Australia leads Five Eyes with new cyber security laws | China aims to shake US grip on chip design tools | France demands digital tax payments from US tech groups
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Australia's position as a leader of the Five Eyes is firming up, with proposed amendments to the Security and Critical Infrastructure Act giving the Australian Signals Directorate "step-in" powers that cyber experts say put it at the front of the pack. Australian Financial Review
Veteran engineers and high-level executives are leaving top U.S. chip design toolmakers for Chinese rivals as Beijing looks to break America's near monopoly on this key segment of the semiconductor industry." Nikkei Asia
French tax authorities have begun demanding millions of euros from US technology groups as they push ahead with a new digital services tax that has enraged Washington. Facebook and Amazon are among the companies to have received communication from French authorities in recent days demanding payment of the tax for 2020. FT
ASPI ICPC
Mapping China's Tech Giants website Feedback
ASPI ICPC
We will soon begin the next phase of "Mapping China's Technology Giants". Part of this project will include updating the website. To ensure the website remains as useful to you and your organisation as possible, we would like to invite you to give us feedback on your use of our website. Your feedback is an important part of this process as it allows us to know what is working well, what we can improve on and what really matters to you.
The World
Think Tank Urges Financial Sector Action on Cyber Threats
WSJ
Despite decades of heavy investment in cybersecurity, the global financial system remains vulnerable to cyberattack because banks and regulators fail to coordinate their activities, a report from a leading think tank said Wednesday.
Australia
Australia leads Five Eyes with new cyber security laws
Australian Financial Review
Australia's position as a leader of the Five Eyes is firming up, with proposed amendments to the Security and Critical Infrastructure Act giving the Australian Signals Directorate "step-in" powers that cyber experts say put it at the front of the pack. Under the proposed amendments, for which the government is seeking feedback, if the ASD (with ministerial approval) believes a company or organisation is "unwilling or unable" to respond to a cyber attack, it will be permitted to take over the response.
Australia and Singapore to trial blockchain for cross-border trade
ZDNet
The Australian Border Force believes blockchain is the best way to track goods across regions so it has kicked off a trial with Singapore to explore the controversial tech's practical application. The roadmap contains 12 ""Signposts"", with the first seeing the National Blockchain Roadmap Advisory Committee be formalised and renamed to the National Blockchain Roadmap Steering Committee and another seeing the establishment of a group comprised of a bunch of government blockchain users.
Hacked Sydney hedge fund part of $170m cyber crime spree
Australian Financial Review
The $8.7 million cyber hit on Sydney hedge fund Levitas Capital was one of almost 2000 similar hacks over the past five months, according to federal government figures that show a doubling in this style of attack.
Holding Facebook and Google to account is the big story
The Australian
In the dying days of the 2020 parliament and after facing intense lobbying the Morrison government is expected to stand resolute and introduce a globally significant reform to force digital giants Google and Facebook to pay for the news they exploit.
China
China aims to shake US grip on chip design tools
Nikkei Asia
Veteran engineers and high-level executives are leaving top U.S. chip design toolmakers for Chinese rivals as Beijing looks to break America's near monopoly on this key segment of the semiconductor industry."
China lashes out at India app block, UK 5G ban
ZDNet
China has rebuked India's move to block another 43 mobile apps developed by Chinese tech vendors as ""Glaring violation"" of international rules. UK ban ""In collaboration"" with US. Zhao also lashed out at the UK's new security law, which threatened local telcos with hefty fines if they proceeded to use Huawei's 5G equipment despite an existing ban on the deployment of such systems."
How to 'disappear' on Happiness Avenue in Beijing
BBC News
A group of volunteers trying to avoid surveillance cameras took more than two hours to walk 1km.
USA
What Facebook Fed the Baby Boomers
The New York Times
In mid-October I asked two people I’d never met to give me their Facebook account passwords for three weeks leading up to and after Election Day. I wanted to immerse myself in the feeds of a type of person who has become a trope of sorts in our national discussion about politics and disinformation: baby boomers with an attachment to polarizing social media.
The FCC rejects ZTE’s petition to stop designating it a “national security threat”
TechCrunch
The Federal Communications Commission has rejected ZTE’s petition to remove its designation as a “national security threat.” This means that American companies will continue to be barred from using the FCC’s $8.3 billion Universal Service Fund to buy equipment and services from ZTE.
Foxconn to expand production in Vietnam with $270m investment
Nikkei Asia
Foxconn, formally known as Hon Hai Precision Industry, plans to expand production in Vietnam with an investment of around $270 million, Nikkei has learned.
Southeast Asia
Singapore investigating claims Muslim app developer sold user data to US military
ZDNet
Singapore is investigating claims that local-based mobile app, Muslim Pro, has sold ""Granular location data"" to the US military. Earlier this week, the app was reported to have sold granular location data to X-Mode, a US third-party data aggregator that sells its services to customers, which had included US defence contractors.
Pacific
Public sector digital transformation act will transform public sector
PNG Department of Information and Communications Technology
Pacific Islands - Minister for ICT Hon. Timothy Masiu, MP, today informed the nation that the draft Public Service Digital Transformation Bill his Department has been working on will be made available for public consultation..“I am delighted to announce that with this legislation, the use of unofficial email domain like Gmail, Hotmail or Yahoo will no longer be legal for official government correspondence when this Bill is enacted. Moreover, all government websites and government social media pages disseminating official government information will be required to comply with government standards to maintain integrity of government information”.
UK
National Cyber Security Strategy 2016 to 2021: progress so far
UK Government
The National Cyber Security Strategy 2016 to 2021 and progress so far against its strategic outcomes.
Quarter of tech companies in London won’t survive a no-deal Brexit, claims report
The Telegraph
Up to a quarter of London’s tech start-ups may not survive a no-deal Brexit, according to new research which heaps fresh pressure on the Government to finalise a trade agreement with Brussels. A survey conducted by Tech London Advocates, the industry lobby group, found that thousands of start-ups were on the brink of administration, and concerned about the dual threat of a no-deal Brexit and the fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic.
Europe
France demands digital tax payments from US tech groups
FT
French tax authorities have begun demanding millions of euros from US technology groups as they push ahead with a new digital services tax that has enraged Washington. Facebook and Amazon are among the companies to have received communication from French authorities in recent days demanding payment of the tax for 2020, according to French officials, company executives and advisers. The collection of the tax, which Washington has said is an example of an unfair trade practice because it largely affects US companies, threatens to reignite the transatlantic trade tensions and trigger new tariffs on Europe weeks ahead of the inauguration of Joe Biden.
Suspected Chinese hackers targeting Vatican in advance of Beijing negotiations - CyberScoop
CyberScoop
After months of public reporting on a suspected Chinese hacking campaign targeting entities linked with diplomacy between the Vatican and Beijing, the hackers are still trying their luck. Researchers at the security firm Recorded Future first called out hackers affiliated with a group called Mustang Panda in July for their efforts to conduct espionage against targets involved in negotiations about the operations of the Catholic Church in China, a historically fraught topic. After Recorded Future published its research on the hacking spree, attackers briefly paused their activity only to resume two weeks later with the same toolset. Now the same group is back at it, with an effort to evade detection, according to Proofpoint research published Monday.
Misc
Facebook Struggles to Balance Civility and Growth
The New York Times
Employees and executives are battling over how to reduce misinformation and hate speech without hurting the company’s bottom line.
Some prominent exposure apps are slowly rolling back freedoms
MIT Technology Review
Singapore was the first country to launch a digital contact tracing app. The government now says it’s going to be mandatory.
Retailers face tough sell over data collection technology
FT
While retailers harness these systems to better understand their customers and improve the in-store experience, data collection — and its security — can be controversial and present risks.
Research
Foreign Amplification of Voter Fraud Narratives: How Russian, Iranian, and Chinese Messengers Have Leveraged Post-Election Unrest in the United States
Alliance For Securing Democracy
The aftermath of the U.S. presidential election has seen a tidal wave of false and misleading information about the validity of the election results as well as the legitimacy and security of the voting process. Narratives related to ballot fraud, voter suppression, and other allegations of electoral malfeasance have mushroomed across social and traditional media.