U.S. moves ahead on anti

The strengthened cooperation against cybercriminals and other hackers comes despite growing concerns from officials and business executives about the mercantilist impact of China's new cybersecurity law.

U.S. authorities are moving ahead with plans to strengthen cooperation with China against cybercriminals and other hackers, according to the Departments of Homeland Security and Justice, despite growing concerns from officials and business executives about the mercantilist impact of Beijing’s new cybersecurity law.

Thursday’s third U.S.-China High-Level Joint Dialogue on Cybercrime and Related Issues in Washington saw the launch of a cyber-hotline between the two capitals; an agreement to begin sharing indicators of compromise through newly established channels; and a pledge to hold a U.S.-China roundtable for officials and technology companies to discuss “cybersecurity issues of mutual concern.”

The meeting, between Attorney General Loretta Lynch and Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson on the U.S. side and China’s State Councilor and Minister for Public Security Guo Shengkun, was the third since President Obama and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping reached a deal in September last year to cooperate in fighting cybercrime and stop hacking for economic gain.

National security cyber-espionage — like the massive theft of data from the Office of Personnel Management — was excluded.

Among the other topics discussed this week, according to a DHS statement, were:

• Continued cooperation “on misuse of technology and communications to facilitate violent acts of terrorism.”

• Continued cooperation on cybercrime cases involving online distribution of child pornography. Expanded cooperation “to counter Darkweb marketplaces’ illicit sale of synthetic drugs and firearms.”

• “Both sides recommend that the Dialogue continue to be held each year, and that the fourth Dialogue occur in 2017.”

A statement from the White House Thursday noted that Guo also met with National Security Advisor Susan Rice. Rice “raised U.S. concerns about the potential impacts of China’s cybersecurity law … on commercial and people-to-people links between the United States and China,” the statement says.

The law, passed last month and due to take effect in June, includes requirements for “critical information infrastructure operators” to keep vital business and personal data in China, provide unspecified “technical support” to security agencies, and pass national security reviews of their IT products.

It has been seen by critics as overly broad and vaguely worded — leading to fears that foreign companies operating in critical sectors would have to hand over intellectual property or open back doors within products in order to operate.

Government

• FBI officials say AI is bolstering adversaries, emphasizing need to focus on cyber basics, patching

• Feds accuse China of ‘systematic’ distillation of U.S. AI models

• CIA’s Michael Ellis says cyber intelligence is changing how the agency operates

• The G7 tells industry to hurry up and prep for post-quantum encryption

Technology

• European parliament members call for slowdown of Serbia’s EU entry over spyware use

• FCC proposes public scorecard to rate telecoms on anti-robocall efforts

• Pegasus, NoviSpy variant spyware found on devices of Serbian activists

• Wyden seeks upgraded NSA security guidance on commercial VPN use

Threats

• Microsoft discloses two actively exploited zero-days among 974 vulnerabilities

• Russian national extradited to US for alleged involvement in bank-account takeover scheme

• Attackers exploit zero-days in consistently besieged SonicWall product

• Jail time for Maine child in 764 marks turning point in federal law enforcement

Policy

• Whistleblower says USPS deploying new, ‘untested’ IT systems governing mail-in ballots

• ‘Watershed 250’ test program in Texas looks to private sector for water cybersecurity help

• Former sexual abuse victims say Grok used their images, videos to train deepfake capabilities

• Cyber threats nudge Trump to sign executive order on foreign equipment in U.S. energy infrastructure