Australia-UK sign cybersecurity agreement | Ukraine asks Australia for more 'technical assistance' to combat increasing Russian cyber attacks | Russia proposes ban on use & mining of cryptocurrencies
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Australia and Britain will "fight back" against cyber attacks from China, Russia, and Iran, defence minister Peter Dutton said ahead of consultations with Britain in Sydney. Reuters
Ukraine is pressing Australia to provide expanded technical assistance to help repel devastating Russian cyber attacks as fears mount that Russian President Vladimir Putin is on the brink of launching a fresh military invasion. ABC News
Russia's central bank on Thursday proposed banning the use and mining of cryptocurrencies on Russian territory, citing threats to financial stability, citizens' wellbeing and its monetary policy sovereignty. Reuters
ASPI ICPC
Data farming ‘worse than state Big Brother’?
NCA NewsWire
Rebecca Le May
The Australian Strategic Policy Institute on Thursday held a web-based panel discussion on the laws, which Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews described as “overly complex, inconsistent and … outpaced by rapidly evolving technology” in launching a public discussion paper last month. The panel heard authorities were grappling with new, ever-evolving encrypted and anonymised communications technologies and the like, while the current “patchwork” surveillance system was hard to understand, covering 1000 pages of legislation, and with 35 different warrants and authorisations.
How to Support a Globally Connected Counter-Disinformation Network
War on the Rocks
Kevin Sheives
Civil society organizations are harnessing the power of technology and advanced media-monitoring tools. The Australian Strategic Policy Institute used an algorithm derived from third-party companies to map a wide range of inauthentic accounts coordinated with Chinese Communist Party officials and outsourced “disinformation-for-hire” firms.
Read ASPI ICPC’s report: Influence for hire. The Asia-Pacific’s online shadow economy
World
These Are the Countries Where Twitter and Facebook Are Banned
Time
Eloise Barry
Nigeria lifted its ban on Twitter last week after reaching an agreement with the company. Other countries include India, China, Iran, North Korea and Turkmenistan.
Australia
Australia, UK to 'fight back' against hostile states in cyber - minister
Reuters
Kirsty Needham
Australia and Britain will "fight back" against cyber attacks from China, Russia, and Iran, defence minister Peter Dutton said ahead of consultations with Britain in Sydney.
Statement on the UK-Australia Cyber and Critical Technology Partnership Minister for Foreign Affairs, Senator the Hon Marise Payne
Australia-Britain cyber pact to shape a ‘secure’ internet The Australian
Ukraine asks Australia for more 'technical assistance' to combat increasing Russian cyber attacks
ABC News
Ukraine seeks support from allies as fears grow that Russian President Vladimir Putin is on the brink of launching a fresh military invasion.
Meta 'most reluctant' to work with government: Home Affairs
InnovationAus
Denham Sadler
The Department of Home Affairs has accused Facebook parent Meta of being “the most reluctant” of the big tech firms to work with the federal government on safety measures, claiming Facebook’s parent company has shown a “degree of seeming indifference”.
UNSW researchers take three-qubit in silicon system to over 90% accuracy
ZDNet
Aimee Chanthadavong
A team of University of New South Wales (UNSW) researchers have developed silicon-based quantum processors and shown that it is possible to build silicon-based quantum devices that are compatible with current semiconductor manufacturing and applications.
Free from the office, 25pc of Atlassian staff cut ties with Sydney
Australian Financial Review
Tess Bennett
Mr Farquhar said the flexibility of the policy had helped the company retain talent and attract new workers who were based outside Sydney. Since the beginning of the pandemic, about 30 per cent of Atlassian’s new Australian hires have been based more than two hours from a city centre. However, he warned that Australia was still facing a massive shortage of technology professionals, which showed no signs of abating.
China
Chinese regulator denies issuing guidelines on internet giants' investments, fundraisings
Reuters
China's cyberspace regulator denied on Wednesday issuing a document with new guidelines for the nation's big internet companies that would require them to seek approval for new investments and fundraising.
Tencent pursues quieter investment strategy amid China’s Big Tech crackdown
Financial Times
Primrose Riordan, Ryan McMorrow
Pony Ma seeks to avoid Beijing’s push against perceived monopolists by targeting expansion overseas.
The Big Business of Uyghur Genocide Denial
New Lines Magazine
Alexander Reid Ross, Courtney Dobson
A network of charities funnel millions into left-wing platforms that take Beijing’s side on the genocide allegations.
USA
WhatsApp Ordered To Help U.S. Agents Spy On Chinese Phones—No Explanation Required
Forbes
Thomas Brewster
The U.S. doesn't need to know whom they're targeting or show probable cause when ordering Facebook, WhatsApp or any tech company to help agencies spy on users in secret, newly unsealed court documents show.
Exclusive: YouTube shuts down two Oath Keepers channels
Axios
Ashley Gold
The Oath Keepers militia group and its members face multiple charges related to the January 6 Capitol riot.
Biden threatens 'cyber' response after Ukraine says computers wiped during attack
ZDNet
Jonathan Greig
US President Joe Biden responded forcefully to reports of a wide-ranging cyberattack on Ukrainian government systems Wednesday afternoon, telling reporters that the US would respond with its own cyberattacks if Russia continues to target Ukraine's digital infrastructure.
Biden signs cybersecurity memorandum for Defense Department, intelligence agencies
ZDNet
Jonathan Greig
US President Joe Biden signed a memorandum on Tuesday concerning the cybersecurity of the Defense Department and the country's intelligence agencies, sketching out exactly how an executive order he signed in May 2021 will be implemented.
President Biden Signs Cybersecurity National Security Memorandum
National Security Agency/Central Security Service
The White House announced today that President Joe Biden has signed National Security Memorandum 8, “Improving the Cybersecurity of National Security, Department of Defense and Intelligence Community Systems.” This Memorandum implements the cybersecurity requirements of EO 14028 for National Security Systems (NSS) - networks across the U.S. Government that contain classified information or are otherwise critical to military and intelligence activities. The Memorandum provides the Director of the NSA, General Paul M. Nakasone, in his role as the National Manager for NSS, with enhanced insight and authorities to better safeguard these systems.
All charges against China Initiative defendant Gang Chen have been dismissed
MIT Technology Review
Eileen Guo
MIT professor Gang Chen was one of the most prominent scientists charged under the China Initiative, a Justice Department effort meant to counter economic espionage and national security threats.
Bills targeting Big Tech to go before U.S. Senate panel
Reuters
Diane Bartz
The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee is set to decide Thursday whether the full Senate should vote on two bills aimed at reining in tech giants like Alphabet's Google and Meta's Facebook.
New York Mayor Adams to receive first paycheck in cryptocurrency
Reuters
New York City Mayor Eric Adams on Thursday said his first paycheck, to arrive on Friday, will be automatically converted into cryptocurrency via Coinbase Global Inc.
Microsoft is bigger than Google, Amazon and Facebook. But now lawmakers treat it like an ally in antitrust battles.
Washington Post
Cat Zakrzewski
The software giant has carved out a distinct reputation among policymakers, distancing itself from the political scrutiny embroiling its top competitors in Washington.
Pro-Trump influencers flocked to alternative social networks. Their follower counts stalled soon after.
Washington Post
Jeremy B. Merrill and Drew Harwell
After a short surge following the Jan. 6 riot, their follower counts over the last year have barely grown or even declined, a Washington Post analysis found. Their most reliable audience-building moments came when they voiced outrage over conservatives getting banned by the mainstream sites.
How we tracked right-wing influencers’ audience numbers
Washington Post
Jeremy B. Merrill
To determine the audience growth of influencers on right-wing social media platforms, The Washington Post analyzed previously published counts of followers or subscribers for 47 right-wing, QAnon and anti-vaccine influencers across the alt-tech platforms Telegram, Rumble, Gettr and Gab.
Meet the Nuclear Sleuths Shaking Up U.S. Spycraft
POLITICO
Amy Zegart
Armed with Internet connections rather than security clearances, scholars, hobbyists and conspiracy peddlers are forcing intelligence agencies to rethink how they do business.
South and Central Asia
Rights groups push Facebook to release India human rights assessment
Washington Post
Niha Masih
The growing calls to release the report come as a heated state election season gets underway in India and amid a spate of recent calls for violence against Muslims by Hindu nationalists.
NZ & Pacific Islands
Digicel reconnects Tongan users via satellite to rest of the world
ZDNet
Chris Duckett
Digicel said on Wednesday night it successfully re-established international communication with its Tongan network thanks to a satellite link. "We are extremely pleased to inform the people of the Kingdom of Tonga that Digicel international calls service is back up. We gave this work the highest priority and our technical team has had sleepless nights over the past few days in trying to restore vital communication with the world," said Digicel regional CEO Shally Jannif.
Middle East
A Flood of Cash Flows Into Israel's Red-Hot Tech Industry
Bloomberg
Yaacov Benmeleh
The big money has arrived for what could be the next generation of Israel’s vaunted technology sector. International investors helped set off a bonanza last year, when Israeli startups raised about $26 billion -- more than double the previous high in 2020 and nearly a quarter as much as the funding that poured into Europe as a whole.
Europe
EU Parliament agrees on proposal to take on U.S. tech giants
Reuters
The European Parliament on Thursday signed off on a proposal for new rules aimed at U.S. tech giants, paving the way for talks on the plan with member countries and the European Commission.
Security scanners across Europe tied to China govt, military
Associated Press
Erika Kinetz
At some of the world’s most sensitive spots, authorities have installed security screening devices made by a single Chinese company with deep ties to China’s military and the highest levels of the ruling Communist Party.
Danish Intelligence Warns Against PRC China Cameras, Cites Hikvision And Dahua Vulnerabilities
IPVM
Denmark joins the UK as the second European country to disclose restrictions against Hikvision plus Denmark cites Hikvision as well.
Twitter loses online hate speech court battle in France
Reuters
Mathieu Rosemain
Twitter must disclose details on what it does to tackle hate speech online in France, the Paris appeals court ruled on Thursday, handing a win to advocacy groups that say the social network does not do enough.
Africa
Facebook shut in Burkina Faso over security concerns
BBC News
The authorities in Burkina Faso have said they disrupted access to Facebook due to security fears. Government spokesperson Alkassoum Maiga said the authorities did not have to explain themselves on the shutdown first reported on 10 January and which appears to have continued.
Interpol arrests 11 alleged members of Nigerian scam syndicate 'SilverTerrier'
CyberScoop
AJ Vicens
International law enforcement authorities say they’ve arrested nearly a dozen members of a notorious Nigerian cybercrime gang potentially responsible for targeting as many as 50,000 victims in various scams in recent years.
Facebook’s second life: the unstoppable rise of the tech company in Africa
The Guardian
Nesrine Malik
Western users may be logging off, but across the continent of Africa, the social media company is indispensable for everything from running a business to sourcing vaccines. How has it become so inescapable?
Russia
Russia proposes ban on use and mining of cryptocurrencies
Reuters
Elena Fabrichnaya and Alexander Marrow
Russia's central bank on Thursday proposed banning the use and mining of cryptocurrencies on Russian territory, citing threats to financial stability, citizens' wellbeing and its monetary policy sovereignty.
Moscow plays down threat of U.S. electronics curbs
Reuters
Gleb Stolyarov
Russia on Thursday dismissed warnings that the United States could restrict electronics supplies if Moscow attacks Ukraine, saying any such measures would mostly hurt the manufacturers.
Misc
People Can’t See Some NFTs on Twitter, Crypto Wallets After OpenSea Goes Down
VICE
A Thursday outage interfered with the ability of MetaMask, which depends on OpenSea, to automatically display new NFTs.
Time for Transparency From Digital Platforms, But What Does That Really Mean?
Lawfare
Heidi Tworek, Alicia Wanless
U.S. lawmakers rarely agree these days. But across the political spectrum, most policymakers concur that digital platforms, including social media, messengers, and search engines, pose a problem.
Leaked messages from Microsoft employees show that the scandals at Activision Blizzard are going to be a huge challenge to their $68 billion merger
Business Insider
Ashley Stewart
Some Microsoft employees have expressed concerns about Activision Blizzard's ongoing series of scandals, worrying it could exacerbate cultural issues.
Research
Conspiracy Clickbait: This One Weird Trick Will Undermine Democracy
ISD
Elise Thomas
This report series explores how networks linked to individuals in Vietnam are using QAnon conspiracy theories and US political disinformation to generate revenue.
Jobs
ICPC Analyst / Project Lead - Cyber Capacity Building
ASPI ICPC
ASPI’s International Cyber Policy Centre (ICPC) has a unique opportunity for a talented Analyst / Project Lead to support a new project that looks at supporting states in the Indo-Pacific in defending against cyber-enabled theft of intellectual property. The successful candidate will work in a small, high-performing team to produce original research and analysis that directly informs broader diplomatic and cyber capacity building activities on the topic of equipping countries globally with tools to defend against the use of cyber tools to steal IP for commercial purposes.Together with a project lead on Learning and Development and the Project Director, the analyst will also participate in international workshops, provide training to foreign governments and present to other external stakeholders.
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.