The U.S. lags on happiness, health, but it tops the list for cyber power

Rank the top players in cyberspace, both usual and unexpected suspects

The United States ranks 16th on the World Happiness List, the lowest among 11 high-income countries in health care systems, and 129th on the Global Peace Index. But there is one area where we are still #1. It’s cyber power.

This is according to the second edition of the National Cyber ​​Power Index released today as part of a cyber project within the Harvard Kennedy School Belfer Center.

The index will be revived after the first edition in 2020. The first and second places are the same as before, but the United States and China. Russia takes the top three spots, with several countries jumping, including Iran, Ukraine, Vietnam, and South Korea.

The list ranks 30 countries by various factors including attack and defense. It seeks to measure capabilities with eight objectives, including foreign intelligence gathering and the ability to destroy rival infrastructure. Companies that rank high on the list demonstrate both their ability with cyber power and their willingness to use it.

“I think trying to apply external data and metrics to analyze this is an important undertaking.” Lauren Xavierek, Cyber ​​Project Executive Director told me. “Are there other ways to start the conversation and try to deepen its understanding?”

One of the goals of the list is to look beyond the countries most commonly appearing in cyber conversations. USA, China, Russia, Iran, North Korea. North Korea isn’t even in the top 10 of the index, like France and the Netherlands, with a significant number of ‘non-usual suspects’.

Here’s the full top 10: USA, China, Russia, UK, Australia, Netherlands, South Korea, Vietnam, France, Iran.

• The biggest gainers include Iran (from 22nd to 10th), Ukraine (from 29th to 12th), South Korea (from 16th to 7th) and Vietnam (from 20th to 8th) .

For example, Ukraine has been on the defensive since the Russian War, and Iran has become more active in using cyber for financial purposes.

North Korea remains in 14th place, but its financial sector is far ahead of other countries.

The United States, on the other hand, ranks highly in almost every category, especially for its destructive power and cyber intelligence gathering.

The International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) produced its own cyber power ranking last year using a different method and system, but still concludes that in cyberspace, the United States is in a unique tier.

Both ranking systems drawn question As for their methodologies, some even asked if they offered any value.

“Attempting to quantitatively and qualitatively assess cyberpower is a purely subjective task, so the ranking itself raises questions about its value, regardless of the methodology used.” Emilio IacieroCyberpro and former Defense Intelligence Agency operative wrote about the IISS list last year. “Amorphous problem areas such as cyber dependence and empowerment, global influence in governance (no one is moving forward), the existence of strategies and, more importantly, military doctrine (often unpublished) Quantifying is more art than science.”

The author of today’s report — Julia Boo, Irfan Hemani When Daniel Cassidy — Acknowledge some limitations of the exercise.

“Because of several aspects of cyber power, particularly its destructive, defensive and espionage capabilities, and the sensitivity of its reliance on domestic national security structures, states may seek to put their intentions and capabilities into the public domain for strategic purposes. It may be deliberately hidden from knowledge,” they wrote.

But “just because something is difficult doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try it,” said Xavierek.

“We know the exponent’s shortcomings…but we stand by this as being better than nothing.” she said. “We know that we are just beginning to witness these important conversations about cyberpower, we know they will spark debate, and we are proud of it. ”

Arizona is a cautionary tale as more states create electoral integrity units

Citing the specter of widespread voter fraud, Republicans across the country have adopted aggressive tactics to strengthen the powers and resources of state agencies to investigate election crimes ahead of this November’s midterm elections. reports our colleagues Beth Reinhardt and Yvonne Winget Sanchez.

But a Washington Post review of previous attempts to sniff out fraud in Arizona found 20 prosecutions in the past three years, despite thousands of election-related complaints. It turned out to be nothing more than

Rather than reassure citizens about the strength of local voting systems, the Washington Post review finds states’ electoral crimes departments fueling more false theories and mistrust, wasting precious government resources. I discovered that To bolster the false claim that voter fraud is a key issue in American elections.

Ukraine warns of new wave of ‘massive cyberattacks’ coming from Russia

The Ukrainian Military Intelligence Service has warned that Russia is planning a “massive cyberattack” targeting critical infrastructure in Ukraine and its closest allies, particularly Poland and the Baltic states. cyber scoopof AJ Vicens reports.

The Ukrainian Defense Intelligence Agency said the incoming wave of cyberattacks would first hit the country’s energy sector, with the aim of blunt the ongoing offensive of the Ukrainian military and increase the devastating impact of missile strikes on the country’s energy supply facilities. The agency said it expects to focus on Statement posted on government website.

“Experience with cyberattacks on the Ukrainian energy system in 2015 and 2016 will be used in conducting operations,” the advisory warned, warning Ukrainians from heating and electricity in the dead of winter. It hinted at two notorious Kremlin-backed attacks on the country’s power grid that were left untouched.

The announcement comes as Google researchers begin to warn of growing evidence that pro-Russian hackers and online activists are working with the country’s military intelligence services. . wall street journal‘s Robert McMillan and Dustin Volz recently reported.

However, the Ukrainian announcement baffled some of the cybersecurity world in addition lack of detail.

US and TikTok approach potential security-related deals

The Biden administration and TikTok are laying out details of a preliminary agreement that would allow the video-sharing platform to continue operating in the United States without requiring its owner, Chinese internet giant ByteDance, to sell it, the people said. Told. New York Times.

While trading is still liquid, But a person familiar with the underpinnings of the deal said the company needs to take action in three key areas.

1. storage shift We transmit Americans’ data to servers operated exclusively in the United States, not our own servers located in Singapore and Virginia.
2. Introducing Oracle We monitor the app’s powerful algorithms to determine what content TikTok recommends to users.
3. Create a committee of security experts Oversees operations in the United States and reports to the federal government.

Next step: Officials from the Justice and Treasury Departments leading negotiations with the company say the current draft is not tough enough against China and not enough to address the administration’s national security concerns. That, combined with the impending midterm elections, could force changes to the terms and delay the final resolution of the issue for months.

The Times article arrived the same day the UK raised a potential fine of $29 million for potential breaches of data protection laws.

Anti-spam measures

The Federal Communications Commission voted 4-0 on Friday to approve a proposal to limit spam text, reports Margaret Harden McGill. Axios.

“Americans are fed up with fraudulent emails and something needs to be done by all means,” he said. Jessica Rosenworcell.

This is just one step in the survival of regulation. The approved proposal has been on the ballot for almost a year now and is open to comment from mobile operators on the idea of ​​requiring them to block spam texts from known illegal or fraudulent numbers. I’m looking for This is a process that could add a few more months to your schedule.

And Congress is unlikely to take action to update the relevant 1991 legislation. This does not reflect today’s technology. “We want politicians themselves to be able to send these texts without fear of being sued. Margot Sandersa senior counsel at the National Consumer Law Center told Axios.

Watchdog Notifies IRS About Vendor Security Revocation (FCW)

US State Department says Putin could send Snowden to war (The Daily Beast)

How “Chinese coup” tweets went viral and remarks about the rapid spread of disinformation (CyberScoop)

Viasat hack did not significantly affect Ukrainian military communications, officials say (Zero Day)

Cyberattack on InterContinental Hotel disrupts business for franchisees (Wall Street Journal)

US unit of Israeli defense giant Elbit Systems says it was hacked (TechCrunch)

• The Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee is holding markups for several cybersecurity bills, including the Open Source Software Protection Act of 2022, at 11 a.m. Wednesday.
• The Center for Democracy and Technology is hosting the event “The Big Lie’s Long Tail: The Big Lie’s Long Tail: Election Denialism in the Midterm and Beyond” on Wednesdays at 3pm.

thank you for reading. see you tomorrow.