FBI unveils cyber strategy amid sanctions against Xinbi Guarantee
The FBI has unveiled a new cyber strategy during the Billington Cyber Security Summit in Washington. Brett Leatherman, assistant director of the FBI’s cyber division, said the document is intended to explain more clearly the bureau’s approach to countering hackers and cyber threats in the United States and abroad.
As The National reports, the strategy outlines five areas of work. They include dismantling offenders’ digital tools, infrastructure and financial resources; rapidly sharing information to support victims of cybercrime; cooperating with the private sector; developing the FBI’s workforce capacity; and training employees in the safe use of artificial intelligence. The bureau noted that AI is increasingly being used to accelerate cyberattacks.
China and US sanctions
Leatherman called the People’s Republic of China the greatest current threat to US national security. The FBI website also lists Russia, Iran and North Korea among state cyber threats.
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On the same day, the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control imposed sanctions on Xinbi Guarantee. The agency described it as a Chinese-language platform that, according to its information, is actively used by Chinese cybercriminals. According to the US Treasury Department’s assessment, the platform operates a large illicit online marketplace that supports fraud, money laundering and other criminal activity targeting Americans.
Iran-linked cyber threats
Jason Bilnoski, deputy assistant director of the FBI’s cyber operations division, said the bureau works with private companies and international partners to counter cybercriminals, botnets and malware. Answering a question about Iran-linked cyberattacks, he did not mention Iran directly but said the FBI regularly shares intelligence and information about hackers with allies and the US private sector.
The article also mentions the Handala group, which cybersecurity experts link to Iran. In June, it claimed to have breached California Water Service systems and released five gigabytes of data as proof of the intrusion. Handala said it had not disrupted water supply, although in its statement it referred to local sources in the United States that allegedly reported outages affecting about 20,000 customers in California.
