The CyberWire Pro Policy Briefing for 12.10.19

Summary

By the CyberWire staff

Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance called encryption on iPhones a "gift to sex traffickers," the Washington Post reports. In his written testimony for the Senate Judiciary Committee, Vance called for "federal legislative action" to prevent Silicon Valley companies from making themselves "the unregulated gatekeepers of critical evidence." At the Senate Judiciary Committee's hearing today, Facebook’s Product Management Director for Privacy Jay Sullivan will defend Facebook's plan to implement end-to-end encryption across all of its messaging applications. In anticipation of the hearing, more than a hundred organizations, industry groups, and individuals published a letter addressed to officials in the US, the UK, and Australia arguing that the dangers of weakening encryption outweigh the benefits.

David Kaye, the UN special rapporteur on freedom of expression, yesterday urged the Ethiopian government to stop arbitrarily shutting down the Internet in the country, according to Reuters. Ethiopia only has one Internet service provider, and it's owned by the state. The government most recently shut off the Internet last Thursday, saying it was necessary to mitigate a cyberattack that was targeting financial institutions.

The Wall Street Journal notes that the European Union is making moves toward implementing its own version of the United States's Magnitsky Act. Euractiv cites the EU’s new chief diplomat Josep Borrell as saying, "We have agreed to launch the preparatory work for a global sanctions regime to address serious human rights violations, which will be the European Union equivalent of the so-called Magnitsky Act of the United States."

Notes.

UK Government offers NHS data to Amazon for free (Computing) The government hopes the move will help reduce pressure on NHS GPs and pharmacists,Government.

U.N. expert urges Ethiopia to stop internet shutdowns, revise hate speech law (Reuters) A senior United Nations official urged Ethiopia on Monday to stop shutting off t...

EU Moves Closer to Creating U.S.-Style Magnitsky Act (Wall Street Journal) European Union foreign ministers advanced plans to create a new human-rights sanctions regime that could closely mirror the U.S. Magnitsky Act and spark fresh tensions with Moscow.

Six Reasons Why NATO’s London Declaration Matters (Real Clear Defense) Vladimir Putin wishes he had an alliance like NATO. The alliance provides a remarkably resilient framework in which nations and leaders who share common values can pursue collective security interests yet still engage in contentious arguments and disagreements about important issues, without seriously eroding the cohesion that is NATO’s center of gravity.

Eight norms for stability in cyberspace (New Europe) In little more than a generation, the Internet has become a vital substrate for economic, social, and political interactions, and it has unlocked enormous gains. Along with greater interdependence, however, come vulnerability and conflict. Attacks by states and non-state actors have increased, threa

Federal council to Trump: Cyber threats pose 'existential threat' to the nation (TheHill) The National Infrastructure Advisory Council (NIAC) published a draft report addressed to President Trump this week that found cyber threats to critical infrastructure pose an “existential threat” to national security and recommended “bo

Analysis | The Cybersecurity 202: Apple's iPhone encryption is a 'gift to sex traffickers,' Manhattan DA to testify (Washington Post) It's official: The encryption debate is back on.

Written Testimony for the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary on Smartphone Encryption and Public Safety (Manhattan District Attorney's Office) Good morning Chairman Graham, Ranking Member Feinstein, and members of the Senate Judiciary Committee. On behalf of my Office and our partners in state and local law enforcement, I thank the Committee for its work and attention to this vital issue of local, state, and national public safety.

Cops see an encryption problem. Spyware makers see an opportunity. (MIT Technology Review) The Trump administration is once again pushing for access to encrypted data. But some intelligence companies are selling a sneakier route around protection.

TikTok leader postpones trip to Washington to meet with members of Congress (Washington Post) TikTok chief Alex Zhu has canceled a scheduled trip to Washington to meet with members of Congress, lawmakers said, a move that stoked fresh criticism of the social-media app at a moment when it’s trying to repair its relationships with U.S. officials.

DoD Updates Draft Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification—300,000+ DoD Contractors and Subcontractors Required to Be Certified as a Prerequisite to Contracting (Mayer Brown) On November 7, the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment (OUSD(A&S)) released Draft Version 0.6 of its Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) for public comment.

'Technical irregularities' plagued contact chaining at NSA (FCW) ODNI's privacy czar said bad data from telecoms irrevocably tainted the contact-chaining process that was at the heart of the NSA's Call Detail Records program.

Made in America (Reuters) The ex-White House staff who helped devise the UAE's bold spying mission

Review of Four FISA Applications and Other Aspects of the FBI's Crossfire Hurricane Investigation (Office of the Inspector General, US Department of Justice) The Department of Justice (Department) Office of the Inspector General (OIG) undertook this review to examine certain actions by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Department during an FBI investigation opened on July 31, 2016, known as "Crossfire Hurricane," into whether individuals associated with the Donald J. Trump for President Campaign were coordinating, wittingly or unwittingly, with the Russian government's efforts to interfere in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

FBI was justified in opening Trump campaign probe, but case plagued by ‘serious failures,’ inspector general finds (Washington Post) The report found no bias among the bureau’s former leaders but said officials played down evidence potentially favorable to Trump’s claim his campaign did not conspire with Russia.

Horowitz report is damning for the FBI and unsettling for the rest of us (TheHill) The media needs to cover the falsifications of evidence that fueled the secret federal investigation.

Analysis | 4 takeaways from the Horowitz report on the Russia investigation (Washington Post) The conspiracy theories about the origins of the probe take a hit, but it looks like this won't be the last word.

The IG Report Is a Huge Blow to the FBI's Credibility. Why Is It Being Treated Like Vindication? (Reason) The Department of Justice's Office of the Inspector General released its highly anticipated report on the FBI's investigation of the