Cyber Week in Review: May 6, 2022

Pegasus spyware found on Spanish prime minister's phone 

The mobile devices of the Spanish prime minister and defense minister were targeted with Pegasus spyware in May and June of 2021, according to the Spanish authorities. Government officials stated that the use of the spyware was “illegal and external,” and claimed that no Spanish agency was involved. The incident marks the first confirmed case of the head of a European country being targeted by Pegasus spyware, though staff in English Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s office were recently targeted by Pegasus spyware. This announcement follows last month’s disclosure that Spain’s intelligence service may have used Pegasus spyware to surveil Catalan separatists.  

U.S. Department of State accuses the Chinese government of amplifying Russian disinformation 

The U.S. Department of State blamed the Chinese government for amplifying Russian disinformation on Ukraine in a memo released Tuesday. The memo details how Chinese “wolf warrior” diplomats work to spread the Kremlin’s propaganda to other countries and to censor reporting on Russian violence, while simultaneously blaming the United States and NATO for the war. Chinese government officials have promoted President Vladimir Putin’s claim that Russia is fighting Nazis in Ukraine on platforms such as Twitter, presenting doctored photos as evidence. In addition, Chinese state media and officials have echoed the Russian conspiracy theory that the United States has sponsored biological weapons labs in Ukraine. The memo concludes that despite China’s claims of neutrality, its work to promote Russian propaganda reveals Beijing's support of Moscow. 

FBI searches of American’s data have doubled 

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence released its Annual Statistical Transparency Report, which revealed that the FBI made 3.4 million warrantless searches of Americans’ data in the past year, more than double the 1.3 million searches made in 2020. As many as 1.9 million of the searches were related to a Russian cyberattack on critical infrastructure. Despite the increase in warrantless surveillance by the FBI, the number of secret surveillance court orders approved by the U.S. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court was halved in the past two years. The report marks the first time that the government has disclosed the number of searches of domestic data were conducted under the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. 

U.S. government contemplates sanctions on China's Hikvision 

The United States is reportedly considering human rights-related sanctions on Hikvision, a Chinese surveillance camera company. Hikvision has been accused of enabling human rights abuses through its dealings with the Chinese government, which has used its cameras to surveil the Uyghur population. Though its products are most extensively used in China, Hikvision’s technology is employed far beyond the nation’s borders, with customers in more than 180 countries. If implemented, the sanctions would add to existing American restrictions on the company. President Joe Biden signed an executive order which banned American investment in Hikvision, and the company was placed on the commerce department’s “entity list,” barring it from using American technology in its products. 

U.S. Cyber Command completed nine hunt forward operations in the last year 

General Paul M. Nakasone, commander of U.S. Cyber Command, said that the United States has conducted nine “hunt forward” operations designed to root out adversaries’ malware before it can be used in the past year. The operations took place in a number of allied countries, including Lithuania, where Cyber Command helped identify and counter vulnerabilities in the foreign affairs and defense ministries’ systems. Cyber Command has acknowledged twenty eight hunt forward operations in the past four years. The news comes as Cyber Command has played a major role in protecting Ukrainian networks from destructive Russian attacks.