US Senate Leader Schumer Wants to Sanction China Over Fentanyl, Cyber Warfare Authorization

Narco Cyber Warfare

A provision in the SASC version of the fiscal 2024 National Defense Authorization Act authorizes the Secretary of Defense with developing a strategy to use cyber warfare tactics to disrupt illicit activity occurring across the border. It would allow the Pentagon, along with other federal agencies and in consultation with the Mexican government, to “conduct detection, monitoring, and other operations in cyberspace to counter Mexican transnational criminal organizations that are engaged in a variety of activities that cross the southern US border.”

Such activities include smuggling of illegal drugs and controlled substances, human trafficking, and weapons trafficking, according to the bill. The legislation was approved by the committee at the end of June, but the bill’s full text wasn’t released until this past week.

The committee places this activity under existing authority that places the Department of Defense as the single lead US agency for the detection and monitoring of aerial and maritime transit of illegal drugs into the country, along with broader authorities to conduct military cyber operations.

The provision states that the authority “may be used to counter Mexican transnational criminal organizations, including entities cited in the most recent National Drug Threat Assessment published by the United States Drug Enforcement Administration.”

As part of the provision, Senators also want a strategy within 60 days of the law’s enactment for conducting operations in cyberspace to combat this activity. As well as quarterly briefings to update lawmakers on the various operations and the nations they were conducted in.

The strategy should include, among other things, a description of the cyber presence and activities of the organizations, a description of any previous cyber actions taken by the DOD against such groups, and descriptions of security cooperation agreements and work with the Mexican government.

Clarifying Existing Authority

According to Herb Lin, a senior research scholar for Cyber Policy and Security at Stanford University’s Center for International Security and Cooperation, the bill’s provision is just clarifying the existing authority that the Pentagon already has to conduct such operations.

“As far as I can tell, it clarifies existing authority. It explicitly gives DOD authority to do something that I think that they could’ve done without it [authorization],” he told DefenseScoop. “It’s not a directive that they should do things, it gives them explicit legislative authority to do that. The language says [the secretary of defense] MAY conduct detection, monitoring, and other operations in cyberspace to counter Mexican transnational criminal organizations, but it does not say MUST.”