This week the FBI and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (an element of DHS) issued a public service announcement to raise awareness of the threat of hacking and intellectual property theft to COVID-19-related research. The FBI is investigating the targeting and compromise of U.S. organizations conducting COVID-19-related research by Chinese affiliated cyber actors and non-traditional collectors. These actors have been observed attempting to identify and illicitly obtain valuable intellectual property (IP) and public health data related to vaccines, treatments, and testing from networks and personnel affiliated with COVID-19-related research. The potential theft of this information jeopardizes the delivery of secure, effective, and efficient treatment options.

The FBI and CISA urge all organizations conducting research in these areas to maintain dedicated cybersecurity and insider threat practices to prevent surreptitious review or theft of COVID-19-related material.

The FBI and CISA make several recommendations for those companies and institutions conducting research into COVID-19. Given the amount of intellectual property theft taking place on behalf of the Chinese government at schools and companies across North America, these recommendations should realistically be heeded by any company or institution conducting R&D in any advanced technology:

1.) Assume that press attention, and particularly that affiliating your organization with COVID-19 related research, will lead to increased interest and cyber activity.

2.) Patch all systems for critical vulnerabilities, prioritizing timely patching for known vulnerabilities of Internet-connected servers and software processing Internet data.

3.) Actively scan web applications for unauthorized access, modification, or anomalous activities.

4.) Improve credential requirements and require multi-factor authentication.

5.) Identify and suspend access of users exhibiting unusual activity.

AlertsUSA strongly encourages readers in all areas of advanced technology R&D to heed this warning from the FBI and DHS. There are big changes coming to every aspect of the U.S. relationship with China, not only because of the CCP's handling of the overall coronavirus situation, but because of the increasingly adversarial relationship between the two countries. U.S. companies will be repatriating manufacturing operations, there will likely be a dramatic reduction or elimination of visas for both graduate and undergraduates students, there are forthcoming executive orders and eventual legislation mandating products deemed critical to national security be produced here in the U.S., including pharmaceuticals and personal protective equipment, key electronics and machinery, raw materials processing, as well as limitations on joint-ventures and corporate acquisitions.

This urgency in tightening up your security protocols is important for two primary reasons.

1.) There are currently around 350,000 Chinese students in America's world class university system.

2.) In 2014, a law was passed in China requiring all Chinese citizens to cooperate with Chinese intelligence services.

Naturally, if there will be across the board changes to China's access to America's leading research institutions, as well as increasing limitations on China's ability to partner with or acquire assets in the U.S. business sector, increased efforts will be made to gain access to intellectual property and trade secrets before the feeding trough is closed up.

Just last year, FBI Director Christopher Wray issued a warning the Chinese intelligence services strategically use every tool at their disposal, including state-owned businesses, students, researchers, and ostensibly private companies, to systematically steal information and intellectual property:.

“China has pioneered a societal approach to stealing innovation any way it can, from a wide array of businesses, universities, and organizations.”

“Put plainly, China seems determined to steal its way up the economic ladder, at our expense.”

According to Senate Intelligence Committee Vice Chairman, Mark Warner:

“The Chinese spy services are literally threatening Chinese families,” he said. “’If your son or daughter does not come back [from the US] and come back with intellectual property, you the family will be put in jeopardy."

These threats come with a grounding in Chinese law. Article 14 of China's 2017 National Intelligence Law mandates that Chinese intelligence agencies may;

"ask relevant institutions, organizations and citizens to provide necessary support, assistance and cooperation."

OFFICIAL CASE NUMBERS

World Health Organization
Centers for Disease Control (U.S.)
Johns Hopkins CSSE (Interactive map updated multiple times daily)

WHO RISK OF SPREAD & IMPACT ASSESSMENT

China Very High
Regional Level Very High
Global Level Very High

PANDEMIC PREPAREDNESS AND RESPONSE RESOURCES

White House

Guidelines for Opening Up America Again

Official Coronavirus Information Pages:

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Food and Drug Administration
Public Health Agency of Canada
Infection Prevention and Control Canada
World Health Organization

Official Pandemic Preparedness Guidance:

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Department of Homeland Security / Ready.Gov
World Health Organization

DIY CLOTH MASK RESOURCES

Don't buy the masks online. At the present time, most retail masks are made in China anyhow. Make it at home.

CDC Homemade Cloth Face Coverings
Instructables DIY Cloth Face Mask
NYT How to Sew a Face Mask
The Olson Mask Pattern

Assorted Resources

(While some of the resources below were prepared for pandemic influenza, the broader guidance contain therein is directly applicable to the current coronavirus crisis).

Home Care for Patients w/ Suspected Coronavirus Infection
Community Mitigation Guidelines to Prevent Pandemic Influenza
Fundamentals of Emergency Planning for Schools
Healthcare Systems Preparedness for COVID-19
Pub Health Guidance for Community-Level Preparedness & Response (SARS)
Business Pandemic Influenza Planning Checklist
Faith-based & Community Org. Pandemic Influenza Preparedness Checklist
WHO Checklist for Influenza Pandemic Preparedness Planning
Get Your Workplace Ready for Pandemic Flu
Dept of Defense Coronavirus Response Page
DHS Supplemental Instructions For Inbound Flights

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AlertsUSA continues to monitor the domestic and international threat environment around the clock and will immediately notify service subscribers, via SMS messages to their mobile devices, of new alerts, warnings and advisories or any developments which signal a change the overall threat picture for American citizens as events warrant.