China targetting Tibetans online with Firefox add-on | Facebook restores Australian news pages | New restrictions for Facebook and others in India

Feb 25, 2021

Follow us on Twitter. The Daily Cyber Digest focuses on the topics we work on, including cyber, critical technologies & strategic issues like foreign interference.

Chinese state-sponsored hackers have gone after Tibetan organizations across the world using a malicious Firefox add-on that was configured to steal Gmail and Firefox browser data and then download malware on infected systems. ZDNet
Facebook has restored news articles in Australia as new laws forcing it to compensate media companies for news were passed by the Federal Parliament. The Sydney Morning Herald
India is establishing new rules to govern internet firms like Facebook, WhatsApp and Twitter, a fresh challenge for the American giants in a huge market that is key to their global expansion. The new guidelines, unveiled Thursday, say that in order to counter the rise of problematic content online like false news and violent material, intermediaries must establish “grievance redressal mechanisms”. The Wall Street Journal

ASPI ICPC

Squeezed by China’s Tariffs, Australian Farmers Cultivate New Markets
The Wall Street Journal
@RhiannonHoyle
Beijing has increasingly used that growing economic heft as leverage to achieve its foreign-policy aims. Over the past decade, China has used so-called coercive diplomacy 152 times, affecting 27 countries as well as the European Union, according to an August report by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, a government-backed security think tank. It said 113 of those cases had occurred since the start of 2018.

Read our report “The Chinese Communist Party’s coercive diplomacy”.

ASPI Cyber Policy @ASPI_ICPC

.@DarkiesDesign & @HuonCurtis recently met with @aims_gov_au in Townsville to talk AI, the reef cloud, and incorporation of Indigenous knowledge. Pictured is the Masigalgal community from Torres Strait’s seasons. This is being used to guide water & reef science at the Institute

Australia

Facebook restores news in Australia as media code becomes law
The Sydney Morning Herald
Facebook has restored news articles in Australia as new laws forcing it to compensate media companies for news were passed by the Federal Parliament.

Facebook will restore news content tomorrow. Here's why it took so long
ABC News
@sophiemeixner
While it took only a matter of hours for news to be torn off our feeds, it's taking far longer to build it back up again.

How the wellness and influencer crowd served conspiracies to the masses
The Guardian
@mmcgowan
A distrust of traditional institutions saw wellness advocates find common ground with QAnon during the pandemic – and soften their message for the mainstream.

Can Australia Save Journalism From the Internet?
The New York Times
@lizzie_oshea
Google and Facebook have objected to a law that will require them to pay media outlets for content. But the legislation won’t protect the businesses it aims to help.

How Facebook Has Exposed the Fragile State of Australian Democracy
Medium
@jamesallworth
How Australia Has Missed the Forest for the Trees with the New Media Laws.

Australia has a key role to play in reducing China’s rare-earths dominance
The Strategist
@johncoyne14
Australia’s critical minerals strategy of 2019 is largely focused on attracting foreign investment into new mining infrastructure. The renewed focus on the strategic and commercial importance of rare earths should be a stark reminder that, as the Northern Territory government’s Luke Bowen has written in The Strategist, Australia needs to back itself on rare earths instead of letting great-power competition lead the way. While Biden’s executive order is a good start, the Australian government should establish a Japan–US–Australia dialogue to ensure a collaborative national policy response to rare-earth supply issues.

Australia’s move to tame Facebook and Google is just the start of a global battle
The Guardian
@michmeagher
Governments around the world should now act together to dismantle the monopolies that threaten journalism, says the competition lawyer and author Michelle Meagher.

Dmitri Alperovitch @DAlperovitch

I’m very excited to announce that my new non-profit venture has launched! Looking forward to doing great things with amazing team and Strategic Council led by Gen. David Petraeus and @TurnbullMalcolm! Thank you for your support and strategic advice!

Silverado Policy Accelerator @SilveradoPolicy

Silverado is a new bipartisan, non-profit policy organization dedicated to advancing American prosperity and global competitiveness in the 21st century. Learn more about our innovative approach to solving the most pressing issues of our time. https://t.co/9GnAhbqtBi

China

Chinese cyberspies targeted Tibetans with a malicious Firefox add-on
ZDNet
@campuscodi
Chinese state-sponsored hackers have gone after Tibetan organizations across the world using a malicious Firefox add-on that was configured to steal Gmail and Firefox browser data and then download malware on infected systems.

Tencent-Backed Edtech Startup Seeks Funding at $20 Billion Value
Bloomberg
Rapid growth of tutoring apps has drawn Beijing’s scrutiny.

USA

Senators revive bill to combat Chinese censorship of U.S. companies
Reuters
@michaelvmartina @
A bipartisan group of U.S. senators will revive legislation as soon as Wednesday to counter Chinese censorship in the United States, a new effort by Congress to hold Beijing accountable for its growing efforts to stifle criticism beyond its borders, Senator Jeff Merkley told Reuters.

Biden Faces a Steep Challenge to Unite Democracies on Tech
WIRED
With tech policy, sorting the world into democratic and authoritarian buckets is far trickier than it sounds.

Why Was SolarWinds So Vulnerable to a Hack?
The New York Times
@schneierblog
The modern market economy, which aggressively rewards corporations for short-term profits and aggressive cost-cutting, is also part of the problem: Its incentive structure all but ensures that successful tech companies will end up selling unsecure products and services.

How the National Cyber Director Position Is Going to Work: Frequently Asked Questions
Lawfare
The creation of the Office of the National Cyber Director comes at a pivotal time in the development of the nation’s cybersecurity and on the heels of one of the most widespread cyber incidents ever inflicted on the country.

Martijn Rasser @MartijnRasser

Supply chain EO calls for 1-year industrial base reviews of: - defense industry - public health and bio preparedness - information and communications tech - transportation and supply chain reviews for: - ag commodities - food production

FACT SHEET: Securing America’s Critical Supply Chains | The White HouseToday President Biden will sign an Executive Order to help create more resilient and secure supply chains for critical and essential goods. In recent years, American households, workers, and companies have increasingly felt the strain of shortages of essential products—from medicine to food to compu…whitehouse.gov

CIA launches task force to probe invisible attacks on US diplomats and spies as one victim finds some relief
CNN
@kylieatwood
More than three years after former senior US intelligence officer Marc Polymeropoulos suffered a mysterious attack in Moscow that changed his life forever, he finally has a diagnosis: a traumatic brain injury, sleep insomnia, and anxiety.

Woman Accused of Stealing Nancy Pelosi’s Laptop Appears in Video Making Nazi Salute
Bellingcat
@IwriteOK
Bellingcat has since received information that suggests that Williams was more than just a Trump supporter caught up in the maelstrom. She is somebody who posted racist and Anti-Semitic content as well as filmed a video that appears openly pro-Nazi and promotes accelerationism (speeding up the collapse of society) as a pathway towards establishing a genocidal white supremacist state.

Kamala Harris plans to prioritize cybersecurity and global health in foreign policy platform
CBC News
While the White House tackles domestic crises stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic, Vice President Kamala Harris is looking beyond U.S. boundaries to develop her foreign policy portfolio.

evelyn douek @evelyndouek

With 2 days to spare, Facebook has responded to the first set of @OversightBoard recommendations. 11 commitments; 5 further assessments; 1 refusal (COVID misinfo)

Facebook Newsroom @fbnewsroom

Facebook's Response to the Oversight Board’s First Set of Recommendations https://t.co/mGDjqtLMrv

North-East Asia

US steps up talks with Taiwan to secure chip supply chain
Nikkei Asia Review
Industry meeting with de facto embassy on island after Biden signs executive order.

South-East Asia

Indonesia police chief urges softer enforcement of controversial internet law
Reuters
@_katelamb @stanleywidianto
Indonesia’s police chief has called on officers to use greater discretion when enforcing the country’s internet law, following government signals the legislation, which has ensnared journalists, academics and opposition figures, will be reviewed.

Hong Kongers crowdsourced a protest manual—and Myanmar’s already using it
Quartz
@maryhui
Now there’s an effort underway to crowdsource an archive of that invaluable know-how as a manual for future protests, before it fades from memory.

Nathaniel Gleicher @ngleicher

1/ Today we banned the remaining Myanmar military (Tatmadaw) assets from Facebook and Instagram.

An Update on the Situation in Myanmar - About FacebookAn update on the investments Facebook is making in the evolving situation in Myanmar.about.fb.com

Vietnamese hackers spent years harassing human rights activists with spyware
CyberScoop
@shanvav
For the past several years a Vietnamese hacking group best known for its attacks on the auto sector has been targeting activists and non-governmental organizations with spyware, according to an Amnesty International investigation published Wednesday.

UNODC SEAsia-Pacific @UNODC_SEAP

First of a kind Southeast Asia #darknet #cybercrime report. #organizedcrime expand use of cyber to traffic drugs, exploit children, push fake medical products and more, accelerated by #COVID19. 🇯🇵 support for #ASEAN @alex_c_unodc @jdouglasSEA @NeilWalsh_UN unodc.org/southeastasiaa…

Hillary Clinton @HillaryClinton

“It’s like termites eating wood,” @mariaressa of Rappler told me, of disinformation's effect on democracy. “It looks solid, but the minute you step on it, it’ll break.” We talked about why our republic may be weaker than we think—and how to shore it up.

You and Me Both with Hillary ClintonHillary Clinton sits down for candid, in-depth, and sometimes hilarious conversations with people she finds fascinating. With help from her guests, Hillary will tackle the topics that shape our lives, from faith to the pressing political issues of our time to cooking tips for the cooking-challenged.podcasts.iheartradio.com

New Zealand & The Pacific

News site Stuff left Facebook. Seven months later, traffic is just fine and trust is higher
Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism
@CaithlinMercer
Sinead Boucher, CEO of the New Zealand's biggest news site, doesn’t regret leaving the platform and encourages others to experiment.

South and Central Asia

Facebook, WhatsApp and Twitter Face New Rules in India
The Wall Street Journal
@newley
India is establishing new rules to govern internet firms like Facebook, WhatsApp and Twitter, a fresh challenge for the American giants in a huge market that is key to their global expansion. The new guidelines, unveiled Thursday, say that in order to counter the rise of problematic content online like false news and violent material, intermediaries must establish “grievance redressal mechanisms”.

Chips are down: The case for making India a semiconductor manufacturing hub.
The Economic Times
As chips are now an integral part of almost all gadgets and equipment, the ripple effect has affected electronics, consumer durables, & almost every industry.

UK

Spy agency turns to AI to tackle child abuse
BBC News
@gordoncoreraon Twitter
UK intelligence agency GCHQ intends to use artificial intelligence to tackle issues from child sexual abuse to disinformation and human trafficking.

We have a chance to build a consensus on AI rules and norms
The Financial Times
GCHQ director argues data give a strategic and economic advantage but can be used for ill as well.

Europe

Microsoft joins forces with European news publishers
The Financial Times
Microsoft has joined forces with Europe’s publishers to deepen the troubles of Google and Facebook, launching a project to develop an Australia-style arbitration system for the EU that would force Big Tech to pay for news. The move by the Seattle-based company is one of its most brazen yet to align with the press industry, exploit the difficulties of its Silicon Valley rivals and promote its own search engine Bing as a copyright-friendly alternative for news.

Arbiter @ArbiterOfTweets

As promised: a follow-up on the bizarre astroturf behavior surrounding a recent Huawei campaign to put pressure on the Belgian government and its 5G policy - you might remember Mike Bai's sponsored tweets. What I've uncovered since is way, way worse. 1/

Arbiter @ArbiterOfTweets

We zijn de voorbije week allemaal bestookt met "sponsored tweets" van Huawei Europe en een zekere "Mike Bai". Daar zit een hele campagne achter, inclusief fake Twitter-profielen en fake nieuwssites, die draait om China en het 5G-netwerk in België. 👇 https://t.co/Qty6kvQlev

Denmark MFA 🇩🇰 @DanishMFA

Denmark 🇩🇰 aims to contribute to the global digital standards of technological development together with like-minded countries. A new strategy for Denmark's tech diplomacy has just been launched: techstrategi.um.dk/strategy-engli… #Techplomacy @JeppeKofod @TechambDK

Strategy for Denmark’sTech diplomacy2021-2023techstrategi.um.dk

Ukraine reports cyber-attack on government document management system
ZDNet
@campuscodi
Ukrainian officials blame "one of the hacker spy groups from the Russian Federation."

Africa

Glitch in the system: How the digitisation of South Africa’s social grant payments morphed into exploitation
Maverick Citizen
Unlawful and fraudulent deductions were rife, and bank accounts were often linked to the incorrect financial service. Recourse was near impossible, as everything had to be done through a call centre.

Misc

‘Millions of people’s data is at risk’ — Amazon insiders sound alarm over security
Politico
@vmanancourt
Whistleblowers say they were forced out after flagging problems with e-commerce giant’s data security and compliance.

AI facial analysis is scientifically questionable. Should we be using it for border control?
The Conversation
@thelawpublic
Governments may promise, as the Biden administration does, that technology will only serve “legitimate agency purposes”. But data misuse by governments is well documented.

10 Breakthrough Technologies 2021
MIT Technology Review
This list marks 20 years since we began compiling an annual selection of the year’s most important technologies. Some, such as mRNA vaccines, are already changing our lives, while others are still a few years off.

Ranking Digital Rights @rankingrights

💥 The 2020 RDR Index is LIVE! 💥 Twitter and Telefónica are on top. Amazon and Ooredoo are on the bottom. And our new standards on algorithms and targeted ads hit the companies hard. CHECK IT OUT on our bright new site: rankingdigitalrights.org/index2020/

2020 Ranking Digital Rights Corporate Accountability IndexA comprehensive ranking of top tech and telecom companies’ disclosed policies and practices affecting people’s rights to freedom of expression and privacy.rankingdigitalrights.org

DHH @dhh

New in @firefox: "Any time a website, or third-party content embedded in a website, deposits a cookie in your browser, that cookie is confined to the cookie jar assigned to that website, such that it is not allowed to be shared with any other website." blog.mozilla.org/security/2021/…

How to Use Clubhouse Without Giving Up Your Data
Consumer Reports
@yaelwrites
The popular social media platform has sparked concern from privacy and security experts. Here's how to protect yourself.

What's going on at Google AI?
Engadget
@Terrortola
The company won't stop firing its ethicists.

Twitter announces paid Super Follows to let you charge for tweets
The Verge
@Jake_k
Twitter announced a pair of big upcoming features today: the ability for users to charge their followers for access to additional content, and the ability to create and join groups based around specific interests.

Events

Dr. J. Stromer-Galley @profjsg

On Friday at noon EST, I'm giving a public talk on the importance of Facebook ads during the 2020 presidential campaign, and the ways the Trump campaign sewed doubt about vote integrity in his paid ads. Register to attend! cusecommunity.syr.edu/s/1632/17/inte…

Research

Revisiting the EU Cybersecurity Strategy: A Call for EU Cyber Diplomacy
German Institute for International and Security Affairs
@annegretbendiek @MCKettemann
In December 2020, the European Union (EU) presented its new strategy on cybersecurity with the aim of strengthening Europe’s technological and digital sovereignty. It clearly falls short of the development of a European cyber diplomacy that is committed to both “strategic openness” and the protection of the digital single market.

Bolstering America’s Cyber Diplomacy Capabilities
Federation for Defence of Democracies
The principles of an open, transparent, and reliable internet – a foundation of American prosperity – are currently under attack by authoritarian enemies and adversaries, including Russia and China. These regimes seek to establish an environment in which their governments control access to data and all forms of communication.

The rise of geoeconomics and the need for a resilient European semiconductor industry
MERICS
@BrigitteDekker_
Globalization over previous decades has created economic interdependence between states allowing supply chains to benefit from cross-border openness and the division of tasks in production processes. The US-China trade dispute, however, has called these collaborative advantages into question.