Dutch to restrict semiconductor tech exports to China | Chinese AI groups use cloud services to evade US chip export controls | G-7 eyes joint effort to turn e-waste into rare earths, other metals
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The Daily Cyber & Tech Digest focuses on the topics we work on, including cybersecurity, critical technologies, foreign interference & disinformation.
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The Netherlands' government said it plans new restrictions on exports of semiconductor technology to protect national security, joining the U.S. effort to curb chip exports to China. The announcement marked the first concrete move by the Dutch. Reuters
Chinese artificial intelligence groups are skirting export controls to access high-end US chips through intermediaries, revealing potential loopholes in Washington’s blockade of cutting-edge technology to the country. AI surveillance groups targeted by US sanctions have found ways to obtain restricted technology. Financial Times
G-7 major economies are bolstering cooperation on urban mining, a process that turns electronic waste into a source of rare-earth elements and other industrially important rare metals as they seek to reduce dependence on major producers like China. Nikkei Asia
ASPI
AUKUS subs defend our sovereignty
The Australian Financial Review
Justin Bassi and Alex Bristow
Along with investment in the advanced capabilities pillar of AUKUS (including cyber, artificial intelligence, quantum and undersea technology) and the requirements set out in the upcoming Defence Strategic Review, these measures will help to strengthen our ability to deter aggression and thereby avoid war, while preparing us to fight if necessary.
Government needs to go back to basics to build an Australian rare-earths industry
The Strategist
David Uren
Australia’s ability to make meaningful inroads into the downstream processing and manufacturing of critical minerals is hobbled by the downsizing of the country’s established metals processing industry over the past two decades. The Australian government sees building a critical minerals industry as a matter of national economic sovereignty. Its ambition is that, first, precursor products will be manufactured in Australia, and then that Australia eventually becomes a significant producer of technologies like solar panels, permanent magnets and batteries.
World
G-7 eyes joint effort to turn e-waste into rare earths, other metals
Nikkei Asia
Satsuki Kaneko
G-7 major economies are bolstering cooperation on urban mining, a process that turns electronic waste into a source of rare-earth elements and other industrially important rare metals as they seek to reduce dependence on major producers like China. A framework for smoother cross-border transfer of waste is also in the works. In 2025, an updated Basel Convention concerning electronic waste will enter into force.
Men on Pinterest are creating sex-themed image boards of little girls. The platform makes it easy
NBC News
Jesselyn Cook
Aggregating individually innocuous images of minors into potentially sexually suggestive collections is a practice experts describe as awful, but in many cases, lawful, meaning platforms have no legal obligation to take action. Yet Pinterest isn’t just allowing this to happen on its website — its recommendation engine is making it easy. The company is inadvertently curating this content for adults who seek it out and potentially exposing the girls to pedophiles.
Australia
Optus and Telstra unite in cyber battle
The Australian Financial Review
Paul Smith
Optus CEO Kelly Bayer Rosmarin’s first public appearance at The Australian Financial Review's annual Business Summit - just after a high-level panel discussion featuring Telstra’s cyber boss Narelle Devine, Home Affairs secretary Mike Pezzullo and advisory board member for Australia’s pending cyber strategy Mel Hupfeld - was a real eye-opener for those who have traditionally turned up for robust debate about fiscal policy.
China
Chinese AI groups use cloud services to evade US chip export controls
Financial Times
Eleanor Olcott and Qianer Liu
Chinese artificial intelligence groups are skirting export controls to access high-end US chips through intermediaries, revealing potential loopholes in Washington’s blockade of cutting-edge technology to the country. AI surveillance groups targeted by US sanctions have found ways to obtain restricted technology by using cloud providers and rental arrangements with third parties, as well as purchasing the chips through subsidiary companies in China.
Baidu hurries to ready China’s first ChatGPT equivalent ahead of launch
The Wall Street Journal
Raffaele Huang and Karen Hao
A week away from the March 16 launch of Baidu Inc.’s ChatGPT equivalent, employees at China’s biggest search-engine operator said they are racing to meet the deadline with the chatbot still struggling to perform some basic functions. To develop the AI-powered chatbot, dubbed Ernie Bot, hundreds of people have been working around the clock. Other teams have been asked to lend their staff and their powerful computer chips, which Chinese companies can no longer buy because of US sanctions.
USA
‘A surreal experience’: former Biden ‘disinfo’ chief details harassment
POLITICO
Heidi Przybyla
The Biden administration’s Disinformation Governance Board lasted a few weeks last spring before the board itself was dissolved by the administration following an outcry by GOP lawmakers that it was going to censor the free speech of conservatives. But that was just the beginning of intense public and online harassment spurred by conservative media attacks and emblemized by the self-styled citizen-journalist who repeatedly stalked her, doxxing and recording her without her consent.
Catholic group spent millions on app data that tracked gay priests
The Washington Post
Michelle Boorstein and Heather Kelly
A group of conservative Colorado Catholics has spent millions of dollars to buy mobile app tracking data that identified priests who used gay dating and hookup apps and then shared it with bishops around the country. The project’s aim is to “empower the church to carry out its mission” by giving bishops “evidence-based resources” with which to identify weaknesses in how they train priests.
High schoolers made a racist deepfake of a principal threatening black students
VICE
David Gilbert
Three high school students just north of New York City posted videos on TikTok that appeared to show a nearby middle school principal and a member of law enforcement making virulently violent and racist remarks about Black students. These deepfakes were significantly altered to appear like these individuals, shouting a string of racist slurs, including calling Black students “monkeys” and saying they would be sent back to Africa.
Eyeing China, Pentagon asks Congress to boost funds for Pacific forces
POLITICO
Lara Seligman and Lee Hudson
The Pentagon is asking Congress to significantly increase funding for the U.S. military’s presence in the Pacific, signaling the Biden administration’s increasing sense of urgency toward countering China’s aggressive behavior in the region. Alongside President Joe Biden’s budget request for next year, the Pentagon will submit a new $15.3 billion plan to fund Pacific forces.
US Chamber of Commerce calls for AI regulation
iTnews
The US Chamber of Commerce has called for regulation of artificial intelligence technology to ensure it does not hurt growth or become a national security risk, a departure from the business lobbying group's typical anti-regulatory stance. The Chamber report argues policymakers and business leaders must quickly ramp up their efforts to establish a "risk-based regulatory framework" that will ensure AI is deployed responsibly.
North Asia
Internet outage has Taiwan worried about threat from Chinese sabotage
The Washington Post
Meaghan Tobin and Vic Chiang
The undersea internet cables that serve the Matsu island chain — part of Taiwan but at points only a few miles from China — were severed just over a month ago. There is no evidence that the action was intentional, according to Chunghwa Telecom. But analysts and local officials have said the frequent cable breaks caused by Chinese vessels amount to purposeful harassment that keeps Taiwan’s government and telecom companies scrambling to provide basic services.
Europe
Dutch to restrict semiconductor tech exports to China, joining US effort
Reuters
Toby Sterling, Karen Freifeld and Alexandra Alper
The Netherlands' government on Wednesday said it plans new restrictions on exports of semiconductor technology to protect national security, joining the U.S. effort to curb chip exports to China. The announcement marked the first concrete move by the Dutch, who oversee essential chipmaking technology, toward adopting rules urged by Washington to hobble China's chipmaking industry and slow its military advances.
Danish public broadcaster advises staff against using TikTok
BBC
Joe Tidy
Denmark's public-service broadcaster has advised staff not to have TikTok on their work phones, because of security concerns. DR said the decision followed a security review and warnings from Denmark's Centre for Cyber Security. Journalists needing access to the app for research must now ask for permission to use what staff are calling special "TikTok phones".
ECB will hold cyber attack stress test for banks next year
Bloomberg
Nicholas Comfort
The European Central Bank will test lenders next year on their ability to recover from a successful cyber attack as tensions with Russia over the war in Ukraine push the issue further up the list of priorities for regulators. The ECB will “devote quite a significant amount of time and resources” to the thematic stress test on cyber resilience.
Germany and the Netherlands signal weakening of Europe’s China tech ties
Fortune
David Meyer
A day after it emerged that Germany is considering heavy restrictions on the use of Huawei and ZTE equipment in its 5G networks, the Netherlands confirmed it’s about to ban the export of more advanced chipmaking equipment to China.
UK
Darktrace warns of rise in AI-enhanced scams since ChatGPT release
The Guardian
Mark Sweney
The cybersecurity firm Darktrace has warned that since the release of ChatGPT it has seen an increase in criminals using artificial intelligence to create more sophisticated scams to con employees and hack into businesses.
Africa
African tech leaders to converge at the Africa Cloud & Security Summit
The Star
The Africa Cloud & Security Summit is set to bring together leading experts in cloud computing and cybersecurity for two days of insightful discussions and thought-provoking presentations. The event, organised by dx5 (formerly CIO Africa), will take place on March 16 and 17, promising to be a timely and important event for anyone interested in cloud computing and cybersecurity.
Following International Women’s Day, Tanzania is looking to close the gender gap in its digital sector
Business Insider Africa
Chinedu Okafor
The Tanzanian government is looking to eliminate the gender disparity that exists in the country via an initiative called the National Digital Economy Strategy. This initiative includes policy reviews, ICT skill development, and the reduction of cyber tragedies affecting different groups.
Big Tech
Meta doesn’t want to police the metaverse. Kids are paying the price
The Washington Post
Naomi Nix
Kids are flocking to Meta's flagship VP app, Horizon Worlds, which experts say is rife with bigotry, harassment and sexually explicit content.
FTC Twitter investigation sought Elon Musk’s internal communications, journalist names
The Wall Street Journal
Ryan Tracy
The Federal Trade Commission has demanded Twitter Inc. turn over internal communications related to owner Elon Musk, as well as detailed information about layoffs—citing concerns that staff reductions could compromise the company’s ability to protect users.
Artificial Intelligence
ChatGPT comes to Microsoft’s enterprise-focused, Azure-powered managed service
TechCrunch
Kyle Wiggers
Microsoft today announced that ChatGPT is generally available through the Azure OpenAI Service, the company’s fully managed, corporate-focused offering designed to give businesses access to OpenAI’s technologies with added governance and compliance features.
Events & Podcasts
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