Brazil lifts its ban on Telegram after two days | Hikvision, Dahua, Uniview, Tiandy stand by Russia sales | How Kremlin accounts manipulate Twitter
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Brazil’s Supreme Court blocked Telegram on Friday. The messaging app then responded with measures to fight misinformation, and the court quickly lifted its ban. The New York Times
IPVM has confirmed that the PRC's four largest manufacturers - Hikvision, Dahua, Tiandy, and Uniview - are continuing to supply the Russian market without restrictions. This stands in contrast to non-PRC companies, such as Axis, Hanwha, Panasonic, Motorola, IBM, and others, who halted Russia sales due to the invasion. IPVM
The Russian government has a huge network of official Twitter accounts - the BBC found more than 100 of them. They range from accounts that represent foreign missions or embassies, with a few thousand followers, to those with more than a million followers. President Putin has his own account. Many of the accounts are labelled as Russian government organisations by Twitter. BBC
ASPI ICPC
Ukraine - Russia
How Kremlin accounts manipulate Twitter
BBC
James Clayton
Wild conspiracy theories like these are not uncommon on social media. But what makes this conspiracy theory so odd is that it was shared by an official Russian government Twitter account - the Russian Mission in Geneva. Two weeks on, the tweet is still live. The Russian government has a huge network of official Twitter accounts - the BBC found more than 100 of them. They range from accounts that represent foreign missions or embassies, with a few thousand followers, to those with more than a million followers. President Putin has his own account. Many of the accounts are labelled as Russian government organisations by Twitter.
Specialist Ukrainian drone unit picks off invading Russian forces as they sleep
The Times
Charlie Parker
An elite Ukrainian drone unit has destroyed dozens of “priority targets” by attacking Russian forces as they sleep, The Times can reveal. Aerorozvidka, a specialist air reconnaissance unit within the army, has been picking off tanks, command trucks and vehicles carrying electronic equipment since the invasion began.
Ukraine’s Digital Ministry Is a Formidable War Machine
WIRED
Tom Simonite and Gian M. Volpicelli
A government department run by savvy tech “freaks” has become a surprise defense against Russia.
Why You Haven’t Heard About the Secret Cyberwar in Ukraine
The New York Times
Thomas Rid
Cyberwar has come, is happening now, and will most likely escalate. But the digital confrontation is playing out in the shadows, as inconspicuous as it is insidious. Several interlocking dynamics of cyberoperations in war stand out from what we have seen in Ukraine so far.
Why We Haven’t Seen Debilitating Cyberwar in Ukraine
VICE
Joseph Cox
Experts discuss the apparent lack of highly visible cyberattacks by Russian state hackers during the Ukraine invasion.
The cyber warfare predicted in Ukraine may be yet to come
Financial Times
Chris Krebs
As Russia’s economy deteriorates, the red lines keeping its cyber capabilities in check may evaporate.
Cyber ‘cold war’ rages online but Russia holds back on massive digital attacks
Times of Israel
Ricky Ben-David
Destructive global breaches have not yet materialized, observers say, as non-state actors and hacktivists engage in digital combat.
Ukraine Tech Startups Pivot From Software Code to Rescue Plans
The Wall Street Journal
Heather Somerville
Tech leaders with operations in Ukraine are mapping escape routes and paying workers to fight with the army; ‘our plan is winning this war’.
Tech talent flees Russia as Western sanctions bite
Yahoo! Finance
Rita Liao
Russia is seeing an exodus of entrepreneurs, computer programmers, as well as other educated middle-class citizens as Western sanctions and political instability make it impossible to run an international business in the country.
China
Hikvision, Dahua, Uniview, Tiandy Stand By Russia Sales
IPVM
IPVM has confirmed that the PRC's four largest manufacturers - Hikvision, Dahua, Tiandy, and Uniview - are continuing to supply the Russian market without restrictions. This stands in contrast to non-PRC companies, such as Axis, Hanwha, Panasonic, Motorola, IBM, and others, who halted Russia sales due to the invasion.
TuSimple explores sale of China unit after pact with U.S. authorities-sources
Reuters
Autonomous trucking startup TuSimple Holdings Inc (TSP.O), backed by Chinese social media firm Sina Corp , is looking to sell its business in China and focus on the U.S. market, sources said. The decision comes after the startup reached an agreement with the U.S. government to restrict the China unit's access to data due to U.S. security concerns.
China’s Information Dark Age Could Be Russia’s Future
The New York Times
Li Yuan
By blocking online platforms, shutting down the last vestige of Russia’s independent media and making it a crime to refer to the fighting in Ukraine as a war, the Kremlin has made it nearly impossible for the Russian people to get independent or international news after its invasion. Most Russians are taking in an alternative reality. That’s exactly what China has been doing to its 1.4 billion people for years.
China’s Instagram Wants More Male Users. It’s Using Women as Bait.
Sixth Tone
Zhang Wanqing
Lifestyle platform Xiaohongshu used to be a rare safe space for Chinese women online. Then, the company began marketing itself to men as a place to meet “beautiful ladies.”
China’s tech crackdown fans unemployment worries amid economic headwinds as Alibaba and Tencent prepare to wield the axe
South China Morning Post
Coco Feng, Ann Cao and Tracy Qu
China’s year-long campaign to clip the wings of the country’s Big Tech sector has taken a heavy toll and is now casting a long shadow over the employment market, a development at odds with the government’s goal of creating economic prosperity.
USA
US-China collaboration in AI papers drops amid ongoing tech war, Stanford report shows
South China Morning Post
Coco Feng
The number of artificial intelligence (AI) papers co-authored by US and China-based researchers declined last year amid rising geopolitical tensions between the world’s two largest economies, according to a recent Stanford report. In 2021, approximately 9,660 papers on AI were co-authored by researchers affiliated with both US and Chinese institutions, down from above 10,000 the year before, according to a recent report by the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence.
Inside the plan to fix America’s never-ending cybersecurity failures
MIT Technology Review
Patrick Howell O'Neillarchive page
The specter of Russian hackers and an overreliance on voluntary cooperation from the private sector means officials are finally prepared to get tough.
Intel Sharing Between U.S. and Ukraine ‘Revolutionary’ Says DIA Director
USNI News
John Grady
Army Gen. Paul Nakasone, who heads both Cyber Command and the National Security Agency, said that “in my 35 years” he has never seen a better sharing of accurate, timely and actionable intelligence than what has transpired with Ukraine. The value of sharing information and intelligence with allies is that it “builds coalitions” and can “shine a light on disinformation” campaigns like the one Russia used to lay the groundwork for their invasion, Nakasone added.
Oil and gas industry scrutinized for weak cyber defenses
The Hill
Ines Kagubare
As U.S. industries gear up for possible Russian cyberattacks amid the war in Ukraine, experts say the oil and gas industry is particularly vulnerable because it is not subject to government mandated cybersecurity standards and investments.
North Asia
Japan to offer India $42bn in investments during Kishida's visit
Nikkei Asia
Reiko Miki
The 5 trillion yen goal tops the 3.5 trillion yen in investment and financing over five years that then-Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced during his 2014 visit to India. Tokyo is currently supporting India's urban infrastructure development as well as a high-speed railway based on Japan's shinkansen bullet train technology.
South & Central Asia
Six state-of-the-art cyber crime labs, social media lab to help Mumbai police tackle cyber crime
The Indian Express
Vallabh Ozarkar
To crack down on growing number of cases of cyber crime in the city with the help of advanced technological tools and expertise, Mumbai Police has decided to set up six state-of-the-art cyber crime investigation and forensic laboratories along with a first-of-its-kind Social Media Analytics lab and a Cyber Crime Analytics lab.
Americas
Brazil Lifts Its Ban on Telegram After Two Days
The New York Times
Brazil’s Congress, Supreme Court, election officials and federal police have been trying to get a response from Telegram, the fast-growing messaging app, for months. It turned out, all they had to do was ban it. On Friday, Brazil’s Supreme Court blocked Telegram in the country because the company behind the app had been ignoring the court’s orders.
Events and Podcasts
The Sydney Dialogue: Who Works? The Crisis of Automation in the Indo-Pacific
The Sydney Dialogue
The world is undergoing the largest workforce transition since the industrial revolution, and the Indo-Pacific is at the epicentre of this shift. Post pandemic, public and private sector enterprises of all sizes are capitalising on improvements in productivity, efficiency, and profitability by accelerating the rate at which they are applying technology to automate and augment work with more machines doing the work once done by people. Watch on catch up now.
Identifying and Countering China’s Global Digital Strategy (Tokyo)
NBR and Nakasone Peace Institute
An expert discussion in Tokyo on China's global digital strategy, its implications for liberal democracies, and potential policy responses. This event will include discussions on the impact of China’s growing digital influence on Japan. It will feature simultaneous translation in English and Japanese. Panelists include Samantha Hoffman, Senior Analyst, Australian Strategic Policy Institute
How Open-Source Investigators are Documenting the War in Ukraine
The Lawfare Podcast
Jen Patja Howell
This week on Arbiters of Truth, our series on the online information ecosystem, we devoted the show to understanding how open-source investigations work and why they’re important. Evelyn Douek and Quinta Jurecic spoke to Nick Waters, the lead on Justice and Accountability at Bellingcat, one of the most prominent groups devoted to conducting these types of investigations.
Jobs
The Sydney Dialogue - Director
ASPI ICPC
The Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) is currently recruiting for a Director to lead the second iteration of ASPI’s Sydney Dialogue - the world’s premier summit on emerging, critical and cyber technologies.
The Sydney Dialogue - Senior Events Coordinator
ASPI ICPC
The Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) is currently recruiting for an experienced events professional to coordinate the planning and logistics of the second iteration of ASPI’s Sydney Dialogue - the world’s premier summit on emerging, critical and cyber technologies.
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.
Important disclaimer: This digest is a daily collation of material designed to provide authoritative information and commentary in relation to the subject matters covered. The views expressed in this material are those of the authors only. To provide feedback please contact: icpc@aspi.org.au