Danish secret service helped US spy on Germany's Angela Merkel | Italy gives Vodafone 5G deal with Huawei conditional approval | U.S. agency not doing its job to halt tech to China's military
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Denmark's complicity in the NSA spying scandal against German politicians has been revealed in a joint European media investigation. Denmark's secret service helped the US National Security Agency (NSA) spy on EU leaders, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, a European media investigation published on Sunday revealed. DW
Vodafone's Italian unit has secured conditional approval from Rome to use equipment made by China's Huawei in its 5G radio access network, two sources close to the matter said.. The government of national unity led by Prime Minister Mario Draghi authorised the deal between Vodafone and Huawei on May 20, one of the two sources told Reuters, asking not to be named because of the sensitivity of the matter. Reuters
The U.S. Commerce Department is failing to do its part to protect national security and keep sensitive technology out of the hands of China's military, according to a U.S. congressional advisory report seen by Reuters. Reuters
World
JBS USA cyber attack affecting North American and Australian systems
ZDNet
@ashabeeeee
United States-based food processing company JBS USA has confirmed falling victim to a cyber attack, with the aftermath affecting its North American and Australian systems… [The] company said there's nothing to suggest that customer or supplier data has been compromised. New Zealand's Waikato District Health Board, meanwhile, is approaching its third week of disruption following a ransomware attack.
Australia’s largest meat processor shut down by cyber attack
The Sydney Morning Herald
@micksfoley @_SarahMcPhee
Multinational company JBS, which is also the largest meat processor in Australia, had its global information systems brought down on the weekend. JBS has a network of 47 facilities with abattoirs and feedlots in NSW, Queensland, Victoria and Tasmania.
Australia
Australia’s drug regulator may refer anti-vaccination Facebook posts to federal police
The Guardian
@Paul_Karp
Australia’s drug regulator is considering referring Covid vaccine misinformation posts to the federal police, after anti-vaccine campaigners targeted a Labor MP who posted about getting the jab.
Public Sector Informant: Agencies not immune to cyber attacks
The Canberra Times
Clive Williams
Ransomware attacks have come at great cost, showing it is far better for organisations to minimise their vulnerability.
Australian CEOs see cyber security risks as top threat, reports PwC
IT News
Most Australian CEOs surveyed by PwC see cyber security risks as a threat to growth, though more could be done to help them understand those risks, the firm reports. PwC’s 24th CEO Survey found that 95 per cent of Australian CEOs saw cyber risks as the top threat to business growth.
Cyber attack threats grow for directors
The Australian
The threat of malicious actors breaching the cyber defences of the nation’s top financial institutions keeps escalating, along with the potential legal liabilities of directors.
British military seeks briefings from Australia over security concerns about Israeli battle management technology
ABC News
@andrewbgreene
The ABC can reveal the British military last year approached the Australian Defence Force to learn more about possible risks associated with a Battle Management System (BMS) developed by Elbit Systems.
Australia's Nine signs Facebook, Google deals under new licensing regime
Reuters
@byronkaye
Australian broadcaster and publisher Nine Entertainment Co Holdings Ltd said it signed multi-year content-supply deals with Google and Facebook Inc, harnessing tough new licencing laws to bolster profit.
China
Chinese President Xi Jinping seeks to rally country’s scientists for ‘unprecedented’ contest
South China Morning Post
@CocoF1026
China should be prepared for “unprecedented” scientific and technological competition, which has become the “the main battleground” of global power rivalry, President Xi Jinping has said in a rallying call to the country’s scientists. Xi said China needed to speed up its efforts to tackle technological bottlenecks and make breakthroughs in key areas such as artificial intelligence, semiconductors, quantum technology, life science and energy in a speech to mark the country’s national day for science and research on Sunday. The Chinese leader cited rising protectionism, rapid changes to the global supply chain and increasing uncertainty in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic as reasons to act.
Chinese AI lab challenges Google, OpenAI with a model of 1.75 trillion parameters
PingWest
Chen Du
In the race to build the underlying technologies that can power the next wave of AI revolution, a Chinese lab just toppled OpenAI, the venerated US-based research lab, in terms of who can train a gigantic deep learning model with the most training parameters--as for whether or not there is a race, at least ranking members of the lab believe so.
Ex-Head of China’s Digital Yuan Effort Says CBDCs Could Operate on Ethereum
Yahoo Finance
Daniel Palmer
The former head of the digital currency initiative at the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) said central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) are set to become more “smart” and could one day operate on blockchain networks like Ethereum.
USA
EXCLUSIVE U.S. agency not doing its job to halt tech to China's military -congressional report
Reuters
@karen_freifeld
The U.S. Commerce Department is failing to do its part to protect national security and keep sensitive technology out of the hands of China's military, according to a U.S. congressional advisory report seen by Reuters.
North Asia
Govt to press ahead with real-name SIM registration
RTHK
@RthkPriscilla
The government has announced that people will be required to register their identity when buying pay-as-you-go mobile phone SIM cards from March next year, saying a month-long consultation showed the requirement had “strong” public backing.
Europe
Danish secret service helped US spy on Germany's Angela Merkel: report
DW
Denmark's complicity in the NSA spying scandal against German politicians has been revealed in a joint European media investigation. Denmark's secret service helped the US National Security Agency (NSA) spy on EU leaders, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, a European media investigation published on Sunday revealed.
Italy gives Vodafone 5G deal with Huawei conditional approval - sources
Reuters
@elvirapollina @giuseppe_fonte
Vodafone's Italian unit has secured conditional approval from Rome to use equipment made by China's Huawei in its 5G radio access network, two sources close to the matter said… The government of national unity led by Prime Minister Mario Draghi authorised the deal between Vodafone and Huawei on May 20, one of the two sources told Reuters, asking not to be named because of the sensitivity of the matter.
Ex-Huawei employee spy trial starts in Poland
Light Reading
@PadraigBelton
The espionage trial of a former Huawei employee gets underway today in a Warsaw court. The timing couldn't be more awkward for the company, as it seeks to downplay criticisms it is closely linked to the Chinese state… Wang, who is 39, stands accused of recruiting a former Polish Internal Security Agency cybersecurity expert, who passed on information about monitoring systems used in Polish classified communication networks.
Seven European countries begin issuing a digital Covid certificate for travel.
The New York Times
@MatinaStevis
A digital Covid certificate system intended to ease travel within the European Union became operational in seven countries on Tuesday — ahead of schedule — offering a preview of what could become a standard for post-pandemic global mobility.
Middle East
Facebook employees demand changes around Palestinian content
Financial Times
Open letter to executives asks for audit of moderation policies that affected posts about Gaza conflict.
Instagram making changes to its algorithm after it was accused of censoring pro-Palestinian content
The Verge
@SocialKimLy
Facebook-owned Instagram has made changes to its algorithm after a group of its employees reportedly complained that pro-Palestinian content was not viewable for users during the conflict in Gaza. Instagram typically surfaces original content in its stories before reposted content, but will now begin to give equal weighting to both, the company confirmed to The Verge on Sunday.
Misc
Twitter May Start Labeling Your Tweets Based on How Wrong You Are
Gizmodo
@pithyalyse
Twitter is one of many social media companies that’s struggled to keep misinformation from running rampant on its platform over the years. Its latest attempt to move the needle looks to be a tiered warning label system that changes based on how wrong you are, according to app researcher Jane Manchun Wong.
Facebook Takes on Superspreaders
The New York Times
@ShiraOvide
Internet companies are making it harder for those with big followings to spread misinformation. Finally!
As electric vehicles take off, we'll need to recycle their batteries
National Geographic
Madeleine Stone
Electric car batteries contain critical minerals like cobalt and lithium. We’ll need to recycle them unless we want to keep mining the earth for new ones.
The race to understand the exhilarating, dangerous world of language AI
MIT Technology Review
@_KarenHao
Hundreds of scientists around the world are working together to understand one of the most powerful emerging technologies before it’s too late.
Meet China's tiny, adorable Tesla-slayer
Protocol
@ZeyiYang
The Wuling Hongguang Mini EV is a homegrown tiny car that has risen to Chinese social media stardom through a rebranding effort worthy of a business school textbook. It's not just China's best-selling EV; it's also a meme.
Research
How to Respond to Tiananmen Trolls
Doublethink Lab
@TTCATz, Poyu Tseng, Yun-Ju Chen, Jiayu Wei
Doublethink Lab has collated messages intended to whitewash the CCP’s atrocities, and were able to categorize them into three groups, each with their own motives and narrative strategies.
Events
An Australian strategy for the quantum revolution
ASPI
ASPI is delighted to invite you to the hybrid event ‘An Australian Strategy for the quantum revolution’ to be held in person in Canberra and streamed online via Livestorm on Thursday 3 June at 5.30pm. A new report by ASPI’s International Cyber Policy Centre – ‘An Australian strategy for the quantum revolution’ – argues Australia needs a clear quantum strategy with strong political leadership and an organised effort of policy focus and public investment. It also recognises that quantum is just one among a number of critical technologies and that a step change is needed in Australia’s policy settings related to critical and emerging technologies generally. Without this coordinated effort, Australia will be left behind. Join report authors Professor Gavin Brennen, Simon Devitt, Tara Roberson and Peter Rohde, and ASPI’s Danielle Cave for a one-hour panel discussion on the report’s findings, Australia’s competitive advantage in quantum and how we can better leverage the quantum revolution including across the research sector and the national security, defence and intelligence community.
Jobs
ICPC Analyst or Senior Analyst - Cyber & technology
ASPI ICPC
ASPI’s International Cyber Policy Centre (ICPC) has a unique opportunity for an exceptional cyber-security or technology focused analyst or senior analyst to join its centre in 2021. Please note that interviews have commenced for this position and will continue until the end of June. This role will focus on policy relevant cybersecurity analysis, informed public commentary and either original data-heavy research and/or technical analysis. Analysts usually have around 7-15 years work experience. Senior analysts usually have a minimum of 15 years relevant work experience and tend to be involved in staff and project management, fundraising and stakeholder engagement.
Global Voices seeks a director for our Advox Project, to lead our work on technology and rights
Global Voices
Global Voices is seeking a director to lead our Advox project, to guide our editorial reporting, research, activism and advocacy on freedom of expression and digital rights and technology.