Cyber-attack takes down Ukrainian promotional website | Biden administration to protect water sector from cyberattacks | State-sponsored hacking groups quiet ahead of Beijing Olympics
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Unidentified hackers briefly took down a promotional website for Ukraine's foreign ministry for several hours on Wednesday, the ministry said, amid increased tensions between Kyiv and Moscow over a massive build-up of Russian forces near their borders. Reuters
The Biden administration on Thursday will kick off an effort to protect the country’s water sector from cyberattacks, the latest attempt by the federal government to strengthen the digital defenses of the nation’s critical infrastructure. The Record by Recorded Future
State-sponsored hacking groups have been uncharacteristically quiet leading up to the Olympic Games next month in Beijing. Researchers say there’s one big reason why: No one wants to get on the bad side of China. CyberScoop
ASPI ICPC
Australia’s politicians must ditch WeChat—before the election
The Strategist
Fergus Ryan
The loss of control of Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s account on the Chinese social media app WeChat should not have come as a surprise to the government. As I warned in multiple media appearances in 2019, in a research paper on WeChat and TikTok in September 2020, in The Strategist in December 2020 and ad nauseam on Twitter, the decision to have Morrison’s account registered under the name of a Chinese citizen was always risky and ill-advised.
How Australia's PM presented WeChat account loss as a China threat
BBC News
Frances Mao
Experts warned as early as 2019 that Mr Morrison's account may be vulnerable. It had long been clear it was "just registered to a random Chinese citizen", says China analyst Fergus Ryan from the Australian Strategic Policy Institute. "And that always meant that at any point in time the account could be stopped, could be taken down, sold; anything could happen to it because ultimate control of account wasn't held by Scott Morrison or his office."
Australia
Details are scarce on Australia-UK critical technology deals
InnovationAus
Joseph Brookes
State and federal governments have declined to disclose details of recently signed international agreements purported to boost emerging industries and cross border trade with the United Kingdom.
China
APTs quiet ahead of Beijing games, but financially motivated hackers are still lurking, research says
CyberScoop
Tonya Riley
State-sponsored hacking groups have been uncharacteristically quiet leading up to the Olympic Games next month in Beijing. Researchers say there’s one big reason why: No one wants to get on the bad side of China.
China to roll out dedicated 5G network for airports, plays down frequency interference concerns
Yahoo
China's aviation administration said its planned 5G network for Chinese airports will not affect aircraft safety because it uses aviation-specific frequencies that operate separately from public 5G networks.
How the Computer Chip Shortage Could Incite a U.S. Conflict With China
The New York Times
Julian E. Barnes
A war game and study by a think tank illustrate how dependent the world is on Taiwan’s semiconductor foundries.
USA
Biden administration launches initiative to protect U.S. water systems from cyberattacks
The Record by Recorded Future
Martin Matishak
The Biden administration on Thursday will kick off an effort to protect the country’s water sector from cyberattacks, the latest attempt by the federal government to strengthen the digital defenses of the nation’s critical infrastructure.
FCC revokes China Unicom's authorization to operate in U.S.
Reuters
David Shepardson and Diane Bartz
The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on Thursday voted to revoke the authorization for China Unicom's U.S. unit to operate in the United States, citing national security concerns.
Vast Troves of Classified Info Undermine National Security, Spy Chief Says
The Wall Street Journal
Dustin Volz
Avril Haines, the director of national intelligence, says the current classification system strains intelligence agencies and erodes public trust.
FBI warns over Iranian cyber group, tells organizations to up their defenses
ZDNet
Liam Tung
The FBI has issued an alert detailing the tools, techniques and tactics of an Iranian group, giving US organizations tips to defend against its malicious cyber activities.
IRS wants to scan your face
The Washington Post
Millions of Americans will soon have to scan their face to access their Internal Revenue Service tax accounts, one of the government’s biggest expansions yet of facial recognition software into people’s everyday lives.
MIT Cuts Ties With a Chinese AI Firm Amid Human Rights Concerns
WIRED
Will Knight
Reports accuse iFlytek of selling technology to the government that's used to oppress ethnic Uighurs in China's northwest.
YouTube permanently bans Fox News host Dan Bongino for posting covid misinformation
The Washington Post
Gerrit De Vynck
The Google-owned video service banned the right-wing media figure for repeatedly posting covid-19 misinformation.
Conspiracy theorists, banned on major social networks, connect with audiences on newsletters and podcasts
The Washington Post
Elizabeth Dwoskin
Newsletter company Substack and podcast hosting firms face backlash for misinformation spread by personalities who were kicked off bigger social media platforms.
Spotify Is Removing Neil Young Songs After He Complains of ‘Misinformation’
The New York Times
Ben Sisario
The singer decided to leave the streaming service because it gives a platform to Joe Rogan, whom scientists have accused of promoting falsehoods about coronavirus vaccines.
Amazon’s Still Selling Lots of Nazi Books
The Daily Beast
Spencer Sunshine
The global giant says it bans “content that we determine is hate speech,” but has never specified how it defines “hate speech.”
Venture Capital Becomes a Tech Battleground Between China, U.S.
The Wall Street Journal
Greg Ip
The recent tech selloffs in China and America have very different drivers, and therein lies a potential inflection point in the emerging competition between the two countries.
Crypto advocates blast House China bill for ransomware proposal
POLITICO
Sam Sutton
The bill includes language that would grant the Treasury secretary more authority to freeze or monitor financial accounts used for cross-border illegal activity.
Facebook’s Cryptocurrency Venture to Wind Down, Sell Assets
The Wall Street Journal
Peter Rudegeair and Liz Hoffman
The Diem Association, formerly known as Libra, is selling its technology to crypto-focused bank Silvergate Capital for $200 million.
ID.me CEO backtracks on claims company doesn't use powerful facial recognition tech
CyberScoop
Tonya Riley
Identity verification company ID.me uses a type of powerful facial recognition that searches for individuals within mass databases of photos, CEO Blake Hall explained in a LinkedIn post on Wednesday.
North Asia
Conti ransomware hits Apple, Tesla supplier
The Record by Recorded Future
Catalin Cimpanu
The Conti ransomware gang has been linked to an attack on Delta Electronics, a Taiwanese electronics manufacturing company and a major supplier of power components to companies like Apple and Tesla.
Europe
Cyber-attack briefly takes down Ukrainian ministry's promotional website
Reuters
Unidentified hackers briefly took down a promotional website for Ukraine's foreign ministry for several hours on Wednesday, the ministry said, amid increased tensions between Kyiv and Moscow over a massive build-up of Russian forces near their borders.
WhatsApp has until end of Feb to clarify privacy policy change, EU says
Reuters
Foo Yun Chee
Facebook unit WhatsApp has been given until the end of February to explain changes to its privacy policy and whether this complies with EU consumer protection laws after complaints from consumer groups, the European Commission said on Thursday.
Middle East
Iran's state broadcaster says it was hacked for 10 seconds
Reuters
Iran's state broadcaster was hacked for 10 seconds on Thursday, the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting News Agency reported.
Gender and Women in Cyber
She was a notorious hacker in the ’80s — then she disappeared
The Verge
Claire Evans
In the ’80s, Susan Headley ran with the best of them—phone phreakers, social engineers, and the most notorious computer hackers of the era. Then she disappeared.
Misc
Gay/Bi Dating App, Muslim Prayer Apps Sold Data on People’s Location to a Controversial Data Broker
The Markup
Jon Keegan and Alfred Ng
The controversial data broker X-Mode bought location data from Bro, a dating app for “bi, gay, and open-minded men,” the virtual makeup app Perfect365, and the popular live streaming app Tango, along with dozens of other specific phone apps that The Markup has identified as participating in the multibillion-dollar location data trade.
Research
New Tracking Global Online Censorship Site Explains Content Moderation Practices and Impacts
Electronic Frontier Foundation
Content moderation has become a critical topic across the globe. Unfortunately, it can still be difficult for the average person to understand the processes that go into content moderation, much less how to appeal decisions that those platforms make to censor content or accounts.
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.
ICPC Data Analyst
ASPI ICPC
ASPI’s International Cyber Policy Centre (ICPC) has an outstanding opportunity for talented Data Analysts to join its growing centre. ASPI’s ICPC undertakes complex research on some of the most challenging issues at the intersection of technology and public policy. How do we develop international norms to deter information operations and coercive diplomacy, how should we build international cooperation on the development of emerging critical technologies, what is the right balance between regulation and innovation? We deliver empirical research that is policy-relevant and we’re looking for people who can help us analyse data at scale.