American tech used to censor the Web from Algeria to Uzbekistan / Japan to launch 3 electronic warfare units in East China Sea / U.S. explores curbs on Ant Group, Tencent payment systems
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In Jordan, Sandvine Inc.’s equipment was used to censor an LGBTQ website. Egypt’s government relied on Sandvine equipment to block access to independent news sites. In Azerbaijan, it was deployed for a social media blackout, current and former employees say. Bloomberg
Japan will establish three electronic defence units on islands facing the East China Sea by March 2022, bolstering the country's ability to monitor and respond to Chinese military activity in the waters. Nikkei Asia
The Trump administration is exploring restrictions on billionaire Jack Ma’s Ant Group as well as Tencent Holdings Ltd. over concerns that their digital payment platforms threaten U.S. national security, according to people familiar with the matter, a move that risks infuriating China and disrupting what could be the world’s largest initial public offering. Bloomberg
ASPI ICPC
NEW REPORT: Snapshot of a shadow war
ASPI ICPC
The rapid escalation in the long-running conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia which took place in late September 2020 has been shadowed by a battle across social media for control of the international narrative about the conflict. On Twitter, large numbers of accounts supporting both sides have been wading in on politicised hashtags linked to the conflict. Our findings indicate large-scale coordinated activity. While much of this behaviour is likely to be authentic, our analysis has also found a significant amount of suspicious and potentially inauthentic behaviour.
Conspiracy Extremism and Digital Complexity – Where to Start?
GNET
@elisethoma5
As the global COVID-19 pandemic rolls on, conspiracy theories are fuelling protests, altercations between citizens and law enforcement, property damage and violent attacks around the world. As tensions continue to rise, and as conspiracy communities continue to spread and radicalise, the risk of violent extremist acts fuelled by conspiratorial beliefs is also increasing. There is an urgent need for policymakers, law enforcement, traditional media and social media platforms to develop greater awareness and understanding of conspiracy extremism and to grapple with the difficult question of how to respond.
Australia
Coronavirus a trigger for innovation
The Australian Financial Review
@sallympatten
The pandemic has also prompted companies to be more innovative on the e-commerce front – which has been accompanied by a heightened concern over the risk of cybercrime.
China
The Xinjiang Data Police
NOEMA
@dtbyler
In western China, the government has deputized an army of mostly young men to surveil the digital and real lives of people in their own communities.
USA
American Technology Is Used to Censor the Web From Algeria to Uzbekistan
Bloomberg
@rj_gallagher
In Jordan, Sandvine Inc.’s equipment was used to censor an LGBTQ website. Egypt’s government relied on Sandvine equipment to block access to independent news sites. In Azerbaijan, it was deployed for a social media blackout, current and former employees say.
U.S. Explores Curbs on Ant Group, Tencent Payment Systems
Bloomberg
@nwadhams @SalehaMohsin @JenniferJJacobs
The Trump administration is exploring restrictions on billionaire Jack Ma’s Ant Group as well as Tencent Holdings Ltd. over concerns that their digital payment platforms threaten U.S. national security, according to people familiar with the matter, a move that risks infuriating China and disrupting what could be the world’s largest initial public offering.
Facebook Just Forced Its Most Powerful Critics Offline
VICE News
@daithaigilbert
Facebook is using its vast legal muscle to silence one of its most prominent critics. The Real Facebook Oversight Board, a group established last month in response to the tech giant’s failure to get its actual Oversight Board up and running before the presidential election, was forced offline on Wednesday night after Facebook wrote to the internet service provider demanding the group’s website — realfacebookoversight.org — be taken offline.
Facebook bans marketing firm running ‘troll farm’ for pro-Trump youth group The Washington Post
Google is giving data to police based on search keywords, court docs show
CNET
Court records in an arson case show that Google gave away data on people who searched for a specific address.
Five Hackers Found 55 Bugs in Apple Products in 3 Months and Made $51,500
VICE News
@lorenzofb
Apple rewarded the researchers for finding some very serious bugs in the company's websites. But for some, the researchers should have been paid more.
Ariana Grande pumped up civic passion, but official says misconfigured servers brought down Florida’s registration website
Sun Sentinel
@SkylerSwisher
Florida election officials have been puzzled by an “unprecedented" surge in online traffic that overwhelmed the state’s voter registration website and prompted the extension of the 11:59 p.m. Monday deadline to register to vote in the Nov. 3 presidential election.
Fancy Cars, Fine Dining, Creator Mansions, Cash: Triller Is Shelling Out for Talent
The New York Times
@TaylorLorenz
TikTok’s top creators are taking “Triller money” to bring their content over to the app.
Americans are one step closer to a national contact tracing app for Covid-19
Vox
New York and New Jersey are the latest states to use the Apple-Google exposure notification tool.
The Stars of Black LinkedIn Have Had It With Corporate Racism
The New York Times
Ashanti M. Martin
The social network’s tone has long reflected corporate America: staid, monolithic, white. Now Black users are speaking up — and saying the site is limiting their voice.
North-East Asia
Japan to launch 3 electronic warfare units in East China Sea
Nikkei Asia
Japan will establish three electronic defense units on islands facing the East China Sea by March 2022, bolstering the country's ability to monitor and respond to Chinese military activity in the waters.. Japan also debuts a space forces group in fiscal 2021, which will take control of a space defense unit launched in May. Space-related personnel will expand to 70 from the current 20. Cybersecurity is another focus. The ground, air and maritime forces will launch a joint cyber unit in fiscal 2021 to command networking and other cyber operations. Cyber-related personnel will increase by 140 to a total of 540.
South-East Asia
New cyber security label for smart home devices launched; plans to have standards adopted overseas
The Straits Times
Hariz Baharudin
A new labelling scheme to indicate the cybersecurity levels of home appliances has been launched in Singapore, with plans to have the standards adopted at an international level.
South and Central Asia
Dr Lal PathLabs, one of India’s largest blood test labs, exposed patient data
TechCrunch
@zackwhittaker @refsrc
Dr Lal PathLabs, one of the largest lab testing companies in India, left a huge cache of patient data on a public server for months, TechCrunch has learned. The lab testing giant, headquartered in New Delhi, serves some 70,000 patients a day, and quickly became a major player in testing patients for COVID-19 after winning approval from the Indian government.
UK
Cambridge Analytica probe finds no evidence it misused data to influence Brexit
Financial Times
A sprawling investigation into controversial digital marketing firm Cambridge Analytica and its associate company SCL has found no evidence that it misused data in an attempt to influence the 2016 Brexit referendum or help any Russian intervention in political processes.
UK parliament committee says Huawei colludes with the Chinese state
Reuters
The British parliament's defence committee said on Thursday that it had found clear evidence that telecoms giant Huawei had colluded with the Chinese state and said Britain may need to remove all Huawei equipment earlier than planned.
UK passport photo checker shows bias against dark-skinned women
BBC News
@_datamimi
Women with darker skin are more than twice as likely to be told their photos fail UK passport rules when they submit them online than lighter-skinned men, according to a BBC investigation.
Europe
Huawei Blocked From Sponsoring Security Event in NATO’s Slovakia
Bloomberg
Huawei Technologies was barred from sponsoring a defense summit in NATO member Slovakia after the country’s president briefly cancelled a speech over concerns the Chinese telecommunication company posed a security risk.
Orange venture in Belgium to replace Huawei mobile gear with Nokia kit - sources
Reuters
Telecoms operators Orange Belgium and Proximus have decided to progressively replace Huawei-made mobile equipment in Belgium and Luxembourg with Nokia gear, two sources close to the matter said.
Research
Facebook Political Advertising Transparency Report
Illuminating
The importance of analyzing digital campaign advertising in particular is punctuated by heightened concerns about unethical and/or illegal online advertising behaviors, from the spread of misinformation, to spending by dark money groups, or the possibility that foreign actors may seek to interfere in the election cycle. Journalists and researchers have cautioned that Facebook does not provide the type of data availability and transparency that is required to provide comprehensive reporting on campaign advertising.
Events
ASPI Webinar Launch: The Flipside of China’s Central Bank Digital Currency
ASPI ICPC
14 OCT 2020
Time: 11:00 am - 12:00 pm
Venue: Online
ASPI is delighted to invite you to the webinar launch of the International Cyber Policy Centre’s new report 'The Flipside of China’s Central Bank Digital Currency'. China’s central bank digital currency, known as ‘DC/EP’ (Digital Currency/Electronic Payment), is rapidly progressing and, if successful, would have major international implications that have not yet been widely considered by policy makers, as well as for governments, investors, and companies – including China’s own tech champions. This report aims to improve baseline understanding of DC/EP’s structural mechanics and to place the project in its political and bureaucratic context. It also seeks to contribute to an informed conversation about what the roll-out of DC/EP could mean for China and for the world. In this webinar, report authors Dr Samantha Hoffman, John Garnaut and Dr Matthew Johnson & Alexandra Pascoe will discuss some of the key findings from the report and offer insights into the potential of China’s central bank digital currency.
ASPI Webinar: Australia’s Cyber Security Strategy In-Focus
ASPI ICPC
The Covid-19 pandemic has emphasised the importance of the online world; it is now critically important in managing this pandemic. Yet at the same time, the risks and threats are increasing—in June the Prime Minister warned us that Australia was being targeted by a sophisticated state actor. In this webinar, hear from the Abigail Bradshaw CSC, head of the Australian Cyber Security Centre, and Marc Ablong PSM, head of National Resilience and Cyber Security group at Home Affairs, in a discussion moderated by Fergus Hanson, Director of ASPI's International Cyber Policy Centre, about Australia’s Cyber Security Strategy 2020 and how it will be operationalised.
CyFy 2020
ORF
CyFy 2020 (12-16 October), hosted by India’s largest think-tank the Observer Research Foundation, will gather an international community of experts — for the first time in a virtual setting — to identify, interrogate and interpret the new normal that is emerging in our global digital society. Over the course of a week, five themes will animate CyFy’s virtual discussions.
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.
Cyber Initiative and Special Projects Fellow
The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation
The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation is seeking a Cyber Initiative and Special Projects Fellow, a three-year fixed term position, to be based in Menlo Park, California.