Weekend Economists Piece for Peace April 3-5, 2015

[Demeter]

7. Obama Authorizes Sanctions for Cyber Attacks

http://uk.pcmag.com/security-reviews/40868/news/obama-authorizes-sanctions-for-cyber-attacks

...President Obama signed an executive order that authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Attorney General and the Secretary of State, to impose sanctions on individuals or entities believed to be involved in "malicious cyber-enabled activities" that could pose "a significant threat to the national security, foreign policy, economic health, or financial stability of the United States."

"Starting today, we're giving notice to those who pose significant threats to our security or economy by damaging our critical infrastructure, disrupting or hijacking our computer networks, or stealing the trade secrets of American companies or the personal information of American citizens for profit," Obama said in a statement.

One of the country's biggest challenges, according to cybersecurity coordinator Michael Daniel, special assistant to the president, is to develop the right tools to respond to malicious attacks.

"In many cases, diplomatic and law enforcement tools will still be our most effective response," Obama said. "But targeted sanctions, used judiciously, will give us a new and powerful way to go after the worst of the worst."

What type of activity might trigger sanctions? Compromising services by government entities, running a distributed denial-of-service attack, pilfering data for commercial or financial gain, using cyber-stolen trade secrets, and providing material support for any of these actions could land you in hot water....

U.S. targets overseas cyber attackers with sanctions program

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/04/01/us-usa-cybersecurity-idUSKBN0MS4DZ20150401

Reuters) - President Barack Obama launched a sanctions program on Wednesday to target individuals and groups outside the United States that use cyber attacks to threaten U.S. foreign policy, national security or economic stability. In an executive order, Obama declared such activities a "national emergency" and allowed the U.S. Treasury Department to freeze assets and bar other financial transactions of entities engaged in destructive cyber attacks.

The executive order gave the administration the same sanctions tools it deploys to address other threats, including crises in the Middle East and Russia's aggression in Ukraine. Those tools are now available for a growing epidemic of cyber threats aimed at U.S. computer networks.

"The Obama administration is really getting serious now. This order brings to bear the economic might of the United States against people who are robbing us blind and putting us in danger," said Joel Brenner, who headed U.S. counterintelligence during President George W. Bush's second term.

The effort to toughen the response to hacking follows indictments of five Chinese military officers and the decision to “name and shame” North Korea for a high-profile attack on Sony. Officials said they hoped U.S. allies would follow suit. U.S. lawmakers and security and legal experts welcomed the move as an encouraging step after a steady stream of cyber attacks aimed at Target, Home Depot and other retailers, as well as military networks.

But they said the executive order was surprisingly broad, which could result in a compliance nightmare for companies, and warned that it remained difficult to definitively "attribute" hacking attacks and identify those responsible.

Obama said in a statement that harming critical infrastructure, misappropriating funds, using trade secrets for competitive advantage and disrupting computer networks would trigger the penalties.

Companies that knowingly use stolen trade secrets to undermine the U.S. economy would also be targeted. MORE