China, Russia, Iran Engaged in Aggressive Economic Cyber Spying

 

Counterintelligence report details foreign spies theft of advanced U.S. technology

Foreign spies from China, Russia, and Iran are conducting aggressive cyber operations to steal valuable U.S. technology and economic secrets, according to a U.S. counterintelligence report.

The report by the National Counterintelligence and Security Center, a DNI counterspy unit, concludes China is among the most aggressive states engaged in stealing U.S. proprietary information as part of a government-directed program.

If the Iran Nuclear Deal Collapses, Iranian Hackers Will Target These U.S. Companies

 

If the Iran nuclear deal fails, U.S. companies will suffer never-before-seen security breaches thanks to Tehran’s “hacker army.”

This particular cyber militia has been honing its skills and expanding since 2013. That’s when then-Iranian President Hassan Rouhani increased the country’s cybersecurity spending 12-fold, Business Insider reported in 2015. Rouhani allocated roughly $19.8 million to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (Tehran’s military) to up its cyber capabilities.

Merkel yields to Trump: Germany should meet defense spending obligation

German Chancellor Angela Merkel

 

U.S. President Donald Trump is actively pressuring NATO allies to increase their defense spending. Germany currently spends about 1.2 percent of GDP on defense, which Merkel vows to change if she is elected for a fourth term in office this September.

“Obligations have to be fulfilled,” Merkel said at a campaign rally on Feb. 25. “And, others in the world will demand that of us. And, I think they’re right that Germany must uphold its obligations.”

EU global strategy: ‘We must be ready to go beyond NATO’

High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy / Vice-President of the Commission Federica Mogherini | John Thys/AFP via Getty Images

 

Federica Mogherini set to propose stronger new role for the bloc on the world stage.

Europe must be able to develop its own military autonomy by going beyond NATO, says a new foreign policy and security proposal to be presented Tuesday to European leaders.

“When it comes to collective defense, NATO remains the primary framework for most member states” but “as Europeans we must take greater responsibility for our security,” states the Global Strategy, a document from EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini.

New era for Japan: allowing overseas combat role for military

It’s Japan’s most assertive military stance in decades. If necessary, Japan could also go nuclear within three months and only needs to snap together components already being made. Those in Japan that remember history are likely now thankful towards Mr. Kishi as China shows it isn’t rising peacefully, but wants to subjugate Asia.

 

Lawmakers passed bills Saturday that significantly shift defense policy. But debates over Prime Minister Abe’s ‘jackhammer’ approach are not over. 

Tokyo — Japanese awoke Saturday to the news that their nation had undergone its most significant shift in defense policy since the revision of the Japan-US Security Treaty in 1960.

In the very early hours of the morning, security bills that reinterpret the pacifist Article 9 of Japan’s Constitution – and that allow its military to engage in fighting abroad even if Japan is not attacked – had finally passed.

US deployment of B-2 bomber to Guam a distraction: Global Times

After the Global Strike Command of the United States Air Force deployed three B-2 stealth bombers from Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri to Anderson Air Force Base in Guam, China’s state-run Global Times said that China has already adopted countermeasures against the US strategic bomber on Aug. 12.

Russia to Surprise Rivals With Defense, Security Innovations – Putin

“We are yet to delight our partners and competitors with our latest developments in the field of defense and security. But what we will show — and here we will not be keeping secrets forever — will be used in civilian industries one way or another.”

Pentagon Rushing to Open Space-War Center To Counter China, Russia

 

Prepping for war in orbit, the military is honing tactics and building a new center to coordinate defense and development.

The Pentagon and intelligence community are developing war plans and an operations center to fend off Chinese and Russian attacks on U.S. military and government satellites.

The ops center, to be opened within six months, will receive data from satellites belonging to all government agencies, Deputy Defense Secretary Robert Work said Tuesday at the GEOINT symposium, an annual intelligence conference sponsored by the United States Geospatial Intelligence Foundation.

Beijing’s Belt and Road means overseas military bases

China’s ninth defense white paper published on May 26 openly declared that overseas military bases will be necessary to carry out the New Economic Silk Road Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road (“Belt and Road”) initiatives, according to Chinese political analyst Mao Yulin in an article for Duowei News, a media outlet operated by overseas Chinese.

PLA switching to an offensive footing, says Russian expert

The release of China’s ninth defense white paper on May 26 indicates that the People’s Liberation Army has changed its traditional strategy of coastal defense. By acquiring more advanced weapons systems, the development of PLA Navy in the future will be focused on its offensive capability. Under this strategy, the mission of China’s strategic missile division known as the Second Artillery Corps has become more important, Sivkov said.

China releases ‘active defence’ military strategy, warns those ‘meddling’ in the South China Sea

And within this ‘active defense’ strategy, even more military cooperation with Russia is entailed.

 

China’s Defence Ministry spokesman Yang Yujun holds up China’s Military Strategy white paper during a press conference in Beijing on Tuesday. Photo: AP

 

 

Beijing: As tensions grow over territory in the South China Sea, China has signalled ambitions for a greater naval presence further from its shores with the unveiling of a new military strategy white paper.

Speaking at a media briefing on Tuesday, a spokesman for China’s Defence Ministry, Yang Yujun, denied the timing of the paper’s release had any connection with the ongoing spat with the United States, which flew a surveillance plane last Wednesday over the reef and rock formations where China is carrying out extensive land reclamation and building in the disputed waters.

There Will Be No 25-Year Depression

What we have here is not a failure of Capitalism, but a failure of experimenting with Socialism that is now resulting in the breakdown of society.

As geopolitical analyst and expert, JR Nyquist, once put it, America has fallen victim to Crony Capitalism, which is different than Capitalism itself.

 

How it all works in crony heaven – until it doesn’t anymore – via bastiatinstitute.org

 

 

Good and Bad News

Today, we have bad news and good news. The good news is that there will be no 25-year recession. Nor will there be a depression that will last the rest of our lifetimes.

The bad news: It will be much worse than that. On Monday, the Dow rose another 43 points. Gold seems to be working its way back to the $1,200 level, where it feels most comfortable.

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Old People Are Dead Wood

First, people are getting older. Especially in Europe and Japan, but also in China, Russia and the US. As we’ve described many times, as people get older, they change. They stop producing and begin consuming.

Swarm robots poised to fly amid acquisitions and military investment

 

Summary: The military is going miniature, and that means big investments in small flying machines that will eventually operate in swarms.

An updated version of a battle-tested nano-UAV stole the show at an annual trial of military gadgets at Fort Benning, Georgia, last month. Tech readers may be nearing peak-UAV, but this autonomous bug-like vehicle is worth paying attention to.

The PD-100 Black Hornet, manufactured by Prox Dynamics, is an air vehicle about the size of a man’s finger. The UAV weighs 18 grams and now contains day and night-vision cameras that send still images or video back to an operator via a data-link. Designed for reconnaissance, the vehicle is incapable of attack or defense. But its size and ability to fly autonomously or semi-autonomously make it a clear precursor to the next generation of swarm robots. Welcome to the future of warfare.

HAGEL: The World Is ‘Damn Dangerous’ And Our Army Is Not Ready

 

In an exclusive interview with Charlie Rose at the Pentagon yesterday, Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel warned of the unprecedented challenges facing the United States military role on the global stage.

“The world is dangerous. It is damn dangerous,” Hagel said.

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“We live in this imperfect, dynamic, changing, threatening, dangerous, interconnected world that we have never seen before, that we have never seen anything like this before,” Hagel said. “And so policies, yes, are predicated on historical knowledge and cultural awareness and all that goes into that. Have we made mistakes over a series of many years? Yeah, I think we have. I think anybody would agree to that. But that’s not the issue. That’s not the responsibility I have now or the president has or John Kerry. Our responsibilities now are to find ways that we can make it better, find strategies and policies that work within a world of uncontrollables.”

China boosts military budget to uphold ‘sovereignty’

China will increase military spending by 10.7 per cent this year to 720.2 billion yuan (US$115.7 billion), the government announced on Tuesday, building on a nearly unbroken succession of double-digit rises in the defence budget across two decades.

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“We should accelerate the modernisation of national defence and the armed forces so as to strengthen China’s defence and military capabilities,” Premier Wen Jiabao said in remarks prepared for delivery ahead of the start of China’s annual meeting of parliament.