Further Reading, Other Developments, and Coming Events (31 July)

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Here are Further Reading, Other Developments, and Coming Events.

Coming Events

• On 31 July, the House Intelligence Committee will mark up its Intelligence Authorization Act.
• On 31 July the Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress will hold a business meeting “to consider proposed recommendations.”
• On 3 August the House Oversight and Reform Committee will hold a hearing on the tenth “Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act” (FITARA) scorecard on federal information technology.
• On 4 August, the Senate Armed Services Committee will hold a hearing titled “Findings and Recommendations of the Cyberspace Solarium Commission” with these witnesses:
  • Senator Angus S. King, Jr. (I-ME), Co-Chair, Cyberspace Solarium Commission
  • Representative Michael J. Gallagher (R-WI), Co-Chair, Cyberspace Solarium Commission
  • Brigadier General John C. Inglis, ANG (Ret.), Commissioner, Cyberspace Solarium Commission
• On 6 August, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will hold an open meeting to likely consider the following items:
  • C-band Auction Procedures. The Commission will consider a Public Notice that would adopt procedures for the auction of new flexible-use overlay licenses in the 3.7–3.98 GHz band (Auction 107) for 5G, the Internet of Things, and other advanced wireless services. (AU Docket No. 20-25)
  • Radio Duplication Rules. The Commission will consider a Report and Order that would eliminate the radio duplication rule with regard to AM stations and retain the rule for FM stations. (MB Docket Nos. 19-310. 17-105)
  • Common Antenna Siting Rules. The Commission will consider a Report and Order that would eliminate the common antenna siting rules for FM and TV broadcaster applicants and licensees. (MB Docket Nos. 19-282, 17-105)
  • Telecommunications Relay Service. The Commission will consider a Report and Order to repeal certain TRS rules that are no longer needed in light of changes in technology and voice communications services. (CG Docket No. 03-123)
  • Inmate Calling Services. The Commission will consider a Report and Order on Remand and a Fourth Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that would respond to remands by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit and propose to comprehensively reform rates and charges for the inmate calling services within the Commission’s jurisdiction. (WC Docket No. 12-375)
• The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) will hold the “Exploring Artificial Intelligence (AI) Trustworthiness: Workshop Series Kickoff Webinar,” “a NIST initiative involving private and public sector organizations and individuals in discussions about building blocks for trustworthy AI systems and the associated measurements, methods, standards, and tools to implement those building blocks when developing, using, and testing AI systems” on 6 August.
• On 18 August, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) will host the “Bias in AI Workshop, a virtual event to develop a shared understanding of bias in AI, what it is, and how to measure it.”

Other Developments

• The European Commission (EC) released a report on the status of efforts across the European Union (EU) to implement the EU Toolbox on 5G Cybersecurity, the bloc’s approach to navigating security issues presented by equipment and services offered by companies from the People’s Republic of China such as Huawei. The EC concluded
  • All  Member  States  reported  that  concrete  steps  have  been  taken  to  implement  the  Toolbox.  Most  Member  States  carried  out  a  gap  analysis  and  launched  a  process  to  review  and  upgrade  existing security measures and enforcement mechanisms. Many Member States have already adopted or are well advanced in the preparation of more advanced security measures on 5G cybersecurity.
  • However,  work  is  still  ongoing  in  many  Member  States  on  defining  the  content  and  scope  of  the  measures and in some cases, political decisions still need to be made in this regard. In addition, even where  measures  are  in  progress  or  being  planned,  not  all  Member  States  have  shared  detailed information about every measure, due to diverse stages in the national implementation processor for national security reasons. Nevertheless, a number of findings can be formulated based on the analysis presented  in  this  report as  regards  the  implementation  of  the  Toolbox  and  areas  where  specific  attention  is  needed  in  the  next  phases  of  the  implementation  of  the  Toolbox  at  national  and/or  EU  level.
• The United States (US) and Australia released this joint statement after this week’s Australia-United States Ministerial Consultations (AUSMIN) after the heads of their defense and foreign ministries met in Washington DC. The two countries listed a number of steps and initiatives designed to counter the People’s Republic of China (PRC). Among other developments:
  • The US and Australia signed a classified Statement of Principles on Alliance Defense Cooperation and Force Posture Priorities in the Indo-Pacific.
  • The two nations “plan to continue to counter these threats vigorously, including through collaboration with international partners, and through a new working group between the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Department of State, which will monitor and respond to disinformation efforts.”
  • The US and Australia “expressed deep concern that the targeting of intellectual property and sensitive business information, including information relating to the development of vaccines and treatments for pandemic response, presents an increasing threat to the global economy, and they committed to holding malicious actors accountable.”
  • The countries “noted the role of 5G network security best practices, such as the Prague Proposals, and expressed their intent to work with like-minded partners to develop end-to-end technical solutions for 5G that use trusted vendors….[and] [a]cknowledging that 5G is only the starting point, the two nations also reaffirm their commitment to lifting the security of critical and emerging technologies that will be vital to our nations’ prosperity.”
  • The US and Australia “welcomed the announcement that Lynas has signed a Phase 1 contract with the U.S. Department of Defense for an engineering and market feasibility study for the design of a heavy rare earth separation facility in the United States” and “the continued development of a U.S.-Australia Critical Minerals Plan of Action to improve the security of critical minerals in the United States and Australia.” 
• The United Kingdom’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) has issued a report titled “The Cyber Threat to Sports Organisations” “to demystify the cyber threat to sports organisations by highlighting the cyber security issues that affect the sector on a daily basis: business email compromise, digital fraud, and venue security.” The NCSC asserted
  • cyber attacks against sports organisations are very common, with 70% of those surveyed experiencing at least one attack per annum. This is significantly higher than the average across UK business.
  • The primary cyber threat comes from cyber criminals with a financial motive. Criminal attacks typically take advantage of poor implementation of technical controls and normal human traits such as trust and ineffective password policies.
  • There have been a small number of Hostile Nation-state attacks against sports organisations; typically, these attacks have exploited the same vulnerabilities used by criminals.
  • The most common outcome of cyber attacks is unauthorised access to email accounts (Business Email Compromise) leading to fraud. Ransomware is also a significant issue in the sector.
• Top Republicans on one of the committees with jurisdiction over technology have written Google and Apple regarding their “app store and the policies you have in place to ensure apps are appropriately vetted, particularly those with close ties to China and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).” House Energy and Commerce Committee Ranking Member Greg Walden (R-OR) and Consumer Protection and Commerce Subcommittee Ranking Member Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) are asking the companies to respond by 12 August to a series of questions. They asserted
  • As with any crisis, there are those that seek to exploit opportunities for their own malicious intent. We believe that bad actors may be taking advantage of the American people’s trust in your brand, which likely extends to apps available through your store. While we want an open and transparent marketplace that does not limit innovators outside your company, we know there are those that seek to use apps as a means to push through pop-up ads or hijack devices to make it a tool for eavesdropping.
  • The level of permissions that these apps require may include access to camera, microphone, and contacts, as well as functionality to load other malware for bad actors to control a device even after the original app has been removed. This is especially alarming when it comes from companies with direct or indirect links to the CCP.
• A Washington DC think tank published a report written in part with Representatives Robin Kelly (D-IL) and Will Hurd (R-TX) titled “AI and the Workforce.” The Bipartisan Policy Center explained that “[b]ased on our discussions with stakeholders, we have identified the following key principles:
  • 1. The United States should embrace and take a leadership role in the AI-driven economy by filling the AI talent gap and preparing the rest of the workforce for the jobs of the future. However, in doing so, policymakers should make inclusivity and equal opportunity a priority.
  • 2. Closing the AI talent gap requires a targeted approach to training, recruiting, and retaining skilled workers. This AI talent should ideally have a multi-disciplinary skill set that includes ethics.
  • 3. The AI talent gap is not the only challenge of the AI-driven economy, so the federal government should focus more broadly on the jobs of the future and skills that are complemented by AI technology. Additionally, encouraging workers to develop basic AI and technological literacy can help them better determine how to complement AI systems.
  • 4. The educational system from kindergarten through post-college is not yet designed for the AI-driven economy and should be modernized.
  • 5. The skills that will be in demand in the future will continuously change, so lifelong learning and ways to help displaced and mid-career workers transition into new jobs is critical for the workforce of the future.
  • In September 2018, Kelly and Hurd released a white paper detailing the “lessons learned from the Subcommittee’s oversight and hearings on AI and sets forth recommendations for moving forward.” 
• The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) updated its “Mobile Device Guidance” regarding “Windows 10, Android and VPNs. The NCSC stated “[o]ver the next few months, we’ll be bringing our Chrome OS and Ubuntu Linux guidance up to date and into the new format.”
• Cybersecurity company FireEye released a report on a new type of Russian disinformation campaign where hackers are gaining access to legitimate news sources and planting fake stories that are subsequently amplified on social media.
  • FireEye explained it
    • has tied together several information operations that we assess with moderate confidence comprise part of a broader influence campaign, ongoing since at least March 2017, aligned with Russian security interests. The operations have primarily targeted audiences in Lithuania, Latvia, and Poland with narratives critical of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s (NATO) presence in Eastern Europe, occasionally leveraging other themes such as anti-U.S. and COVID-19-related narratives as part of this broader anti-NATO agenda. We have dubbed this campaign “Ghostwriter.”
  • FireEye added
    • Many, though not all, of the incidents we suspect to be part of the Ghostwriter campaign appear to have leveraged website compromises or spoofed email accounts to disseminate fabricated content, including falsified news articles, quotes, correspondence and other documents designed to appear as coming from military officials and political figures in the target countries. This falsified content has been referenced as source material in articles and op-eds authored by at least 14 inauthentic personas posing as locals, journalists, and analysts within those countries.

Further Reading

• “Rite Aid deployed facial recognition systems in hundreds of U.S. stores” by Jeffrey Dastin– Reuters. A major United States retailer was using facial recognition technology mostly at stores in poorer, more ethnically diverse areas that seems connected to a company in the People’s Republic of China. Rite Aid has ceased use of this system that was implemented to address shoplifting and other crime and guards and other personnel were supposed to act when the system turned up a hit on a person in the store who had committed a crime or made trouble in another location. Given the accuracy of this sort of technology, there were a range of false positives. Additionally, locations in New York City that had similar crime profiles in majority white, affluent areas were much less likely to have this system. The company, DeepCamLLC, providing the technology appears intimately connected to a Chinese firm, Shenzhen Shenmu, that appears funded by a Beijing run venture capital/investment fund.
• “Facebook Wins Temporary Halt to EU Antitrust Data Demands” by Stephanie Bodoni – Bloomberg. In a setback for the European Commission’s (EC) investigation, the European Union General Court has temporarily blocked data and document requests in a pair of rulings. The court ruled for Facebook in finding the EC’s request “may unavoidably include personal information” and so “it is important to ensure that confidential treatment of such information is safeguarded, especially when the information does, at first sight, not appear to have any link with the subject matter of the commission’s investigation.” A Facebook attorney claimed the requests were going to net “highly sensitive personal information such as employees’ medical information, personal financial documents, and private information about family members of employees.” The court is expected to issue a final decision on the data requests, which has obvious implications for the EC’s investigation of Facebook.
• “Google’s Top Search Result? Surprise! It’s Google” By Adrianne Jeffries and Leon Yin – The Markup. Google’s search results have changed tremendously over the last 15 years from showing the top organic results to now reserving the 50% of the page for Google results and products. As a result a number of online businesses that compete with Google products have withered and some have died. Google denies abusing its market power, but competitors and possibly some regulators think otherwise, possibly foreshadowing future anti-competitive enforcement actions.
• “Five Eyes alliance could expand in scope to counteract China” by Patrick Wintour – The Guardian. The United States, United Kingdom, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia may expand both the scope of heir Five Eyes arrangement and the membership as a means of pushing back on Chinese policies and actions. Japan could possibly join the alliance and perhaps it serves as the basis for a trade agreement to address Beijing.
• “Huawei to double down on HSBC as legal battle over extradition of Meng Wanzhou intensifies” by Zhou Xin – South China Morning Post. As the daughter of Huawei’s founder continues to be held in Canada facing possible extradition to the United States (US) to be tried on charges of violating US sanctions on Iran. Meng Wanzhou’s lawyers are focusing on the evidence provided by Hong Kong based bank HSBC to the US Department of Justice as being deficient in a number of ways. The People’s Republic of China is still holding two Canadians incommunicado who were arrested and charged with espionage after Meng was detained in British Columbia.

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