An adversary conducts activities with precision that indicates prior knowledge. This has allowed U.S. companies such as Micron Technologies to sue Chinese companies in federal court for the Chinese companies theft of U.S. IP. Section 951 encompasses any activity by an "agent of a foreign government," which is defined as "an individual who agrees to operate within the United States subject to the direction or. This represents a new and different threat to Americas long-term leadership and must be addressed forcefully. Fortunately, efforts here in Congress, including by Chairman Grassley and other members of this Committee, have drawn public attention to this issue, and Assistant Attorney General Demers and the Department of Justice have significantly expanded FARA enforcement. In 2016 broad bipartisan majorities of Congress passed the Defend Trade Secrets Act, which expanded the rights of U.S. companies to sue Chinese firms and other foreign competitors that steal their IP. This initiative will also work to use tools like the Foreign Agent Registration Act (FARA) to require better disclosure of Chinese activities across the United States. ), LTG Anthony R. "Tony" Ierardi, USA (Ret. U.S. intelligence, security, and law enforcement apparatus is just starting, 20 years later, to catch on. The recent acquittal in the Eastern District of New York of Thomas Barrack, a longtime friend and ally of former President Donald Trump, who was accused of acting as an unlawful agent of the UAE to influence Trumps decision-making, is only the latest example of the DOJs difficulties successfully prosecuting cases of non-traditional foreign influence in U.S. affairs. As part of this process, the FBI provides input and analysis to the National Intelligence Council within eight days of a CFIUS filing and a risk assessment to the Department of Justice within 30 days of a CFIUS filing. Legalweek New York explores Business and Regulatory Trends, Technology and Talent drivers impacting law firms. 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. We need to keep efforts that target Chinas espionage laser-focused on the small percentage of individuals and entities engaged in illicit behavior. As members of this Committee know, for many years the Department of Justice expended too little energy enforcing FARA, resulting in an explosion both here in Washington and across the country of unregistered agents working on behalf of foreign governments. An adversary uses technical countermeasures to block a previously undisclosed or classified U.S. intercept technology. The U.S. also needs to start getting a handle on the vast quantity of Americans personal information that is all too readily available to make sure that it cannot be exploited by spies. Providing financial support to terrorist organization Virtually every national security threat and crime problem the FBI faces is cyber-based or facilitated. 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. II. China's espionage operations on the United States have been growing stronger for years. In addition to FTOs, domestic violent extremists collectively pose a steady threat of violence and economic harm to the United States. Defense, China With Such Low Win Rates, Should Law Firms Respond to So Many RFPs? The. U.S. Trade Representative Lighthizer and President Trump need to demand major, systematic changes in a range of Chinese trade abuses before relenting on the tariffs and other measures the U.S. has imposed. The winners will be those who break the old rules of the spy game and work out new ones. Individual victims of Chinese IP theft have begun to resort to legal measures to fight back against companies that steal their trade secrets. To combat the threat at home, the FBI established the Domestic Terrorism-Hate Crimes Fusion Cell in spring 2019. Failure to report may result in disciplinary action. Failure to report may result in Judicial and/or Administrative Action Many foreign terrorist organizations use various digital communication platforms to reach individuals they believe may be susceptible and sympathetic to violent terrorist messages. The views in this article are the authors own and do not reflect the views of the U.S. government. But China is by far the most active practitioner of economic espionage today. It is absolutely essential to stop Chinese unconventional espionage. A 2018 National Counterintelligence and Security Center (NCSC) report on foreign economic espionage in cyberspace stated that in addition to China, Russia and Iran were engaging in significant cyber-enabled economic espionage activities. Such tactics make coordination with all of our partners, including international law enforcement partners, essential. Do not leave equipment unattended, in hotel safes or left in vehicles. Based on an actual case, The Company Man: Protecting Americas Secrets illustrates how one U.S. company was targeted by foreign spies and how that company worked with the FBI to bring the perpetrators to justice. An unprecedented, sustained, and multi-pronged campaign of activity that does not constitute traditional military force or espionage threatens to exert a stealthy and non-attributable influence upon American attitudes toward international affairs at a moment of global crisis. Foreign Intelligence Threats - Traditional Activity. 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. It is time for Pakistans political and military establishment to wake up and reconcile with the fact that they cant negotiate their way to peace. Terms of Service. Figure 2: Chinese Organizational Clusters Committing Espionage. Recognizing innovation in the legal technology sector for working on precedent-setting, game-changing projects and initiatives. In approximately 60 cases I reviewed, Chinese companies or individuals were acting unilaterally for commercial benefit only. Figure 4: Adapted from Office of the Director of National Intelligence. Do not prove for information - nonchalantly ask questions about them. Foreign Intelligence Threats Traditional FIE Activity includes: Foreign Intelligence Entities operating The foreign intelligence threat to the United States is expanding, becoming more complex and less predictable. Note as much as possible Espionage and counterespionage have been essential tools of statecraft for centuries, of course, and U.S. and Chinese intelligence agencies have been battling one another for decades. Lastly, in 27 cases, roughly 9 percent of the total, case officers and/or agents displayed a more sophisticated level of tradecraft. 2023 Center for a New American Security (en-US). Hostile actors conducting cyber espionage can target the government, military, business and individuals. In only eight cases was there a sophisticated higher level of tradecraft employed. Such crimes are not limited to the United States and, with the aid of Internet like-minded hate groups, can reach across borders. Responding to Chinas unconventional espionage threat will require a whole-of-society approach, not just a whole-of-government approach. The International Trade Commission (ITC) has authority to ban the import of products that are made with stolen U.S. IP, and in recent years U.S. companies have successfully petitioned the ITC to ban such products from entering the U.S. market. Edward Fishman. 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. 13694 (2015) and E.O. The Trump administration should also continue deploying regulatory tools such as the October Commerce Department Action against Fujian Jinhua to impose real costs on Chinese companies that seek to benefit from economic espionage. On a daily basis, these actors seek to steal our state secrets, our trade secrets, our technology, and the most intimate data about our citizensthings of incredible value to all of us and of great importance to the conduct of our government business and our national security. frequent questionable foreign travel The initiative will prioritize cases of Chinese economic espionage and ensure that they are appropriately resourced. Persons subject to the UCMJ may be subject to punitive action Get FBI email alerts In addition to beaming out its perspectives via Chinese state media, Beijing is aspiring to control both the structure and norms of global information networks. ISIS uses traditional media platforms as well as widespread social media campaigns to propagate its ideology. Chinese agents have also physically broken in to U.S. corporate offices. The IC remains focused on the missions of cyber intelligence . The Many Benefits of Reviewing and Updating Bylaws, Not So Fast: The Rights of Victims in Corporate Deferred Prosecutions, Defense Witness Immunity: Time for Supreme Court To Weigh In, Law.com Editors and Analysts Offer Top Trends to Watch for 2023. Fifth, I would encourage Congress to carefully study proposals to enable U.S. companies who are victims of Chinese economic espionage to hack back. There are significant concerns about hacking back proposals but I believe the concept merits careful study. I will address three issues in my testimony before you this morning. Our adversary seeks to expand its I urge the government to continue its existing lines of effort, including continuing to ensure that U.S. telecommunications networks are robustly defended against Chinese unconventional espionage and to continue aggressively prosecuting Chinas espionage efforts. Intelligence & Espionage. Counterintelligence is defined in Executive Order 12333, as amended, is "information gathered and activities conducted to protect against espionage, other intelligence activities, sabotage, or assassinations conducted by or on behalf of foreign governments or elements thereof, foreign organizations or foreign persons, or assassinations conducted by or on behalf of foreign governments or elements thereof, foreign organizations or forgiven persons, or international terrorist activities. Ultimately, many of the individuals drawn to ISIS seek a sense of belonging. The term includes foreign intelligence and security services and international terrorist. Unexplained affluence There has also been a large rise in Section 337 investigations. Foreign officials reveal details they should not have known. Your article was successfully shared with the contacts you provided. 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. 2023 Diplomat Media Inc. All Rights Reserved. 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.). It has not been as easy for the United States to gain buy-in as some in Washington expected. Cyber espionage (cyberespionage) is a form of cyber attack that is carried out against a competitive company or government entity. Center for a New American Security (en-US), Constructing Regional Partnerships and Seizing Emerging Opportunities, General Mike Holmes, U.S. Air Force (Ret. The only notable area in which China has shown minimal advancement has been in applying sophisticated espionage tradecraft. We remain concerned that groups such as the Islamic State of Iraq and ash-Sham (ISIS) and al Qaeda have the intent to carry out large-scale attacks in the U.S. The two countries appeared to quietly reaffirm the agreement in October 2017. DOJ officials initially touted one such law, the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), 22 U.S.C. Us, Write ISIS is not the only terrorist group of concern. Foreign espionage strikes at the heart of U.S. national security, impacting political, military and economic arenas. The Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. (CFIUS), an Executive Branch committee chaired by the Department of Treasury, was statutorily created to address potential risks to U.S. national security resulting from foreign acquisitions or mergers with U.S. companies. The message is not tailored solely to those who overtly express signs of radicalization. The United States generally distinguishes between Chinese economic espionage intended to provide Chinese companies with a commercial advantage and traditional espionage intended to obtain information about the U.S. government, U.S. military capabilities, and other sensitive government and government-related information. In October, the U.S. passed sweeping new export controls on China. Good morning Chairman Thompson, Ranking Member Rogers, and members of the committee. No Thanks Unauthorized access to information systems. Spies might seem like a throwback to earlier days of world wars and cold wars, but they are more common than everand they are targeting our nations most valuable secrets. These troubled cases raise caution flags for future DOJ criminal prosecutions of non-traditional foreign influence cases. These information objectives include systems, designs, components, radiation hardened chips, integrated circuits, software, manuals, precision optics, thermal imaging systems, production techniques, etc. Viruses International conventions, seminars, and exhibits Trust your instincts China needs to understand that if it tries to steal U.S. technology, it will not be able to benefit from it. Beginning under President Obama and continuing under President Trump, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has launched programs to encourage the private sector to harden defenses. Second, I will assess the policy responses that the U.S. has pursued to date to respond to this threat. 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). Detailed analysis of these cases provides ample evidence that China is conducting espionage, as well who is responsible, their information objectives, gaps in their knowledge, and operational tradecraft techniques. But universities risk being fertile place for this kind of espionage, given the open, international, and collaborative nature of most university research and universities legitimate interest in encouraging international collaboration. Within the FBI, we are focused on the most dangerous malicious cyber activity: high-level intrusions by state-sponsored hackers, global organized crime syndicates, and other technically sophisticated and dangerous actors. Recent high-profile announcements such as the Marriott hotel companys acknowledgement last week that cyber intruders had accessed the personal information of 500 million customers bring home the fact that despite billions of dollars of corporate investment in cybersecurity in recent years, many corporate networks remain all too vulnerable.