Cybersecurity and Cyberwarfare

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said he wished US allies could view a copy of May 14's hearing on 5G cybersecurity to see the uncommon bipartisan agreement that Chinese technology is a threat to the safety and security of the Internet of everything next-gen wireless broadband will drive.

The Russian network RT America aired the segment, titled “A Dangerous ‘Experiment on Humanity,’” in covering what its guest experts call fifth generation’s (5G) dire health threats. US intelligence agencies identified the network as a principal meddler in the 2016 presidential election. Now, it is linking 5G signals to brain cancer, infertility, autism, heart tumors and Alzheimer’s disease — claims that lack scientific support.

The Federal Communications Commission denied China Mobile USA’s application to provide telecommunications services between the United States and foreign destinations. The action is the result of a careful review by the FCC and close consultation with Executive Branch agencies having expertise in national security and law enforcement. In the Memorandum Opinion and Order, the FCC finds that China Mobile USA has not demonstrated that its application for the authority to provide international telecommunications services is in the public interest.

House Commerce Chairman Frank Pallone, Jr.

House Armed Services Chairman Adam Smith (D-WA) confirmed that anxiety over Chinese telecom giants’ wireless advances could creep into House lawmakers’ must-pass defense policy legislation. “There might be a couple things on 5G that we include,” said Chairman Smith.

President Donald Trump signed an Executive Order directing the creation of programs to grow and strengthen the US cybersecurity workforce to meet the challenges of the 21st century. The Executive Order will promote cybersecurity work within the Government, including through a new President’s Cup Cybersecurity Competition. The Administration will develop a rotational program where Federal employees can expand their cybersecurity expertise through temporary reassignments to other agencies.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed into law new measures that would enable the creation of a national network, able to operate separately from the rest of the world. (For now, the network remains largely theoretical.) The law calls for the creation of a monitoring and a management center supervised by Roskomnadzor, Russia's telecoms agency. The state agency will be charged with ensuring the availability of communication services in Russia in extraordinary situations.

The US justice system is under attack as part of a long-term Russian effort to undermine the appeal of democracy and weaken the West. Via multi-platform disinformation opera­tions, Kremlin-backed operatives work to exacerbate existent divisions within populations and increase overall mistrust and paranoia against democratic institutions. In the process, justice systems are portrayed as corrupt, inept, and hypocritical. This report describes the nature of this threat and proposes measures for countering it.

A compilation of research, interviews, and analysis aims to show that while the worldwide consequences of getting things wrong with the internet could be huge – for peace and security, for political and individual freedoms, for human equality – the problems are never so great that nothing can be done. This annual report is a call to action to recognize the things that are having an impact on the internet today through research and analysis, and to embrace the notion that we as humans can change how we make money, govern societies, and interact with one another online. This report is structu