THE OPEN SOURCE REPORT

Friday, January 20, 2023

The Cipher Brief curates open source information from around the world that impacts national security and delivers it to your inbox M-F.  Here's a look at today's headlines, broken down by region of the world:  

In the Americas...

US Announces New Ukraine Military Aid Package. The US announced Thursday that it is sending a new $2.5 billion weapons package to Ukraine. The package includes 90 Stryker Armored Personnel Carriers, marking the first time the US is sending the system to Kyiv. The package also includes 59 Bradley Infantry Fighting vehicles, eight Avenger short-range air defense systems, more NASAMS and HIMARS munitions, and other military equipment. The new aid will significantly boost Ukraine’s armored capability, though it does not include Abrams battle tanks which Ukraine has been requesting. Bloomberg CNN The Hill

US Coast Guard Tracking Russian Spy Ship Near Hawaii. The US Coast Guard says it is tracking a Russian surveillance ship off of Hawaii. The Coast Guard says the ship has so far remained in international waters. The Pentagon adds that it recently sighted another Russian ship in the area as well. The presence of the Russian ships comes amid heightened tensions between the US and Russia over Ukraine. CBS CNN

Intel CEO Says Reorienting Chip Supply Chains to Take Decades. Intel CEO Patrick Gelsinger said Thursday that it was a mistake to make global semiconductor supply chains too reliant on Asia and that correcting this vulnerability will take decades. Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, he noted that US and European chip output has dropped from 80% of global production three decades ago to only 20% today. While he admitted the challenge in addressing this, Gelsinger noted Intel’s long-term investment to build up chip capacity in the US and Europe, which other major semiconductor firms have also moved to do. Wall Street Journal

Thousands Protest in ‘Take Over Lima’ Demonstrations. Security forces clashed with thousands of protesters in Peru’s capital Lima demanding the removal of President Dina Boluarte. Police estimate that around 3,500 people joined the protests, which started after the removal of former President Pedro Castillo. Boluarte appeared defiant amid the unrest, saying in a televised speech that she would prosecute those involved in “violent protests” and breaking the rule of law. She later told reporters that she is calling for “dialogue” with the protest leaders. Al Jazeera CNN

Western Europe

Defense Leaders in Germany for Discussions on Ukraine Support Amid Tensions over Tanks. A gathering of defense chiefs from the Ukraine Contact Group met at Ramstein Air Base in Germany on Friday. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy addressed the group where he again made a call for more arms to Ukraine, saying that ‘terror does not allow for discussion’. US Secretary of Defense Llyod Austin told the group that the conflict was at a crucial point and said that the Russian military was attempting to re-equip itself and regroup. Austin also says the US will support Ukraine ‘for as long as it takes’. The meeting comes amid a growing public debate surrounding whether or not Berlin will authorize the delivery of Leopard 2 main battle tanks to Ukraine. Numerous countries say they are ready to ship the tanks, but require permission from Berlin to do so. Germany’s new defense Chief Boris Pistorius, speaking to reporters hours after being officially sworn in, says he expects a decision from Berlin soon, but added he does not know what the decision will be.Associated Press NY Times BBC Wall Street Journal CNN

Ukraine Cyber Chief Visits UK Signals Agency. Victor Zhora, the deputy chief of Ukraine’s State Service of Special Communications and Information Protection, visited the UK’s National Cyber Security Center to discuss UK-Ukraine cyber collaboration. During his visit, Zhora said the number of cyberattacks against Ukraine have tripled over the last year, adding that Russian hacking with destructive wiper malware is often coordinated with kinetic attacks like missile strikes. UK security minister Tom Tugendhat noted during Zhora’s visit that cyber warfare has allowed Russia to expand its attacks on Ukrainian civilians, namely through targeting of critical infrastructure.The Guardian

Central and Eastern Europe

CIA Director Meets Zelenskiy in Kyiv. A US official told The Washington Post that CIA Director William Burns recently traveled to Kyiv to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and his top intelligence officials. The official said Burns briefed the Ukrainian side about expectations for Russia’s next steps in its invasion. He also warned that US military aid may become more difficult to deliver, possibly referring to reported Ukrainian concerns of waning support in the newly Republican-majority House of Representatives to continue military aid for Ukraine. Sources say that despite this warning, the meeting showed Zelenskiy and his aides that the US remains a strong supporter of Ukraine. CBS Washington Post

Putin Ally Warns of Nuclear War if Russia Defeated in Ukraine. Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Thursday warned that a Russian defeat in Ukraine could trigger a nuclear war. He added that NATO and other defense ministers meeting in Germany should be wary of the risks associated with their support of Ukraine. While the nuclear rhetoric is not new, Medvedev did make a rare, explicit admission that Moscow could potentially lose in Ukraine. Meanwhile, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Medvedev’s remarks do not signal that Moscow is escalating the conflict, adding that his comments follow Russian nuclear doctrine which allows for the use of nuclear weapons when the Russian state is threatened. Reuters

EU’s Michel Visits Kyiv. European Council President Charles Michel met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Thursday. During his trip, Michel called for continued European aid, including tanks, and addressed the Ukrainian parliament, where he applauded Kyiv’s resilience against Russia. He also said in his speech that “Ukraine is the EU and the EU is Ukraine,” adding that he hopes a Ukrainian holds his position in the future. Officials say negotiations on Ukraine’s membership into the EU will begin this year, though Kyiv still needs to improve its rule of law before joining the bloc.  France 24 Politico Reuters

Asia

Japan, India Start Joint Air Exercises. Japan and India kicked off the first “Veer Guardian” joint air combat drills. The Japanese defense ministry says the exercises are being held at an airbase in Ibaraki prefecture, northeast of Tokyo, until next Thursday and that four F2 fighters and four F15 fighters are participating. Analysts say that while the drills are largely symbolic since the Japanese and Indian militaries are not integrated, the exercises will shed light on how to improve military cooperation and offer another deterrent to China and North Korea. South China Morning Post

Bomb Blast Derails Passenger Train in Pakistan. A bomb detonated and derailed a passenger train in the southwestern Pakistani province of Balochistan on Friday, injuring at least 15 people. Rescue operations are ongoing, and authorities say they hope to restore the railway by evening. The regional separatist group Baloch Liberation Army claimed responsibility for the attack. Al Jazeera Reuters

Middle East and Northern Africa

Jake Sullivan Meets Israel’s Netanyahu. White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday. Netanyahu’s office said the two discussed Iran’s nuclear program and ways to broaden Israel’s normalization drive with neighboring Arab countries. Sullivan later met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who pushed the Biden administration to influence Israel to lessen measures against Palestinians and to reopen a US consulate in Jerusalem that focuses on US-Palestine relations. The White House says Sullivan emphasized US support for a two-state solution to both leaders. His trip comes months after Israel elected its most far-right, religiously conservative government in history.  Al Jazeera The White House

Algeria Boosting Hydrocarbon Output. Algeria’s state energy producer Sonatrach reports that the country will raise hydrocarbon output to 200 million tonnes of oil equivalent this year, which Algeria has not reached since 2010. Sonatrach will also sign new electricity supply agreements with Italian energy firm Eni this year. The rebound of Algeria’s energy sector is partly due to Europe seeking alternatives to Russian energy sources. Reuters

Sub Saharan Africa

Kenya Kills 10 Suspected Al-Shabaab Fighters. Kenyan officials say that Kenyan security forces killed 10 al-Shabaab fighters during a security operation. Kenyan forces also reportedly recovered rocket propelled grenades (RPGs), Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) and weapons in the operation. Kenya has been the target of al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabab over Kenya’s support for anti-terror operations in neighboring Somalia.  Al Jazeera 

Cyber & Tech

Taco Bell, KFC Parent Company Suffers Cyberattack. Yum Foods, the owner of fast-food chains KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell, confirmed Thursday that it suffered a ransomware attack in which a threat actor stole company data. The incident affected the company’s IT systems, which forced it to close 300 Taco Bell restaurants in the UK for 24 hours. The attack mainly affected the company’s UK operations, though US authorities have been notified and are investigating. It is unclear when or how the attack began, though there is no evidence that customer data was compromised. Reuters TechCrunch

Hackers Steal Personal Data of 37 Million T-Mobile Clients. T-Mobile said Thursday that it suffered a hack that exposed the personally identifiable information of around 37 million customers. The cellphone carrier said it detected a problem on January 5 and that it believes the hackers may have had access to the data since November 25 through an application programming interface (PBI), which provides customer information. The company said it shut down the activity shortly after discovering it. The Federal Communications Commission says it is investigating the incident, which is the second major security lapse at the company in two years. Deutsche Welle Wall Street Journal

PayPal Suffers Major Credential Stuffing Attack. PayPal says nearly 35,000 user accounts have been breached through credential stuffing attacks. The attack – which relies on an automated, mass testing of credentials sourced from previous data leaks – compromised personal account data, though hackers were not able to use the breach to conduct transactions on impacted accounts. PayPal says it believes the attacks occurred between December 6 and December 8 and that it is investigating how the breach happened. BleepingComputer

US and Japan Reach New Agreements on Defense Tech Cooperation. During a meeting at the Pentagon last week US Secretary of Defense Llyod Austin and Japanese Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada signed two new agreements aimed at boosting defense cooperation between the US and Japan. Among the specifics of the agreements are efforts to increase development of emerging technologies for military use and plans to further integrate the two countries’ defense industrial bases. DefenseScoop  

Russian Hackers Linked to Data-Wiping Attack on Ukraine News Agency. The Computer Emergency Response Team of Ukraine (CERT-UA) says it has linked a destructive wiper malware attack against Ukraine’s national news agency Ukrinform to the Sandworm Russian Military hacking group. CERT-UA says the attack was localized and failed to impact the news agency’s operations. The cyber authority group added that it is helping Ukrinform repair its network infrastructure. BleepingComputer

China Pushing for Foreign-Invested Technological R&D. China is pushing a number of measures to attract foreign investors to establish research and development centers focused on technological innovation. Measures include supporting and expanding the legal cross-border flow of R&D data to alleviate data security concerns and the introduction of special work permits and living incentives to attract overseas talent. The moves are part of China’s plan over the next five years to cultivate more scientists and engineers to help it become a global tech powerhouse. South China Morning Post

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