Tag Archive for: Alliances

Quantum Tech Intended for National Security Is Testing U.S. Alliances

/in


The Australian physicist shook the heavy metal box that resembled a beer cooler but held a quantum sensor. A computer screen showed that the cutting-edge device — with lasers manipulating atoms into a sensitive state — continued functioning despite the rattling.

He and his team had built a hard-to-detect, super-accurate navigation system for when satellite GPS networks are jammed or do not work that was robust and portable enough to be used outside a lab. It could potentially guide military equipment, from submarines to spacecraft, for months with a minuscule risk of directional error — a significant improvement over what is available today.

“The fact that we can do that is probably a wild, insane surprise,” said Russell Anderson, the head of quantum sensing at Q-CTRL, a start-up that recently signed a deal with Australia’s Department of Defense to develop and field-test its quantum sensor technology.

The global race to develop quantum technologies of all kinds has accelerated as governments pour investment into the industry and scientists make rapid technical advances. But to maintain an edge over China — which takes a centralized approach to tech development — the United States is considering tougher export controls for quantum. And allies say more limits, on top of those already in place, could stifle momentum because the strength of the American model of tech development comes from its openness, combining pools of public research money with private investment to support scientists from many countries.

For the United States and its allies, the challenge is clear: how to balance protectionism and cooperation in a transformative field where talent is scarce and less concentrated in the United States, making interdependence inevitable and increasingly necessary.

“The world has changed, and the pace of technology is much faster than it used to be,” said John Christianson, a military fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, who co-authored a recent report on AUKUS, the 2021 security agreement among the United States, Britain and Australia. “We can’t just rely on Americans always having the best stuff.”

Secretary of State Antony…

Source…

State’s Cyber Diplomacy Bureau Props Up Anti-Hacking Alliances

/in


The State Department’s new bureau focused on cyberspace is expected to elevate the issue’s place in international affairs as the U.S. looks to join forces with other nations to stem a rising tide of hacks.

The Bureau of Cyberspace and Digital Policy will likely play a role in the White House’s enlistment of other countries to counter increasingly common and costly ransomware attacks, former government officials say. Cyber diplomats also could add to U.S. efforts to press Russia to take responsibility for ransomware groups that continue their attacks despite sanctions imposed by the Biden administration, they said.

Another item on the horizon is upcoming United Nations talks toward a cybercrime treaty. The talks are set to raise thorny issues for defining and exchanging information on allegedly criminal behavior online, said Duncan Hollis, a former State Department official who’s now a professor at Temple Law School.

“Those negotiations will require a pretty savvy diplomat,” Hollis said. He added that the talks are likely to draw a lot of attention as the U.S. and its allies confront countries like Russia and China that so far have objected to international cyber agreements.

A Senate-confirmed ambassador will lead the State Department bureau, with a purview over cybersecurity as well as economic and human rights issues related to the internet, according to an Oct. 25 briefing from agency spokesman Ned Price. Its structure and scope represent a step up from past iterations of the department’s work on cyber.

Beyond Security

The State Department installed its first cyber diplomat during the Obama administration. Under the Trump administration, the department started a cyber bureau narrowly focused on security.

The latest bureau’s aim is to prevent cyberattacks while protecting digital freedoms such as free speech online, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in Oct. 27 remarks to the Foreign Service Institute. The bureau’s work also is planned to include other digital policy issues like promoting trusted telecommunications systems, according to a State Department spokesperson.

It’s significant that the planned bureau’s scope is broader than just cybersecurity,…

Source…