Nate Snyder, a senior advisor at Cambridge Global Advisors and former expert on counterintelligence at the Department of Homeland Security, addressed emerging cybersecurity and privacy threats in a recent conversation with Newsradio WGAN. Speaking on the relationship between China and the United Kingdom, Snyder labeled the growing influence of Chinese tech firm Huawei as a major source of concern, given Chinese state ownership of the company, and its possible access to western data through 5G technology. Specifically, Snyder points out that Huawei’s global influence over the 5G network will give it an advantageous position over the United States. This
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PERSPECTIVE: The Huawei 5G Row Highlights China’s Growing Threat To Global Security
This article, by Sherri Ramsey, originally appeared in The Huffington Post UK on June 4th, 2019.
On the heels of President Trump’s Executive Order that would ban Chinese telecommunications equipment maker Huawei from the United States, the company held a flashy event in London to mark the launch of its newest phone. This came as the President prepares next week to urge Theresa May to eliminate the firm from the development of 5G wireless networks in the UK.
Despite warnings from New Zealand and Australia, and continued calls from U.S. officials to ban Huawei equipment from 5G networks, the … Read More
COMMENTARY: Nate Snyder – “Drastic Action” Needed to Secure 5G Networks
Speaking on The Hill TV’s Rising on May 20, 2019, former counterintelligence official Nate Snyder stressed the urgency of addressing the security risks associated with emerging 5G technology. While the promise of faster speeds sparks excitement among consumers, it also prompts privacy concerns as well as consideration of how bad actors may exploit these gains. Snyder notes that malicious actors will always search for vulnerabilities within our systems. In this case, the greatest vulnerability stems from the debated presence of Chinese-owned and -operated Huawei components in our 5G infrastructure. In this scenario, US intelligence agencies face a serious risk of … Read More
PERSPECTIVE: 5G risk is about more than simply securing competitive advantage
This piece, by Nate Snyder, originally appeared in The Hill on May 17, 2019.
The dawning of 5G network capabilities will revolutionize telecommunications and online networks. Data transport speeds will increase to 10 times faster than what they are with 4G. As countries across the globe discover and develop new 5G innovations, so too will terrorist organizations, non-state actors, and lone offenders. If there is a new breakthrough with the public at-large, it will also be leveraged by bad-actors; they will develop and discover their own insidious innovations and exploitations.
While working on counterterrorism efforts at the Department of Homeland … Read More
PERSPECTIVE: Post-9/11 Counterterrorism Is Right Model for Infrastructure Cybersecurity
This piece, by Gen. Francis X. Taylor, originally appeared on Homeland Security Today on April 2, 2019.
Nearly 18 years ago, we were blindsided when terrorists attacked the World Trade Center in New York City on Sept. 11, 2001. We now know that if there had been better information sharing between U.S. law enforcement and intelligence organizations that we may have been able to foil the plot. In the years since that devastating attack, the U.S. national security establishment has revamped its approach to information sharing for the purpose of counterterrorism. That new approach involves the systematic sharing of threat … Read More
PERSPECTIVE: A Centralized, National 5G Network Would Pose More Harm Than Good
This piece, by Gen. Francis X. Taylor, originally appeared on Homeland Security Today on March 20, 2019.
5G wireless technology is poised to become a critical piece of infrastructure at home and abroad, and the efforts well underway by U.S. wireless carriers to develop and deploy 5G are not only a matter of economic security, but also of national security. Not only will 5G mean lightning-fast data speeds upward of 20Gbps that will usher in a host of innovations, but the fifth generation of connectivity will allow for more secure and better connections among Internet of Things, enterprise networking and … Read More
PERSPECTIVE: We’ve Spent Billions on Cybersecurity: How Are We Doing?
This piece by Brian de Vallance, originally appeared on Homeland Security Today on January 30, 2019.
Protecting America’s critical infrastructure — essential to our everyday life — from cyber attacks remains one of our nation’s most important missions. How are we doing?
Not so good, by some accounts. In 2017, a major MIT report concluded that after spending billions of dollars over the past few decades, our infrastructure is somehow less secure than we were 30 years ago. Its authors conclude that “the vulnerability of the systems that power our nation is a national disgrace.”
And this is not merely … Read More
PERSPECTIVE: A New Approach to Tackling Cybersecurity
This piece by Sherri Ramsay, originally appeared on Homeland Security Today on November 28, 2018.
Every day our computers and networks are being attacked. Sometimes it takes the attackers only minutes to selectively target a vulnerability and compromise our systems. Then they are able to quickly exfiltrate our data, while avoiding our defenses. There is an extensive set of attackers – nation states, criminals, hacktivists, terrorists, and even “lone wolves”. Corporate entities and governments no longer have the luxury of only worrying about powerful nation states. They must be prepared to defend against any of these attackers. The harsh reality … Read More
PERSPECTIVE: We’re The Government and We’re Here to Help Protect Critical Infrastructure
This post originally appeared in the November 8, 2018 update from Cipher Brief by Francis X. Taylor.
As we look back on cybersecurity awareness month, which ran in October, there’s no better time to examine the cybersecurity health of our critical infrastructure (CI). When a majority of the actual infrastructure that makes up “critical infrastructure” is owned by the private sector, the question becomes: what is the role of the federal government, and how should private industry and the federal government work together to protect the cybersecurity of critical infrastructure? Is the federal government too involved, or not involved … Read More
PERSPECTIVE: Energy Sector Cyber Threat Is Real; Greater Collaboration Is Part of the Answer
In June of 2017, when Wired magazine published a harrowing account of Russia’s hack of the Ukrainian electrical grid, it quickly generated broad discussion about the state of our nation’s cyber defense in the critical infrastructure (CI) sectors. But Washington is nearly 5,000 miles from Kiev, and Russia’s ability to take control of a Ukrainian power company through its IT helpdesk seemed even more remote.
Remote no longer. Dan Coats, the director of National Intelligence, recently testified before Congress that “the warning lights
