Clean pipes: Should ISPs provide a more secure internet? | Twitter bans 7,000 QAnon accounts, limits 150,000 others | The White House pushing a conspiracy theorist for top Pentagon position
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One of the largest online challenges facing Australia is to provide effective cybersecurity to the majority of internet users who don’t have the skills or resources to defend themselves. This paper explores the concept of ‘Clean Pipes’, which is the idea that internet service providers (ISPs) could provide security services to their customers to deliver a level of default security. ASPI ICPC
The company will classify QAnon as coordinated harmful activity in part because of a rise in harassment targeting high-profile critics of the president. NBC News
The White House is pushing the Department of Defense to hire a former National Security Council staffer who has repeatedly pushed fringe conspiracy theories on Twitter and in media appearances. CNN
ASPI ICPC
Internet service providers urged to deliver 'clean pipes' to customers
The Sydney Morning Herald
Internet service providers are being urged to share information and automatically blacklist dangerous websites as Australia battles an escalation of cyber attacks. An Australian Strategic Policy Institute report calls for the federal government to encourage all ISPs to establish "clean pipes" for their customers, just as water utilities provide clean drinking water.
The report, to be released on Thursday, said ISPs should provide a service that automatically blocked malicious websites and warned customers about phishing links that stole confidential information..The report said ISPs had been hesitant to provide a "clean pipe" for several reasons, including cost, lack of capability and the reputational risk of inadvertently blocking legitimate traffic. But Sean Duca, regional chief security officer with global cyber-security company Palo Alto Networks, said elsewhere in the world there was reputational risk for ISPs that didn't provide clean pipes.
New ASPI ICPC Report: Clean pipes: Should ISPs provide a more secure internet?
ASPI ICPC
@tomatospy
One of the largest online challenges facing Australia is to provide effective cybersecurity to the majority of internet users who don’t have the skills or resources to defend themselves. This paper explores the concept of ‘Clean Pipes’, which is the idea that internet service providers (ISPs) could provide security services to their customers to deliver a level of default security.How internet service providers can defend the undefendable
ASPI ICPC The Strategist
@tomatospy
On the whole, the internet has been a tremendous boon for society, but it has also exposed all of Australia—our people, our economy and our government—to sources of unexpected danger from across the entire planet.
Australian Muslims urge the government to officially ban extremist far-right organisations
SBS News
Dr Jake Wallis, a senior analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, said platforms are increasingly looking for government direction in response to the extremism. “The listing of groups would be a statement from the government on the significant threat that is emerging from right-wing extremism,” he told SBS News.. But he said Australia taking a stance on this issue would give it more ability to influence the positions of social media companies. “Otherwise we are simply reacting to what happens elsewhere in the world … or perhaps more importantly the positions the platforms themselves take,” he said.
Face masks made with allegedly forced Uighur labour in China are being sold in Australia
Guardian
At least 200,000 face masks made by Hubei Haixin Protective Products Group Co Ltd in China and then sent to multiple distributors in Australia are in question, and consumers may be unwittingly purchasing masks made by allegedly coerced labour. The ASPI analyst Vicky Xu said it was becoming “absolutely impossible” for auditors to conduct normal human rights checks on factories in China, making due diligence extremely difficult.
The World
Facebook Creates Teams to Study Racial Bias, After Previously Limiting Such Efforts
WSJ
The social media giant aims to study and address potential racial bias on its core platform and Instagram unit, in a departure from the company’s prior reluctance to explore the way its products affect different minority groups.
Twitter bans 7,000 QAnon accounts, limits 150,000 others as part of broad crackdown
NBC News
The company will classify QAnon as coordinated harmful activity in part because of a rise in harassment targeting high-profile critics of the president.
Far-right groups and conspiracy theories are being brought together through the internet
ASPI ICPC
In ASIO's first-ever annual threat assessment, delivered in Canberra this week, director-general Mike Burgess warned of the rise of right-wing extremism in Australia. Describing it as a "real" and "growing" threat, he emphasised the role of online communities in fostering international connections between far-right groups.
5G And Machine Learning: Taking Cellular Base Stations From Smart To Genius
Forbes
5G is ushering in a new breed of “genius” networks to deal with the increased levels of complexity, prediction and real time decision making that is required to deliver the performance gains promised not just in enhanced mobile broadband applications but also in IoT and mission critical use cases.
Interesting times for TikTok
Lowy Institute
The debate over banning the social media app hits on big issues of tech, trade and sovereignty..What is distinct about TikTok’s data dilemma is its connection to Beijing. ByteDance is required to cooperate with state intelligence-gathering activities, and regardless of which law says what, the nature of China’s authoritarian system does not provide many pathways for resisting its authorities.
Australia
US Department of Justice Indictment of Cyber Actors
Australian Cyber Security Centre
The Australian Government expresses its concern over reports of global malicious cyber intrusions, as detailed in today’s unsealing of indictments by the US Department of Justice. The indictments note that these actors compromised networks across the world for commercial and personal gain. The actors targeted a range of industries, including manufacturing, medical device engineering, software, solar energy, pharmaceuticals, and defence.
Australia hits out at Chinese hackers, as Pompeo urges global coalition against China
The Sydney Morning Herald
Australia has expressed alarm over Chinese hackers compromising networks across the world for commercial and personal gain, after a US Justice Department indictment alleged a decade-long spree targeting an Australian defence contractor, the personal data of Hong Kong protesters and COVID-19 vaccine researchers.
New police powers to be broad enough to target Facebook
The Sydney Morning Herald
The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age can reveal new laws being worked on to go after criminals on the dark web will be broad enough to be used on social media platforms such as Facebook, which are "going dark". Australian Federal Police Commissioner Reece Kershaw on Wednesday said his organisation would "name and shame" companies that do not fully co-operate with requests for access to encrypted messages and content on the dark web, and suggested new laws may be needed. A senior security source said Facebook would become "the largest dark website on the planet" under its changes, which could hide the IP addresses of Facebook users from authorities.
China
Malware stashed in China-mandated software is more extensive than thought
Ars Technica
Move over GoldenSpy, earlier GoldenHelper malware also targeted businesses in China.
San Francisco consulate is harboring Chinese military researcher wanted by FBI, prosecutors say
Axios
A researcher who lied about her affiliation with a Chinese military university entered the Chinese consulate in San Francisco after being interviewed by the FBI on June 20 about alleged visa fraud and has remained there, according to an FBI assessment in court filings dated July 20.. "It is highly unusual for a Chinese diplomatic post to associate so closely with a suspect in an intellectual property theft-related case," said Minyao Wang, a New York-based lawyer who has worked on IP theft cases related to China.
Chinese Hackers Charged in Decade-Long Crime and Spying Spree
Wired
From defense contractors to videogame companies, the indictment details an astonishing array of victims.
USA
US orders closure of Chinese consulate in Houston
CNN
The United States government has abruptly ordered China to "cease all operations and events" at its consulate in Houston, Texas, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry, in what it called an "unprecedented escalation" in recent actions taken by Washington. US State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said the consulate was directed to close "in order to protect American intellectual property and Americans' private information."
The White House is pushing a conspiracy theorist fired from the NSC for a top Pentagon position
CNN
The White House is pushing the Department of Defense to hire a former National Security Council staffer who has repeatedly pushed fringe conspiracy theories on Twitter and in media appearances.
Risch, Gardner, Romney, Young Introduce Landmark Legislation to Compete with China
United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations
U.S. Senators Jim Risch (R-Idaho), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Cory Gardner (R-Colo.), Mitt Romney (R-Utah), and Todd Young (R-Ind.) today introduced the Strengthening Trade, Regional Alliances, Technology, and Economic and Geopolitical Initiatives Concerning China Act (The STRATEGIC Act) to advance a comprehensive strategy for U.S. competition with the People’s Republic of China (PRC).. Key provisions of the senators’ legislation: Tackle China’s economic practices that distort global markets and hurt U.S. businesses, especially IP theft and mass government subsidization and sponsorship of Chinese companies. Confront tech competition by increasing technology collaboration with allies and partners.
ISIS Is Setting Up Fake Social Justice Accounts on Facebook
The Daily Beast
The Islamic State has lately been stealing ordinary people’s accounts on Facebook—not just to post its usual jihadist propaganda but also to egg on American social unrest under false identities. As outlined in a new in-depth report by the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD), while the social media company has managed over the last two years to detect and delete 99 percent of terrorism-related posts, ISIS supporters have figured out ways to make themselves and their content part of that remaining 1 percent.
TikTok to hire 10,000 in US to highlight company's job creation
Nikkei Asian Review
TikTok's owner plans to hire 10,000 people in the U.S., Nikkei has learned, in a move aimed at highlighting its contribution to employing Americans, a priority for the Trump Administration, as parent company ByteDance tries to avoid U.S. government sanctions against the Chinese short-video sharing startup.
North Asia
Japan reveals 87 projects eligible for 'China exit' subsidies
Nikkei Asian Review
Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry on Friday unveiled the first group of Japanese companies to subsidize for shifting manufacturing out of China to Southeast Asia or Japan.
New Zealand
Should New Zealand internet addresses be for Kiwis only?
NZ Herald
InternetNZ panel weighs privacy, security and parochial issues amid a cash squeeze.
Europe
France won't ban Huawei, but encouraging 5G telcos to avoid it: report
Reuters
The head of the French cybersecurity agency ANSSI said there would not be a total ban on using equipment from Huawei in the rollout of the French 5G telecoms network, but that it was pushing French telcos to avoid switching to the Chinese company.
Deutsche Telekom selects Ericsson for 5G RAN
Mobile World Live
Deutsche Telekom struck a deal with Ericsson to deploy the Swedish vendor’s 5G RAN and spectrum sharing solutions across Germany, a move announced weeks after the operator denied a strengthened 5G partnership with rival Huawei.
Russia
Academic Project Used Marketing Data to Monitor Russian Military Sites
WSJ
Cellphone location data purchased from marketers enabled researchers at Mississippi State to track the movements of Russian generals. The data have major implications for national-security and law-enforcement agencies, too. Commercially available location data is increasingly used for sensitive surveillance by researchers, government agencies.
North America
Standing up for Human Rights means blocking Huawei from 5G
Macdonald-Laurier Institute
Huawei is unapologetic about its direct implication in the ascendancy and consolidation of authoritarian powers. Its technology is demonstrably being used to undermine democracy, enable espionage, and empower serious human-rights abusers on a global scale.
Middle East
Two more cyber-attacks hit Israel's water system
ZDNet
Two more cyber-attacks have hit Israel's water management facilities, officials from the Water Authority said last week. Officials said the attacks took place last month, in June, and didn't cause any damage to the attacked organizations.
Misc
Former Google CEO Wants to Create a Government-Funded University to Train A.I. Coders
One Zero
The Digital Service Academy would compete with Stanford and MIT.
Events
SecuriDay | Canberra 2020
Kids SecuriDay
Kids SecuriDay is going digital! Our August event is tied to National Science Week which will be going entirely digital so we will be too. The National Science Week schools theme this year is 'Deep Blue: innovations for the future of our oceans' so our theme will be pirates! We've got a stack of fun talks, workshops, competitions and games planned so keep an eye out for our upcoming announcements.
Jobs
Program Manager/Senior Analyst
ASPI’s International Cyber Policy Centre (ICPC) has an outstanding opportunity for a talented, proactive and super efficient program manager/senior analyst to join its growing centre. The successful candidate will need to have a proven track record of leading teams and experience in project management including financial and stakeholder management (which will include industry, the Australian Government, Parliament and foreign governments). To succeed in this position candidates should have exceptional communication and problem-solving skills and experience in research, policy analysis or policy development.
Analyst
ASPI’s International Cyber Policy Centre has an outstanding opportunity for a talented and proactive allrounder to join its growing centre. The ICPC is looking for someone who is an excellent writer and researcher and who is a team player - you will need to juggle multiple research projects that could span the range of topics listed above. This is not an entry level position. Analysts in ICPC have between 5-15 years’ relevant work experience and, depending on experience, are involved in stakeholder and project management, fundraising and the management of small teams.
GFCE Working Group Coordinator
GFCE
The Global Forum on Cyber Expertise (GFCE) Secretariat is seeking an organized, efficient, and communicative GFCE Working Group Coordinator to join the GFCE Secretariat’s team in its main office in The Hague, the Netherlands, starting 16 August 2020.