Security & Defense

Intelligence official cites threat of cyberattacks on U.S.

By Mark Mazzetti and Scott Shane, New York Times

From Mark Mazzetti and Scott Shane, New York Times:  The nation’s top intelligence official warned Congress on Tuesday that a cyberattack could cripple America’s infrastructure and economy and suggested that such attacks pose the most dangerous immediate threat to the United States

Mattis urges keeping 20,000 NATO troops in Afghanistan

By Gopal Ratnam, Bloomberg

From Gopal Ratnam, Bloomberg:  The general who heads the U.S. Central Command went beyond the Pentagon’s positions today on issues including how many troops to keep in Afghanistan, giving candid testimony to Congress as he prepares to step down.

Pay up for NATO or shut it down

By Philip Stephens, Financial Times

From Philip Stephens, Financial Times:  The absence of war does not deprive the alliance of a raison d’être. If the west has learnt anything about the post-cold war era, it should be that life is unpredictable. The Middle East is in flames, Iran is building a bomb and jihadist extremism has been spreading into Africa.

Pentagon cyberdefenses weak, report warns

By Ellen Nakashima, Washington Post

From Ellen Nakashima, Washington Post:  A new report for the Pentagon concludes that the nation’s military is unprepared for a full-scale cyber-conflict with a top-tier adversary and must ramp up its offensive prowess.

China is behind more than 20 serious cyber attacks against Norway

By Nordic Page

Chinese cyberspies have hacked most Washington institutions, experts say

By Craig Timberg and Ellen Nakashima, Washington Post

From Craig Timberg and Ellen Nakashima, Washington Post:  Start asking security experts which powerful Washington institutions have been penetrated by Chinese cyberspies, and this is the usual answer: almost all of them.

Policy making in Washington may be cyber resilient

By Haley Barobour and Ed Rogers, Foreign Policy

From Haley Barobour and Ed Rogers, Foreign Policy:  Last week, we learned that the Chinese government had hacked into the computers of some of Washington’s most prominent organizations

Intelligence officials: Iran greater cyber threat to US infrastructure than China

By Nicole Perloroth, David E. Sanger, and Michael S. Schmidt, New York Times

From Nicole Perloroth, David E. Sanger, and Michael S. Schmidt, New York Times:  American intelligence officials believe that the greater danger to the nation’s infrastructure may not even be China, but Iran