conducting illegal covert or clandestine acts at the direction of, or for the benefit of, a foreign government or entity. In intelligence terminology, information objectives identify the specific information (or technology) that is tasked for collection. Figure 6: Espionage Tradecraft Techniques by Specific PRC Entities. If you feel you are being solicited for information, which of the following should you do? Which of the following is an example of an anomaly? Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. Our adversary seeks to expand its Thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today to discuss the current threats to the United States homeland. Cyber espionage (cyberespionage) is a form of cyber attack that is carried out against a competitive company or government entity. Beijing has stated its intention to advance industry, technology, and military capabilities to become a world leader by 2025. Browsing international terrorist websites, Everyone is required to report all FIE threats Reportable International Terrorism Contacts, Activities, Indicators, and Behaviors include. Spies from 20 foreign intelligence agencies, including Nato allies such as France and Germany, are attempting to steal Britain's most sensitive secrets. U.S. Military or government site But this is not just an election-cycle threat. Taking short trips. They motivate these individuals to act at home or encourage them to travel. Practice Communications Security As former Cisco CEO John Chambers once said, There are two types of companies: those who have been hacked, and those who don't yet know they have been hacked.. Report, Trans-Pacific It is probably not a coincidence that FBI also arrested Mr. Chaoqun Ji, a PRC national in Chicago, on espionage related charges. The second type of Chinese espionage targeting U.S. colleges and universities has been espionage aimed at intimidating Chinese students and professors critical of Chinese policies, and to a lesser extent American students and academics. Recent prosecutions, however, have relied on 951. The U.S. recently charged Chinese spies and companies with trying to steal trade secrets from the semiconductor industry, and charged a Chinese agent with collecting information on Chinese nationals working in the U.S. for possible recruitment by Chinas spy agencies. 951 to pursue conduct outside the context of traditional espionage. Fourth, Congress should consider amendments to the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) or other legislation to require better disclosure about Chinese operations in the United States. The winners will be those who break the old rules of the spy game and work out new ones. Due to online recruitment, indoctrination, and instruction, FTOs are no longer dependent on finding ways to get terrorist operatives into the United States to recruit and carry out acts of terrorism. When divided into the aforementioned categories (Espionage, Economic Espionage, ITAR, EAR, Covert Action) the 274 espionage cases show the percentages of operations as follows (Figure 1.). Get FBI email alerts Asia, Central Both options are priced the same. Thank you again for the opportunity to testify today and I look forward to your questions. Therefore, when it comes to national security, it is vital that the men and women of our national intelligence community collect reliable domestic and foreign intelligence information involving criminal, clandestine and warlike activity. Traditional espionage encompasses a government's efforts to acquire clandestinely classified or otherwise protected information from a foreign government. The operational details revealed in individual cases implies this phenomenon is due to the following factors: no training program for handlers or recruited assets, differences in the various SOEs, and the variables of espionage targets to include military, space, dual use, or industrial technologies. Asia, Southeast The most persistent threats to the nation and to U.S. interests abroad are homegrown violent extremists (HVEs), domestic violent extremists, and foreign terrorist organizations (FTOs). Echoing other terrorist groups, ISIS has advocated for lone offender attacks in Western countries. Detecting an anomaly requires a degree of suspicion U.S. companies continue to need to make major investments in hardening their defenses against cyber threats and to train employees to be vigilant against Chinese espionage. Beware of being overheard Sixty-three people were killed and thousands injured. collecting intelligence for a terrorist organization Our adversaries are continuously trying to undermine our country, whether it is election season or not. Chinese social groups, enterprises and public entities will have increased responsibility to combat foreign espionage under new regulations issued by the country's ministry of state security. Lastly, Chinas espionage activities continue unabated despite a large number of arrests, public exposure, and most recently, U.S. trade sanctions. Media is waiting where a sensitive DoD program will be tested. For physical searches, the government must show that the place to be searched contains "foreign intelligence information" and that it is used, owned, or possessed by an agent of a foreign power or a foreign power. The SCA would require such reports to include "an evaluation" of foreign government assisted "malign influence or espionage activities" directed at IHEs "aimed at obtaining research and development methods or secrets related to critical technologies." Cyber Attacks, Potential espionage indicators (PEIs) are activities by an individual who may have volunteered or been recruited by a foreign entity as a writing espionage agent. High-level findings are as follows: One cannot simply look at a single or even several espionage cases and hope to understand if, and how, a nation state is conducting espionage. Take time to use secure communications equipment The alleged scheme ran from 2010 to 2015 and targeted turbofan engine technology developed through a U.S.-French partnership. Private companies (and individuals) are most likely to employ no or minimal tradecraft. Technology companies have a front-line responsibility to secure their own networks, products, and platforms. Advocating support for terrorist organizations We must seek out new technologies and solutions for the problems that exist today as well as those that are on the horizon. In its recent stepped-up enforcement efforts against foreign influence in American politics, the DOJ has faced some high-profile setbacks when it has sought to use the broad reach of 18 U.S.C. Despite the statutes broad language, the DOJ has faced significant hurdles in pursuing 951 prosecutions outside the traditional espionage context, and particularly where the alleged foreign agents activity involves ostensibly legitimate international business dealings. Edward Fishman. The third major line of response has been to increase costs to China over its espionage program and to take action against specific Chinese companies that engage in and/or profit from unconventional espionage. DOJ used FARA to prosecute former Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort and Trump fundraiser Elliott Broidy, and in its unsuccessful prosecution of former Obama White House Counsel Gregory Craig for his alleged lobbying efforts on behalf of Ukraine stemming from his private practice legal work. China is stepping up anti-espionage activities amid worsening ties with the United States and a renewed focus on national security ahead of a key Communist Party anniversary later this year. Chinese entities conducting espionage include government agencies, the military, state- owned enterprises (SOEs), private companies/individuals, and select universities. I will focus my remarks on two aspects of Chinas unconventional espionage threat. Recruiting personnel for a terrorist organization Victims of Chinas espionage efforts include major defense and aerospace companies, pharmaceutical firms, technology research companies, manufacturers, and universities. In 2017 and 2018, suspected China-linked hackers have targeted U.S. firms operating in sectors including cloud computing, artificial intelligence, internet connected devices, biotechnology, energy, robotics, transportation, agricultural machinery and other agricultural technology, and high-end medical devices. WASHINGTON - Russian government hackers breached the Treasury and Commerce departments, along with other U.S. government agencies, as part of a global espionage campaign that stretches back months . China is pursuing a whole-of-society approach to its technological capabilities that includes purchasing innovative companies through overseas investments, requiring western companies to transfer cutting edge technologies to China as a condition of market access, providing vast state resources to finance domestic technological development, and financing training for top Chinese students and researchers overseas and paying a hefty premium to attract talent back to China. This wide variance in professional tradecraft likely indicates MSS suffers from lack of standardized training, security awareness, operational oversight, and case management. Intercepts of cell phones or wireless signals, 1. Reviews of the 2015 agreement have been mixed. It is absolutely essential to stop Chinese unconventional espionage. 2023 Diplomat Media Inc. All Rights Reserved. While India would like the current phase of stability at the LoC to continue, it has little incentive to try to make a grand gesture toward peace with Pakistan. The government must also provide a description of the information sought and the places or facilities that will be searched. I'd the target takes the bait, the foreign intelligence officer recruits the target to move into a more clandestine relationship. Each attorney is granted unlimited access to high quality, on-demand premium content from well-respected faculty in the legal industry along with administrative access to easily manage CLE for the entire team. traditional espionage activity includes foreign governmentbuddy foster now. A fine of not more than $5,000,000, Personnel who fail to report CI activities of concern as outlined in Enclosure 4 of DoD Directive 5240.06 are subject to appropriate disciplinary action under regulations, Under DoDD 5240.06 Reportable Foreign Intelligence Contacts, Activities, Indicators and Behavior; which of the following is reportable, Contact with known or suspected foreign intelligence The problem is that these recent indictments and arrests are only two of hundreds, if not thousands of cases. But China does not only steal corporate crown jewels like trade secrets: It targets a wide variety of information that can provide Chinese companies with commercial advantage. The division has a wide range of responsibilities. The Administration and Congress should also look for ways to make these kinds of tools multilateral, working with foreign governments to ensure that foreign countries do not import products made with stolen U.S. IP and that the U.S. does not import products made with stolen foreign IP. Over the last year, the FBI has met with top social media and technology companies several times, provided them with classified briefings, and shared specific threat indicators and account information, so they can better monitor their own platforms. If the United States does not continue to make and expand R&D here in the U.S., China will eventually overtake our technological edge, regardless of how effective we are at preventing China from stealing, buying, or otherwise acquiring U.S. IP. There have also been questions about how to limit hacking back so that a company engaged in hacking back is subject to appropriate U.S. government supervision and does not either intentionally or inadvertently escalate the situation. The United States charged the group with stealing airline engine technology from French and U.S. companies. There is also a national construct in place (however redundant) to ensure intelligence information objectives are satisfied by collecting foreign information and technology. In addition, whether located at home or abroad, many cyber actors are obfuscating their identities and obscuring their activity by using combinations of leased and compromised infrastructure in domestic and foreign jurisdictions. Information gathered and activities conducted to identify, deceive, exploit, disrupt, or protect against espionage, other intelligence activities, sabotage, or assassinations conducted for or on behalf of foreign powers, organizations or persons or their agents or international terrorist organizations. Unexplained absences Hostile actors conducting cyber espionage can target the government, military, business and individuals. China-Based Customers Conducting Espionage Activities. Composed of subject matter experts from both the Criminal Investigative and Counterterrorism Divisions, the fusion cell offers program coordination from FBI Headquarters, helps ensure seamless information sharing across divisions, and augments investigative resources. In closing, the work being done by the FBI is immeasurable; however, we cannot afford to be complacent. Cyber threat actors have also increasingly conducted ransomware attacks against U.S. systems, encrypting data and rendering systems unusablethereby victimizing individuals, businesses, and even emergency service and public health providers. The U.S. Intelligence Community is a federation of executive branch agencies and organizations that work separately and together to conduct intelligence activities necessary for the conduct of foreign relations and the protection of the national security of the United States. The text in bold (see Figure 4) reflects multiple, concerted attempts by China to secure specific U.S. critical technologies. Outright theft of U.S. and western intellectual property (IP) is a key piece of Chinas strategy, but it is only a piece. Traditional espionage, often characterized by career foreign intelligence officers acting as diplomats or ordinary citizens, and asymmetric espionage, typically carried out by students,. In addition to the threat posed by foreign influence, the FBI is also concerned about foreign investment by hostile nation states. The Defense Departments Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), for example, last year launched a $1.5 billion, five-year initiative to support advances in chip technology. The FBI indictment alleges Ji was tasked by his spymaster a senior MSS officer in the Jiangsu Province MSS office. Familial ties, or close associations, with terrorist or their supporters And this is a pervasive reality. Figure 4: Adapted from Office of the Director of National Intelligence. Most widely reported these days are attempts by adversarieshoping to reach a wide swath of Americans covertly from outside the United Statesto use false personas and fabricated stories on social media platforms to discredit U.S. individuals and institutions. Russia and China have been identified as . Introduction An analysis ofoperational activities reveals a wide range of tradecraft practices (see Figure 5): As illustrated, the most frequently employed elements of tradecraft include using false names or documents to ship information or technology. I left the Members with what I thought was an ominous warning: Do something about this now or youll be calling me back in 20 years screaming: My God, how did this happen? Well, they never called me back, but if recent FBI arrests are any indication, the problem has gotten worse a lot worse. For example, China and Chinese companies have repeatedly paid off corporate insiders at U.S. and western companies to simply walk out the door with high-value trade secrets. Over four years after the project was announced, updates remain scarce on China's first nuclear icebreaker. Of course, China may well prove unwilling to make the necessary concessions. Over the last five years, I compiled and analyzed 274 cases of Chinese espionage that have occurred since the year 2000. Persons subject to the UCMJ may be subject to punitive action 3488, enacted October 11, 1996 deals with industrial espionage (e.g., the theft or misappropriation of a trade secret and the National Information Infrastructure Protection Act) and four other areas of action that Congress deemed appropriate and the United States Sentencing Commission reports regarding encryption or . We tend to think of espionage as involving information classified under national security legislation and relating to political or military secrets. These illicit activities pose a significant threat to national security and continue to be a priority and focus of the FBI. These diverse threats underscore the complexity and breadth of the FBIs mission: to protect the American people and uphold the Constitution of the United States. We live in a time of acute and persistent terrorist and criminal threats to our national security, our economy, and indeed our communities. Emily Kilcrease, View All Reports departments and their authorities in a long-term, whole-of-government effort to raise the costs of bad behavior and advance the Administration's national security strategy. Just last month, a new law reorganized the cyber security operations of DHS in order to improve their effectiveness, including establishing DHSs Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. They would also generally restrict those companies ability to sell products based on stolen IP not only to the United States, but also to other countries around the world. Copying files, unexplained absences, terminating employment, Counterintelligence Awareness & Reporting Cou, CI Awareness and Reporting Briefing Assessment, Counterintelligence Awareness and Reporting f, Level I Antiterrorism Awareness (JS-US007), J3OP-US261-HB Emergency Preparedness Response, TEMA 28: Bacterias de interes biotecnologic. Regardless, it seems likely that China will continue to deploy hacking as a tool of gaining U.S. IP as U.S. policy developments like export control reform and new restrictions on Chinese investment in the U.S. restrict Chinas ability to legally and overtly acquire its desired technologies.