Sep 19, 2017
The Cyberwarfare Capability of North Korea
For decades, policymakers, journalists and the media have discussed, prevented, and continued to assess North Korea's nuclear capabilities. The United States and the United Nations have repeatedly issued sanctions against the country to prevent it from developing its nuclear arsenal. But what is the cyberwarfare capability of of North Korea? The Council of Korean Americans' Jessica Lee sheds light on the cyberwarfare capability of North Korea and the current policy landscape affecting the Korean Peninsula.
Bio
Jessica Lee is the Director of Policy and Advocacy at the Council of Korean Americans (CKA)(@CouncilKA). Jessica works closely with the Executive Director and CKA members to define CKA’s policy agenda and advocacy strategy. Jessica leads research and analysis on leading issues of importance to Korean Americans.
Prior to joining CKA, Jessica was a Resident Fellow at the Pacific Forum CSIS in Honolulu, HI. At the Pacific Forum, Jessica published articles on security and economic relations in East Asia. She brings a decade of public and private sector experience in Washington. Previously, Jessica was the director of a nonprofit organization specializing in women’s leadership training and development. She was also a senior manager of The Asia Group, LLC, a strategy and capital advisory firm.
Jessica previously served as a staff member in the House of Representatives. While she worked on the Hill, Jessica handled the Asia portfolio for the chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs. She was also a senior legislative assistant for a member of Congress on the Ways and Means Committee.
Jessica received a B.A. in political science from Wellesley College. She also holds an A.M. in East Asian regional studies from Harvard University. Jessica is a Truman Security Fellow, a David Rockefeller Fellow of the Trilateral Commission, and a Google Next Gen Policy Leader. Jessica has advanced proficiency in Korean and lives in northern Virginia with her husband and daughter.
Resources
Backchannel to Cuba: The Hidden History of Negotiations Betweeen Washington and Havana by William M. LeoGrande
News Roundup
Equifax Hacked
The credit reporting agency Equifax last week reported that its systems had been breached. The breach potentially exposed the data of some 143 million Americans. Equifax CEO and Chairman Richard Smith made the announcement last week. However, the actual breach took place on July 29.
Hackers got into Equifax's system by exploiting a flaw in a popular open source platform called Apache Struts. Equifax uses Apache Struts for the online form customers use to dispute errors in their credit reports. Equifax's initial attempt to repair the breach failed. Both the FBI and FTC are now investigating the data breach. Massachusetts Senator Ed Markey also introduced a bill called the "Data Broker Accountability and Transparency Act". MarketWatch reported on Saturday that now-fired Chief Security Officer Susan Mauldin doesn't have any educational background in information security. According to her LinkedIn profile, Mauldin has a bachelor's and Master of Fine Arts in Music Composition from the University of Georgia. Equifax's stock price has fallen by more than 30% since Smith announced the breach. Experts suspect state actors played a role. AnnaMaria Andriotis, Michael Rapaport, and Robert McMillan report for the Wall Street Journal.
Kaspersky ousted from federal agencies
The Department of Homeland Security issued what's called a Binding Operational Directive that gives federal agencies 90 days to remove Kaspersky Lab technologies from federal networks. Officials suspect the Russia-based company has state ties to Russia and that they are a front for Russian spies. Agencies have 30 days to identify where they're using Kaspersky, and another 60 days to remove it. Jason Miller has the story on Federal News Radio.
Alphabet may be considering a $1 billion investment in Lyft
Greg Bensinger reports for the Wall Street Journal that Alphabet may be considering making a $1 billion investment in Lyft. This is still at speculation stage. Alphabet and primary Lyft rival Uber have been at odds over the last year or so. Tensions between Uber and Alphabet came to a head earlier this year when Alphabet sued Uber for allegedly stealing trade secrets from Alphabet's self-driving car unit Waymo.
Google pay discrimination lawsuit
Three women who previously worked at Google are suing the company for pay discrimination. The former employees who worked in both tech and non-tech roles at the tech giant allege the company pays women less than men working in similar roles. The California lawsuit also alleges that Google hires women for roles less likely to lead to promotions. Daniel Weissner reports in Reuters.
Congress considers adding driverless trucks to autonomous vehicles legislation
Finally, Edward Graham reports in Morning Consult that Senators are considering adding language to its draft autonomous vehicles bill that would include driverless trucks. The House unanimously passed an autonomous vehicles bill on September 6th, which didn't include language on driverless trucks. In the meantime, a new Morning Consult poll shows consumers are still a bit wary of autonomous vehicles. Just 22% of those surveyed said they thought self-driving cars are safer than the average human driver. Thirty-five percent said they think they are less safe.