{"id":11429,"date":"2019-02-21T20:39:22","date_gmt":"2019-02-21T20:39:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/uncategorized\/2019\/02\/21\/new-report-questions-effectiveness-of-cyber-indictments\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T17:42:06","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T17:42:06","slug":"new-report-questions-effectiveness-of-cyber-indictments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/cyber\/2019\/02\/21\/new-report-questions-effectiveness-of-cyber-indictments\/","title":{"rendered":"New report questions effectiveness of cyber indictments"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A recent report throws cold water on one of the U.S. government\u2019s key pillars for what it calls whole-of-government deterrence in cyberspace: indictments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to cyberthreat intelligence firm CrowdStrike\u2019s 2019 Global Threat report, nation-state actors do not seem deterred in the face of legal actions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c[I]n spite of some impressive indictments against several named nation-state actors \u2014 their activities show no signs of diminishing,\u201d the report states. \u201cIn diplomatic channels and the media, several nation-states gave lip-service to curbing their clandestine cyber activities, but behind the scenes, they doubled down on their cyber espionage operations \u2014 combining those efforts with further forays into destructive attacks and financially motivated fraud.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The report continues, saying that law enforcement efforts \u201chave not yet halted or deterred nation-state sponsored activities\u201d as nation-states were continuously active in 2018 targeting dissidents, regional adversaries and foreign powers to collect intelligence for decision-makers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Examples provided by CrowdStrike include North Korea\u2019s activity in both intelligence collection and currency-generation schemes, despite participating in diplomatic outreach; Iran\u2019s continued focus on operations against other Middle Eastern and North African countries, particularly regional foes across the Gulf Cooperation Council; China\u2019s significant rise in U.S. targeting likely tied to increased tensions between the two countries; and Russia\u2019s activity across the globe in a variety of intelligence collection and information operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2018 saw many high-profile indictments of individual actors that perpetrated hacks against American and allied entities working on behalf of nation-states. Such indictments include<\/a>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n