Today's Headlines and Commentary

The Trump administration attributed the May 2017 WannaCry attacks to North Koreans, the Washington Post reports. Homeland security adviser Tom Bossert connected the attack to Pyongyang in an op-ed published Monday night in the Wall Street Journal and in a press briefing on Tuesday. The U.K. has also connected the attack, which targeted over 150 countries and more than 230,000 computers, to North Korea. The WannaCry attack is part of a larger North Korean cyber effort that also produced the 2014 Sony hack, which prompted sanctions from the Obama administration.

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley called Monday’s U.N. Security Council vote, which concerned whether to adopt the draft resolution condemning recent decisions involving Jerusalem, an “insult” that would not be forgotten, the BBC reports. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised the veto, while Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas sharply criticized the decision. Vice President Mike Pence postponed his trip to the Middle East until January, the New York Times reports. His office cited Congress’ ongoing tax overhaul to explain the postponement. Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital earlier this month prompted Abbas to cancel his scheduled meeting with Pence during the vice president’s visit.

Former Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein is now under investigation by the Senate intelligence committee surrounding possible collusion with Russian officials, the Washington Post reports. Sen. Richard Burr identified Stein’s campaign, as well as as a second, unnamed campaign, as part of the committee's investigation. Stein was photographed sitting next to both former national security adviser Michael Flynn and Russian President Vladimir Putin at a 2015 dinner in Moscow. In a statement released Monday night, Stein asserted that her campaign did not receive payment for the trip.

On Tuesday, Saudi Arabia intercepted a ballistic missile fired towards Riyadh by the Houthi rebels in Yemen, Reuters reports. There have been no reported casualties. The Houthi group said the Iranian-made missiles were intended to hit al-Yamama palace, the Saudi royal court where leaders were meeting during at the time of the attack. The group organized the attack to occur on the 1,000th day since the Saudi-led coalition first entered Yemen for military operations.

Kaspersky Lab is appealing the U.S. government’s ban of its products following the Department of Homeland Security’s September directive giving civilian government agencies 90 days to remove Kaspersky’s software from their networks, according to Reuters. Kaspersky Lab has been accused of coordinating with Russian intelligence and military officials, including providing files scanned by the company’s antivirus software to Russian intelligence. Eugene Kaspersky, the company’s founder, called the DHS decision harmful and based on unsubstantiated claims.

The Defense Department acknowledged the existence of a five-year long program that investigated unidentified flying objects, the Times reports. The program started in 2007 at the behest of former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, and worked with the aerospace research company of Robert Bigelow, a friend of Reid’s currently working with NASA on a separate project. Funding for the program formally ended in 2012, but sources say that investigations into UFOs are ongoing in the department.

ICYMI, Yesterday on Lawfare

Orin Kerr explained why Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s access to the transition’s emails likely did not violate the Fourth Amendment. Paul Rosenzweig shared his tweetstorm on the special counsel’s access to those emails.

Jack Goldsmith highlighted the new supplement available for his casebook with Curtis Bradley on foreign relations law.

Josh Blackman questioned whether obstruction of justice could predicate impeachment.

Matthew Kahn posted the livestream of Trump’s 2017 national security strategy remarks. Kahn also flagged the document.

Philip Bobbitt offered an alternative approach to defusing the ongoing crisis with North Korea.

Catherine Padhi discussed why a new cert petition in Attias v. CareFirst might help the Supreme Court resolve the thorny issue of standing in data breach cases.

Email the Roundup Team noteworthy law and security-related articles to include, and follow us on Twitter and Facebook for additional commentary on these issues. Sign up to receive Lawfare in your inbox. Visit our Events Calendar to learn about upcoming national security events, and check out relevant job openings on our Job Board.