Antisemitism report criticises social media giants | Fake video purports to show AFP commissioner plotting to oust government | Jihadists flood pro-Trump social network with propaganda
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Researchers from the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), a UK/US non-profit organisation, flagged hundreds of antisemitic posts over a six-week period earlier this year. The posts, including Nazi, neo-Nazi and white supremacist content, received up to 7.3 million impressions. Although each of the 714 posts clearly violated the platforms’ policies, fewer than one in six were removed or had the associated accounts deleted after being pointed out to moderators. The Guardian
A plan to overthrow the Morrison government and arrest senior MPs and bureaucrats has been thwarted by counter-terrorism police... The group is allegedly behind a fake video circulating online and purportedly from AFP Commissioner Reece Kershaw, calling on people to join the AFP and overthrow the federal government. SBS News
Just weeks after its launch, the pro-Trump social network GETTR is inundated with terrorist propaganda spread by supporters of Islamic State, according to a POLITICO review of online activity on the fledgling platform. POLITICO
ASPI ICPC
Select Committee on Foreign Interference through Social Media
Parliament of Australia
On 5 December 2019, the Senate resolved to establish a Select Committee on Foreign Interference through Social Media to inquire into and report on the risk posed to Australia’s democracy by foreign interference through social media.
Kara Hinesley (@karahinesley), Director of Public Policy, Australia and New Zealand, Twitter:
We have worked with a number of partners, but, specifically in Australia, the Australian Strategic Policy Institute has the expertise, the staff, the know-how and the wherewithal to deal with these massive datasets, which are quite media rich and heavy and which take a lot of time to parse through to be able to extrapolate findings from them. They have produced a number of reports. Most notably, last year, in June 2020, with one of our datasets that we made available, they had a wonderful report, Retweeting through the Great Firewall. That was in response to a dataset that involved Chinese backed state information operations. They released that, and we, of course, shared that with relevant partners and made it open to the public. We're also very happy to share it with the committee if that would be helpful, knowing that you have lots of documentation to go through.
Kathleen Reen (@kathleenreen), Senior Director of Public Policy, Asia-Pacific, Twitter:
I would also say that we're seeing a really distinct difference between high-quality research and the fact that our data is made available to everyone. That's why we've prioritised partners like ASPI and the Stanford Internet Observatory, because they have the expertise, the data scientists, the forensic investigators and the capabilities to work with that kind of data.
Nathaniel Gleicher (@ngleicher), Head of Security Policy at Facebook:
In Australia we've established a partnership with the ASPI to ensure we can access their expert advice about trends in influence operations... from what I have seen, you have world-leading expertise in ASPI, and we've seen some of the reporting they do, and we work with them, and I think that they are setting the standard in a lot of this investigation.
How SMBs can tackle heightened security pressures
Business IT
Troy Heland
Of note the Australian Strategic Policy Institute recently released a report on the global rise of ransomware, noting that, “Not only are Australian organisations viewed as lucrative targets due to their often low cybersecurity posture, but they’re also seen as soft targets.”
Nike CEO says the sports giant is a “Chinese brand and a call for revenue”
Illinois News Today
Scott Krantz
Vicky Xiuzhong Xu and Nathan Ruser, authors of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute’s (ASPI) report on Uighur forced labor, submitted evidence to the Commission in an online hearing. They said they discovered in 2019 that Uighurs were transported from the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region to other states to work. “It’s a central government policy,” Xu and Ruser said, resulting in “tens of thousands of people being expelled from their homes each year and sent to eastern states to work in international brand supply chains.” “ They had workers exposed to forced labor conditions in the factory, had to work “under close scrutiny”, and had a few hours of free time attending “Mandarin and political indoctrination classes”… “ ASPI has identified 27 factories in nine states in China that use Uighur workers transferred from the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region since 2017.
World
A ‘safe space for racists’: antisemitism report criticises social media giants
The Guardian
@mwolferobinson
Researchers from the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), a UK/US non-profit organisation, flagged hundreds of antisemitic posts over a six-week period earlier this year. The posts, including Nazi, neo-Nazi and white supremacist content, received up to 7.3 million impressions. Although each of the 714 posts clearly violated the platforms’ policies, fewer than one in six were removed or had the associated accounts deleted after being pointed out to moderators.
Why Artificial Intelligence Isn’t Intelligent
The Wall Street Journal
@mims
And yet, across the fields it is disrupting or supposed to disrupt, AI has fallen short of many of the promises made by some of its most vocal advocates—from the disappointment of IBM’s Watson to the forever-moving target date for the arrival of fully self-driving vehicles.
An interview with BlackMatter: A new ransomware group that's learning from the mistakes of DarkSide and REvil
The Record
@ddd1ms
In July, a new ransomware gang started posting advertisements on various cybercrime forums announcing that it was seeking to recruit partners and claiming that it combined the features of notorious groups like REvil and DarkSide.
Australia
Fake video purports to show AFP commissioner plotting to oust government
SBS News
A plan to overthrow the Morrison government and arrest senior MPs and bureaucrats has been thwarted by counter-terrorism police... The group is allegedly behind a fake video circulating online and purportedly from AFP Commissioner Reece Kershaw, calling on people to join the AFP and overthrow the federal government.
Disinformation for hire: PR firms are the new battleground for Facebook
ZDNet
@ashabeeeee
Facebook's head of security policy has testified before an Australian Parliamentary inquiry that his company has witnessed an increasing use of marketing firms or PR agencies that are essentially hired to run disinformation campaigns.
So just who announces foreign interference in an Australian election? Good question
Crikey
@cameronwilson
Interference in federal elections by foreign powers via social media is a genuine danger, one our government seems ill-prepared to confront.
Facebook concedes it was caught out over spread of misinformation
The Australian
@heyycourtt
The Senate select committee is considering the risk posed to Australia’s democracy by foreign interference through social media. Australian electoral commissioner Tom Rodgers warned that the electoral body had done as much as it could to keep social media giants accountable.
Joint Cybersecurity Advisory Fails To Capture Non-Technical Aspects Of Attacks
Australian Cyber Security Magazine
The Australian Government joined forces with two other countries last week and released a joint cybersecurity advisory. The advisory highlighted the top Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVEs) cyber actors are currently exploiting. But there are concerns the advisory fails to address the role human error plays in helping facilitate cyberattacks.
Toll concedes it may not have worked with cyber spy agency fast enough during major hack
The Sydney Morning Herald
@Gallo_Ways
Transport and logistics giant Toll Group has conceded it may be the company that failed to comply with Australia’s cyber spy agency for weeks after it was hit by a significant cyber attack.
China
China Doesn’t Care How Much Money You Lose
Bloomberg
@shuli_ren
DiDi, TAL, and now Meituan—Beijing’s crackdown continues, and it has less to do with foreign money than domestic control.
China's war on everything turns towards its own tycoons, with Jack Ma being a prime example
ABC
@IanVerrender
The aggressive economic approach the Chinese Communist Party has taken to its perceived enemies is also being used against some of its most wealthy citizens, writes Ian Verrender.
Beijing's APT side hustles. Unintended consequences for China's cybersecurity regulations. Canadian cyber policy.
The CyberWire
The Wall Street Journal says Beijing’s regulatory clampdown on technology companies, motivated in part by data security and anti-trust concerns, “could backfire badly.”
USA
Jihadists flood pro-Trump social network with propaganda
POLITICO
@markscott82 @tina_nguyen
GETTR, the new platform started by members of the former president’s inner circle, is awash with beheading videos and extremist content.
Twitter partners with AP, Reuters to battle misinformation on its site
Reuters
@Sheila_Dang
Twitter Inc will partner with the Associated Press and Reuters to more quickly provide credible information on the social networking site as part of an effort to fight the spread of misinformation, it said on Monday.
Responsible Cyber Offense
Lawfare
@perribus @daveaitel George Perkovich @HostileSpectrum
More broadly, the U.S. should lead an international effort to decompose cyber operations into their component methods and behaviors and assess each on a spectrum of responsibility. This will be technically challenging for political leaders and others to understand, but cyber operators and those seeking to defend against them will appreciate the various distinctions
Twitter partners with AP and Reuters to address misinformation on its platform
TechCrunch
@sarahintampa
Twitter announced today it’s partnering with news organizations The Associated Press (AP) and Reuters to expand its efforts focused on highlighting reliable news and information on its platform.
Zoom to pay $85M for lying about encryption and sending data to Facebook and Google
Ars Technica
@JBrodkin
Zoom has agreed to pay $85 million to settle claims that it lied about offering end-to-end encryption and gave user data to Facebook and Google without the consent of users. The settlement between Zoom and the filers of a class-action lawsuit also covers security problems that led to rampant "Zoombombings."
PwnedPiper vulnerabilities impact 80% of major hospitals in North America
The Record
@campuscodi
Details have been published today about a collection of nine vulnerabilities known as PwnedPiper that impact a common type of medical equipment that’s installed in roughly 80% of all major hospitals in North America.
National cyber director endorses plan for a bureau to collect, analyze threat data
CyberScoop
@TonyaJoRiley
National Cyber Director Chris Inglis called for the creation of a bureau of cyber statistics while outlining his priorities for the office in a speech Tuesday.
Microsoft director with intelligence background will lead the White House’s space council
The Verge
@joroulette
Chirag Parikh, senior director for Microsoft’s Azure Space, will lead operations for Biden’s space council.
North-East Asia
Samsung Takes Intel’s Chip-Seller Crown, but Bigger Showdown Looms
The Wall Street Journal
@jiyoungjsohn @asafitch
Cash is paramount as both companies seek to fund aggressive expansions into high-tech production.
The Pacific
Keeping PNG connected by investing in radio
The Interpreter
@ShaneMcLeod
News that Australia’s Telstra could be a buyer of the Pacific Island region’s prominent mobile network and media player Digicel has put communications technology in the spotlight. The Australian government is set to underwrite the deal which some reports suggest could be worth up to A$2 billion, with the network’s dominant footprint in Papua New Guinea among its most valuable assets.
Europe
Pegasus spyware found on journalists’ phones, French intelligence confirms
The Guardian
@kimwillsher1
French intelligence investigators have confirmed that Pegasus spyware has been found on the phones of three journalists, including a senior member of staff at the country’s international television station France 24.
Russia
State TV: Russians Are Using Prosthetic Arms to Dodge COVID Jabs
The Daily Beast
Kremlin-controlled media is deep in a massive vaccine disinfo campaign, and has been ever since COVID jabs were first introduced. The goal, from the beginning, was simple: to undermine foreign-made inoculations, and promote Russia’s COVID jabs as the very best. But now, it seems that the fearmongering is backfiring and impeding the Kremlin’s push to vaccinate its own people.
Misc
The next generation of global payments: Afterpay + Square
TechCrunch
@dcstalder
Sunday was a big day in fintech: Afterpay has agreed to merge with Square. This agreement sets two of the most admired financial technology companies in recent history on a path to becoming one.
Tech leaders can be the secret weapon for supercharging ESG goals
TechCrunch
@sternb0t
Environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors should be key considerations for CTOs and technology leaders scaling next generation companies from day one. Investors are increasingly prioritizing startups that focus on ESG, with the growth of sustainable investing skyrocketing.
Research
Killer Robots: Urgent Need to Fast-Track Talks
Human Rights Watch
@hrw
Governments should make up for lost time by moving urgently to begin negotiations on a new treaty to retain meaningful human control over the use of force, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. Representatives from approximately 50 countries will convene on August 3, 2021 at the United Nations in Geneva for their first official diplomatic meeting on lethal autonomous weapons systems, or “killer robots,” in nearly a year.
How Democracies Can Win an Information Contest Without Undercutting Their Values
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
@jessbrandt
As cybersecurity threats grow, democracies should avoid borrowing the authoritarians’ playbook. Here’s what democracies need in developing a cyber strategy of their own.
Jobs
ICPC Deputy Director – 12 month parental leave cover
ASPI ICPC
ASPI’s International Cyber Policy Centre (ICPC) is currently recruiting for a one-year parental leave cover for its Deputy Director position. This is an exceptional opportunity for a talented and experienced individual to contribute to the work of Australia's leading think-tank on cyber, information, technology and other national security issues in a unique leadership role.
ICPC Senior Analyst & Program Manager
ASPI ICPC
ASPI’s International Cyber Policy Centre (ICPC) potentially has an outstanding opportunity for a proactive, efficient and talented senior analyst & program manager to join its centre..We are looking for a senior individual with a minimum of 10-15 years of demonstrated relevant work experience who possesses excellent project management, stakeholder engagement and staff management skills. They must also possess strong knowledge - either as a generalist or a specialist - of some of the topics ICPC works across, and feel comfortable engaging with politicians, senior policymakers, business representatives and preferably also the media.
ICPC Senior Analyst or Analyst - China
ASPI ICPC
ASPI’s International Cyber Policy Centre (ICPC) has a unique opportunity for exceptional and experienced China-focused senior analysts or analysts to join its centre. This role will focus on original research and analysis centred around the (growing) range of topics which our ICPC China team work on. Our China team produces some of the most impactful and well-read policy-relevant research in the world, with our experts often being called upon by politicians, governments, corporates and civil society actors to provide briefings and advice. Analysts usually have at least 5 years, often 7-10 years’ of work experience. Senior analysts usually have a minimum of 15 years relevant work experience and, in addition to research, they take on a leadership role in the centre and tend to be involved in staff and project management, fundraising and stakeholder engagement.