Tag: Cyberwarfare and Defense

Cyberattack Paralyzes the Largest US Health Care Payment System

An urgent care chain in Ohio may be forced to stop paying rent and other bills to cover salaries. In Florida, a cancer center is racing to find money for chemotherapy drugs to avoid delaying critical treatments for its patients. And in Pennsylvania, a primary care doctor is slashing expenses and pooling all of her […]

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U.S. Fears Russia Might Put a Nuclear Weapon in Space

When Russia conducted a series of secret military satellite launches around the time of its invasion of Ukraine in early 2022, American intelligence officials began delving into the mystery of what, exactly, the Russians were doing. Later, spy agencies discovered Russia was working on a new kind of space-based weapon that could threaten the thousands […]

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U.S. Disrupts Hacking Operation Led by Russian Intelligence

The F.B.I., working with other countries, disrupted a Russian hacking operation that infiltrated more than 1,000 home and small-business internet routers in the United States and around the world, the Justice Department announced on Thursday. Russian intelligence, collaborating with cybercriminals, created a botnet, or a network of private computers infected with malicious software, to spy […]

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Congressman Who Broke With G.O.P. on Mayorkas Vote Will Not Seek Re-election

Representative Mike Gallagher, Republican of Wisconsin, announced on Saturday that he would not run for re-election, just days after breaking with his party to cast a decisive vote against impeachment charges for Alejandro N. Mayorkas, the homeland security secretary. Mr. Gallagher, who is in his fourth congressional term, is joining dozens of other lawmakers who […]

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U.S. Hits Back at Iran With Sanctions, Criminal Charges and Airstrikes

In the hours before the United States carried out strikes against Iran-backed militants on Friday, Washington hit Tehran with more familiar weapons: sanctions and criminal charges. The Biden administration sanctioned officers and officials of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, Iran’s premier military force, for threatening the integrity of water utilities and for helping manufacture Iranian […]

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F.B.I. Director Warns of China Hacking Threat

Christopher A. Wray, director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, warned on Wednesday that China was ramping up an extensive hacking operation geared at taking down the United States’ power grid, oil pipelines and water systems in the event of a conflict over Taiwan. Mr. Wray, appearing before a House subcommittee on China, offered an […]

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How Anxiety About War with China May Raise the Danger of It

Michael Mullen, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, is concerned enough about the risk of war between the United States and China that he is listening to the audiobook version of Barbara Tuchman’s “The Guns of August,” the classic history of how the major powers in 1914 stumbled into World War I. […]

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T.S.M.C and the Power of a Single Company

“If China takes Taiwan, they will turn the world off, potentially,” Donald Trump told Fox News recently, apparently referring to a potential seizure of one company that is central to, well, pretty much everything. Indeed, it’s arguably the most important company in the world. The company Trump alluded to, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, or T.S.M.C., […]

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S.E.C. Social Media Hack That Sent Bitcoin Soaring Prompts Investigation

The hack of a social media account used by the Securities and Exchange Commission is prompting both internal and external investigations into how the security breach occurred and whether anyone tried to profit from it, said the commission and several legal experts. The S.E.C. said in a statement on Wednesday that it was coordinating an […]

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Chinese Spy Agency Rising to Challenge the C.I.A.

The Chinese spies wanted more. In meetings during the pandemic with Chinese technology contractors, they complained that surveillance cameras tracking foreign diplomats, military officers and intelligence operatives in Beijing’s embassy district fell short of their needs. The spies asked for an artificial intelligence program that would create instant dossiers on every person of interest in […]

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How Russian and Chinese Interference Could Affect the 2024 Election

The U.S. government is preparing for its adversaries to intensify efforts to influence American voters next year. Russia has huge stakes in the presidential election. China seems poised to back a more aggressive campaign. Other countries, like Iran, might again try to sow division in the United States. As Washington looks ahead to the 2024 […]

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Japan Wants a Stronger Military. Can It Find Enough Troops?

After 75 years of peace, Japan is facing immense challenges in its rush to build a more formidable military. To understand why, consider the Noshiro, a newly commissioned navy frigate equipped with anti-ship missiles and submarine-tracking sonar. The vessel was designed with an understaffed force in mind: It can function with about two-thirds of the […]

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Kyivstar, Ukraine’s Largest Mobile Operator, Is Hit by a Cyberattack

Ukraine’s largest mobile operator said it had come under a powerful cyberattack on Tuesday morning that knocked out service to millions of people. The company, Kyivstar, said that the attack also affected internet access and that it was “unclear” when service would be restored. The interruption poses real danger in a country where many rely […]

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UK Accuses Russia of Yearslong Cyberattacks

Russia’s intelligence service has carried out a yearslong cyberattack campaign against high-profile politicians, public service staff members, journalists and others, according to the British government, as part of what it called “unsuccessful attempts to interfere in U.K. political processes.” The announcement comes as Britain and the United States are preparing for major elections, and the […]

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UK Accuses Russia of Yearslong Cyberattacks

Russia’s intelligence service has carried out a yearslong cyberattack campaign against high-profile politicians, public service staff members, journalists and others, according to the British government, as part of what it called “unsuccessful attempts to interfere in U.K. political processes.” The announcement comes as Britain and the United States are preparing for major elections, and the […]

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What Does the U.S. Space Force Actually Do?

Chief Master Sgt. Ron Lerch of the U.S. Space Force sat down in his office in Los Angeles one morning in September to deliver a briefing known as a threat assessment. The current “threats” in space are less sci-fi than you might expect, but there are a surprising number of them: At least 44,500 space […]

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In Legal Peril at Home, Trump Turns to a U.K. Court for Vindication

Donald J. Trump was thousands of miles away from the vaulted chamber in Britain’s Royal Courts of Justice on Monday. But his words echoed in a lawsuit he has filed in London against Christopher Steele, a former British spy whose dossier of unproven links between Mr. Trump and Russia caused a political uproar back in […]

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Across U.S., Chinese Bitcoin Mines Draw National Security Scrutiny

When a company with Chinese origins broke ground last year on a crypto-mining operation in Cheyenne, Wyo., a team at Microsoft that assesses national security threats sounded the alarm. Not only was the site next door to a Microsoft data center that supported the Pentagon — it was about a mile away from an Air […]

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