China punishes Microsoft’s LinkedIn over lax censorship | Twitter calls for public input on approach to world leaders | Google’s privacy push draws U.S. antitrust scrutiny
Follow us on Twitter. The Daily Cyber Digest focuses on the topics we work on, including cyber, critical technologies & strategic issues like foreign interference.
LinkedIn has been the lone major American social network allowed to operate in China. To do so, the Microsoft-owned service for professionals censors the posts made by its millions of Chinese users. Now, it’s in hot water for not censoring enough. The New York Times
We first explained how we define the public interest on Twitter, as well as our principles and approach to world leaders on our service in 2019.
Politicians and government officials are constantly evolving how they use our service, and we want our policies to remain relevant to the ever-changing nature of political discourse on Twitter and protect the health of the public conversation. That’s why we’re reviewing our approach to world leaders and seeking your input. Twitter SafetyGoogle’s plan to block a popular web tracking tool called “cookies” is a source of concern for U.S. Justice Department investigators who have been asking advertising industry executives whether the move by the search giant will hobble its smaller rivals, people familiar with the situation said. Reuters
ASPI ICPC
World
Facebook to crack down on groups that break its rules
NBC News
@BrandyZadrozny
Facebook said Wednesday that it is changing the way it recommends groups and will limit the reach of those that break the platform’s rules.
The Vaccine Supply Chain Is Now the Most Valuable Cyber Target in the World
Slate
@AmyErtan @tarah
Vaccine information is a poorly guarded treasure for malicious interference and foreign espionage, and the attacks we see on the news are the ones we know about. The true number of malicious attacks will be significantly higher.
Australia
An iConsent app? That’ll press a girl’s buttons, Commissioner
The Sydney Morning Herald
@KerriSackville
NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller has suggested an iConsent app might be a way to protect women from sexual assault. I’m thinking another app could work better.
Sexism, harassment, bullying: just like federal MPs, women standing for local government cop it all
The Conversation
@GosiaMi_ @andrea_carson @leahruppanner
Half the female councillors (49%, compared to 35% of men) reported receiving e-mails, text messages or social media posts with offensive content at least “a couple of times” during their term. More than a third (38%, compared to 10% of men) reported someone making demeaning, rude or derogatory remarks about their gender during the election.
Why executive emails are the new allure for cyber criminals
Australian Financial Review
Max Mason
The attacks are becoming increasingly targeted at particular individuals within organisations, based on who will yield the biggest return on investment.
China
China Punishes Microsoft’s LinkedIn Over Lax Censorship
The New York Times
@paulmozur @zhonggg @SteveLohr
Officials said the social network had failed to block objectionable political content, a sign of the sacrifices it must make to remain in the vast but difficult market.
Key Official: Defense Information Operations ‘Not Evolving Fast Enough’
Defense One
@DefTechPat
The U.S. military isn’t keeping up with information-warfare threats from Russia, Iran, and China, defense officials told lawmakers on Tuesday, adding that the military needs to prioritize information operations, diversify its information-ops units, and relearn how to coordinate IO across units, forces, and services.
Secret to success is not monopoly,' China tells online platforms: state media
Reuters
Secret to success is not monopoly,' China tells online platforms: state media Chinese internet platforms should protect the rights of consumers and avoid becoming monopolies, state media outlet China Daily wrote on Thursday.
China's New Digital Currency Is Easy to Use but You'll Be Watched
The Wall Street Journal
As China moves closer to rolling out its new digital cash, there are concerns the government will track every transaction––not just of citizens but of foreign companies in the country. WSJ travels to Chengdu to see this money revolution in action.
Chinese cyberspies go after telco providers, 5G secrets
The Record by Recorded Future
@campuscodi
A Chinese cyber-espionage group has shifted operations from targeting Vatican officials and Catholic organizations to telecom providers across Asia, Europe, and the US.
Apple warns Chinese apps not to dodge its new privacy rules
Financial Times
@yuanfenyang @PatrickMcGee_
Chinese apps test multiple workarounds to keep tracking iPhones without prompting for consent.
USA
Exclusive: Google’s privacy push draws U.S. antitrust scrutiny - sources
Reuters
Paresh Dave Diane Bartz
Google’s plan to block a popular web tracking tool called “cookies” is a source of concern for U.S. Justice Department investigators who have been asking advertising industry executives whether the move by the search giant will hobble its smaller rivals, people familiar with the situation said.
For US cyber defense, helpful hackers are only half the battle
The Hill
@k8em0
Since the SolarWinds and Microsoft Exchange investigations have the federal government scrambling to deal with its aftermath, it is unclear what steps, if any, federal agencies have taken to systematically assess their ability to carry out their cyber investigation and response duties on multiple fronts at once.
Coons considering hauling in Facebook, Twitter CEOs for hearing
POLITICO
@viaCristiano @Ali_Lev
Sen. Chris Coons said Thursday he’s "very likely" to call on tech executives — including the CEOs of Twitter and Facebook — to testify before the Senate Judiciary subcommittee on privacy and technology, which he was recently tapped to lead.
YouTube is rolling out its TikTok rival YouTube Shorts in the US, but the beta is missing features and feels half-baked
The Verge
@cgartenberg
YouTube Shorts, the company’s short-form answer to TikTok, is launching in beta in the United States starting today. The short video format has already been available for several months in India, but today marks its debut stateside (along with the addition of several new features).
South-East Asia
ByteDance embarks on hiring spree in Singapore
Financial Times
ByteDance, the owner of viral video app TikTok, has embarked on a hiring spree in Singapore, as the Chinese group deepens its operations outside the mainland to satisfy global regulators.
New Zealand & The Pacific
Human Rights in the Digital Age: State of Play across Commonwealth Pacific Countries
Global Partners Digital
This report, commissioned by the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, examines the state of human rights in the context of the digital age in nine Commonwealth Pacific Island countries, and seeks to provide recommendations for future capacity building efforts in the region.
Europe
Finland’s women-led government targeted by online harassment
POLITICO
Leonie Cater
The election of Finland’s woman-led government brought hopes of a more equal future. Sadly, that’s not happening on the internet. A new report from the NATO Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence, based in Latvia, has found that the Finnish government, headed by Prime Minister Sanna Marin, is overwhelmingly targeted by misogynistic online harassment.
Russia
Apple's concession to Russia to prompt users to install state-approved apps sets a precedent that other authoritarian countries may seek to follow
Wired
@lilyhnewman
Russian iPhone buyers will soon be prompted to install software developed in that country, setting a precedent that other authoritarian governments may follow.
Africa
National Cybersecurity Policy and Strategy
Federal Republic of Nigeria
Nigeria, like several other countries across the globe, is currently witnessing a surge in digital transformation. Many activities are now migrating to the Internet especially with the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic and the emergence of new technologies.
Misc
What Happens When Our Faces Are Tracked Everywhere We Go?
The New York Times
@kashhill
When a secretive start-up scraped the internet to build a facial-recognition tool, it tested a legal and ethical limit — and blew the future of privacy in America wide open.
Facebook Is Building An Instagram For Kids Under The Age Of 13
BuzzFeed News
@RMac18 @CraigSilverman
Executives at Instagram are planning to build a version of the popular photo-sharing app that can be used by children under the age of 13, according to an internal company post obtained by BuzzFeed News.
Facebook is working on a neural wristband that reads signals from brain to hands, to go along with its AR glasses; Bosworth insists it can't “read your brain”
BuzzFeed News
@katienotopoulos
Facebook is working on a new neural wristband that can read the electrical signals sent to your hands and send them to an augmented reality interface.
Zoom Screen-Sharing Glitch 'Briefly' Leaks Sensitive Data
Threatpost
@Lindsey O'Donnell
A security blip in the current version of Zoom could inadvertently leak users' data to other meeting participants on a call. However, the data is only leaked briefly, making a potential attack difficult to carry out.
Google and the Age of Privacy Theater
Wired
@GiladEdelman
The demise of surveillance capitalism has been greatly exaggerated.
Google: A mysterious hacking group used 11 different zero-days in 2020
The Record by Recorded Future
@campuscodi
A mysterious hacking group has deployed at least 11 zero-day vulnerabilities as part of a sustained hacking operation that took place over the course of 2020 and targeted Android, iOS, and Windows users alike, one of Google's security teams said.
The Internet Is Not Just Facebook, Google & Twitter: Creating A 'Test Suite' For Your Great Idea To Regulate The Internet
Techdirt
@mmasnick
A few weeks ago, Stanford's Daphne Keller -- one of the foremost experts on internet regulation -- highlighted how so much of the effort at internet reform seems to treat "the internet" as if it was entirely made up of Facebook, Google and Twitter.
Disinformation Goes to Hollywood: 4 Lessons From Journalism
First Draft News
@wphillips49 @cward1e
Journalists covering falsehoods, conspiracy theories and white supremacy face enormous challenges. The most immediate — and vexing — is that reporting on these problems can inadvertently spread false information to entirely new audiences, normalize dangerous messages and incentivize future harms.
YouTube Explains Why a Racist Video Didn't Violate Its Hate Speech Rules
OneZero
@WillOremus
A grotesque segment mocking Black farmers illustrates just how much bigotry a conservative star can get away with.
Events
Research
Jobs
Research Manager, Gender
Web Foundation
We’re looking for someone to join our research team and lead our work on closing the digital gender divide. You’ll cover issues including internet access, affordability and use, data rights and other areas.