‘Tyrannical IT’ Is A Critical Threat

Uploaded on 2023-05-01 in TECHNOLOGY--Hackers, INTELLIGENCE--USA, FREE TO VIEW

"There's just no question that with generative AI you can be far more sophisticated in your production of misinformation and disinformation,” US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines has warned.

Haines emphasised the national security challenges posed by China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea, as well as transnational issues, such as cyber hacking, climate change, terrorism, and emerging technologies.

Recently, a Russian cyber crime group FIN7 has been observed exploiting a Veeam Backup & Replication vulnerability patched in March 2023.

As authoritarian countries increasingly rely on digital tools to suppress dissent inside and outside their borders, the US and its democratic partners need to work together to counter the spread of repressive technologies across the globe, the nation’s top intelligence official said during the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace event on Monday 24th April.

Haines said that rising digital authoritarianism poses “a critical threat to our national security,” citing, in particular, the repressive models implemented by the Russian, Chinese, and Iranian governments as efforts that undermine democratic values within their countries and beyond.

These methods, which include the use of invasive surveillance tools, spyware, Internet shutdowns, online censorship and the spread of mis- and disinformation, have a broader impact.

Haines also said the intelligence community assesses “that foreign governments are increasingly using digital information and communication technologies to monitor and suppress political debate domestically, as well as in their expat and diaspora communities abroad.” She noted that this also includes the exportation of spyware and surveillance technologies to other countries where democracy is backsliding, which could further erode democratic norms and values on the global stage.

“And as these technologies, capabilities, policies and mechanisms are exported and implemented in various countries or territories, they make it that much harder to bolster democratic governance and easier for authoritarians to prevail... Moreover, the use of these technologies and methods to monitor and limit dissent are on a trajectory to become even more pervasive, targeted and complex in the next few years, further constraining freedoms globally.” she added.

Emerging technologies, such as generative artificial intelligence, could also be deployed by authoritarian nations to further suppress dissent and unwanted narratives, with Haines saying that they “will only increase the sophistication that such regimes can use to deploy such tools, making them that much more difficult to counter.”

Haines said that the growing use of these tools adds to “the contest over information,” which she called “perhaps one of the most challenging aspects of the problem” when it comes to digital repression... Today, we assess that foreign governments are increasingly using digital information and communication technologies to monitor and suppress political debate domestically, as well as in their expat and diaspora communities abroad,” she said.

Whether it’s internet shutdowns in Iran to silence the voices of protestors; the use of surveillance technologies in China to control the population; or censorship laws in Russia to suppress government criticism, these approaches pose a challenge to U.S. interests and values around the world.

Haines noted that, for the first time, the intelligence community’s annual threat assessment, which was publicly released in February, included an entire section on the digital trends of authoritarianism.

That report warned that “foreign states’ malicious use of digital information and communication technologies will become more pervasive, automated, targeted and complex during the next few years, further threatening to distort publicly available information and probably will outpace efforts to protect digital freedoms.”

Haines said that the rise of digital authoritarianism, including its dependence on emerging technologies and surveillance tools to control information and quell internal dissent, should spur the US and other democratic nations to develop “normative frameworks”. This can “preserve, to the greatest extent, the promise of such technologies to support freer flows of information, more timely and cheaper communication, as well as smart technologies, prove the delivery of services, and even protect the environment and promote our health, while nevertheless guarding against their use for digital repression,” she said.

Haines said this also includes highlighting efforts in democratic nations to move away from the use of technologies that could be used to surveil citizens, such as President Biden’s March 27th executive order restricting the US government’s use of commercial spyware “that poses risks to national security.”

“The multifaceted challenge of adversaries suppressing information environments cannot be solved by government alone,” and said it was critical for non-government organisations and other pro-democracy voices to also push back on the spread of digital authoritarianism... Digital repression and foreign maligning influence are whole-of-society challenges, and we can no longer operate on parallel, but distinct tracks,” she added.

US DNI: US DNI: C-Span: Defense One; NextGov: NextGov: Defense Scoop: Security Week:

You Might Also Read:

Russia's Disinformation Campaign Targets Ukraine's Supporters:

____________________________________________________________________________________

If you like this website and use the comprehensive 6,500-plus service supplier Directory, you can get unrestricted access, including the exclusive in-depth Directors Report series, by signing up for a Premium Subscription.