AI making radicalisation easier and faster says ASIO | North Korea launched 'all out' cyber-attacks on South Korean defence companies | Biden signs bill to extend controversial surveillance program
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Australia’s domestic intelligence chief warned that artificial intelligence is likely to dramatically improve the capabilities of the nation’s enemies — resulting in increased espionage, disinformation and radicalization. Bloomberg
Major North Korean hacking groups have mounted "all-out" cyber attacks against South Korean defence companies for more than a year, breaching the firms' internal networks and stealing technical data, South Korea's police said on Tuesday. Reuters
President Joe Biden on Saturday signed legislation reauthorizing a key U.S. surveillance law after divisions over whether the FBI should be restricted from using the program to search for Americans’ data nearly forced the statute to lapse. The Associated Press
ASPI
Tech industry is the new defence industrial base
The Strategist
Bronte Munro
Developments in nascent technology areas such as quantum computing, biotechnology and artificial intelligence, are predominately happening in the private sector, where there is a higher concentration of talent, capital and competition. The United States and allies must become better at encouraging tech companies to consider dual-use applications both as a commercial opportunity and as a matter of national security.
National Defence Strategy: a missed opportunity for space
The Strategist
Malcolm Davis
Last week’s release of the National Defence Strategy and its accompanying Integrated Investment Program gave only passing mention to one of the most important operational domains for the Australian Defence Force—space. Altogether, they express a continuity of policy—and regrettably fail to promote development of a national space-launch capability or even to flag opportunities for exploiting the country’s commercial space sector.
Australia
Australia’s spy chief warns AI set to accelerate radicalization
Bloomberg
Ben Westcott
Australia’s domestic intelligence chief warned that artificial intelligence is likely to dramatically improve the capabilities of the nation’s enemies — resulting in increased espionage, disinformation and radicalization. The internet is already “the world’s most potent incubator of extremism,” Mike Burgess, director-general of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, said in excerpts of a speech to be delivered Wednesday. “AI is likely to make radicalization easier and faster.”
Asio boss says privacy ‘not absolute’ as he urges social media companies to do more on extremism
The Guardian
Josh Butler
Social media companies must do more to stamp out extremism and assist law enforcement to track criminals, the heads of Australia’s federal police and security agencies have urged. In comments likely to provoke criticism from some civil and digital rights campaigners, the Asio director general, Mike Burgess, will use a major speech on Wednesday to argue “privacy is important but not absolute”, while the AFP commissioner, Reece Kershaw, believes “there is no absolute right to privacy”.
Elon Musk is mad he’s been ordered to remove Sydney church stabbing videos from X. He’d be more furious if he saw our other laws
The Conversation
Rob Nicholls
Australia’s eSafety Commissioner has ordered social media platform “X” (formerly known as Twitter) to remove graphic videos of the stabbing of Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel in Sydney last week from the site. The incident was captured on the church’s livestreamed mass service. In response to this order, X’s owner, Elon Musk, has branded the commissioner the “Australian censorship commissar”.
X marks the spot where free speech comes at a cost
The Age
Lydia Khalil
Accusing the Australian government of censorship, Elon Musk and his company X – formerly Twitter – has vowed to challenge the take-down order from the eSafety Commissioner. X has been told to remove a video – widely circulated on the platform – that shows the recent attack of Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel at the Assyrian Christ the Good Shepherd Church in Wakeley.Musk’s war with Australia: Coalition pushes compulsory age limits for social media
The Age
Paul Sakkal and Angus Thompson
The Coalition says young children should be blocked from social media to protect them from violent content, and age verification made compulsory, as Prime Minister Anthony Albanese feuds with billionaire Elon Musk over his refusal to take down footage of the Sydney church stabbing. ASIO boss Mike Burgess and federal police chief Reece Kershaw will on Wednesday vow to protect “children and other vulnerable people” from “being bewitched online by a cauldron of extremist poison”, with both calling on platforms such as X and Facebook to do better.
Sacked former home affairs boss Mike Pezzullo admits to his 'mistakes', warns of China's cyber, cognitive and kinetic threats
ABC News
Paul Johnson
He said that should war with China occur, cyber and cognitive warfare would be the key concerns as he warned of a major malware threat being in place."[With] cyber, critical infrastructure particularly would be vulnerable," Mr. Pezzullo told 7.30.
China
Chinese institute compiled profiles of Canadian MPs of Chinese descent
The Globe and Mail
Robert Fife and Steven Chase
A research institute in China that is affiliated with the ruling Communist Party’s foreign-influence operations compiled extensive profiles of members of Parliament with Chinese ethnicity, two sources say. The sources say this Chinese institute used large-scale data analytics and artificial intelligence to create detailed profiles in 2022.
Chinese cyber crackdown: Slavery scams threaten security
The Australian
Amanda Hodge
Beijing’s crackdown on online scam factories on its border with Myanmar has pushed criminal syndicates back into Cambodia, Laos and to Myanmar’s Karen State on the Thai border with serious implications for regional security, a new report has found. The US Institute for Peace on Tuesday warned the scam centres, powered by thousands of mostly young Asians scammed and trafficked into modern cyber slavery, were increasingly targeting US citizens and other Westerners as a result of China’s crackdown on the targeting of its own citizens.
Multi-year Volkswagen breach points to Chinese hackers
Cyber News
Vilius Petkauskas
Attackers successfully targeted the German automotive giant Volkswagen, for at least five years, ZDF reports. Internal documents seen by journalists show that between 2010 and 2015, malicious actors infiltrated Volkswagen’s systems, exfiltrating intellectual property several times over the period.
USA
Biden signs bill extending a key US surveillance program after divisions nearly forced it to lapse
The Associated Press
Farnoush Amiri and Mary Clare Jalonick
President Joe Biden on Saturday signed legislation reauthorizing a key U.S. surveillance law after divisions over whether the FBI should be restricted from using the program to search for Americans’ data nearly forced the statute to lapse. Barely missing its midnight deadline, the Senate had approved the bill by a 60-34 vote hours earlier with bipartisan support, extending for two years the program known as Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.
America's cyber ambassador on how to spend $50 million in foreign aid
The Record by Recorded Future
Eric Geller
Congress gave America’s first cyber ambassador tens of millions of dollars to help other countries respond to hacks and expand secure internet access, and he has a grand vision for how to spend it. The government funding bill that President Joe Biden signed in late March included $50 million for the State Department’s Cyberspace, Digital Connectivity and Related Technologies Fund, which lawmakers created in December.
New group joins the political fight over disinformation online
The New York Times
By Steven Lee Myers and Jim Rutenberg
Two years ago, Nina Jankowicz briefly led an agency at the Department of Homeland Security created to fight disinformation — the establishment of which provoked a political and legal battle over the government’s role in policing lies and other harmful content online that continues to reverberate. Now she has re-entered the fray with a new nonprofit organization intended to fight what she and others have described as a coordinated campaign by conservatives and others to undermine researchers, like her, who study the sources of disinformation.
Huawei’s 7-nanometer chip breakthrough is ‘years behind what we have,’ U.S. Commerce Secretary says
Fortune
Mackenzie Hawkins, Alicia Diaz and Bloomberg
US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said Huawei Technologies Co.’s latest phone shows that China remains behind on cutting-edge chip technology. In an interview with CBS News’ 60 Minutes, Raimondo downplayed the company’s claims of a breakthrough and said the technology gap shows the Biden administration’s success in imposing export controls on China.
Report urges fixes to online child exploitation CyberTipline before AI makes it worse
The Associated Press
Barbara Ortutay and Matt O'Brien
A tipline set up 26 years ago to combat online child exploitation has not lived up to its potential and needs technological and other improvements to help law enforcement go after abusers and rescue victims, a new report from the Stanford Internet Observatory has found. The fixes to what the researchers describe as an “enormously valuable” service must also come urgently as new artificial intelligence technology threatens to worsen its problems.
TikTok ban poised to pass Senate
The Hill
Rebecca Kalr and Julia Shapero
The Senate is on track to pass a bill that could lead to a ban on the social media app TikTok that was tied to a broader foreign aid package of legislation. The Senate voted 80-19 to limit debate on the package that includes a provision that would force TikTok’s China-based parent company ByteDance to sell the app or face a ban from U.S. devices and networks.
Senators hope TikTok will remain in business in US under new owner
Reuters
David Shepardson
Two U.S. senators said they hope TikTok will remain in business in the U.S. under a new owner as the chamber prepared to vote on Tuesday on legislation requiring Chinese owner ByteDance to divest the popular short video app's U.S. assets. Senate Intelligence Committee Chair Mark Warner, a Democrat, said lawmakers recognized that the short video app is used by 170 million Americans, especially young people.
UnitedHealth says hackers possibly stole large number of Americans' data
Reuters
Manas Mishra and Zeba Siddiqui
UnitedHealth Group, opens new tab said on Monday that hackers stole health and personal data of potentially a ""substantial proportion"" of Americans from its systems in February, as the largest U.S. health insurer scrambles to contain the damage. The intrusion at its Change Healthcare unit, which processes about 50% of U.S. medical claims, was one of the worst hacks to hit American healthcare and caused widespread disruption in payment to doctors and health facilities.
North Asia
North Korea hacking teams hack South Korea defence contractors - police
Reuters
Jack Kim
Major North Korean hacking groups have mounted "all-out" cyber attacks against South Korean defence companies for more than a year, breaching the firms' internal networks and stealing technical data, South Korea's police said on Tuesday. Hacking teams linked to North Korea's intelligence apparatus and known as Lazarus, Kimsuky and Andariel planted malicious codes in data systems of the defence companies either directly or through contractors working with them, the police said.
Korea's spy agency set to join NATO-led cyber defense drill for 4th straight year
The Korea Times
Korea's spy agency said Monday it will participate in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization-led annual cyber defense exercise for the fourth consecutive year. The National Intelligence Service, along with 10 other Korean institutions, including the Korean Army and the Ministry of Unification, will collaborate with counterparts from Ireland for this year's Locked Shields exercise, running from Monday to Friday, according to the NIS.
Southeast Asia
Malaysia rolls out 'Golden Pass' to lure unicorns and VC firms
Nikkei Asia
Norman Goh and Hakimie Amrie
Malaysia has rolled out new incentive packages to attract the world's leading startups and venture capital firms to the country, hoping to build a robust startup ecosystem that will spur growth. "With the right investors and the right talent in Malaysia, we will make Malaysia the Southeast Asian base for global technology companies under the Unicorn Golden Pass.
South & Central Asia
AI and India’s general elections
The Diplomat
Saqlain Rizve
Parties are using AI to communicate with voters across linguistic divisions but also to malign each other. “This shift underscores the importance of digital narratives over traditional physical rallies, marking a new era in electoral strategies.”
Europe
Germany arrests far-right EU lawmaker’s aide on suspicions of spying for China
South China Morning Post
Finbarr Bermingham
German authorities accuse assistant to Maximilian Krah, the AfD's top candidate in European elections, of working for Chinese spy service. The news comes just a day after Germany detains three people suspected of passing hi-tech secrets to Chinese state security ministry.
Spain reopens Israeli spyware probe, sharing information with France
Reuters
Spain's High Court on Tuesday reopened an investigation into the use of Israeli cyber-intelligence firm NSO Group's Pegasus software to spy on Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and other Spanish politicians. The investigators will share information with France, where politicians and other figures were also targeted. The probe aims to find out who was behind the snooping. No one has yet been accused.
The EU ratchets up pressure on TikTok’s new rewards app over risks to kids, warns of suspension
The Associated Press
Kelvin Chan
The European Union on Monday demanded TikTok provide more information about a new app that pays users to watch videos and warned that it could order the video sharing platform to suspend addictive features that pose a risk to kids. The 27-nation EU’s executive Commission said it was opening formal proceedings to determine whether TikTok Lite breached the bloc’s new digital rules when the app was rolled out in France and Spain.
Africa
African tech companies are ditching Google for a small Indian competitor
Rest of World
Damilare Dosunmu and Ananya Bhattacharya
Zoho, a lesser-known rival of Google and Microsoft in the enterprise software space, has been stepping up in Africa as an affordable alternative to the global giants. The company has hired local staff, introduced payment options in local currencies, and even sponsored a cricket tournament to dig its heels into the market.
Middle East
What is Project Nimbus, and why are Google workers protesting Israel deal?
Al Jazeera
Google employees based in the United States staged protests at the tech giant’s offices in New York City, California and Seattle last week to oppose a $1.2bn contract with the Israeli government. Known as Project Nimbus, the joint contract between Google and Amazon signed in 2021 aims to provide cloud computing infrastructure, artificial intelligence and other technology services to the Israeli government and its military, which has faced condemnation for its ongoing war on Gaza.
Artificial Intelligence
Microsoft makes a new push into smaller A.I. systems
The New York Times
Karen Weise and Cade Metz
In the dizzying race to build generative A.I. systems, the tech industry’s mantra has been bigger is better, no matter the price tag. Now tech companies are starting to embrace smaller A.I. technologies that are not as powerful but cost a lot less. Because the smaller models require less processing, big tech providers can charge customers less to use them.
Generative A.I. arrives in the gene editing world of CRISPR
The New York Times
Cade Metz
Generative A.I. technologies can write poetry and computer programs or create images of teddy bears and videos of cartoon characters that look like something from a Hollywood movie. Now, new A.I. technology is generating blueprints for microscopic biological mechanisms that can edit your DNA, pointing to a future when scientists can battle illness and diseases with even greater precision and speed than they can today.
Paedophiles create nude AI images of children to extort from them, says charity
The Guardian
Dan Milmo
Paedophiles are being urged to use artificial intelligence to create nude images of children to extort more extreme material from them, according to a child abuse charity. The Internet Watch Foundation said a manual found on the dark web contained a section encouraging criminals to use “nudifying” tools to remove clothing from underwear shots sent by a child.
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.
JoiningFORCES
ASPI
The JoiningFORCES conference will explore ways to bridge national and international boundaries to deliver more joint, collective and effective defence. It will bring together government ministers, senior defence officials, leading industry figures, and international experts across the two-day event and formal dinner. We will also use collaborative wargaming and scenario exercise techniques to generate insights on enhancing regional deterrence. Our focus will be on strategic and operational level challenges and will consider the vital role of industry in delivering capability at the speed needed to meet the strategic threats Australia faces.
Space Law and Policy Conference 2024
The University of Sydney Law School
The conference will be forward-focused, with discussions on the challenges and outlooks in space law and policy for Australia and New Zealand in 2024 and beyond. It will also include featured addresses from the Australian Space Agency and the New Zealand Space Agency.
AP4D Symposium: Using All Tools of Statecraft in the Information Environment
AP4D
The global information environment is part of modern Australian political, economic and social life, bringing with it new kinds of connectivity and opportunity. In this event Asia-Pacific Development, Diplomacy & Defence Dialogue will launch their new paper ‘What does it look like for Australia to use all tools of statecraft in the information environment’.
USSC Briefing Room | JAUKUS and Washington’s view of Canberra, one year later
United States Studies Centre
USSC experts returned to Washington DC last month and reflect on the changes to AUKUS and defence collaboration over the past year.
Jobs
China Analyst or Senior Analyst
ASPI
ASPI has an exciting opportunity for an analyst or senior analyst to explore China's evolving foreign and security policy, political economy and impact on the Indo-Pacific and the world. ASPI’s China analysts conduct rigorous data-driven research, publish impactful reports that shape the public policy discourse and contribute to the wide catalogue of influential China work published by ASPI. The difference between the analyst and senior analyst levels will depend on experience level and demonstration of past work. The closing date for applications is 10 May 2024– an early application is advised as we reserve the right to close the vacancy early if suitable applications are received.
The Daily Cyber & Tech Digest is brought to you by the Cyber, Technology & Security team at ASPI.