US builds ‘disruptive tech strike force’ to counter cyber espionage

Warning of the threat ‘not only on battlefields but in information spaces’, the US deputy A-G says the new group would protect western allies.

US deputy attorney-general Lisa Monaco. Picture: AFP

The United States is creating a new “disruptive technology strike force” to help America and its Five Eyes allies, including Australia, counter cyber and corporate espionage and block the siphoning of western technology.

US deputy attorney-general Lisa Monaco, told Chatham House in London the new strike force would help the US and its allies guard against technology threats from foreign adversaries, as well as other national security threats.

She warned that the United States, the United Kingdom and allies face aggression from adversaries “playing out not only on battlefields but in economic zones and information spaces – in cyberattacks, the vacuuming up of sensitive data and the exploitation of restricted technology”.

Ms Monaco added that some countries are also threatening national security through foreign investment designed to access sensitive data and key technologies.

“They want to acquire technology by any means possible — not only to fuel surveillance and repression at home and abroad, but to gain strategic dominance,” she said.

During the question and answer session, Ms Monaco said she wouldn’t use TikTok, the Chinese owned social media app.

“If a company operating in China collects your data, it is a good bet that the Chinese government is accessing it,’’ she said, noting that adversaries are targeting troves of data.

“As our Intelligence Community has noted, China leads the world in using surveillance and censorship to keep tabs on its populations, repress dissent, and counter perceived threats abroad. And the Chinese government is not just hacking to gather our data.

“China’s doctrine of ‘civil-military fusion’ means that any advance by a Chinese company with military application must be shared with the state. And its national security law requires any company doing business in China to make its data accessible to the government.”

Ms Monaco said that nation-states – often acting in concert with criminal groups in a new, blended, double threat – are engaging in more sophisticated, brazen, and dangerous attacks.

“They’re threatening core public institutions like hospitals and schools, and routinely probing our critical infrastructure for vulnerabilities,’’ she said.

“They use cyber armies and proxies — hackers for hire and organised criminal networks — in ways that flout international norms and risk our collective security.

“As we have done before against terrorism, we are working with allies and partners to combat cyber threats by innovating and using new tools to turn the tables on the hackers.”

She gave an example where the US worked with the UK last year to disrupt ‘Cyclops Blink’, a global botnet controlled by the GRU, Russia’s military intelligence agency.

“We disabled Russia’s control over those devices before they could be deployed in an attack – against Ukraine, against us, or our allies. Our work protected innocent victims in the United States, the UK, and around the world,’’ she said.