Global Cyber Bi-Weekly Report - June 1, 2016
ISRAEL
Israeli and Czech prime ministers discuss cyber security collaboration between the countries in the fourth Intergovernmental Consultations
The governments of the Czech Republic and the State of Israel held the fourth Intergovernmental Consultations chaired by prime ministers Bohuslav Sobotka of the Czech Republic and Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel. Prime Minister Netanyahu addressed the issue of cyber security in his speech, saying that, “The question of protecting this rapidly changing new world is one of our great challenges, but also one of our great opportunities. You [Prime Minister Sobotka] have sent a cyber attaché to your embassy here in Israel. I think, if I can say, this is a very wise decision and as you know, we are cooperating in this field, both government to government, but also companies to companies. And we welcome more of that. Cybersecurity will be a paramount issue, not in the future but right now. It’s already an enormously important field, and we welcome that cooperation.”
‘Smart car’ tech to get boost from American-Israeli collaboration
In the most recent agreement, American and Israel officials agreed last week to further collaborate on the development of autonomous automobile technologies, as well as the policies that will govern them. The two governments are embarking on an initiative to create an innovation center solely dedicated to developing self-driving car technologies. The $40 million facility, paid for equally by Israel and the United States, will employ eighty researchers, half Israeli and half American. The collaboration will include discussions on cyber security in autonomous and “connected” vehicles, as well as safe deployment of the cars onto roadways. Following US Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx’s last visit to Israel in November, the US DOT announced a partnership with Israeli company Mobileye, which is best known for inventing technology to alert drivers to roadway obstacles.
IMI Systems enters the field of cybersecurity with a weapon protection system
IMI, the Israeli defense company, has developed a passive buffer system for protecting computer-based systems and applications. The advanced and unique system is designed to protect computer-based and computer-controlled systems and applications (CBA) such as weapons and ammunition systems; computerized components of critical systems’ infrastructure; vehicles, aircraft, and watercraft (manned or unmanned); computerized components of life-saving systems’ infrastructure; and shop floors and industrial systems. The system provides full and continuous operational protection and is based on the ability to monitor and control traffic, commands and protocols between components and different formations in real time. The passive buffer is actually an operational control tool supervising the messages formation between various components of the protected system (protocols), ensuring a proper system’s operation in line with the system engineer’s definitions and without any deviation from the original structure’s operating logic and sequence order.
The passive buffer system is designed to manage and control the relevancy of commands and content against dysfunctions such as commands’ contents logic control, processes control and identification systems for users and UAT systems.
UNITED STATES
North Korea linked to digital attacks on global banks
Government officials in the United States and South Korea have blamed cyberattacks on North Korea, although they have not provided independent verification. Researchers working for the digital security firm Symantec said that in three recent attacks on banks, the thieves deployed a rare piece of code that had been seen in only two previous cases: the hacking attack at Sony Pictures in December 2014 and on attacks on banks and media companies in South Korea in 2013. Symantec researchers said they had uncovered evidence linking a cyberattack on a bank in the Philippines last October with attacks on Tien Phong Bank in Vietnam in December, and on the central bank of Bangladesh in February, resulting in the theft of more than $81 million.
Intel chief: Presidential campaigns under cyber attack
A senior US intelligence official said on May 18 that cyber hackers, possibly working for foreign governments, are trying to infiltrate the Democratic and Republican presidential campaigns. The Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Bureau of Investigation “are doing what they can to educate both campaigns against potential cyber threats,” James Clapper said at an event at the Bipartisan Policy Center. The threats come from a dizzying array of enemies, he said, from groups like Anonymous to nation states like Iran, which has attacked US banks and infiltrated the control system of a dam in New York.
International cybersecurity strategy: Deterring foreign threats and building global cyber norms
On May 25, Christopher M. E. Painter, US Department of State Coordinator for Cyber Issues appeared again before the Subcommittee on East Asia, the Pacific, and International Cybersecurity Policy to provide an update on key developments in US cyber foreign policy efforts to deter foreign threats and build global cyber norms.
EUROPE
France: French External Intelligence Service is looking for future code breakers
The French External Intelligence Service (DGSE) has recently sponsored a school competition for code breaking. According to a DGSE spokesman, the aim of this competition was to spread awareness about intelligence work as well as recruit future code breakers. Indeed, the French agency seeks to recruit highly-skilled young people in information technology and mathematics in order to break encryption systems as well as develop tracking and intelligence systems. The competition brought together around 18,000 people, with only thirty-eight reaching the finale. This competition comes at a time when France needs to increase its security staff. The rise of terrorist activities through social networks as well as the use of encrypted applications demand the recruitment of more people in order to track and intercept terrorist communications in addition to profiling them. Based on the British model, France is now trying to spread the culture of intelligence and is strongly investing in such events as well as cooperating with the private industry and the academic world. Cyber intelligence, which is the next generation of intelligence, is a challenge for every country involved in the war against terrorism and will probably be one of the best way to counter threats.
UK: Government plans cyber security center
As announced earlier this year, the UK government will set up a new National Cyber Security Center that will be operational in October 2016. According to the UK government, the objectives of the new National Cyber Security Center will be to address systemic vulnerabilities, reduce risks, respond to serious incidents, and nurture national cyber security capability. The NCSC will be based in London and lead by CEO Ciaran Martin, formerly director general of government and industry cyber security at the GCHQ intelligence agency. Furthermore, the NCSC will directly cooperate with other UK intelligence agencies in order to share information about national cyber threats. For the past ten years, the United Kingdom has been investing in its cyber defense whether it is to protect its critical infrastructures or prepare the nation for a future cyber war. The United Kingdom has become the leading cyber nation in Europe and has the biggest budget allocated to its cyber security. The United Kingdom is one of the most targeted countries in Europe as well as a major worldwide financial trading platform. Furthermore, the UK approach to cyber security is proactive as is it is one of the first countries in Europe to understand the real challenge posed by cyber threats and to adapt its defense accordingly.
RUSSIA
Russian and CIS engage in large joint cyber security exercise
The special services of the CIS countries have completed the first phase of the joint exercise “Cyber-Antiterror-2016,” according to news agency RIA Novosti, with reference to the press service of the Anti-Terrorist Center (ATC) of the CIS. During the training, participants discovered and detained cybercriminals in Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Russia, who intended to launch DDoS-attacks on a critical infrastructure facility located in Belarus.
ARAB COUNTRIES
Are Iran and Saudi Arabia in a cyber war?
The Islamic republic of Iran was cyberattacked on May 24. The attack originated in three different Arab countries, said Iran’s cyber police chief General Kamal Hadianfar. He also added that one of the three countries in question is believed to be its ultimate rival, Saudi Arabia. The hackers targeted the Statistical Center of Iran and the local cyber defense officials said they were not successful by any means. At the start, the Iranians thought that cyber activists of the Islamic State (IS) were part of the act. It seems like the cyberattack on Iran had launched what may look like some sort of cyber conflict between the two nations. A few days after the authorities in Iran spotted and counter the attack, a couple of Saudi statistical websites were cyberattacked.
Qatar is becoming the leader in the use of managed security services for cyber defense
According to a global survey entitled “Don’t Wait: The Evolution of Proactive Threat Hunting,”
Qatar is one of the leading countries in choosing a proactive approach to cyber threats rather than a reactive approach. In fact, Middle Eastern companies are always in search of the next step in cyber security – proactive threat-hunting, in which cyber defenders seek to stop threats before they do damage. Qatar and other Middle Eastern countries like Saudi Arabia, Oman, and others, plan to use managed security services in the next year, and are leading North America, Europe or the Asia Pacific region in their use.
Iran cyber police claim Saudi Arabia is behind hacking of government website
According to Iran’s cyber police, Iran has traced those who hacked the Statistical Center of Iran. Based on the police report, the governmental website was hacked from IP addresses in three Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia. However, according to the head of Iran’s Civil Defense Organization, Brigadier General Gholam Reza Jalali, the hackers were not successful in obtaining any sensitive and or classified information. In response, just a day after the reports about the breach emerged, hackers targeted two Saudi statistics websites. While no one claimed responsibility for the attacks, social media was filled with speculation about the attack being organized in retaliation for the hacking of Iran’s Statistics Center.
CHINA and ASIA PACIFIC
North Korea allegedly behind attacks on Asian banks
According to a report by US security company Symantec, North Korea could be behind a series of cyber attacks on Asian banks. The hackers who were responsible for stealing $81 million from the Bangladesh central bank earlier this year have now targeted a Philippine bank. Symantec said it had evidence that the attackers used the same piece of malicious code for the heists and attempted heists in Bangladesh, the Philippines and Vietnam. This piece of code also seemed to be used in the Sony Pictures hack in 2014. US intelligence officials then had blamed North Korea for the act, even though North Korea has denied all responsibilities.
Cyber espionage attacks on Indian government
The software security company Kaspersky has claimed that computers of government officials in India were compromised earlier this year. An alleged Chinese cyber espionage group managed to hack email accounts from Indian’s Cabinet Secretariat, ministries of external affairs and IT, in addition to sending emails with malicious attachments from accounts of the Cabinet Secretariat. When these attachments are opened, a backdoor is installed, subsequently providing the hacker group with access to the infected machine so they can withdraw sensitive data, the Kaspersky report said.
Japan to create new government agency to protect critical infrastructures
Japanese officials are considering to create a new government agency, the Industrial Cybersecurity Promotion Agency (ICPA), in order to protecting critical infrastructure against cyberattacks. Japan’s Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper reports that ICPA is expected to start operation in 2017, and the government wants it to be ready to defend the country’s most critical industrial equipment by 2020, when Tokyo will host the Olympic Games. The new agency will have to protect infrastructures for electricity, gas, petroleum, chemical, and nuclear facilities. The agency is also being considered to protect smaller private firms in the defense industry.
AFRICA
Cyberattacks on the rise
According to ICT solutions company Gilat Satcom, cyberattacks are on the rise in Africa with mobile companies, internet service providers, and other large businesses suffering server and website outages. The most common form of attack on telecom companies in Africa is Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks, in which hackers flood a server with thousands of requests that can knock out services. “ISPs (internet service providers), cellular companies, banks and IT companies in Africa are all under near-constant attack.” Most organizations in Africa are equipped with security solutions on their own networks to prevent cyber-attacks; these require significant capital expenditure and operating expenditure budgets and may not be able to secure their international connectivity.
