PROGRESS LOADING — Despite decades of efforts to bolster its cyber defenses, the U.S. government is vulnerable to crippling attacks that could disrupt essential services and undermine national security no matter how much money you throw at it, according to a new report by the Center for Strategic and International Studies. The 97-page report was six months in the making — compiled by a task force of former senior government officials, cyber experts and private sector executives. It finds that while the U.S. has made progress in securing its networks, it’s still not enough to keep up with the evolving threat landscape. Here’s what stands out to us from the analysis. — Get money, still problems: The report’s big takeaway is that throwing money at CISA isn’t going to be good enough to crush growing sentiment that state and other cyber bad guys see opportunities to hold the U.S. hostage online. Sure, CISA is the central agency for all the federal government’s cyber needs — but there are more than a hundred FCEB agencies to contend with, all who have their own cyber-specific dreams and nightmares. That could lead to serious issues for effective communication and coordination. According to researchers, one way in could be for Congress to take next steps in establishing and funding the Joint Collaborative Environment, a CISA-led secure info-sharing forum where cyber data can be studied and standardized between government, industry and academia. But it’s a thorny issue for the intelligence community, which feels the platform would force sharing of information it wants to hold tight, with the NSA specifically lobbying against the idea to Congress. Lawmakers ultimately vetoed its authorization, which triggered CISA to move forward with its own version of the JCE — but without appropriate backing from Congress. — Future threats: Experts are also on alert for incoming threats and challenges CISA will need to face in the coming years. They include the increasing use of malware-as-a-service, the use of AI to evolve the threat landscape, and the need for CISA to develop and acquire its own tools to automate defenses for vulnerability detection. To solve those problems, experts recommend investing in data and service integration, developing sustainable cyber budgets and (again) improving communication and engagement with federal agencies. The report also calls on Congress, CISA, the Office of the National Cyber Director, and the Office of Management and Budget to work together to develop a strategy for locking in baseline prices for computing and storage for analytics, AI, and related processing sold to federal agencies. 10 EYES FROM FIVE GUYS — In a stark warning, leaders of the Five Eyes intelligence alliance declared that the People's Republic of China represents the "defining threat of this generation,†and called its efforts to steal intellectual property “unprecedented in human history.†Also unprecedented in human history was the Sunday night conversation on “60 Minutes†— it was the first time the alliance, made up of intel agency heads from the U.S., United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, ever sat together for a joint interview. FBI Director Christopher Wray and others pointed to the Chinese government’s gargantuan efforts to steal IP, trade secrets and personal data from American companies and universities, adding that the FBI has “somewhere in the order of 2,000 active investigations†into Chinese espionage. "We're talking everything from Fortune 100 companies, all to smaller startups," Wray said. "We're talking about agriculture, biotech, health care, robotics, aviation, academic research." — “But all countries spyâ€: Conceded Australia intel chief Mike Burgess, saying that “all countries seek strategic advantage,†but Chinese theft goes “well beyond†traditional espionage. — How does Wray describe China?: “East Germany combined with the cutting edge technology of Silicon Valley,†he said. “And the combination represents a daunting, first-of-its-kind threat for the United States and for our allies." “If they want to be a great nation, it’s time for them to start acting like one,†Wray added.
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