ZeroFox Physical Security Intelligence Daily Brief - December 9, 2023

ZeroFox Physical Security Intelligence Daily Brief - December 9, 2023

ZeroFox Intelligence collects, curates, and analyzes information derived from open and proprietary sources. Here is today’s daily roundup to give you and your clients an advantage over the adversary.

Brief Highlights

• South Korea, U.S, and Japan Launch Working Group to Respond to North Korean Cyber Threats
• Russia Sets Date for Presidential Elections
• Taiwan Announces Five Critical Tech Industries that Need Protection from Chinese Espionage

South Korea, U.S, and Japan Launch Working Group to Respond to North Korean Cyber Threats

On December 7, 2023, South Korea, the United States, and Japan officially launched a working group to block cyber threat activities from North Korea. Cybertheft is a primary source of funds for North Korea's nuclear and missile development. The three countries shared their evaluations of North Korea's theft of virtual assets, North Korean hacking organizations, and information technology (IT) activities and introduced each country's response strategies and blocking efforts. Areas in which the three countries can cooperate were also discussed.

Russia Sets Date for Presidential Elections

On December 7, 2023, the Russian Federation Council unanimously approved March 17, 2024, as the date for upcoming presidential elections. While President Vladimir Putin has not yet announced he will run for reelection, Putin is widely expected to secure another presidential term in the March election.

Taiwan Announces Five Critical Tech Industries that Need Protection from Chinese Espionage

On December 5, 2023, Taiwan announced five critical technology sectors, including defense, semiconductors, space, agriculture, semiconductors, and information security, that it identified as needing urgent protection from espionage and technology theft, mainly from mainland China. The list includes 22 protected technologies, such as integrated circuits smaller than 14 nanometers, chip security, post-quantum cryptography protection, cyber defense, and wafter-level advanced chip packaging. The list aims to ensure national security and competitiveness for Taiwanese businesses. Taiwan has long been concerned about Chinese efforts to steal its technology via industrial espionage and poaching engineers.