China-backed hacker group unmasked by Australia and allies | Microsoft orders China staff to use iPhones for work and drop Android | The age of drone warfare is disrupting the defence industry
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A cyber group acting on behalf of China's powerful Minister of State Security has been blamed for espionage and hacks targeting the Australian government and private sector networks. The Australian government has spearheaded the public attribution of malicious cyber activities to state-sponsored group APT40 alongside Five Eyes partners - New Zealand, Canada, the US and UK - and Germany, Japan and Korea. It's the first time Australia has taken the lead on a cyber advisory and the first time Japan and Korea have joined the nation in attribution. The Canberra Times
Microsoft told employees in China that from September they’ll only be able to use iPhones for work, effectively cutting off Android-powered devices from the workplace. The US company will soon require Chinese-based employees to use only Apple Inc. devices to verify their identities when logging in to work computers or phones, according to an internal memo reviewed by Bloomberg News. The move highlights the fragmented nature of Android app stores in the country and the growing differences between Chinese and foreign mobile ecosystems. Bloomberg
The use of unmanned aerial vehicles in Russia’s war in Ukraine has escalated rapidly in the past two years. This rapid proliferation of a potent new battlefield technology is shaking up the established hierarchy of the world’s defence industry, where large contractors have long dominated. Ukraine shows that “time to market and a more agile development are important”, says Micael Johansson, chief executive of Sweden’s defence champion Saab. “Instead of developing a perfect product that may take many years, building products fast that can be tested, modified and tested again is important. Speed is crucial.” Financial Times
Australia
China-backed hacker group unmasked by Australia, allies
The Canberra Times
Dominic Giannini
A cyber group acting on behalf of China's powerful Minister of State Security has been blamed for espionage and hacks targeting the Australian government and private sector networks. The Australian government has spearheaded the public attribution of malicious cyber activities to state-sponsored group APT40 alongside Five Eyes partners - New Zealand, Canada, the US and UK - and Germany, Japan and Korea. It's the first time Australia has taken the lead on a cyber advisory and the first time Japan and Korea have joined the nation in attribution.
PRC state-sponsored cyber group APT40’s expanding tradecraft and tactics Australian Signals Directorate
Students under near constant surveillance at Exclusive Brethren-linked schools, insiders claim
The Guardian
Sarah Martin
Students at a network of private schools set up by the Exclusive Brethren sect are subject to near constant surveillance, including in out-of-school hours, according to former staff, students and parents. They say school-issued laptops are closely monitored by a roster of church members. Parents of former students told Guardian Australia they were also watched by these so-called “device monitors” to ensure they were checking the internet use of their children, and could be reported to the church if they failed to do so.
Aussie tech’s climate crisis as start-ups face capital crunch
The Australian Financial Review
Yolanda Redrup
At least 100 Australian climate tech start-ups are at risk of shutting down in the next nine months without an urgent capital injection, threatening to set the industry’s growth back years, according to the sector’s leading community network. The frank admission from climate tech community organisation, Climate Salad, comes after high-profile hydrogen aviation pioneer Universal Hydrogen collapsed last week, having burnt through almost $150 million.
Army buys 300 killer drones to loiter with lethal intent
The Mandarin
Julian Bajkowski
Australia will import so-called “loitering munitions”, otherwise called kamikaze or killer drones, from US defence manufacturer AeroVironment, despite having exported 300 similar but locally-made systems to Ukraine in 2022. The Australian Defence Force finally came good on its pledge to acquire the controversial technology on Monday, revealing it will buy the highly portable Switchblade 300 that launches like a mortar from a tube and can stay airborne for around 20 minutes. The capability has long been on the shopping list of the army because allows troops to almost instantly fire off a precision aerial payload without calling in air support from outside the immediate area, which can take time to arrive.
Cutting-edge technology is being deployed to stop the illegal trafficking of Australian wildlife
ABC News
Tom Hartley
Animal forensics, artificial intelligence and advanced science are being combined in several cutting-edge projects across Australia. At the Wildlife Crime Research Hub, a rapid DNA test allows authorities on the front line to detect illegally-held animals. Another project uses custom-built artificial intelligence to automatically scrape the web for illicit animal traders. "The scale of trade is enormous, taking place across hundreds of websites, with sometimes thousands of ads on one website," said Dr Adam Toomes, who writes the code.
Hackers target Aussie airport Wi-Fi networks with $20 device, mobile security firm Zimperium says
The Australian
Jared Lynch
Criminals are targeting Australian airports and planes, using a simple device they can buy on eBay for $20, to create fake Wi-Fi networks to steal data from unsuspecting users, creating a foothold to launch Medibank-style cyber attacks. A 42-year-old man fronted a Perth Magistrates Court last week after Australian Federal Police accused him of creating what was known as an “evil twin” Wi-Fi network. But, Texas-based Zimperium — which protects the mobile devices of US troops and has built a “mobile threat defence” shield at a data centre in Canberra — said the AFP’s action has only scratched the surface. The company showed data to The Australian which revealed hundreds of attacks were happening each day at not only capital city airports but also in major regional centres like Cairns and Alice Springs.
China
Microsoft orders China staff to use iPhones for work and drop Android
Bloomberg
Microsoft told employees in China that from September they’ll only be able to use iPhones for work, effectively cutting off Android-powered devices from the workplace. The US company will soon require Chinese-based employees to use only Apple Inc. devices to verify their identities when logging in to work computers or phones, according to an internal memo reviewed by Bloomberg News. The move highlights the fragmented nature of Android app stores in the country and the growing differences between Chinese and foreign mobile ecosystems.
Silicone mask-wearing criminals in China spark security concerns; e-commerce platforms censor product searches
Channel News Asia
Melody Chan
Chinese e-commerce platforms like Taobao and Pinduduo have clamped down on the search for such masks as analysts warn the products could help criminals evade identification or even facilitate identity theft or impersonation by bypassing facial recognition systems. Checks by CNA found that silicone face masks can be readily delivered beyond China to other places in Asia such as Singapore. But experts say there isn’t cause for alarm.
China’s solar sector unlikely to recover soon as glut persists
Bloomberg
China’s floundering solar sector is unlikely to return to profit anytime soon, as the market may remain oversupplied for up to two years, analysts cited major manufacturer Longi Green Energy Technology Co. as saying. China’s world-leading solar industry is grappling with a deepening glut after production outstripped demand in recent years. Major firms including Longi reported reported losses in the first quarter as they were forced to sell below costs.
China AI leader iFlytek dips into red under 'ultimate' U.S. pressure
Nikkei Asia
Kenji Kawase
iFlytek, China's leading artificial intelligence technology developer, said it expects to swing to a loss of as much as $65 million for the first half of the year, blaming heavy investments made under "ultimate" pressure from Washington. In an unusually lengthy explanation for an earnings preview, management attributed the loss to enhanced levels of investment including those in Spark V4.0, the latest version of its AI language model launched at the end of last month as "the pinnacle of industry standards" and a rival to Open AI's GPT-4 Turbo.
Chinese self-driving cars have quietly traveled 1.8 million miles on U.S. roads, collecting detailed data with cameras and lasers
Fortune
Rachyl Jones
Since 2017, self-driving cars owned by Chinese companies have traversed 1.8 million miles of California alone, according to a Fortune analysis of the state’s Department of Motor Vehicles data. As part of their basic functionality, these cars capture video of their surroundings and map the state’s roads to within two centimeters of precision. Companies transfer that information from the cars to data centers, where they use it to train their self-driving systems.
China outspends the U.S. on fusion in the race for energy’s Holy Grail
The Wall Street Journal
Jennifer Hiller and Sha Hua
A high-tech race is under way between the U.S. and China as both countries chase an elusive energy source: fusion. China is outspending the U.S., completing a massive fusion technology campus and launching a national fusion consortium that includes some of its largest industrial companies. Crews in China work in three shifts, essentially around the clock, to complete fusion projects. And the Asian superpower has 10 times as many Ph.D.s in fusion science and engineering as the U.S. The result is an increasing worry among American officials and scientists that an early U.S. lead is slipping away.
USA
The president ordered a board to probe a massive Russian cyberattack. It never did.
ProPublica
Craig Silverman
After Russian intelligence launched one of the most devastating cyber espionage attacks in history against U.S. government agencies, the Biden administration set up a new board and tasked it to figure out what happened — and tell the public. State hackers had infiltrated SolarWinds, an American software company that serves the U.S. government and thousands of American companies. The president issued an executive order establishing the Cyber Safety Review Board in May 2021 and ordered it to start work by reviewing the SolarWinds attack. But for reasons that experts say remain unclear, that never happened.
North Asia
Samsung workers' union in South Korea kicks off three-day strike
Reuters
Heekyong Yang
Samsung Electronics workers in South Korea began a three-day strike for better pay on Monday, with their union flagging further action against the country's biggest conglomerate should demands not be met. The National Samsung Electronics Union, whose roughly 30,000 members make up over about 24% of the firm's South Korean workforce, also wants an extra day of annual leave for unionised workers. However, low participation and automated production means the strike is unlikely to have a major impact on output at the world's biggest memory chipmaker, analysts said.
Taiwan's top power cable maker ventures into offshore wind
Nikkei Asia
Laury Li and Cheng Ting-fang
Taiwan's biggest stainless steel maker is building the island's first submarine power cable production facility for offshore wind farms as it moves to tap into the renewable energy boom. Walsin Lihwa, also Taiwan's leading maker of terrestrial power cables, is teaming up with the NKT Group, Denmark's leading power cable supplier, through a joint venture dubbed Walsin Energy Cable System.
Sony and other Japan chipmakers to spend $30bn in production race
Nikkei Asia
Ryo Mukano
Major Japanese semiconductor makers including Sony Group and Mitsubishi Electric are planning around 5 trillion yen ($31 billion) in capital investments through 2029, as they move to boost production of power devices and image sensors. Seeking to revive the domestic chip industry, they will increase investments in power semiconductors, sensors and logic chips, all considered core technologies in fields such as artificial intelligence, decarbonization and electric vehicles.
Southeast Asia
Singapore volunteers training AI to crack down on illegal wildlife trade online
The Straits Times
Osmond Chia
Exposing illicit wildlife trade that thrives on e-commerce platforms is like a game of whack-a-mole, even with the use of artificial intelligence tools. Illicit online listings of the likes of ivory, pangolin scales or even live animals are often disguised using emojis, other languages and code words such as “rare collectibles” that make them difficult to detect, said Ms Jayasri Srikantan, who spearheads a volunteer effort under wildlife conservation group World Wildlife Fund (WWF) to flag illegal trade to the authorities. But an AI model is being developed to assist WWF’s volunteers – called cyber spotters – to evaluate flagged listings on Shopee, Facebook Marketplace and other platforms with greater accuracy.
South & Central Asia
Pakistan's rooftop solar boom shines spotlight on power crisis
Nikkei Asia
Adnan Aamir
Amid rising power prices, consumption of electricity from the national grid skidded 10% in fiscal 2023 from the previous year. That is exacerbating problems in the crisis-ridden electricity sector, which is straining under $8.3 billion of debt, much of it owed to Chinese energy producers. And the cash-strapped government is facing further pressure to increase electricity prices in budget-balancing moves on which its hopes of securing a loan deal with the International Monetary Fund rest.
Ukraine - Russia
Poland and Moldova Seek to help Ukraine boost power security
Bloomberg
Lina Grau
Poland and Moldova are looking for ways to help Ukraine boost its electricity security amid a barrage of recent Russian attacks on power facilities. Poland, which has abundant coal, is discussing a plan that would allow its generators to burn fuel at home and send it to Ukraine using existing connections, according to Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk. Moldova is working on a plan to generate electricity in its territory using Ukrainian gas, though the project is technically complex and likely can’t begin until winter, Moldovan Energy Minister Victor Parlicov told Bloomberg. “This is not a commercial project, it’s dedicated to helping Ukraine,” he added.
Europe
NATO backs effort to save internet by rerouting to space in event of subsea attacks
Bloomberg
Katrina Manson
NATO is helping finance a project aimed at finding ways to keep the internet running should subsea cables shuttling civilian and military communications across European waters come under attack. The initiative, which hasn’t yet been publicly announced, comes amid intensifying fears that Russia or China could mine, sever or otherwise tamper with undersea cables in an attempt to disrupt communications during a military crisis.
Russia threat has NATO returning to its roots
National Defense Magazine
Josh Luckenbaugh
As NATO adapts to contemporary threats, it recognises the significant security challenges posed by China’s activities in cyberspace and outer space. These activities impact not only the Indo-Pacific region but also pose concrete security threats to Euro-Atlantic security, including cyber operations and outer space activities that affect global supply chains and transportation networks. In response, NATO is strengthening its relationships with partner nations like Australia, Japan, South Korea, and New Zealand to address these global threats collaboratively, while adversaries such as China and Russia form their own strategic partnerships.
The mission for Europe’s new rocket: challenge SpaceX
The Wall Street Journal
Matthew Dalton and Micah Maidenberg
A new European rocket is poised to blast into space with a mission that officials here say is vitally important: reducing the region’s reliance on Elon Musk and SpaceX. Europe’s satellites and military intelligence have come to depend on the U.S. company after delays and malfunctions left the continent unable to get to orbit with its own rockets. Officials fear that dependence could extend to the battlefield: SpaceX’s Starlink internet service has been crucial for Ukraine to fight off Russia, fanning worries in Europe that its armies might also need Musk for satellite communications in a war.
UK
Reform UK under pressure to prove all its candidates were real people
The Guardian
Peter Walker, Ben Quinn and Rowena Mason
Reform UK has come under pressure to provide evidence its candidates at the general election were all real people after doubts were raised about a series of hopefuls who stood without providing any photos, biographies or contact details. The Guardian has also learned that one Reform candidate suspected of being fake, in part because his official election photo looked AI-generated, is a real person.
Big Tech
How Apple chief Tim Cook wants you to use the new Vision Pro mixed-reality headset
The Sydney Morning Herald
Trevor Long
Apple hopes its mixed-reality Vision Pro headset will help convince the public to pick up a new style of computing, and give the iPhone-maker a chance to make its mark in the post-mobile phone era. It’s Apple’s new big thing, its first big bet in almost eight years – since it launched the Apple Watch – and it goes on sale in Australia on Friday. The Vision Pro – a pair of space-age ski goggles that serves as a lightweight computer attached to your face – may be a first-generation product, but Apple boss Tim Cook is excited by its potential.
Qualcomm, Microsoft Lean on AI Hype to Spur PC Market Revival
Bloomberg
Brody Ford, Ian King, and Evan Gorelick
Tech companies from Microsoft Corp. to Qualcomm Inc. are embarking on a marketing blitz for a new type of computer they are dubbing “AI PCs,” promising artificial intelligence features embedded in their laptops and desktops. The new laptops differ from standard devices with the inclusion of an additional processor that’s tailored to speed up AI features like personal assistants and the ability to automate tasks.
Artificial Intelligence
Movie stars to narrate audiobooks from beyond the grave with AI
The Australian Financial Review
Matthew Field
ElevenLabs, a London-founded business launched by two Polish entrepreneurs, said it had reached deals with the estates of Ms Garland and Sir Laurence to use their audio likenesses in a new app. The late actors will lend their voices to ElevenLabs’ Reader App, where users will be able to pick celebrities to read their favourite novels – a product it has dubbed “Iconic Voices”. “It’s exciting to see our mother’s voice available to the countless millions of people who love her,” said Liza Minnelli, a representative of the Garland Estate and Ms Garland’s daughter.
How good Is ChatGPT at coding, really?
IEEE Spectrum
Michelle Hampson
A study published in the June issue of IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering evaluated the code produced by OpenAI’s ChatGPT in terms of functionality, complexity and security. The results show that ChatGPT has an extremely broad range of success when it comes to producing functional code—with a success rate ranging from anywhere as poor as 0.66 percent and as good as 89 percent—depending on the difficulty of the task, the programming language, and a number of other factors. While in some cases the AI generator could produce better code than humans, the analysis also reveals some security concerns with AI-generated code.
Misc
The age of drone warfare is disrupting the defence industry
Financial Times
Sylvia Pfeifer, John Paul Rathbone and Christopher Miller
The use of unmanned aerial vehicles in Russia’s war in Ukraine has escalated rapidly in the past two years. This rapid proliferation of a potent new battlefield technology is shaking up the established hierarchy of the world’s defence industry, where large contractors have long dominated. Ukraine shows that “time to market and a more agile development are important”, says Micael Johansson, chief executive of Sweden’s defence champion Saab. “Instead of developing a perfect product that may take many years, building products fast that can be tested, modified and tested again is important. Speed is crucial.”
Battery maker LG Energy Solution Ltd.’s second-quarter profit missed analyst estimates, as sales of electric vehicles continued to slow.
Bloomberg
Battery maker LG Energy Solution's second-quarter profit missed analyst estimates, as sales of electric vehicles continued to slow. The supplier to automakers including Tesla and General Motors has been struggling with slowing sales of EVs and a drop in lithium prices tied to its selling prices. Carmakers also pressured battery makers to supply cheaper cells in order to lower EV prices as high interest rates hurt demand. At the same time, LG Energy has been losing share in the global EV battery market due to the growth of Chinese rivals.
Cyclists can’t decide whether to fear or love self-driving cars
The Washington Post
Trisha Thadani and Gerrit De Vynck
In San Francisco, where cyclists already contend with angry drivers and unpredictable jaywalkers, self-driving cars present a new obstacle. In recent years, more of the vehicles have swarmed into the city, making it a national laboratory for companies to test and improve the technology. With biking fatalities on the rise — more than 1,100 on American roads in 2022, according to the most recent federal data — autonomous car companies are pitching themselves as part of the solution. But Bay Area cyclists who have firsthand experience with the futuristic technology are wary, according to interviews and a Washington Post analysis of nearly 200 complaints about autonomous vehicles submitted to the California Department of Motor Vehicles since 2021.
Events & Podcasts
The Sydney Dialogue
ASPI
The Sydney Dialogue was created to help bring together governments, businesses and civil society to discuss and progress policy options. We will forecast the technologies of the next decade that will change our societies, economies and national security, prioritising speakers and delegates who are willing to push the envelope. We will promote diverse views that stimulate real conversations about the best ways to seize opportunities and minimise risks.
Jobs
Director of Cyber, Technology & Security (CTS)
ASPI
ASPI is looking for an exceptional and experienced senior leader to lead our largest team focused on emerging security challenges in the Indo-Pacific. This is an exceptional opportunity for a talented senior leader to contribute to the work of one of the Indo-Pacific’s top think-tanks with a focus on emerging security issues, and our region. The role provides a unique opportunity for a strategic and creative leader to drive the team’s evolution and to continue influencing public policy making in Australia and across the globe. The role is responsible for the oversight and delivery of a wide range of data-driven research projects. The closing date for applications is 28 July 2024 – an early application is advised as we reserve the right to close the vacancy early if suitable applications are received.
Program Manager - Cyber, Technology & Security (CTS)
ASPI
The team has an exciting role for a talented and proactive individual to work with the CTS Director and Deputy Director on program and research coordination, strategic engagement and grants. This is a key role within the CTS team working with the Director, Deputy Director and Program Coordinator on project delivery, fundraising and coordination of team activities. The focus of the role is to help manage and support the individual researchers to collectively deliver projects, accurately, on time and in the most effective way to impact policy. The closing date for applications is 25 July 2024 – an early application is advised as we reserve the right to close the vacancy early if suitable applications are received.
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