Influence campaign spread during Maui wildfires

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Sep 11, 2023 View in browser   By Joseph Gedeon — With help from Rebecca Kern Driving the day — Chinese-linked operatives have been taking advantage of a disaster that terrorized residents in Maui to spread a fake government conspiracy theory about weather control machines to turn global citizens distrustful of the United States.   HAPPY MONDAY, and welcome to MORNING CYBERSECURITY! I felt the first breeze of cooler air over the weekend, but much to my delight, it was a one-and-done. There’s nothing like a heat wave in September, right? Right? Have any tips or secrets to share with MC? Or thoughts on what we should be covering? Email me at jgedeon@politico.com. You can also follow @POLITICOPro and @MorningCybersec on X. Full team contact info is below. Let’s dive in. Want to receive this newsletter every weekday? Subscribe to POLITICO Pro. You’ll also receive daily policy news and other intelligence you need to act on the day’s biggest stories. Today's Agenda Deputy commander at U.S. Cyber Command Lt. Gen. Tim Haugh is set to speak on cyber warfare on the first day of the Air, Space & Cyber Conference at the Gaylord National Resort in Maryland. Starts at 9:20 a.m. Vulnerabilities WEATHER WARS — A newly discovered network of 85 pro-China social media and blog accounts are lobbing a global disinformation campaign on more than a dozen major social media platforms claiming the U.S. military used experimental weapons to cause the Maui wildfires in August, according to a new report by NewsGuard obtained exclusively by Morning Cyber. There is strong evidence that the disinformation campaign was highly coordinated, and it’s the most expansive Chinese-linked influence operation NewsGuard has uncovered. — Social media takeover: The social media barrage appears to have been launched by Chinese speakers in mid-August and targeted users in several countries, posting misinformation in 15 languages in addition to Chinese on at least 14 social media sites – including Facebook, X (formerly Twitter) YouTube, Reddit, Medium, Quora, TripAdvisor and more. The accounts involved only posted content that aligned with the Chinese government's interests, and the posts and articles all contained the same mysterious strings of words. But, it’s unclear whether China’s government was directly involved, researchers say. — He who controls the weather…: The posts and articles in the campaign all make the same baseless claim: that MI6, the British intelligence service, has revealed that the U.S. military used a "weather weapon" to start the wildfires. But of course, MI6 denied making any such announcement. — The big picture: Like most covert disinformation campaigns, the social media blast did not attract a lot of engagement on Western platforms. Still, the confirmation of a significant pro-Chinese covert influence operation underscores a willingness to use social media to sow discord and promote its political interests abroad. — Remember: The Chinese government is constantly being linked to campaigns that create and spread disinformation online. One such operation, detailed in a Microsoft report last Thursday, claimed a Beijing-linked information operation is using AI to make images and deepfakes meant to imitate U.S. voters and exploit divisions around race, ideologies and divisive topics like gun violence. Those posts are often spread by real individuals affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party, according to the report, which warned the government is also increasing cyberattacks against U.S. critical infrastructure. On the Hill HANG UP YOUR COTE — The Biden administration has quietly rejected a congressional demand to create a plan for protecting the U.S. economy from a major cyberattack, arguing that its existing emergency plans are sufficient. — The details: It’s all based on a private CISA report from August, first reported by The Messenger, which says the Cyberspace Solarium Commission’s 2.0 “continuity of the economy” plan is already addressed through existing policy and might only confuse responses and mechanisms for cyber due diligence. “Creation of a COTE plan with a singular economic focus, coupled with new response frameworks, has the potential to create confusion and duplicate existing response and recovery mechanisms,” the 29-page report reads. The agency says it came to that conclusion after analyzing more than two dozen responses from the government and private sector. — Private sector problems: But that’s unlikely to go over well with lawmakers and cyber experts alike on the commission, some who say the private sector has too limited a role in the federal government’s efforts. “The administration’s report continues the bad practice of marginalizing the private sector’s role in continuity planning,” Mark Montgomery, senior director of the Center on Cyber and Technology Innovation at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told MC. “The report could have emphasized and enshrined in policy the role of the private sector in developing solutions and making decisions, but it does not.” Montgomery, the former executive director of CSC 2.0, added that the members of the commission “were disappointed.” At the White House CHIPS AHOY — The United States inked a serious relationship upgrade with Vietnam on Sunday, paving the way for its one-time adversary in East Asia to become a high-level partner in the semiconductor trade. — What it looks like: The historic strategic partnership, which was announced during President Joe Biden’s post-G20 stop in Hanoi, will see the U.S. provide financial and technical assistance to Vietnam to help it build up its manufacturing capacity, workforce and regulatory framework in support of American industry. The vote of confidence in Vietnam includes Arizona-based Amkor setting up to start operations at its $1.6 billion factory in Bac Ninh Province next month. It’s all a part of the Biden administration’s efforts to secure the supply of critical technologies, and flies in the face of China’s semiconductor dominance. — But one thing to remember about its internet: Vietnam enacted a tough cybersecurity law last year that reminded keen cyber watchers of a similarly repressive law in nearby China. That includes broad information control in the hands of government authorities and emphasizing data localization for domestic and foreign companies, such as telecoms and online payment sites. The International Scene CYBER DEETS FROM G20: The annual caucus of global powers — this time over the weekend in New Delhi — brought together some familiar faces to give us a sense of what is on their collective agenda for the near future. This is what stuck out to us. — Bridging network gaps: Serious emphasis was put on boosting privacy in tech and digital transformation, with world leaders endorsing a framework for a “safe, secure” and resilient digital public infrastructure. That would include protecting data and personal identifiers through secure networks, and prioritizing cross-border data flows. India — which is currently holding the G20 presidency — also got support to launch the One Future Alliance, an initiative to help low and middle-income countries implement DPI. — Crypto switch up: The rollercoaster ride that’s been the crypto world may soon see itself catching up to global norms now that G20 leaders endorsed the International Monetary Fund’s and the Financial Stability Board’s joint recommendations for the regulation and oversight of crypto assets. And before you get ahead of yourselves, they say an outright ban just won’t cut it. The report made on the highly unregulated industry says jurisdictions should “strengthen monetary policy frameworks, guard against excessive capital flow volatility and adopt unambiguous tax treatment of crypto.” The leaders’ finance ministers and central bank governors will discuss taking the roadmap forward at their next meeting in October. People on the Move Former counsel to the House Homeland Security cyber subcommittee Alicia Smith is starting her first day at CISA’s Office of Strategy, Policy and Plans today. Tweet of the Day I wouldn’t mind turning the Internet off for a little bit to get all our ducks in a row. How long would a “rearchitecting” take anyways? 2-3 years? Quick Bytes STEALING IN STYLE — Cyberattackers broke into an old and offline third-party managed site for the Associated Press AP Stylebook— a guide newsrooms worldwide use for grammar and punctuation — and stole data from more than 200 customers to conduct targeted phishing attacks. Get all the details from Lawrence Abrams at Bleeping Computer. LISTENING IN — A 25-year-old foreign student was arrested in Norway on suspicion of espionage and illegal eavesdropping after being caught conducting illegal signal surveillance near the Norwegian prime minister's office and the defense ministry, reports The Associated Press. A SOCIAL DILEMMA — Bad guys in North Korea are creating fake accounts on social media platforms to target cybersecurity researchers and then sending them malicious files that exploit vulnerabilities in popular software, according to The Hacker News. Chat soon.  Stay in touch with the whole team: Joseph Gedeon (jgedeon@politico.com); John Sakellariadis (jsakellariadis@politico.com); Maggie Miller (mmiller@politico.com); and Heidi Vogt (hvogt@politico.com).   Follow us on Twitter Heidi Vogt @HeidiVogt Maggie Miller @magmill95 John Sakellariadis @johnnysaks130 Joseph Gedeon @JGedeon1   Follow us

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