This is due, in part, to their lack of a direct connection with an FTO, an ability to rapidly mobilize, and the use of encrypted communications. Concurrent with this growth, foreign direct investment (FDI) in the U.S. has increasingly become a national security concern, as hostile nations leverage FDI to buy U.S. assets that will advance their intelligence, military, technology, and economic goals at the expense of U.S. national security. Email Email. Foreign Intelligence Threats - Traditional Activity. Rethinking Espionage in the Modern Era | Chicago Journal of The Trump administration has accused Fijian Jinhua of benefiting from trade secrets that were stolen from Micron Technologies, a large U.S. semiconductor firm, and the Commerce action was a welcome, important development that signals to Chinese companies that stolen IP isnt free. DoD personnel who suspect a coworker of possible espionage should, Report directly to your CI or Security Office, Cyber vulnerabilities to DoD Systems may include, Disgruntled or Co-opted employee Foreign Intelligence Threats - Traditional Activity Traditional activity Forgoing intelligence entities operating out of: Embassies Consulates Universities Trade missions Insider Spies (Insider Threat) Foreign Intelligence Threats Non-Traditional Activity Foreign government-sponsored commercial enterprises International trafficking organizations About Us| The task force now brings together the FBIs expertise across the waterfrontcounterintelligence, cyber, criminal, and even counterterrorismto root out and respond to foreign influence operations. Your responsibility to report. Keeping pace with these threats is a significant challenge for the FBI. Sri Lankas default highlights the dangers of relying on international sovereign bonds with high interest rates to fund development. While continued counterterrorism pressure has degraded the groups Afghanistan-Pakistan senior leadership, in the near term, al Qaeda is more likely to focus on building its international affiliates and supporting small-scale, readily achievable attacks in key regions such as east and west Africa. Collection methods of operation frequently used by Foreign Intelligence Entities (FIE) to collect information from DoD on the critical technology being produced within the cleared defense contractor facilities we support include, Unsolicited requests for information I will also briefly touch on Chinas espionage tools with respect to U.S. universities and other non-governmental organizations here in the United States and in allied nations. The FBI is the lead agency for exposing, preventing, and investigating intelligence activities in the U.S. Because much of todays spying is accomplished by data theft from computer networks, espionage is quickly becoming cyber-based. U.S. policymakers however, have rightly sought to aggressively deter and punish Chinese espionage intended to steal trade secrets and other IP from the U.S. private sector that is then transferred to Chinese companies for commercial advantage, and to crack down on other forms of unconventional espionage that threaten Americas technological, economic, and military edge. He recently retired from a 34 year government career that included employment in the CIA, Department of State, and Defense Intelligence Agency. The scope of the criminal activity, including evidence of involvement by a foreign government, foreign agent, or foreign instrumentality The degree of economic injury to the trade secret owner The . Intelligence and Espionage in the 21st Century No tradecraft, with parties using open communications and true names; Use of false names and/or third parties to transmit information and ship materials; Public and commercial encryption, hosting meetings in China to avoid detection; Tailor made devices or techniques, use of third countries, use of in-country cutouts to transmit information. The Administration and Congress should also look for ways to make these kinds of tools multilateral, working with foreign governments to ensure that foreign countries do not import products made with stolen U.S. IP and that the U.S. does not import products made with stolen foreign IP. The minimal application of tradecraft is expected, as these cases typically do not involve professional intelligence operatives (either case officers or agents). 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. The Committee looks . NAO 207-12: Technology Controls and Foreign National Access Legalweek New York explores Business and Regulatory Trends, Technology and Talent drivers impacting law firms. ), LTG Anthony R. "Tony" Ierardi, USA (Ret. ISIS is not the only terrorist group of concern. 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. For the United States, the problem is not these recent cases. We have also been confronting a surge in terrorist propaganda and training available via the Internet and social media. The second major U.S. government response has been increasingly aggressive Justice Department efforts to prosecute Chinese spies. 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.). Be assured, the FBI continues to strive to work and share information more efficiently, and to pursue a variety of lawful methods to help stay ahead of these threats. 2023 Diplomat Media Inc. All Rights Reserved. In the developing phase the foreign intelligence officer attempts to establish a close relationship with the target. China is stepping up anti-espionage activities amid worsening ties with the United States and a renewed focus on national security ahead of a key Communist Party anniversary later this year. Journalists, military veterans, and judicial figures are being targeted by foreign espionage agencies at "unprecedented" levels, with the country's intelligence chief revealing a "hive of spies . And getting access to this information would not even really be espionage as we typically think of it--the Chinese could simply set up a front company to buy the data commercially. For U.S. government leaders, I offer five specific recommendations: First, the Trump administration should expand the use of U.S. legal authorities to target companies that engage in and/or benefit from economic espionage: Both the Chinese government and individual Chinese companies need to understand that economic espionage carries costs, not just benefits. I also want to offer brief remarks on the second, partly overlapping type of unconventional Chinese espionage that merits a forceful U.S. response: espionage against U.S. colleges and universities. Solicitation and marketing of services Us, Write Our nation continues to face a multitude of serious and evolving threats ranging from homegrown violent extremists (HVEs) to cyber criminals to hostile foreign intelligence services and operatives. The term APT is commonly used in reference to the cyber threat posed by foreign intelligence services, or hackers working on behalf of such entities, but is not limited just to this and can equally be applied to other threat actors such as organized crime syndicates and those involved in traditional espionage. Women, Influence & Power in Law UK Awards 2023, Legalweek Leaders in Tech Law Awards 2023, WORKERS COMPENSATION ATTORNEY - Hartford, CT, Offering an Opportunity of a Lifetime for Personal Injury Lawyers, What Does Your Business Agreement Really Mean? Practice good Operations security Many foreign terrorist organizations use various digital communication platforms to reach individuals they believe may be susceptible and sympathetic to violent terrorist messages. Power, Crossroads 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. Individuals used true names and open communications including emails, text messages, and phone calls. View, About 9. No Thanks On the military side, the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) General Staff Headquarters, Second Department is responsible for collecting military information, including related foreign technology. Your article was successfully shared with the contacts you provided. 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. Law.com Compass includes access to our exclusive industry reports, combining the unmatched expertise of our analyst team with ALMs deep bench of proprietary information to provide insights that cant be found anywhere else. But if China proves willing to make systemic changes, the administration should be willing to relax the trade remedies the U.S. has imposed, rather than locking the U.S. into an economic cold war with Beijing. Despite the statutes broad language, the DOJ has faced significant hurdles in pursuing 951 prosecutions outside the traditional espionage context, and particularly where the alleged foreign agents activity involves ostensibly legitimate international business dealings. Amid great power competition, life in the China-Russia borderlands reveals the paradoxes underpinning the Beijing-Moscow friendship. Weeks earlier, on October 10, the FBI announced the arrest of Mr.Yanjun Xu, alleged deputy division director of the Jiangsu Province Office (sixth bureau) of the Ministry of State Security, Chinas main civilian spy agency. The U.S. government has steadily increased its response to the threat of China's unconventional espionage. On October 30, 2018 the U.S. Department of Justice announced the indictment of 10 Chinese intelligence officers and cyber hackers from the Ministry of State Security (MSS), Chinas main civilian espionage organization. A fine of not more than $5,000,000, Personnel who fail to report CI activities of concern as outlined in Enclosure 4 of DoD Directive 5240.06 are subject to appropriate disciplinary action under regulations, Under DoDD 5240.06 Reportable Foreign Intelligence Contacts, Activities, Indicators and Behavior; which of the following is reportable, Contact with known or suspected foreign intelligence The foreign intelligence threat to the United States is expanding, becoming more complex and less predictable. But universities do need to take appropriate precautions to ensure that China is not able to use academic collaboration to steal U.S. intellectual property or engage in other activities that might harm U.S. national security. frequent questionable foreign travel In another 22 cases, MSS operatives employed only simplistic or limited operational tradecraft. Regardless of the method or activity, Foreign Intelligence Entities seek one thing: to learn more about the Department of Defense plans in order to exploit its information and impede its mission. espionage is described as: the act of obtaining transmitting, communication or receiving information about the national defense with the intent, or reason to believe, that the information may be used to the injury of the U.S. or to the advantage of any foreign nation The nation faces a continuing threat, both traditional and asymmetric, from hostile foreign intelligence agencies. As the threat to harm the United States and U.S. interests evolves, we must adapt and confront these challenges, relying heavily on the strength of our federal, state, local, and international partnerships. Spies from 20 foreign intelligence agencies, including Nato allies such as France and Germany, are attempting to steal Britain's most sensitive secrets. Espionage (spying) can involve the disclosure or theft of many types of information. The government must also provide a description of the information sought and the places or facilities that will be searched. The FITF is uniquely positioned to combat this threat. High-level findings are as follows: One cannot simply look at a single or even several espionage cases and hope to understand if, and how, a nation state is conducting espionage. Foreign intelligence Entities seldom use elicitation to extract information from people who have access to classified or sensitive information. Our adversariesterrorists, foreign intelligence services, and criminalstake advantage of modern technology to hide their communications; recruit followers; and plan, conduct, and encourage espionage, cyber attacks, or terrorism to disperse information on different methods to attack the U.S. homeland and to facilitate other illegal activities. Thank you again for the opportunity to testify today and I look forward to your questions. Foreign officials reveal details they should not have known. In only eight cases was there a sophisticated higher level of tradecraft employed. Foreign influence operations have taken many forms and used many tactics over the years. Reportable International Terrorism Contacts, Activities, Indicators, and Behaviors include. This was often the case in illegal export of military technology, source code, large-scale agricultural and industrial production and manufacturing techniques. The first is economic espionage, which is intended to provide China with commercial advantage over U.S. firms. Click here to subscribe for full access. Taking classified material home The views in this article are the authors own and do not reflect the views of the U.S. government. 22 Facts About Espionage Act | FactSnippet 18 U.S.C. Section 951 and the Non'Traditional Intelligence Actor Non-DoD civilians may face sanctions. traditional espionage activity includes foreign government An Ex-Trump Adviser's Acquittal Shows How Politics and Business That Act prohibits the theft of trade secrets in which the perpetrator acts intending or knowing that the offense will benefit a foreign government. Such crimes are not limited to the United States and, with the aid of Internet like-minded hate groups, can reach across borders. Intelligence & Espionage | U.S. Government Bookstore This would let China determine exactly where government officials and corporate executives work, where they spend the night, what doctors they visit, and their travels, among other informationall of which would provide valuable information to Chinese spies and companies. 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. Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates Traditional espionage, often characterized by career foreign intelligence officers acting as diplomats or ordinary citizens, and asymmetric espionage, typically carried out by students,. The objective of this espionage was to steal intellectual data and confidential business information about the engine. The reason for this is because Snowden did not provide information he obtained to a foreign government. As part of a nationwide campaign to raise awareness of the growing economic espionage threat, the FBI has released a short video, "The Company Man: Protecting Americas Secrets." Cyber Attacks, Potential espionage indicators (PEIs) are activities by an individual who may have volunteered or been recruited by a foreign entity as a writing espionage agent. Cyber espionage: Russian state-sponsored groups have been implicated in a range of cyber espionage activities against Ukraine, including stealing sensitive government and military data, intellectual property, and other confidential information. ), Next Generation National Security Fellows, The Shawn Brimley Next Generation National Security Leaders Fellowship, Joseph S. Nye, Jr. National Security Internship and Mentoring Program, 2022 CNAS National Security Conference: Security in the Balance, Sanctions by the Numbers: SDN, CMIC, and Entity List Designations on China, Since Russia Invaded Ukraine, Allies Levied More Than 11,000 Sanctions on Russia, Calling Check: Technology Competition with China.