Tuesday, April 25, 2023 // (IG): BB // Financial Enabler // Coffee for Bob
Playing with fire: the countdown to mining the deep seas for critical minerals
Analyst Comments: The move towards commercial deep-sea mining raises significant environmental concerns as countries seek to balance the need to move away from fossil fuels against the potential damage to marine ecosystems. While there is a need to source metals vital to batteries, wiring, and other hardware key to the shift away from fossil fuels, the environmental risks associated with deep-sea mining cannot be ignored. The risk of disturbance to marine ecosystems, as well as the lack of environmental standards and liability mechanisms, is concerning. The decision to proceed with deep-sea mining will be a political one, rather than a scientific one, and will require a balance between the economic benefits and the potential environmental costs.
FROM THE MEDIA: The International Seabed Authority (ISA), a UN-backed regulator, is set to consider the world’s first commercial deep-sea mining application as soon as July, despite warnings from several members states that it is too soon for extraction to move from land to water. Two years ago, Nauru activated a legal clause compelling the ISA to consider applications for commercial mining permits, prompting companies and countries to influence what comes next. The boom in electric cars and grid batteries means mineral demand is set to increase fourfold by 2040, with increasing terrestrial mining depending on China and entailing a huge environmental cost. Offshore groups are testing three ways of obtaining minerals, with the most promising option involving vacuuming up individual polymetallic nodules from the ocean floor. Environmentalists have warned of the risks of deep-sea mining, as countries seek to balance moving away from fossil fuels against the need to protect marine ecosystems.
READ THE STORY: FT
US sanctions target three in China for laundering North Korean cyber hauls
Analyst Comments: North Korea has been subject to international sanctions for years due to its development of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles. Despite multiple rounds of bilateral and multilateral negotiations, North Korea has consistently failed to denuclearize. The UN Security Council has passed numerous resolutions condemning North Korea's nuclear pursuits and imposing sanctions, which have expanded over time to include measures such as banning arms trade and certain luxury goods and freezing assets of individuals involved in the country's nuclear program. However, these sanctions have failed to curb North Korea's missile testing, and talks on denuclearization remain stalled. Therefore, while the recent U.S. sanctions against individuals involved in laundering virtual currency for North Korea's weapons programs may be a positive step, it is uncertain if they will have a significant impact on the country's behavior, given the continued failure of previous sanctions.
FROM THE MEDIA: The United States has imposed sanctions on three individuals for their involvement in laundering virtual currency stolen by North Korean hackers to help finance Pyongyang's weapons programs. The individuals include a China-based virtual currency trader, another currency trader based in Hong Kong, and a representative of North Korea's Korea Kwangson Banking Corp who recently relocated to Dandong, China. The U.S. Treasury statement says that the sanctions freeze any U.S. assets of the individuals and make those who do business with them liable to sanctions. North Korea has been exploiting virtual currency and illicit networks to access the international financial system and generate revenue, says the U.S. Treasury Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian Nelson.
READ THE STORY: Reuters // BankInfoSec
Russian hacktivist threat on Canada’s pipelines is ‘call to action,’ top cyber official says
Analyst Comments: The incident affecting a Canadian gas pipeline is a cause for concern for Canada's critical infrastructure sector, as it highlights the potential for pro-Russian hacktivist groups to move from disruptive attacks to destructive ones. The threat report issued by Britain's National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) during the CyberUK conference warns that some pro-Russia hacking groups have stated a desire to achieve a more disruptive and destructive impact against Western critical national infrastructure. While it is unlikely that the hacktivist groups could "deliberately cause a destructive, rather than disruptive, impact in the short term" without external assistance, the NCSC recommends that organizations act now to manage the risk against successful future attacks. It is unclear where this external assistance may come from, but there are alleged connections between the FSB and Russia’s cybercrime underworld.
FROM THE MEDIA: A leaked US intelligence report has revealed that a pro-Russian hacking group known as Zarya and an intelligence officer from Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) claimed that they had the ability to "increase valve pressure, disable alarms, and initiate an emergency shutdown of an unspecified gas distribution station" located in Canada. While the authenticity of the document has not been confirmed, Canada's Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, stated that there was no physical damage to any Canadian energy infrastructure following cyberattacks. This incident has prompted Canada's top cyber official, Sami Khoury, to issue a call to action for the critical infrastructure sector to make their systems more resilient against cyberattacks.
READ THE STORY: The Record
Practice makes perfect: What China Wants from its digital currency in 2023
Analyst Comments: The article provides a comprehensive overview of China's domestic and global ambitions for the e-CNY and highlights the concerns around the centralization of authority by the PBOC, state surveillance, and data vulnerability to cyber threats. The article also highlights the potential implications of the replication of the e-CNY's technical and regulatory model on the dominance of the dollar in global finance and trade.
FROM THE MEDIA: Domestically, the People's Bank of China (PBOC) is prioritizing experimentation over adoption, with the e-CNY being the largest CBDC pilot in the world by the amount of currency in circulation and the number of users. The e-CNY network has expanded to 25 cities, and common use cases being tested include public transportation, public health checkpoints, integrated identification cards, tax payments, and refunds. The PBOC is also aiming to reach AliPay and TencentPay/WePay customers by integrating their wallet and e-commerce functions for e-CNY distribution. However, concerns around the centralization of authority by the PBOC, freedom of choice, state surveillance, and data vulnerability to cyber threats have been raised. Globally, China is less focused on internationalizing the RMB than on setting technical and regulatory standards for other countries' central bank digital currencies. The article also highlights the cross-border wholesale capabilities of the e-CNY, such as Project mBridge, which can lead to the replication of the e-CNY's technical and regulatory model and create a parallel system of financial networks outside of the dollar.
READ THE STORY: Atlantic Council
Russian Hackers Tomiris Targeting Central Asia for Intelligence Gathering
Analyst Comments: The assessment by Kaspersky on the Tomiris backdoor and its associated threat actor indicates that the group is primarily focused on stealing internal documents from government and diplomatic entities in the CIS. The group's toolset is composed of low-sophistication "burner" implants coded in different programming languages, and it is linked to the Turla group. The Tomiris custom malware arsenal is designed to gather system information, run commands issued by the C2 server, upload and download files, and capture screenshots. While Kaspersky's investigation has identified overlaps with a Turla cluster, it has also raised the possibility of a false flag operation. The assessment highlights the need for government and diplomatic entities in the CIS to maintain robust cybersecurity measures to prevent unauthorized access to their internal documents.
FROM THE MEDIA: According to Kaspersky, the Russian-speaking threat actor behind the Tomiris backdoor is primarily focused on gathering intelligence in Central Asia. The group consistently steals internal documents, mainly targeting government and diplomatic entities in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). Kaspersky's assessment is based on three new attack campaigns carried out by the hacking crew between 2021 and 2023. The group uses a polyglot toolset of low-sophistication "burner" implants coded in different programming languages and is linked to the Turla group. The Tomiris custom malware arsenal includes a Python backdoor that uses Telegram as a command-and-control channel, a Pascal-based file stealer designed to hoover files of interest every 40-80 minutes, and a file stealer written in Rust that gathers system information, runs commands issued by the C2 server, uploads and downloads files, and captures screenshots.
READ THE STORY: THN
China Developing Cyber Weapons to Gain Control of Enemy Satellites
Analyst Comments: The leaked US intelligence report highlights the growing threat posed by China's efforts to develop counter-space capabilities and control information. The ability to take over a satellite and render it ineffective would be a significant blow to any country that relies on space-based communications, weapons, or intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance systems. China's aggressive pursuit of counter-space capabilities is aimed at realizing its "space dream" of becoming the foremost power beyond the Earth's atmosphere by 2045. The US and other countries must take steps to counter China's efforts in the cyber and space domains, including developing their own counter-space capabilities and improving cybersecurity measures to protect their space-based assets.
FROM THE MEDIA: China is developing capabilities to "deny, exploit or hijack" enemy satellites as part of its goal to control information, according to a leaked US intelligence report. This would allow China to take over a satellite and render it ineffective to support communications, weapons, or intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance systems. China is making huge efforts to counter the asymmetric advantage that the US has in the cyber and space domains, including aggressively pursuing counter-space capabilities. The country has deployed 347 satellites, including 35 launched in the past six months, aimed at monitoring, tracking, targeting, and attacking US forces in any future conflict. Charlie Moore, a retired Air Force general who served as deputy of US Cyber Command, said that China is working on all the capabilities it wants to have from a defensive and offensive standpoint, as well as from an intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance standpoint.
READ THE STORY: CircleID
Narrative Warfare: How the Kremlin and Russian news outlets justified a War of Aggression against Ukraine
Analyst Comments: This report provides a detailed and well-researched analysis of the propaganda and disinformation tactics used by the Kremlin in the lead-up to Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The report effectively highlights the use of history as a propaganda tool to justify Russia's claims on Ukraine and sheds light on the complexity of hybrid warfare in the ongoing conflict. The report's assessment of the Kremlin's failure to recognize the national spirit of the Ukrainians and its complacency in its military readiness is a useful contribution to understanding the events leading up to the 2022 invasion.
FROM THE MEDIA: This report provides a timeline of events leading up to Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, exploring the patterns of pro-Kremlin propaganda and disinformation that were used to justify the aggression. The report argues that the war in Ukraine is as much an ideological conflict as a military one, with information operations being a key tool of hybrid warfare. Putin's revisionist take on Russian and Ukrainian history is discussed as a propaganda tool used to justify Russia's claims on Ukraine. The report argues that the Kremlin failed to recognize the extent to which the 2014 war mobilized the national spirit of the Ukrainians and became complacent, leading to the 2022 invasion.
READ THE STORY: Atlantic Council
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