August 4, 2022

Cyber Intelligence: Strategic Warning Is Possible

Here’s my problem with this, right off the bat before reading the paper — the assumption that there are strategic cyber attacks in the same sense as “Pearl Harbor.” That is, “cyber Pearl Harbor by any other name…”

I just don’t believe the threats within the cyber strategic environment are fundamentally cyber Pearl Harbor type threats. In the cyber domain rewards accrue from constant operations. Big spectacular cyber effects operations aren’t impossible (see Predatory Sparrows, for example), but they’re probably not as important as the daily grind.

As a State on the defense, it would be embarrassing to be Pearl Harbored, but it’s constant drumroll of Conti and their ilk that is the real strategic cyber threat being ignored. It is the daily ransomware raids that inflict damage.

And the idea of a warning, what would it accomplish? When, exactly, are we supposed to lower our shields? If we dial up security when do we dial it down? What exactly is this dialing up, anyway?

What exactly is a cyber attack warning supposed to do? Of course Anthem, OPM, United, Exquifax, SolarWinds, etc etc are strategic (in different ways), but what good could a warning have done? SolarWinds was the chosen access vector, but they’re not the only option. Could the OPM data have been secured in any meaningful way given that it was held on an unclassified network?

What’s the fear of an attack against the electrical grid compared to the reality of increased mortality rates due to ransomware attacks against hospitals? [1][2]

You don’t need strategic warnings about possible cyber attacks, you need hospitals to be resilient against the existing level of attacks. The ones that, apparently, aren’t a strategic threat!

[1]https://www.cisa.gov/sites/default/files/publications/CISA_Insight_Provide_Medical_Care_Sep2021.pdf

[2]https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/cybersecurity/ransomware-attacks-and-patient-mortality-8-things-to-know.html

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I’ve yet to read it, but here’s another post in the ongoing discussions on the theory of cyber

Lennart Maschmeyer @LenMaschmeyer

New post out in @lawfareblog in response to @Jason_Healey 's recent piece where I clarify why the strategic limitations of cyber operations apply across different strategic contexts and uses. (1/2)

lawfareblog.comThe Subversive Trilemma in Cyber Conflict and BeyondCyber Operations can be used in many strategic contexts, yet because they rely on secret exploitation they are invariably subject to the trilemma. Consequently, cyber operations tend to become less effective—and thus less attractive options—the more important and urgent the strategic goals are that…

2:13 PM ∙ Aug 3, 2022

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18Likes6Retweets

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Faig Ahmed @FaigAhmed

Wave Function A wave function in quantum mechanics is a description of the quantum state of a system.

10:02 AM ∙ Oct 6, 2016

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133Likes28Retweets

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Correction on the GitHub “hack” incident in yesterday’s August 3rd newsletter.

GitHub Security @GitHubSecurity

GitHub is investigating the Tweet published Wed, Aug. 3, 2022: * No repositories were compromised * Malicious code was posted to cloned repositories, not the repositories themselves * The clones were quarantined and there was no evident compromise of GitHub or maintainer accounts

2:55 PM ∙ Aug 3, 2022

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1,988Likes642Retweets

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Technology and the transformation of reality.

Internet 3.0 and the Beginning of (Tech) History – Stratechery by Ben Thompson

The actions taken by Big Tech have a resonance that goes beyond the context of domestic U.S. politics. Even if they were right, they will still push the world to Internet 3.0.

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CyberScoop @CyberScoopNews

A #hacktivist collective posted more than 2 terabytes of hacked emails and files from a host of #mining companies in Central and South America Wednesday, in move to apparently expose #environmental damage in the region, reports @AJVicens.