OSIRIS Brief 1.21.0
Russian operations against Ukraine still active; FBI did business with NSO Group; Porn interrupts Italian Parliament.
Russian Activities in Ukraine Still Causing Online Disruption
International relations in Ukraine remain tense, and Russian hacking continues to be a major threat. Details continue to emerge about the enormous cyberattack on Ukrainian government sites. Although official announcements have focused on attacks inside Ukraine, there are reasons to expect spillover may be possible. The British government is warning firms to prepare for potential Russian attacks.
There is some evidence that some cyberattacks may be attacking Russian-aligned interests. A group claiming to be “cyberpartisans” claimed to have taken over the Belarussian Railway website. Belarussia is allowing Russian troops to move through Belarussian territory toward the Ukrainian border. Attacking the booking site for Belarussian Railway might affect the ability of Russian troops to move by rail.
Online attacks still outpace real-world conflict, and may even be worse than we realize. We cannot assume that we are not seeing attacks by Ukraine, the US, or others in Russia. It would be unsurprising if attacks were happening that we didn’t hear about, yet. As mentioned last week, so far attacks give no clear indication that conflict will expand. The long heightened conflict online continues the more likely attacks will expand beyond Ukraine, either deliberately or accidentally.
FBI Did Business With NSO Group
The New York Times reported last week that the FBI purchased malware from NSO Group (paywall). NSO Group has been on the defensive since research revealed governments were using their iPhone hacking tool “Pegasus” to repress activists. The FBI had purchased Pegasus from NSO group, much like many other governments. The FBI considered purchasing a different tool, even after adverse revelations about NSO Group.
I’ve long suspected the FBI had bought Pegasus, without knowing it, so I am not particularly surprised. NSO was broadly considered a legitimate company, at least in government circles, and sold its products to governments as an anti-terrorism tool. It would almost be strange if the surveillance-obsessed FBI had not bought Pegasus. Owning Pegasus will do nothing to improve the FBI’s standing in privacy-minded communities that already look askance at the FBI. If it turns out the FBI used Pegasus against American targets, I would expect a torrent of condemnation directed towards the FBI.
Pornography Disrupts Italian Parliament
An unidentified intruded successfully interrupted a session of the Italian Parliament by streaming computer animate porn (SFW) in a Zoom session. During the introduction of Nobel Prize-winning physicist Giorgio Parisi to discuss data transparency, a video of Final Fantasy VII character Tifa Lockheart (SFW) in flagrante delicto streamed for about thirty seconds. Administrators cut the video quickly, but the incident rapidly became a source of mockery online.
I did not want to include this news item but it overlapped too much with the OSIRIS Codex beat to ignore. Political wits have long observed the relationship between pornography and politics, and Silvio Berlusconi was brought down by porn-like scandals. Remote political work and the proliferation of online media have created an odd opportunity to use pornography to political ends. It seems likely that using a character popular in online social circles extended the reach of an incident that would have been otherwise forgotten.
Noteworthy
David Benson is a Professor of Strategy and National Security focusing on cyberstrategy and international relations. You can reach him at dbenson@osiriscodex.com.
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