'Dumb mistake' shows Iran behind threatening email to voters | US Cyber Command and Microsoft launch campaign against Russian interference | Australia pushes back against app encryption
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Government analysts and private sector investigators were able to rapidly attribute to Iranian hackers a wave of thousands of threatening emails aimed at U.S. voters because of mistakes made in a video attached to some of the messages, according to four people familiar with the matter. Those failures provided a rare opportunity for the U.S. government to identify and publicly announce blame for a malicious cyber operation in a matter of days, something that usually requires months of technical analysis and supporting intelligence. Reuters
Over the past two weeks, United States Cyber Command and a group of companies led by Microsoft have engaged in an aggressive campaign against a suspected Russian network that they feared could hold election systems hostage come November… So while President Trump continues to dismiss the idea of Russian intervention, a combination of administration and industry officials are pushing a different narrative: that U.S. intelligence agencies, Facebook, Twitter, Google and others are avoiding the mistakes of four years ago, when they all had their radars off. The New York Times
One of Australia's most senior public servants has labelled Facebook and other tech giants a "galactic empire" for moving to end-to-end encryption and not subjecting themselves to the regulation of nation states. Home Affairs secretary Michael Pezzullo said Australia, the United States and Britain were trying to engage with companies such as Facebook over their move to further encrypt messaging services, issues around the "dark web" and other regulation, but lamented "there's not much concession and there's not much give from the other side". The Sydney Morning Herald
ASPI ICPC
Decoding the censorship apparatus used by WeChat
Inkstone
@ParkSuAm1996
Even as WeChat, an all-in-one app with over a billion users in mainland China, continues to roll out new features and functions, its restrictions on content sharing have only grown tighter over the past few years.. Chinese diplomats can use Twitter with no hindrance except for a label indicating their affiliation with China’s government. On the flip side, WeChat posts published by several embassies in China are censored if they touch on sensitive issues, according to an article on the Australian Strategic Policy Institute website.
Australia
Tech giants part of a 'galactic empire': Home Affairs boss
The Sydney Morning Herald
One of Australia's most senior public servants has labelled Facebook and other tech giants a "galactic empire" for moving to end-to-end encryption and not subjecting themselves to the regulation of nation states. Home Affairs secretary Michael Pezzullo said Australia, the United States and Britain were trying to engage with companies such as Facebook over their move to further encrypt messaging services, issues around the "dark web" and other regulation, but lamented "there's not much concession and there's not much give from the other side".
Extremists use secret app to "go dark"
Adelaide Now
Hundreds of violent extremist messages are being sent via the secret messaging app that was used by South Australia’s first person to be convicted of terrorism offences. The Home Affairs Department has revealed it found 593 items of “terrorist or violent extremist content” across a range of social media platforms in 2019-20.
IGIS says ASIO partner's 'accidental' data access not akin to a cyber attack
ZDNet
@ashabeeeee
Comment flowed from concerns by Senators that there isn't much difference between a cyber attack from a foreign state and a foreign entity gaining access to data on an Australian citizen.
China
Justice Department official accuses China of acting as ‘safe haven’ for cybercriminals
CyberScoop
@snlyngaas
China is increasingly tolerant of criminal hackers on its soil if they are willing to hack on behalf of the Chinese government, a senior U.S. Justice Department official has alleged.
China Calls Time on Chipmakers With No Experience, No Technology and No Talent
Caixin
@anniekybao
The nation’s top economic planner is now throwing cold water on the ambitions of some of China’s more shady semiconductor companies, those that are trying to take advantage of generous government funds and “blindly take on projects” that require a high level of technological sophistication.
USA
Dumb mistake’ exposed Iranian hand behind fake Proud Boys U.S. election emails - sources
Reuters
@jc_stubbs @Bing_Chris
Government analysts and private sector investigators were able to rapidly attribute to Iranian hackers a wave of thousands of threatening emails aimed at U.S. voters because of mistakes made in a video attached to some of the messages, according to four people familiar with the matter. Those failures provided a rare opportunity for the U.S. government to identify and publicly announce blame for a malicious cyber operation in a matter of days, something that usually requires months of technical analysis and supporting intelligence.
U.S. government concludes Iran was behind threatening emails sent to Democrats
The Washington Post
@nakashimae
The U.S. government has concluded that Iran was behind a series of threatening emails arriving this week in the inboxes of Democratic voters, according to two U.S. officials. Department of Homeland Security officials told state and local election administrators on a call Wednesday that a foreign government was responsible for the online barrage, according to the U.S. officials and state and local authorities who participated in the call, who all spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the matter’s sensitivity. A DHS official also said authorities had detected holes in state and local election websites and instructed those participating to patch their online services. The emails claimed to be from the Proud Boys, a far-right group supportive of President Trump, but appeared instead to be a deceptive campaign making use of a vulnerability in the organization’s online network.
As Election Nears, Government and Tech Firms Push Back on Russia (and Trump)
The New York Times
@SangerNYT @nicoleperlroth
Over the past two weeks, United States Cyber Command and a group of companies led by Microsoft have engaged in an aggressive campaign against a suspected Russian network that they feared could hold election systems hostage come November..So while President Trump continues to dismiss the idea of Russian intervention, a combination of administration and industry officials are pushing a different narrative: that U.S. intelligence agencies, Facebook, Twitter, Google and others are avoiding the mistakes of four years ago, when they all had their radars off.
Industry alert pins state, local government hacking on suspected Russian group
CyberScoop
@snlyngaas
Suspected Russian hackers were behind multiple recent intrusions of U.S. state and local computer networks, according to an industry analysis obtained by CyberScoop. The group responsible is known as TEMP.Isotope, according to a private advisory distributed by Mandiant, the incident response arm of security company FireEye. The alert notes that the same group has also been described as Energetic Bear, which multiple security firms have linked to Russia.
Trump, U.S. intelligence chief push to declassify document on Russia's 2016 election role - sources
Reuters
@Bing_Chris @JonathanLanday
U.S. President Donald Trump and his intelligence chief have pushed for quick declassification of a document disputing the 2017 intelligence community finding that Russia acted to help Trump get elected in 2016.
Talk of national 5G plan from DOD causes confusion, concern among lawmakers
C4ISRNet
@reporterjoe
Pentagon IT leaders have spent the week insisting the Defense Department does not want to build its own 5G network after a controversial request for information troubled lawmakers, including, most recently, House Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam Smith. The White House is reportedly pressuring the Pentagon to lease some of its prized spectrum for the lucrative 5G market to a single politically connected company, Rivada, using a non-competitive process.
AOC’s Among Us livestream hints at Twitch’s political power
MIT Technology Review
@tanyabasu
Democrats are tapping into the most popular game of the moment to reach young voters.
Europe
Huawei ousted from heart of EU as Nokia wins Belgian 5G contracts
Reuters
@Tech_Correspond @MathieuRosemain
Orange and Proximus have picked Nokia to help build 5G networks in Belgium as they drop Huawei amid U.S. pressure to exclude the Chinese firm from supplying key telecoms equipment.
In banning Huawei and ZTE, Sweden calls China a national security threat
South China Morning Post
Sweden’s ban on Tuesday of Huawei Technologies and ZTE Corp from its 5G networks – which has already drawn a strong rebuke from Beijing – did not surprise observers. It is the blunt reference to China as a threat to national security that did..Stockholm’s decision, analysts say, would apply to Sweden’s entire 5G network, without the technical – or, some say, artificial – distinction between the core and noncore parts of the network favoured by some other countries that are trying to tread a careful line to prevent Chinese retaliation.
Dutch Ethical Hacker Logs into Trump’s Twitter Account
de Volkskrant
Last week a Dutch security researcher succeeded in logging into the Twitter account of the American President Donald Trump, with the password "MAGA2020!".
Malicious cyber-attacks: EU sanctions two individuals and one body over 2015 Bundestag hack
EU Council
The Council today imposed restrictive measures on two individuals and one body that were responsible for or took part in the cyber-attack on the German Federal Parliament (Deutscher Bundestag) in April and May 2015.
Russia
Russia gives whistleblower Edward Snowden permanent residency rights
Reuters
Russia has granted U.S. whistleblower Edward Snowden permanent residency rights, his lawyer said on Thursday, a step towards Russian citizenship if he wants it. U.S. authorities have for years wanted Snowden returned to the United States to face a criminal trial on espionage charges brought in 2013."His residency permit was expiring and we asked to extend it," Anatoly Kucherena, his Russian lawyer, told Reuters.
Misc
An Exam Surveillance Company Is Trying to Silence Critics With Lawsuits
Motherboard
One man says he lost his savings after being sued by Proctorio, whose software tracks physical movements to detect “abnormal” behavior during exams.
Facebook Oversight Board to Start Hearing Cases
Facebook
Starting today, if your content is removed from Facebook or Instagram and you have exhausted your appeals with Facebook, you’ll be able to appeal your case to the Oversight Board.
Events
2020 Cybersecurity Conference
European Chamber
In order to examine how the Cybersecurity Law and the Data Security Draft Law will coexist, and what the long-term impact will be on European companies operating in China, the European Chamber as assembled a distinguished group of government representatives, lawyers, security experts and industry representatives to discuss this topic at its annual Cybersecurity Conference.
Networking: Women speak cyber (brought to you by Palo Alto Networks)
Join this networking event to meet the power women diversifying the Australian cyber security sector. Drop-in for short 1:1 networking sessions, facilitated through the ‘Hopin’ platform, with a range of ‘cyber power women’. Date & Time: 30 October 12:00 pm (AEST).
Jobs
Senior Researcher / Project Lead
ASPI ICPC
ASPI’s International Cyber Policy Centre (ICPC) has an outstanding opportunity for a senior researcher to lead a one-year project looking at leadership networks across Asia. Interviews will start immediately.
Intern
ASPI
Are you a recent graduate wanting to develop your expertise in defence, national and cyber security and strategic policy? Do you want to inform the public and government on critical strategic choices facing Australia and learn what it takes to be a professional strategic analyst? If so, you might be interested in applying for the ASPI Research Internship Program.
Executive Level 1 - Assistant Director, Cyber Policy and Technology (Specialist)
DFAT
The Cyber Affairs and Critical Technology Branch (CYB) is responsible for implementing Australia’s International Cyber and Critical Technology Engagement Strategy (ICCTES) and Australia’s broader international cyber and critical technology agenda, led by Australia’s Ambassador for Cyber Affairs and Critical Technology. We are seeking enthusiastic and high calibre individuals to fill multiple positions in the Branch.
Research Assistant, Technology and International Affairs - Washington, District of Columbia, USA Job Opening
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
The Partnership for Countering Influence Operations project, part of the Technology and International Affairs program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace is seeking to hire a Research Assistant.