Huawei CFO's extradition case. Deterrence theory in cyberspace.

Summary

By the CyberWire staff

At a glance.

Update on the Huawei CFO extradition case.
Classical deterrence and cyber conflict.

Meng Wanzhou extradition update.

While Washington works to exclude Huawei from domestic infrastructure, rally allies to do the same, and bar the sale of US semiconductor chips to the company, Asia Times reports, the legal struggle over Huawei CFO and “corporate royalty” Meng Wanzhou’s extradition from Canada to the US endures. Arrested in Vancouver two years ago on a US warrant and charged with wire and bank fraud, obstruction of justice, and violating sanctions against Tehran, Meng is currently pursuing a due process legal strategy, according to BBC News. It has emerged that she was questioned for almost three hours before being informed that she was under arrest and permitted a lawyer. Her device passwords were also handed over to the police in another apparent violation of her rights.

At issue is whether these steps were mistakenly taken or part of an arranged plan. Canadian officials insist the delay was a lawful attempt to follow protocol, preserve public safety, and establish the legitimacy of her detention, CTV News says. If Meng’s lawyers can reveal coordination with US authorities, however, it would bolster their case that the arrest was political. The suit could drag on for years and impact Beijing-Ottawa relations for decades. China has already retaliated by arresting two Canadians days after Meng’s apprehension.

Deterrence in cyberspace.

Small Wars Journal argues that classical deterrence theory, which centers on the threat of punishment, has limited applicability to cyberspace, though the US continues to apply it there. A strategy designed with conventional and nuclear warfare in mind meets four unique obstacles in cyberspace: the difficulty of identifying attackers, calculating damages to determine proportionality, navigating lopsided vulnerabilities, and devising expensive single-use cyberweapons (that could, as may have happened in some cases, be turned against their makers). Since more developed countries are more vulnerable to attacks, “cyber has become a weapon of choice for the outgunned,” which implies that cyberattacks represent a form of asymmetric warfare, like the jeune école in naval thought at the end of the 19th Century, or guerrilla warfare in the mid-to-late 20th Century. There is, of course conflict in cyberspace between peer and near-peer powers, and it's unclear why the prospect of retaliation wouldn't deter an attack against, say financial systems, or an electrical power grid.

Or cyber conflict might also be thought of as more closely resembling intelligence competition than kinetic combat—excepting of course cyberattacks with kinetic consequences—and US policy should be updated to reflect this reality.

Selected Reading

Dissuasion in Cyberspace: The Limitations of Classical Deterrence Theory (Small Wars Journal) Western society’s connectivity is accompanied by a new national security risk: cyberattacks. To a degree almost unimaginable a decade earlier, disruptive and destructive cyberattacks have become central to multi-domain warfare in interstate conflict. Our critical infrastructure, banking, and military systems rely on connectivity in cyberspace. Paradoxically, those who are at the forefront of these emerging technologies are also the most susceptible to attack.

Europeans Hope for Better Ties With U.S. on Data Privacy After Election (Wall Street Journal) Europeans officials and privacy experts hope the U.S. presidential election opens the door to improving relations over data privacy that grew shaky in recent years after a series of court challenges to American intelligence programs.

Singapore to work with UN to help nations implement norms for responsible cyber behaviour (The Straits Times) Building on a system developed by Asean, the Republic and the United Nations are taking steps to help create a safe digital future for the world. Read more at straitstimes.com.

India calls for 'coordinated' response on states supporting terror & radicalism amid French action (DNA India) India calls for 'coordinated' response on states supporting terror & radicalism amid French action - India was the first non-western country to publically back French President Macron as he faced negative comments by Turkey's Erdogan and Pakistan.

Ukraine’s controversial cybersecurity deal with Huawei (Rappler) From the US to Europe, the Chinese telecoms giant is facing sanctions and suspicion – but Kyiv is playing a different game

Superpowers embroiled in Cyprus 5G turf war (Financial Mirror) Cyprus’ 5G network rollout is caught up in a tug-of-war between two superpowers, China, and the US, locked in a battle for technological supremacy and geopolitical influence. China has accused the US of openly lobbying Cyprus to join its camp against Chinese vendors, such as tech giant Huawei and other telecom firms, which they deem

Romania Rejects Partnering With China's Huawei On 5G, Prime Minister Says (RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty) Romanian Prime Minister Ludovic Orban says Chinese tech giant Huawei “does not meet [security] conditions” to be part of building 5G networks in the country.

Exploding the myth of Huawei’s 5G security risk (Asia Times) BANGKOK – Once known for shoddy manufacturing of low-cost goods for American markets, China has grown against the odds into a true innovation powerhouse. Now, as the American economy descends…

Republicans Make an Unlikely Closing Pitch: Amend Section 230 (Wired) Mark Zuckerberg, Sundar Pichai, and Jack Dorsey will testify Wednesday on a niche internet law less than a week before Election Day. How did we get here?

The Cybersecurity 202: CISA’s political independence from Trump will be an Election Day asset (Washington Post) During four years in which government agencies have been increasingly manipulated to serve President Trump’s aims, the agency tasked with protecting the 2020 election against hacking has managed to steer clear of partisan politics.

Microsoft is mad as hell. This may make it worse (ZDNet) Recently, Microsoft expressed its extreme frustration at the American politicians and their inability to make things happen. New data shows Microsoft isn't alone, which may be more frustrating.

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US Cyber Command exposes new Russian malware (ZDNet) Together with CISA and the FBI, US Cyber Command wish Russian state hackers a "Happy Halloween!"

Latest Cyber Attacks Disinformation, Not Voting System Breaches (LA Progressive) Cyber Attacks - After murky high-profile media coverage, details emerge that question whether Iran was even involved.

The voting technology problems that could trigger panic at the polls (POLITICO) From malfunctions to server outages, plenty could go wrong in key states Tuesday — and spark false rumors that could make things even worse.

FBI, Homeland Security detail how Iranian hackers stole US voter data (Yahoo) The FBI and Homeland Security's CISA have detailed how Iranian hackers stole US voter info, including by exploiting badly configured websites.

FBI: How Iranian hackers stole voter info from state election sites (BleepingComputer) DHS CISA and the FBI today shared more info on how an Iranian state-sponsored hacking group was able to harvest voter registration info from U.S. state websites, including election sites.

Iranian Advanced Persistent Threat Actor Identified Obtaining Voter Registration Data (CISA) Analysis by CISA and the FBI indicates this actor scanned state websites, to include state election websites, between September 20 and September 28, 2020, with the Acunetix vulnerability scanner (Active Scanning: Vulnerability Scanning [T1595.002]). Acunetix is a widely used and legitimate web scanner, which has been used by threat actors for nefarious purposes. Organizations that do not regularly use Acunetix should monitor their logs for any activity from the program that originates from IP addresses provided in this advisory and consider it malicious reconnaissance behavior.

Back to the Future: Inside the Kimsuky KGH Spyware Suite (Cybereason) The Cybereason Nocturnus Team has been tracking a North Korean cyber espionage group known as Kimsuky and has identified a new spyware suite along with new attack infrastructure.