Snap Will No Longer Promote Trump’s Account | Early Facebook Employees Disavow Zuckerberg’s Stance on Trump | Google takes down smartphone service targeting Chinese apps
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Snap said on Wednesday that it had stopped promoting the Snapchat account of President Trump after determining that his public comments off the site could incite violence, in another hardened stance by a social media company against the president. The New York Times
Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s chief executive, faced fresh criticism on Wednesday as nearly three dozen people who worked at the social network in its early years called out his decision to leave President Trump’s aggressive posts on the site unaltered. The former employees said in an open letter that Mr. Zuckerberg’s position was a “betrayal” of Facebook’s ideals and urged him to reconsider it. The New York Times
Google intervened on Tuesday after millions of Indians rushed to download a service that promised to help them rid their smartphones of Chinese apps. Remove China Apps, from the Indian developer OneTouch AppLabs, was downloaded 4.7m times in India between May 27 and June 1, according to Sensor Tower data. Google’s policies forbid Android apps that help people to delete or disable other apps. The Financial Times
ASPI ICPC
The laundering of crazy and the future of democracy
Powered by People
Elise Thomas discusses how crazy is laundered from the darker fringes of the internet all the way into mainstream media and how a reduction in professional journalism in the digital age allows alternative truths and paranoid theories to take hold and what this means for the future of democracy.
Australia
SA names national cyber centre board
InnovationAus
South Australian Premier Steven Marshall will officially open the Australian Cyber Collaboration Centre at the Lot 14 innovation precinct later this month as the state hones its focus on opportunities for the state in global cyber markets.
China
Chinese coronavirus test maker agreed to build a Xinjiang gene bank
Axios
A leading Chinese gene sequencing and biomedical firm that said it would build a gene bank in Xinjiang is supplying coronavirus tests around the world. Why it matters: U.S. officials are worried that widespread coronavirus testing may provide an opportunity for state-connected companies to compile massive DNA databases for research as well as genetics-based surveillance.. U.S. officials are particularly focused on BGI, a leading Chinese gene sequencing and biomedical firm, which has distributed more than 10 million COVID-19 tests to over 80 countries worldwide. BGI’s tests were approved by the FDA for use within the United States.
Race for 6G: South Korea and China off to early leads
Nikkei Asian Review
As fifth-generation wireless networks start to go mainstream, competition to develop 6G has begun, with Samsung Electronics and Huawei Technologies at the forefront, especially in the base stations that will form the backbone of future networks.
USA
Snap Says It Will No Longer Promote Trump’s Account
The New York Times
@ceciliakang @kateconger
Snap said on Wednesday that it had stopped promoting the Snapchat account of President Trump after determining that his public comments off the site could incite violence, in another hardened stance by a social media company against the president.
Early Facebook Employees Disavow Zuckerberg’s Stance on Trump Posts
The New York Times
@MikeIsaac
Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s chief executive, faced fresh criticism on Wednesday as nearly three dozen people who worked at the social network in its early years called out his decision to leave President Trump’s aggressive posts on the site unaltered. The former employees said in an open letter that Mr. Zuckerberg’s position was a “betrayal” of Facebook’s ideals and urged him to reconsider it. They included Facebook’s first chief of communications, as well as designers, engineers and policy executives. Some had helped write the social network’s original community guidelines, which govern what can and cannot be posted.
How cyber pros are confronting racism in their own ranks, and beyond
CyberScoop
@snlyngaas @@gregotto @@shanvav
Terrelonge is one of millions of black Americans experiencing Floyd’s death in visceral ways. He’s also one of many cybersecurity professionals searching for the right balance between work and advancing social justice. The daily grind of reverse-engineering malware feels trivial when police are teargassing peaceful protesters, neighborhoods are in flames and opportunists unaffiliated with black social-justice causes are violently exploiting the unrest.
Pacific Islands
Internet Connectivity Services for Lycée de Luganville in the aftermath of TC Harold
Vanuatu Daily Post
The Lycée de Luganville is now equipped with Kacific’s broadband solution. The key advantages of this solution are that users will gain access to affordable high-speed internet services made available without the need for investments in expensive infrastructure or need for licenses, thus speeding up the process of establishing internet connectivity in any area.
India
Google takes down smartphone service targeting Chinese apps
The Financial Times
Google intervened on Tuesday after millions of Indians rushed to download a service that promised to help them rid their smartphones of Chinese apps. Remove China Apps, from the Indian developer OneTouch AppLabs, was downloaded 4.7m times in India between May 27 and June 1, according to Sensor Tower data. The app was briefly the most popular on India’s Google Play Store before the Silicon Valley company removed it on Tuesday, according to App Annie, another app data provider. Google’s policies forbid Android apps that help people to delete or disable other apps. The popularity of Remove
China Apps, which promised to alert users to any Chinese-made apps on their phones, comes after unease over the influx of Chinese tech companies and a move by New Delhi to tighten foreign direct investment rules for Chinese firms. It also coincided with the rise in tensions on the India-China border.
UK
U.K. Opens Talks With Huawei Rival as Johnson Confronts China
Bloomberg
The U.K. is in talks with a rival to Huawei Technologies Co. as Boris Johnson’s officials revise the British government’s stance toward China in the wake of the global coronavirus pandemic. Officials spoke with Japanese technology company NEC Corp. in May as part of efforts to diversify the range of equipment providers for the U.K.’s fifth-generation mobile networks, a person familiar with the matter said. The government is also looking at Samsung Electronics Co Ltd as a possible option to provide crucial 5G infrastructure, the person said.
Europe
Over 140 arson attacks on 5G infrastructure in Europe
The Sydney Morning Herald
European Union nations banking on 5G to boost economic growth are eager to tackle conspiracy theories linking the wireless technology to the spread of the novel coronavirus that have seen masts torched in several places.
Middle East
Israel’s Team8 raises $104M to make bigger cybersecurity and enterprise bets
TechCrunch
Team8, the Israel-based firm founded by a team of intelligence vets and backed by the likes of Intel, Microsoft, Walmart and Cisco to develop and spin out cybersecurity startups, is announcing a step change in its business model that underscores the huge amount of activity we’re seeing these days in the sector.
Canada
BCE, Telus pick European suppliers for 5G network gear, leaving Huawei role unclear
The Globe and Mail
Two of Canada’s biggest wireless carriers announced they’re turning to European suppliers for gear to build their 5G networks, news that increased doubt about whether China’s Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. would play a major role in this country’s next-generation telecom infrastructure.
Healthcare Is 20 Years Behind Banks on Cybersecurity in Canada, Experts Say
Security Boulevard
Hospitals and clinics in Canada can’t cope with growing cyber threats amid the COVID-19 pandemic, say healthcare and cybersecurity professionals. The reason? Healthcare institutions spend a bare minimum on IT, putting every dollar to front-line care services. Criminals know this – and are increasingly exploiting it.
A Deep Dive into Canada’s Overhaul of Its Foreign Intelligence and Cybersecurity Laws
Just Security
In June 2019, the Canadian government passed major national security legislation, which massively overhauled how Canada’s signals intelligence agency and cybersecurity agency, the Communications Security Establishment (CSE), could lawfully operate. Those updates are found in Bill C-59: An Act respecting national security matters. This Bill promises to extend and amplify the kinds of activities that the CSE can undertake in the coming decades.
Misc
Zoom Transforms Hype Into Huge Jump in Sales, Customers
Bloomberg
Corporate clients will get access to Zoom’s end-to-end encryption service now being developed, but Yuan said free users won’t enjoy that level of privacy, which makes it impossible for third parties to decipher communications. “Free users for sure we don’t want to give that because we also want to work together with FBI, with local law enforcement in case some people use Zoom for a bad purpose,” Yuan said on the call.
What the COVID-19 pandemic teaches us about cybersecurity – and how to prepare for the inevitable global cyberattack
World Economic Forum Blog
COVID-19 shows that the world is at great risk of disruption by pandemics, cyberattacks or environmental tipping points. We should prepare for a COVID-like global cyber pandemic that will spread faster and further than a biological virus, with an equal or greater economic impact.
Securing Future 5G-Networks
CSS Policy Perspectives
Categorized as a systemically relevant infrastructure, 5G plays a crucial role for a wide range of technological innovations. The technological and geopolitical challenges that converge in this context require comprehensive solutions.
Jobs
Program Manager/Senior Analyst
ASPI’s International Cyber Policy Centre (ICPC) has an outstanding opportunity for a talented, proactive and super efficient program manager/senior analyst to join its growing centre. The successful candidate will need to have a proven track record of leading teams and experience in project management including financial and stakeholder management (which will include industry, the Australian Government, Parliament and foreign governments). To succeed in this position candidates should have exceptional communication and problem-solving skills and experience in research, policy analysis or policy development.
Analyst
ASPI’s International Cyber Policy Centre has an outstanding opportunity for a talented and proactive allrounder to join its growing centre. The ICPC is looking for someone who is an excellent writer and researcher and who is a team player - you will need to juggle multiple research projects that could span the range of topics listed above. This is not an entry level position. Analysts in ICPC have between 5-15 years’ relevant work experience and, depending on experience, are involved in stakeholder and project management, fundraising and the management of small teams.