Vast cache of Chinese police files offered for sale in alleged hack | China: Buyout of UK's largest microchip plant raises concerns | How the Russian media spread false claims about Ukrainian nazis
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The Daily Cyber Digest focuses on the topics we work on, including cybersecurity, critical technologies, foreign interference & disinformation.
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A vast trove of data on Chinese citizens allegedly siphoned from a police database, some of which checks out as legitimate, is being offered for sale by an anonymous hacker or hacking group. If confirmed, it would mark one of history’s largest leaks of personal data. The Wall Street Journal
Last July, after it hit financial difficulties, Newport Wafer Fab was acquired by Nexperia, one of its customers. Nexperia is headquartered in the Netherlands but its ultimate owners are Chinese firm Wingtech Technology. And that set off alarm bells. BBC
In the months since President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia called the invasion of Ukraine a “denazification” mission, the lie that the government and culture of Ukraine are filled with dangerous “Nazis” has become a central theme of Kremlin propaganda about the war. The New York Times
ASPI ICPC
Ukraine - Russia
How the Russian media spread false claims about Ukrainian nazis
The New York Times
Charlie Smart
In the months since President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia called the invasion of Ukraine a “denazification” mission, the lie that the government and culture of Ukraine are filled with dangerous “Nazis” has become a central theme of Kremlin propaganda about the war.
Lessons on the future of cyberwar from Russia
OODA
Emilio Iasiello
What makes the Ukraine conflict notable for cyber enthusiasts is that it represents the first real example of cyber attacks used in conjunction though not necessarily all coordinated with traditional military maneuvers (there are several pro-Russia nonstate cyber elements acting independently).
Australia
Artificial intelligence needs humanity
The Strategist
Nicholas Filer
Building Australia to become an AI superpower will require collaboration, such as with private companies (like Google) or academia (as in the Hunt Laboratory for Intelligence Research) and employing the ‘build on the low side, deploy on the high’ methodology. Alternatively, it could be delivered in-house through either agency-specific taskforces, the Office of National Intelligence’s joint capability fund or forums to be created under the new action plans from non-traditional security government sectors.
TikTok’s Australian user data under scrutiny after US admission
Australian Financial Review
Max Mason
Liberal senator James Paterson has written to Australian TikTok executives to ask about the security of data of millions of Australian users, after the company confirmed some China-based employees could access information from American users.
The public sharing of intimate images without consent is a growing problem in Australia. And teenagers are paying the price
ABC News
Maani Truu
Image-based abuse, the act of taking or sharing an intimate photo or video without a person's consent, is becoming increasingly common — especially among young people.
China
Vast cache of Chinese police files offered for sale in alleged hack
The Wall Street Journal
Karen Hao and Rachel Liang
A vast trove of data on Chinese citizens allegedly siphoned from a police database, some of which checks out as legitimate, is being offered for sale by an anonymous hacker or hacking group. If confirmed, it would mark one of history’s largest leaks of personal data.
Hackers claim theft of police info in China’s largest data leak
Bloomberg
Sarah Zheng
Unknown hackers claimed to have stolen data on as many as a billion Chinese residents after breaching a Shanghai police database, in what industry experts are calling the largest cybersecurity breach in the country’s history.
China wants to control how its famous livestreamers act, speak, and even dress
MIT Technology Review
Zeyi Yang
A new policy document, Code of Conduct for Online Streamers, released by China’s top cultural authorities on June 22, is designed to instruct streamers on what is expected from them. Having managed to operate under the radar in recent years, livestreamers are now facing the full force of China’s censorship machine.
Blockchain with ‘Chinese characteristics’ quietly takes off with Beijing’s blessing while shunning cryptocurrency
South China Morning Post
Yaling Jiang
The growth of China’s blockchain market has accelerated in 2022, with the total number of services registered with the country’s internet regulator reaching 1,821, according to a review of government documents and interviews with industry insiders
Chinese AI ‘can check loyalty of party members’
The Times
Didi Tang
Chinese researchers claim to have developed artificial intelligence they say can read the minds of Communist Party members and make them more receptive to “thought education”.
USA
US ambassador urges China to stop spreading Russian ‘lies’
Bloomberg
The US ambassador to China called on the Foreign Ministry in Beijing to stop spreading Russia’s “lies,” in an unusually direct and public rebuke by the top American diplomat in the country.
Rising threats spark US scramble for cyber workers
The Hills
Ines Kagubare
The federal government and private sector are facing increasing pressure to fill key cyber roles as high-profile attacks and international threats rattle various U.S. sectors. Workforce shortages have been a long-running issue in cyber, but they have taken on renewed importance amid rising Russian threats stemming from the war in Ukraine.
Southeast Asia
Myanmar military atrocities laid bare in gruesome footage
Human Rights Watch
Manny Maung
Shocking footage has recently emerged on social media of brutal killings allegedly in Myanmar’s Sagaing Region where a United Nations investigator has documented apparent war crimes by the Myanmar military.
Top Thai mobile operator buys Internet firm to widen network
Bloomberg
Anuchit Nguyen
Advanced Info Service Pcl, Thailand’s biggest mobile phone operator, plans to expand its network by acquiring Triple T Broadband Pcl and an infrastructure fund for a total of 32.4 billion baht ($908 million).
South & Central Asia
India, Oz bring critical minerals into strategic ties
The Times of India
India and Australia are expanding their strategic ties to critical minerals in a bid to create a bulwark against China’s dominance over raw materials ubiquitous in military and commercial applications, ranging from cell phones, electric vehicles to clean energy.
UK
China: Buyout of UK's largest microchip plant raises concerns
BBC
Gordon Corera
Last July, after it hit financial difficulties, Newport Wafer Fab was acquired by Nexperia, one of its customers. Nexperia is headquartered in the Netherlands but its ultimate owners are Chinese firm Wingtech Technology. And that set off alarm bells.
Army's YouTube and Twitter accounts hacked
BBC
The Army confirmed the "breach", saying it took information security "extremely seriously" and was resolving the issue. Both accounts have now been restored.
Europe
Copenhagen shootings suspect uploaded YouTube videos of him holding guns day before shopping centre attack
Sky News
Alexander Martin
Accompanying one video, the uploader wrote "Quetiapine doesn't work" referencing an anti-psychotic drug licensed in Denmark to treat schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and major depression.
Dutch university wins big after Bitcoin ransom returned
Deutsche Welle
Maastricht University has doubled its money thanks to a ransomware attack three years ago. The university plans to help struggling students with its new funds.
Big Tech
Crosby, Stills and Nash return to Spotify after COVID-19 misinformation boycott
Engadget
I. Bonifacic
The music of Crosby, Stills and Nash is once again available to stream on Spotify. In February, the supergroup left the platform to protest Spotify’s inaction against Joe Rogan, who was accused of spreading COVID-19 misinformation through his podcast.
Microsoft declines new cloud customers after promise to Ukraine
The Telegraph
Gareth Corfield
Microsoft’s flagship cloud service has stopped accepting new customers who want a UK-based service as the business is squeezed by emergency demand from the the war-torn Ukrainian authorities.
Misc
Five Eyes cyber security predictions
Security Boulevard
Gabor Szathmari
The cybersecurity strategies of the Five Eyes alliance are a relevant source of information to understand the coming trends of cyber warfare and cyberterrorism. The Five Eyes nations – Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States – are attractive targets for other nation-states due to the members’ economic, military and technological advantages. As the five countries face similar threats online, each Five Eyes government developed its long-term strategy to address the cybersecurity challenges in the future. Therefore, these forward-thinking cyber strategies are good candidates to demonstrate what the future brings regarding cyber warfare and cyberterrorism.
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