierarchy that contribute to these cyber intelligence operations.

There is also a looming concern over the PRC’s rapid expansion of their cyber-warfare capabilities. China appears focused on using their advances in cyber to balance their disparity with the U.S.’s traditional military technology and to add an additional layer to their anti-access strategy. A more frightening prospect is a build-up of military strategy that supports preemptive cyber-attacks which could lead to a cyberwar between the U.S. and China. This scenario may seem unlikely, but the NSA claimes to have foiled several Chinese cyber-attack attempts and there are reports of other recent cyber-attacks against the U.S. power grid.

The U.S. is not the only country that is concerned with China’s cyber behavior. The U.K. has addressed the PRC’s cyber espionage and expressed concern over the intentions of China’s Huawei Telecommunications company. Other European countries have accused China of accessing their foreign ministries as well. Mongolia has managed to join China’s target list having received a recent barrage of attacks, most likely in response to Mongolia’s outreach to Western nations. However, China’s cyber-attacks are not focused entirely on foreign nations. One of China’s primary targets for offensive cyber action is it’s own Tibet Autonomous Region. Several reports state that Tibet has become ground-zero for Chinese hackers and cyber-attacks in the PRC’s hunt for political dissidents within the region.

The PRC is committed to denying allegations that their central government is behind these cyber-attack and cyber-espionage campaigns. Several authorities within the U.S. also have expressed doubts over the hype of cyber escalation between the U.S. and China. The Obama administration has taken steps to initiate talks between the U.S. and China for improving cyber security between the two nations. The mood remains tense, especially following the revelations of Edward Snowden, with China accusing the U.S. of maintaining a double-standard in its behavior. Despite a steep decline in Chinese cyber activity following the release of Mandiant Report, China is back on the offensive with a resurgence of cyber-espionage efforts. It will be interesting to see where things go from here.

– by Ben Volcsko, Research Assistant

Brazil is often known for its coastal beauty but sadly it should also be recognized for its prolific cyber security concerns. According to Symantec, Brazil is listed as number 7 on their list of countries with the biggest cybercrime problems. Despite investing significant amounts of money into cyber start-ups and establishing cooperative cyber security agreements with Argentina, India and Russia, Brazil is still struggling to overcome the persisting challenge that cyber-criminals present. On top of this, Brazil has recently taken a hardliner stance against the U.S. following the revelations of Edward Snowden. Brazil has actively supported the U.N.’s Cyberprivacy Agreement and begun taking steps to bypass the U.S.-operated underwater cable systems in order to reduce their dependence on who they now perceive to be false friends. It appears that Brazil, however, is focused on the wrong issues as they still need to overcome large numbers of internal banking Trojans and substantial gaps within their cyber security dynamics. Some experts even claim that Brazil’s current security posture is so poor that they are wide open to cyber-invasion. Brazil has also taken steps to introduce cloud technology into their government networks which could magnify problems in their current state. On a positive note, Brazil is now realizing that effective policy and law for responding to cybercrime is necessary. Hopefully Brazil will follow-up these legislative acts with improvements in their cyber security practices to provide some teeth for their new resolve.

For another recent summary of Brazil’s cyber security situation, check out the National Center for Digital Government’s whitepaper Brazil and the Fog of (Cyber) War.

– by Ben Volcsko, Research Assistant

The National Institute of Standards and Technology just released an article about how Quantum Physics might allow us to start using secure, single-use computer passwords.  There are a lot a wild claims that are circulating with our approach to full-scale quantum computing. Its hard to say if these claims will be realized or not, but one thing is for sure, we all need to prepare for the emergence of quantum.

– by Ben Volcsko, Research Assistant

Here is a write-up for one of cyber security’s most important contributors, Dr. John Arquilla.

Dr. John Arquilla is professor of defense analysis at the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School, author of Insurgents, Raiders, and Bandits: How Masters of Irregular Warfare Have Shaped Our World, and co-editor of Afghan Endgames: Strategy and Policy Choices for America’s Longest War. 

Dr. Arquilla’s work focuses primarily on the implications of the information revolution for military organization and doctrine. At the organizational level, his research identifies the network as the form most empowered by advances in information technology and explores the potential for redesigning hierarchies along more networked lines.

The policy relevance of this work can be seen in the growing emphasis on “network-centric” operations over the past decade, and in the emergence of two NETWARCOM entities, one within the Navy, the other a part of STRATCOM. At the doctrinal level, Arquilla’s research has identified the possibility of moving from more traditional forms of frontal and/or flanking attacks to omnidirectional assaults — i. e., “swarming.” A network comprised of many small cells and nodes is seen as being ideally suited to this doctrine — thus the connection between doctrinal innovation along these lines and organizational redesign.

Far from being limited to theory, swarming has been appearing in practice as a dominant doctrine in many conflicts over the past fifteen years — e.g., from the insurgent uses of swarms in the Russo-Chechen War of 1994-1996 to Iraq (especially in the 2004-2006 period), and in commando-style terrorist assaults like the one in Mumbai in the fall of 2008 and the more recent swarming attacks mounted in Kabul by Taliban teams.

Needless to say, both networks and swarming tactics have emerged in the virtual world as well, being on particular display in Estonia in 2007 and Georgia in 2008 — both cases apparently showcasing growing Russian expertise in cyberspace-based operations. In sum, Arquilla’s research invites and encourages careful reflection on the potential of“swarm networks” to become ever more salient in military and security affairs.

Selected list of Dr. Arquilla’s published articles:

• Cyber Fail
• In Defense of PRISM
• The Art of Snore
• The Last War Standing
• John Arquilla: Go on the Cyber Offensive
• Cyberwar is Coming!

You can follow Dr. Arquilla’s Foregin Policy “Voice” on FP online.

Chronology of Major Works:

• Afghan Endgames: Strategy and Policy Choices for America’s Longest War (2012).
• Insurgents, Raiders, and Bandits: How Masters of Irregular Warfare Have Shaped Our World (2011);
• Worst Enemy: The Reluctant Transformation of the American Military (2008)
• Information Strategy and Warfare (2007)
• The Reagan Imprint: Ideas in American Foreign Policy from the Collapse of Communism to the War on Terror(2006)
• Networks and Netwars: The Future of Terror, Crime, and Militancy (NDRI, 2001)
• In Athena’s Camp: Preparing for Conflict in the Information Age (RAND, 1997)
• From Troy to Entebbe: Special Operations in Ancient & Modern Times (1996)
• The Advent of Netwar (RAND, 1996)
• Dubious Battles: Aggression, Defeat and the International System (1992)

– by Ben Volcsko, Research Assistant

Just in time for your holiday shopping, we are pleased to announce the Highlands Group 2013 Reading List.

Each year the Highlands Group present a list of books that we would like to call to your attention as being noteworthy.  We hope that you will find a book on this list to enjoy and spend time with over the holidays or when you are on travel.  This year we have a robust stocking full of twenty-one books, including two works of fiction, covering a wide range of topics.

Our panel of distinguished guest reviewers for 2013 includes Lawrence Wright, Pulitzer Prize-winning author for his book, The Looming Tower; Peter Ho, the former Singaporean Secretary of Defence and Secretary of Foreign Affairs; Melanie Greenberg, CEO of the Alliance for Peacebuilding; George Dyson, author and historian of technology; Richard Bookstaber, economist and author;  Bob Belden, Grammy-winning jazz composer, arranger and musician; and Ann Pendleton-Jullian, author, architect, and designer.

DARPA, as expected, is coming up with many new and inventive ways of trying to rethink the cyber security challenges that DOD is plagued with. First they have developed a series of free computer and mobile app based games that, while seemingly innocuous, are actually providing algorithms for solving basic programming vulnerabilities. DARPA is also looking to shift the established system of cyberwarfare practices residing predominantly in the hands of technical experts to a mass-production type operation. This transition project is detailed in Wired’s article This Pentagon Project Makes Cyberwar as Easy as Angry Birds. Bob Dylan was right, “the times they are a-changin”.

– by Ben Volcsko, Research Assistant

NASA developed an advanced robot known as Valkyrie that competed in DARPA’s 2013 Robotics Challenge Trial. DARPA hosted the robot challenge at the Florida’s Homestead Miami Speedway this past December. Eight teams were selected to participate in a series of trials that were focused on displaying whether each team’s robot could react to common disaster response situations. Sadly, NASA’s Valkyrie performed poorly compared to its peers, being blown out of the water by the Japanese designed robot SCHAFT. The end goal of DARPA is to promote the advancement of robotics technology and lead interested companies to produce functional automatons that can serve the public good. While this goal is worthy of praise, is this new frontier of technology not also rifled with potential vulnerabilities? Not to wear out my Terminator references, but its seems like Skynet is a definite possibility…

– by Ben Volcsko, Research Assistant

Wickr’s Nico Sell has disclosed in a PCMag article that she was approached by the FBI at a security conference, and that an agent casually asked if she would be willing to install a backdoor for them in her company’s encrypted communication app. Sell refused, saying that even if the claims of the FBI are legitimate, “It was very clear that a backdoor for the good guys is  always a backdoor for the bad guys.”

Wickr’s laudable stance aside, the question remains as to how many other technology companies have been more forthcoming with granting access to state agencies. If an approach is made to every major app developer, how many of the apps on your phone can you trust? And if one is compromised, and has rights to read all information on the machine, is everything else likewise compromised?

As Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) continue to advance and play an ever growing role in modern warfare, could cyber vulnerabilities pose a potential pitfall? With drone technology rapidly advancing and allowing for the production of truly autonomous UAVs, concerns over these flying terminators being hacked become more legitimate. Here are a couple of articles to give you a little flavor on the topic. 1) Flying Hacker Contraption Hunts Other Drones, Turns Them Into Zombies, an article by Dan Gooding for Ars Technica released in December, discusses how “hacker drones” are being developed and tested to target and gain control of other UAVs. 2) Hacking the Drone War’s Secret History by Wired details how rudimentary programming and hacking skills can allow access to drone’s communication feeds. Having friendly drones falling into the control of opposition forces is a scary thought.

– by Ben Volcsko, Research Assistant