NATO condemns China over cyberattacks for first time
19 July 2021
The U.S., NATO and other allies are collectively calling out China for malicious cyber attacks, including a March attack that exploited a flaw in Microsoft's Exchange Server.
Why it matters: It's the first time that NATO, a military alliance founded in 1949 to confront the Soviet Union, has signed onto a formal condemnation of China's cyber activities.
Zoom in: Authorities are detailing more than 50 different techniques that Chinese state-sponsored actors used, and offering up recommended mitigations that businesses and organizations can take.
- The U.S. says that China's Ministry of State Security is using contract hackers to conduct the attacks, many of which are being done for profit, including via ransomware.
- The U.S., NATO, European Union, U.K., Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Japan say they can now, "with high confidence," attribute the March attack using the Exchange flaw to cyberattackers affiliated with China's state security ministry. That attack crippled thousands of computers around the world.
Between the lines: There are a number of countries that have been blamed for past cyberattacks, including China, Iran, Russia and North Korea.
- The U.S. says Russian government hackers have been known to sometimes also "moonlight" in for-profit attacks, but in this case it was the Chinese military working directly with the attackers.
What's next: The U.S. says it has raised the concerns with Chinese authorities and said it hasn't ruled out a further response, but also cautioned that no one action is likely to deter China.
- Rather, the administration is pointing to a number of recent steps taken on cybersecurity including executive orders, work with the EU and G7 and new rules for pipeline and other critical infrastructure providers.
The big picture: NATO leaders last month took their strongest position yet on the threat from China, releasing a communique that characterized Beijing's growing influence, military prowess and assertive behavior as "systemic challenges to the rules-based international order."
Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times
Section2Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.
Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.
The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.
- The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.
What the transcripts say:
- Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
- The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
- Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."
Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.