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Sue Gordon, former principal deputy director of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and Matt Olsen, Uber’s chief safety and security officer and former director of the National Counterterrorism Center, during a panel discussion at CNBC’sWork conference in San Francisco, November 4, 2019.
Aaron Nevader | CNBC
US Department of Justice announce On Tuesday, a new unit within its National Security Division focused on pursuing cyber threats from government and state-backed hackers, formalizing an increasingly important part of the national security apparatus in the Justice Department’s hierarchy.
In a statement, Assistant Attorney General Matt Olsen said the new unit will allow the Justice Department’s national security team to “increase the size and speed of disruption campaigns and prosecutions of nation-state actors, state-sponsored cybercriminals, associated money launderers, and other cyber threats to national security.” “.
The Justice Department aggressively pursued state-backed cyber actors, especially those based in China or North Korea. National security officials outside the Justice Department have also stressed China as a major cybersecurity concern, including the top cybersecurity official in the United States.
The ad made no mention of China’s cyber efforts, which CISA director Gene Easterly called last week “a defining threat of the times.”
Concerns about commercial and industrial espionage have long worried senior government and corporate executives, especially as Chinese fears seek to leapfrog and develop equivalent technology, allegedly on the back of American innovation or research.
Last month, the Secretary of the Navy confirmed that the Navy had been “influenced” by a Chinese-backed hacking group that was seeking intelligence and data.
The statement emphasized the threat posed by Russian malware and ransomware groups, which Researchers and practitioners distinguish as a force but less coordinated and less strategic than incursions from China.
While Chinese hacking groups “live off the ground,” gathering intelligence and data, Russian and North Korean groups often seek to extort their victims for profit, generating income for themselves or their governments.
Building cases against these groups can take years, and does not always result in an arrest, given the far-reaching nature of hacking groups.
“NatSec Cyber ​​will act as a capable incubator for investment in the complex, time-consuming investigative work of early-stage cases,” Olsen said.
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