Monday, February 13, 2023
The Cipher Brief curates open source information from around the world that impacts national security. Here's a look at today's headlines, broken down by region of the world:
In the Americas
US Downs Three Flying Objects Over North America. The US military shot down three flying objects in as many days over several places across North America. The objects, as they are being called by US officials, were shot down days after US fighter jets downed a Chinese spy balloon off the South Carolina coast.
- Alaska: The White House said Friday that US fighter jets show down an unmanned high-altitude object over Alaska. The Pentagon said NORAD had been tracking the objects since Thursday and that an F-22 fighter jet shot it down. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said President Joe Biden ordered the object to be destroyed “out of an abundance of caution” and that the aerial craft posed a “reasonable threat” to civilian air traffic.
- Yukon Territory, Canada: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Saturday that he authorized US forces to destroy another “high-altitude airborne object” over Canada’s northern Yukon territory. Trudeau said that another F-22 jet took down the craft and that Canadian authorities are working to recover the wreckage of the object. Sources say NORAD first identified the object on Friday as it traveled through Alaska.
- Lake Huron: The Pentagon said a F-16 fighter jet shot down an octagonal object over Lake Huron on Sunday. US authorities closed the airspace over Lake Michigan while the object was downed. The Pentagon said the object did not pose a military threat but may have had surveillance capabilities and flew near sensitive US military sites. Canadian sources say the downing of the Lake Huron object took place fully within American airspace.
CBC Reuters South China Morning Post Washington Post
US Intelligence Community Developed Method to Track Chinese Spy Balloons. Amid the downings of the high-altitude objects, sources told CNN that the US intelligence community has developed a method to track Chinese surveillance balloons identified within the last year. Officials say that shortly after Biden took office in 2021, a Chinese spy balloon traveled over the continental US. The intelligence community used the signals and information it learned from this balloon to develop a technical method to track these balloons in near real-time. The new method is essential as the balloons are hard to track with traditional radars since they move slowly and fly at extremely high altitudes. Sources added that the presence of these balloons is not new. CNN
US Tells Citizens to Leave Russia Immediately. The US embassy in Russia warned US citizens in Russia to leave immediately due to the risk of “wrongful detentions” amid tensions from the Ukraine war. The embassy specifically warned that Russian authorities may target US citizens engaged in religious work. The US has repeatedly warned its citizens to leave Russia to avoid arbitrary arrest or harassment by Russian authorities. The last public warning was made in September at the start of Russia’s partial mobilization. The latest warning came soon after Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said in January that it opened a criminal case against a US citizen on suspicion of espionage. Reuters
US, Ukraine Defense Chiefs Meet on ‘Priorities’ for Security Aid. US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin held a phone call with Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov on Saturday. The Pentagon said the two defense chiefs discussed “priorities” for promised Western military aid for Ukraine, including air defense and artillery systems. The call came ahead of another meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group on Tuesday in Brussels. Reuters
Brazil’s Lula, Biden Meet in Washington. President Joe Biden met with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in Washington on Friday. The two leaders discussed shared values in fighting climate change and protecting democracy. Notably, the US pledged support for a fund protecting the Amazon rainforest. Both Lula and Biden criticized Russia’s violation of Ukrainian territory but did not agree fully on the Ukraine war, as Lula has maintained Brazil’s neutrality to position the country as a negotiator in the conflict. Separately, Lula said in an interview with CNN that both Brazil and the US face similar issues with political divisions, drawing parallels between the far-right attacks on government buildings following presidential elections in both countries. CNN Reuters
Western Europe
NATO’s Stoltenberg to Step Down in October. A NATO spokesperson said Saturday that NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg will step down from his position as planned in October. The announcement dismissed media reports that he will seek to extend his term. Stoltenberg has been NATO’s top civilian official since 2014 and has already had his term extended three times. NATO is expected to name a new secretary-general at a summit in July in Vilnius. Deutsche Welle Politico Reuters
Zelenskiy Addresses EU Summit. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy addressed an EU summit in Brussels on Thursday. He called for Ukraine’s membership bid to the EU to be fast-tracked, saying that a free Europe must include a free Ukraine. He added that he “never wanted, never provoked” the conflict with Russia and pressed for more Western weapons, including military aircraft, to counter Russian forces. Zelenskiy said after the summit that he met with all 27 leaders of the EU and that a number of them expressed readiness to give necessary military aid to Kyiv. The same day of the summit, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov warned that the delivery of Western fighter jets to Ukraine will make NATO more directly involved in the war, which will only increase tensions. RFE/RL
Russia Calls for NATO Summit on Nord Stream Blasts. A Russian foreign ministry spokesperson said Saturday that NATO should hold an emergency summit to review the September blasts at the Nord Stream gas pipelines. The ministry’s comments came days after investigative journalist Seymour Hersh claimed that US President Joe Biden ordered US navy divers to detonate explosives along the pipelines. The White House has dismissed such claims as “utterly false and complete fiction.” Moscow has blamed the West for the explosions. The blasts occurred in the exclusive economic zones of Sweden and Denmark, who have concluded that the explosions were deliberate, but have not said who may have been behind them. Reuters
Former Italian PM Berlusconi Blames Zelenskiy for Ukraine War. Controversial former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi told reporters on Sunday that he blames Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy for the Ukraine war. Berlusconi, who reportedly boasted frequently of his friendship with Russian President Vladimir Putin, said that Russia would not have invaded Ukraine if Zelenskiy’s government did not attack the separatist “republics'' in the Donbas region. Berlusconi added that he would not meet with Zelenskiy if he was still premier. His comments came after Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said Friday that France was jeopardizing EU unity by holding a Franco-German dinner in Paris with Zelenskiy without other European allies. However, Meloni’s office did reiterate the Italian government’s support for Ukraine after Berlusconi’s comments. Barron’s Reuters Kyiv Post
Central and Eastern Europe
Moldova PM Resigns. Moldovan Prime Minister Natalia Gavrilita resigned on Friday amid turmoil from soaring inflation and instability caused by the energy crisis and influx of refugees from the Ukraine war. Moldova’s President Maia Sandu praised the outgoing government for governing during “a time of so many crises.” Sandu nominated current national security advisor Dorin Recean as the new prime minister. Recean said she will work to repair the economy and continue the previous government’s efforts to have Moldova join the EU. The Moldovan parliament will vote to confirm the nomination this week. New York Times Politico Reuters
Zelenskiy Warns Moldova of Russian Instability Plot. Before Gavrilita resigned, Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelenskiy said Thursday that Ukrainian intelligence services intercepted plans by Russian to destabilize Moldova. Zelenskiy said the plan was similar to Russian plans to destabilize Ukraine and that he did not know if the Moldova plot had been carried out. He said that he warned Sandu of the plan, which she and Moldovan intelligence confirmed. This development came days after Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov threatened that Moldova could be the “next Ukraine” and framed the country as being targeted by the West in a similar way to how Moscow described Ukraine before the invasion. RFE/RL Washington Examiner Washington Post
Wagner Head Claims Ukraine Gains, Says Will Take Two Years to Take Eastern Regions. The founder of Russia’s Wagner Group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, said Sunday that his mercenary forces seized the village of Krasna Hora, north of the embattled eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut. Fierce fighting continues around Bakhmut, which Ukraine says it continues to hold. Prigozhin added that only Wagner units are currently fighting to take Bakhmut. Separately, the Russian defense ministry claimed it advanced 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) on the frontlines in the past four days, though it did not specify where. Prigozhin said in an interview earlier on Friday that Russia must take Bakhmut to advance further. He also said it could take Russia two years to fully capture the Donetsk and Luhansk regions in eastern Ukraine, and around three years to seize territory on the east bank of the Dnipro River. ABC News Reuters The Guardian
Turkey-Syria Earthquake Death Toll Surpasses 33,000. Turkish authorities report that last week’s earthquakes have killed at least 29,695 people and injured 80,000. Syria’s death tolls have exceeded 3,500 people, but have not been updated for two days. Rescue efforts have started to end with some foreign operations citing security concerns and other rescuers saying it is unlikely that people still trapped under rubble are alive. In Turkey, the government has started ordering the arrests of people suspected to be responsible for the collapse of buildings by not enforcing stronger building regulations. Turkish authorities have already detained 131 suspects over the matter. In Syria, the UN says the hardline Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham is blocking aid from government-held areas to opposition-controlled territory, possibly leaving a single border crossing with Turkey as the only route for aid into northern areas. BBC CNN Reuters
Asia
China Detects Unknown Aerial Object Near Northern Port City. Chinese state media reports that Chinese maritime authorities claim to have detected an “unidentified flying object” near the northern port city of Rizhao on Sunday. The authorities added that they were prepared to shoot down the object. They also warned fishing boats in the area to be alert and “avoid risks” but to also be ready to report and potentially salvage any debris from the craft. The alleged sighting came as the People’s Liberation Army started a week-long exercise in the nearby Bohai Strait. Forbes Newsweek South China Morning Post
China Accuses US of Flying High-Altitude Balloons into Chinese Airspace. China said Monday that the US has flown at least 10 missions into its airspace involving high-altitude balloons. A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson made the claim without specifically describing if the balloons had military or surveillance capabilities, though he said Beijing responded to the incursions in a “responsible and professional” manner. White House national security spokesman John Kirby rejected the claims as “absolutely not true,” saying that the US is not flying balloons into China. Reuters
Taiwan Opposition Politician Visits Beijing. Andrew Hsia, the vice-chairman of Taiwan’s Kuomintang (KMT) opposition party met new Politburo Standing Committee member Wang Huning, the Chinese Communist Party’s fourth ranked leader, in Beijing on Friday. Chinese state media reports that the two officials reiterated the importance of maintaining peace in the Taiwan Strait and that Wang warned against Taiwan independence and interference by external forces. Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council responded to the meeting by saying such exchanges should be based on equality and mutual respect. The KMT traditionally favors closer ties and open communication with China, though it maintains it is not pro-Beijing. Reuters
Japan, Philippines Expand Defense Ties. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr signed a defense agreement on Thursday to broaden military cooperation between Tokyo and Manila. The deal will allow Japanese troops to join training exercises for disaster response and humanitarian missions in the Philippines. The deal will also have Japan transfer air surveillance radar systems to the Philippines and support the expansion of Philippine coast guard capabilities. Kishida said defense talks will continue and could lead to further agreements on other joint exercises, Japanese arms transfers, and trilateral cooperation with the US. Al Jazeera Associated Press
US, Papua New Guinea Working on Defense Deal. The US and Papua New Guinea concluded negotiations last week in Honolulu on a Defense Cooperation Agreement (DCA). The US State Department said both sides made “substantial progress” on the text of the deal, which it said will boost security cooperation and strengthen regional stability when it is completed and signed. Reuters US State Department
US, Micronesia Sign Assistance MoU. The US signed a memorandum of understanding on future assistance with the Federated States of Micronesia on Friday. The development builds on similar MoUs that Washington signed with the Marshall Islands and Palau last month. The MoUs are part of US outreach to Pacific Island nations amid increasing competition with China for influence in the region. Reuters
Chevron Exiting Myanmar. US oil major Chevron Corp announced Friday that it will exit Myanmar by selling its assets in the country’s Yadana natural gas project to Canadian company MTI. The move came a year after Chevron and other oil companies said they would leave Myanmar over the 2021 military coup. Myanmar’s military junta did not immediately comment on the development. Reuters
Middle East and Northern Africa
Israel’s Netanyahu Pledges Stronger Response to Palestinian Attacks. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that Israel will respond more strongly to deal with attacks by Palestinians in Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank. His pledge came days after an attack in Jerusalem killed three Israelis and a shooting elsewhere in the city killed seven people outside a synagogue. Netanyahu did not provide specifics on the Israeli response, though his national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said Israeli police are already starting an enforcement campaign in East Jerusalem. Ben-Gvir also said he is seeking to launch an operation in East Jerusalem similar to the large-scale “Defense Shield” military campaign 20 years ago that involved major combat in the West Bank. Reuters
Sub Saharan Africa
Continued Somaliland Fighting Kills Nine Despite Ceasefire. Officials say a sixth-day of fighting in Somalia’s breakaway Somaliland region killed at least nine people and injured another 14 on Saturday. The latest violence came hours after Somaliland called for an immediate ceasefire. The fighting broke out early last week between forces from the breakaway region and groups seeking to rejoin Somalia. Reuters
Insurgent Attack Kills 10 in Niger. Niger’s defense ministry said Saturday that insurgents killed at least 10 soldiers in an ambush near the border with Mali on Friday. The ministry said 16 people are missing after the attack and that air force support forced the insurgents to flee across the border into Mali. Reuters
Cyber and Tech
US, Canada Developing ‘Crossbow’ Sensor Network Amid Chinese Balloon Concerns. US Assistant Secretary of Defense for Homeland Defense and Hemispheric Affairs Melissa Dalton told Senators during a hearing last week that the US and Canada are working to develop a new “Crossbow” sensor system to enhance NORAD’s ability to detect airborne threats. The Pentagon and NORAD have been secretive about Crossbow and have not released details on its full abilities or timeline for deployment. Dalton’s comments on the system come amid concerns about airborne threats sparked by the recent Chinese spy balloon incident. DefenseScoop
US Considering Stricter China Tech Export Controls Over Balloon Incident. Current and former US security officials say Washington is considering imposing even stricter technology export controls on China following the Chinese spy balloon incident. Sources say the Biden administration is looking to add six Chinese state-backed companies linked to China’s surveillance balloon program to the Commerce Department’s Entity List. Analysts say the push to sanction these firms will likely encourage further measures targeting other dual-use or security-related technology, as well as other sectors such as artificial intelligence. Wall Street Journal
North Korean Ransomware Attacks on Healthcare Sector Funding Further Hacking. Multiple US agencies and South Korean intelligence released a joint report on Thursday warning that North Korea is using funds from ransomware attacks against targets in the US and South Korean healthcare sectors to fund further cyber operations against US defense and military networks. The advisory reiterated North Korean hackers are linked to ransomware like Maui and H0lyGh0st and, for the first time, tied them to the use of the Deadbolt and ech0raix ransomware strains. The advisory added that the North Korean hackers attempt to obscure their identities by portraying themselves as members of other ransomware groups while exploiting common vulnerabilities like Log4Shell. BleepingComputer CyberScoop SCMagazine The Record Wired
California Health Network Suffers Massive Breach in Ransomware Attack. Heritage Provider Network, a Californian healthcare network, reported last week that it suffered a ransomware attack in December. The company says the breach exposed sensitive medical and identifying information of 3.3 million patients across several organizations. The network notified relevant authorities, the US Department of Health and Human Services and California’s attorney general about the breach this week. Affected entities say they have implemented stronger security measures and providing protection and monitoring services to victims. BleepingComputer The Record
EU Criticizes Twitter for Weak, Incomplete Disinformation Report. The EU criticized Twitter on Thursday for failing to provide a full report to the bloc about its efforts to combat online disinformation. Twitter and other social media platforms committed to a voluntary 2022 Code of Practice on Disinformation last year in which they pledged to show progress on reducing disinformation. The tech companies filed their first “baseline” reports last month on their efforts. EU officials said Google, TikTok, Microsoft and Meta showed “strong commitment to the reporting” while Twitter “provided little specific information and no targeted data,” saying only that it is “making real advancements across the board.” Twitter did not comment on the matter. Associated Press Wall Street Journal
TikTok Reports Russian Disinformation Campaign Targeting European Users. TikTok reported to the EU, as part of its disinformation report, that it has found a Russian disinformation network that spread propaganda about the Ukraine war to over one hundred thousand European users over the summer. TikTok said 1,704 accounts across Europe coordinated to spread anti-Ukrainian and pro-Russian propaganda. The accounts collectively attracted 133,000 followers before being removed by TikTok. TikTok did not say if the network was linked to the Russian government. Bloomberg New York Times
Oakland City Suffers Ransomware Attack. The City of Oakland said Thursday that a ransomware attack hit its networks but that its “core functions are intact.” Oakland authorities took some systems offline as a precaution but say that financial data and emergency services were not affected. City officials say they are still investigating the scope of the attack. The nearby city of Modesto also reportedly suffered a citywide ransomware attack that forced its police department to revert back to radios. The Record
Read deeply-experienced, expert-driven national security news, analysis and opinion in The Cipher Brief
