Thursday, January 31, 2019
UAE Used Cyber “Super-Weapon” to Spy on iPhones of Foes
A team of former U.S. government intelligence operatives working for the United Arab Emirates reportedly hacked into the iPhones of activists, diplomats, and rival foreign leaders with the help of a sophisticated spying tool called Karma. The cyber tool allowed the UAE to monitor hundreds of targets beginning in 2016, from the Emir of Qatar and a senior Turkish official to a Nobel Peace laureate human-rights activist in Yemen, according to five former operatives and program documents reviewed by Reuters. Karma was reportedly used by an offensive cyber operations unit in Abu Dhabi comprised of Emirati security officials and former American intelligence operatives working as contractors for the UAE's intelligence services. The existence of Karma and of the hacking unit, code named Project Raven, haven't been previously reported. Raven was largely staffed by U.S. intelligence community veterans who were paid through an Emirati cyber security firm named DarkMatter, according to documents reviewed by Reuters.
The ex-Raven operatives described Karma as a tool that could remotely grant access to iPhones simply by uploading phone numbers or email accounts into an automated targeting system. In 2016 and 2017, Karma was used to obtain photos, emails, text messages and location information from targets' iPhones. The technique also helped the hackers harvest saved passwords, which could be used for other intrusions. In 2017 the operatives reportedly used Karma to hack an iPhone used by Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, as well as the devices of Turkey's former Deputy Prime Minister Mehmet Şimşek, and Oman's head of foreign affairs, Yusuf bin Alawi bin Abdullah. The Project Raven team also reportedly hacked Tawakkol Karman, a human rights activist known as the Iron Woman of Yemen. Karman she said she believes she was chosen because of her leadership in Yemen's Arab Spring protests.
It is not clear whether the Karma hack remains in use. The former operatives said that by the end of 2017, security updates to Apple Inc's iPhone software had made Karma far less effective. The disclosure of Karma and the Raven unit comes amid an escalating cyber arms race, with rivals such as Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE competing for the most sophisticated hacking tools and personnel. CNBC, Reuters, Task & Purpose
Related:
Reuters: Inside the UAE’s Secret Hacking Team of American Mercenaries
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Venezuelans, strength is in unity: “I would like to be clear about the situation in Venezuela: Mr. Maduro’s re-election on May 20, 2018, was illegitimate, as has since been acknowledged by a large part of the international community. His original six-year term was set to end on Jan. 10. By continuing to stay in office, Nicolás Maduro is usurping the presidency,” writes Juan Guaidó in the New York Times. “Given that the Maduro regime cannot legitimately retain power, our response is threefold: First, to shore up the National Assembly as the last bastion of democracy; second, to consolidate the support of the international community, especially the Lima Group, the Organization of American States, the United States and the European Union; and third, to address the people, on the basis that they have a right to self-determination.”
The Huawei indictment tells a story of deceit and corporate espionage: “ According to the indictment, Huawei’s approach resembles that of the Chinese state: It is unbound by a rules-based, law-governed international order, and it is determined to succeed by using theft and duplicity,” writes the editorial board of the Washington Post. “The next generation of connectivity — 5G networks — is far too important to put in the hands of a company that may work by lies and coverups.”
Trump’s Syria pullout plan cannot win Turkey back: “While Trump’s decision to withdraw from Syria is widely regarded as a victory for Erdogan, the move has so far done little to appease the Turkish invective against the United States. In fact, it has only sharpened the fundamental disagreement over the future of the Kurds that has strained bilateral relations for years,” write Aykan Erdemir and Merve Tahiroglu in War on the Rocks. “Rather than pursuing a quick fix and offering radical policy shifts over the phone that put his aides on the Turkish crosshairs, the U.S. president would be better off sticking to an incremental approach that taps into the expertise of his national security team and their Turkish counterparts.”
U.S. intervention could be Maduro’s lifeline: “The academic literature on regime changes paints an overwhelmingly negative picture of the prospects of success: Studies have shown that foreign-imposed regime changes do not improve political or economic relations between the intervening and target states,” writes Lindsey O’Rourke in Foreign Policy. “Given this history, many Venezuelans remain suspicious of Washington’s motives, and only 36 percent hold a favorable view of the United States. Consequently, the Trump administration’s recognition of Guaidó is likely a double-edged sword: While it may increase his stature in the eyes of U.S. allies, it is also likely to undermine his legitimacy among Venezuelans wary of U.S. meddling.”
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Editor's Picks
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DHS operated fake university: According to federal indictments unsealed in Detroit yesterday, the Department of Homeland Security set up a fake university in Farmington Hills, Michigan to target foreign students who wanted to stay in the U.S. without proper authorization. According to the filing, the defendants were taken into custody after facilitating the enrollment of students into a “metro Detroit private university that, unbeknownst to the conspirators, was operated by HSI (Homeland Security Investigation) special agents as part of an undercover operation.” The students enrolled at the fake university with the intent of obtaining jobs under a student visa program called CPT (Curricular Practical Training) that allows students to work in the U.S, said prosecutors. The university was staffed with undercover agents working with the Department of Homeland Security and had no curriculum or classes.
One indictment said that the defendants helped at least 600 "foreign citizens to illegally remain, re-enter, and work in the United States and actively recruited them to enroll in a fraudulent school as part of a 'pay to stay' scheme." The indictments also say the operation allowed students to stay in the U.S. without proper visas. The U.S. alleged the students who enrolled "knew that they would not attend any actual classes, earn credits or make academic progress toward an actual degree," read an indictment. Eight people were arrested and indicted for conspiracy to commit visa fraud and harboring undocumented immigrants for profit. The Hill, Detroit Free Press, NBC News
Trump assails U.S. intelligence officials: President Trump lashed out at U.S. intelligence officials over Twitter on Wednesday, calling them “extremely passive and naive” about the “dangers of Iran” and pushing back on their assessments of the Islamic State and North Korea. The intelligence community’s assessments, which contradicted Trump’s past comments, were shared Tuesday by intelligence chiefs during the presentation of the “Worldwide Threat Assessment” to Congress. In his tweets, Trump also sought to defend progress on North Korea ahead of a planned second summit next month with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. During Tuesday’s hearing, Director of National Intelligence Daniel Coats said that North Korea was “unlikely to completely give up its nuclear weapons and production capabilities,” which the country’s leaders consider “critical to the regime’s survival.” Washington Post, New York Times, NBC News
Related:
Washington Post: Trump’s Slow-Building War on Intelligence
Mueller says Russians are using his discovery materials in disinformation effort: Federal prosecutors said yesterday that Russians are using materials obtained from Special Counsel Robert Mueller's office in a disinformation campaign apparently aimed at discrediting the investigation into Moscow's alleged election interference. One or more people associated with the special counsel's case against Russian hackers made statements last October claiming to have stolen discovery materials that were originally provided by Mueller to Concord Management, Mueller's team said in court documents filed on Wednesday. That discovery — evidence and documents traded between both sides of a lawsuit — appears to have been altered and disseminated as part of a disinformation campaign apparently aimed at discrediting the ongoing investigations in Russian interference in the U.S. political system, according to the documents. Concord Management, a company owned by a Russian oligarch known as President Vladimir Putin's "chef," is one of three Russian entities that were accused by the special counsel last February of social media meddling into the 2016 election. NBC News
Graham requests FBI briefing on Roger Stone arrest: Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, has requested that the FBI give a briefing to the panel about last week's arrest of longtime GOP operative and former Trump adviser Roger Stone. Graham sent a letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray on Wednesday expressing concerns about the "manner" in which Stone was arrested, including the number of agents involved in taking Stone into custody, "the tactics employed," and the timing of the arrest. The GOP chairman asked the FBI to brief the Judiciary Committee by February 5. The Hill
Bipartisan House group introduces bills to stall troop withdrawals: A bipartisan group of eight House lawmakers on Wednesday introduced two bills to make it more difficult for the Trump administration to withdraw troops from Syria and South Korea. The bills, introduced by Representatives Tom Malinowski (D-NJ), and Van Taylor (R-TX), would limit the funds the administration can use to withdraw troops from the countries. The first bill, titled the “Responsible Withdrawal From Syria Act,” prohibits the use of Pentagon funds to draw down active duty troop presence in Syria below 1,500. The second bill, titled the “United States and Republic of Korea Alliance Support Act,” takes a similar route and would also halt the use of FY-19 Department of Defense dollars “to reduce the total number of Armed Forces serving on active duty in the Republic of Korea below 22,000.” The Hill
Ohio man charged in terror plot: An Ohio man accused of plotting an attack against a Toledo-area synagogue was indicted Tuesday by a federal grand jury, according to federal agents. Damon Joseph, also known as Abdullah Ali Yusuf, was charged with attempting to provide material to support ISIS, attempting to commit a hate crime, and possessing firearms in furtherance of a crime of violence stemming from his plan to attack at least one Toledo synagogue. Days after the Tree of Life Congregation massacre in Pittsburgh last October, Joseph told an undercover agent that he fantasized about doing something similar in Toledo, an affidavit shows. Later, the undercover agent told Joseph he purchased rifles for the attack. The two met on December 7 and Joseph took a duffel bag containing two semi-automatic rifles. The rifles had been rendered inoperable by law enforcement officers so that they posed no danger to the public. Mr. Joseph was subsequently arrested. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
UN envoy says Yemen ceasefire is holding: Martin Griffiths, the UN special envoy for Yemen, said yesterday that Yemen’s fragile ceasefire is holding and Saudi Arabia remains intent on reaching a negotiated end to the four-year-old civil war. Admitting the state of the ceasefire looked dire from the outside, Griffiths said the key metrics for the UN was the absence of offensive military operations to take territory and the end of Saudi airstrikes in the area. Griffiths has been in Yemen’s capital, Sana’a, and Hodeidah this week to discuss blockages to agreements reached in UN-led talks in Stockholm in December. Griffiths said the vital next steps were gaining access to grain in Hodeidah’s mills and a UN-sponsored meeting between the warring factions to start the process of redeploying Houthi troops. The Guardian
Related:
Vox: Yemen’s Humanitarian Catastrophe, In One Chart
Ghani tries to slow U.S. troop withdrawal: President Ashraf Ghani of Afghanistan reportedly sent a letter on Tuesday to President Trump offering him reduced costs for keeping United States troops in the country. The letter is among the strongest signs yet that Ghani is worried about the consequences of an abrupt American withdrawal from an intractable war that has lasted nearly two decades. Ghani has made no secret of his concern about a quick American exit, fearing it could unravel the fragile Afghan state and lead to a renaissance in power by the Taliban, which have been steadily gaining territory. The letter comes just a few days after the most serious negotiations between American diplomats and Taliban representatives ended with what both sides considered nearing a final agreement in Qatar. While the letter itself was broad, an Afghan official said the possibilities they had envisioned could save the United States as much as $2 billion a year, drawing from areas such as maintenance contracts, and reduce the level of American troops to as low as 3,000. New York Times
Related:
The Daily Beast: The Taliban Are Counting the Days Until Trump’s Afghan Pullout
PBS: Taliban Say They Are Not Looking For ‘Monopoly on Power’ in Afghanistan
Washington Post: What a Peace Deal With The Taliban Could Mean For Women in Afghanistan
U.S. asks Western allies to help form buffer zone in Northern Syria: The U.S. wants to assemble a coalition of Western nations to create and potentially enforce a new buffer zone in northern Syria, U.S. officials said Wednesday. So far, none have yet agreed to the proposal, which includes a promise of American military assistance. The Trump administration hopes to persuade allies including the U.K., France, and Australia to take responsibility for northern Syria, both to address Turkish concerns about Kurdish separatists in Syria while keeping Turkey’s forces away from U.S.-backed Syrian Kurdish fighters who have been battling Islamic State. Under the proposal, a coalition force would monitor a northern Syria buffer zone reaching around 20 miles south of the Turkish border and stretching from the Euphrates River eastward to the Iraqi border. A European diplomat confirmed the U.S. is in active talks with European countries about a buffer zone but said there was no official response because talks were continuing and nothing had yet been settled. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will host foreign ministers. Wall Street Journal
Three arrested in foiled German terror plot: Three men were arrested Wednesday morning in Germany on suspicion of preparing a bomb for a planned “Islamist-motivated terror attack.” The three men, identified as Shahin F, Hersh F, and Rauf S are now in custody. All three have refugee status in Germany and were apprehended in Germany's Schleswig-Holstein region. When and where the attack was to take place could not immediately be determined, the prosecutor's office said in a statement. "Further investigations must determine whether the accused are tied to any terrorist organization." ABC News
Senior North Korean official sent to labor camp: North Korea’s former vice foreign minister and five ministerial directors have reportedly been sent to one of the regime’s most notorious labor camps, apparently after submitting a proposal on ways to break the diplomatic impasse with the United States that was condemned by Kim Jong-un for “breaching doctrine.” Han Song-ryol, a veteran negotiator in talks between Pyongyang and Washington, was fired last year, an official of South Korea’s Unification Ministry told the Chosun Ilbo newspaper. “It seems that a proposal for US-North Korea talks he submitted to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un was criticized for breaching doctrine”, the ministry official said. The official said that Han was sent to the Komdok mine, in South Hamgyong Province, to undergo “re-education.” The Telegraph
U.S. opens trade talks with China: The Trump administration opened high-stakes trade talks with China yesterday. Talks began at the White House on Wednesday morning with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer meeting with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He. Liu is expected to meet with Trump today. The administration has already imposed tariffs on some $250 billion in Chinese imports. President Trump has threatened to increase and expand those tariffs, but he agreed to hold off until early March, while negotiators try to hammer out a deal. NPR
Maduro warns against U.S. intervention: President Nicolás Maduro warned Americans in a video posted on Wednesday that intervening in Venezuela “would lead to a Vietnam worse than they can imagine.” The video, posted on his social media accounts, came out on the same day that Maduro gave an interview to Russia’s RIA news agency in which he said he was open to talks with the country’s opposition but rejected calls for a new election. President Trump seized on Maduro’s offer for talks with the opposition by suggesting on Twitter that the Venezuelan leader had acted in response to American sanctions. New York Times
Related:
New York Times: Maduro Turns to Special Police Force to Crush Dissent
Russian MP arrested on floor of parliament over double murder: A Russian politician was arrested on the floor of parliament yesterday for his suspected role in ordering at least two contract killings. Senator Rauf Arashukov was detained on Wednesday during a session of the federation council, the upper house of the Federal Assembly of Russia, and charged with murder, witness tampering and involvement in organized crime. Arashukov attempted to flee through the parliament gallery, but then surrendered to law enforcement, who came to the building to arrest him. He pleaded not guilty to murder and other charges later on Wednesday. The Guardian
Iran faces worst economic challenge in 40 years: President Hassan Rouhani said on Wednesday that Iran is confronting its most severe economic challenges in 40 years, arguing that the Iranian government “should not be blamed” for the crisis. Under American pressure, dozens of European companies have stopped operations in Iran that they had started after the signing of the 2015 nuclear agreement, leaving thousands of Iranians jobless. Reimposed banking sanctions have sharply curtailed foreign investment and access to international credit, and oil sanctions have more than halved Iran’s crude exports, its main source of income. Rouhani did not refer to corruption and mismanagement, two other factors that analysts have cited in Iran’s economic free-fall. He instead said that the “people’s resistance, efforts and sacrifices” would help Iran defeat the United States. New York Times
Related:
Reuters: European Powers Launch Mechanism For Trade With Iran
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Editor-in-Chief, Karen J. Greenberg, Center on National Security, Fordham Law School
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