Election misinformation on WeChat targets Chinese Australians | Japan, EU agree to step up 'Beyond 5G' cooperation | Costa Rica declares emergency in ongoing cyber attack
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Chinese Australians are being shown misinformation and unauthorised political advertising on dominant social network WeChat, during a federal election campaign where major parties are courting their votes in key marginal seats. The Sydney Morning Herald
Japan and the European Union have agreed to step up cooperation in research and development of next-generation communication standards known as Beyond 5G. NHK
After a month of crippling ransomware attacks, Costa Rica has declared a state of emergency. In theory, the measure usually reserved to deal with natural disasters or the COVID-19 pandemic would free up the government to react more nimbly to the crisis. ABC News
ASPI ICPC
WeChat, the Chinese mega app, can do almost everything - including election misinformation
The Sydney Morning Herald
Nick Bonyhady and Kat Wong
Chinese Australians are being shown misinformation and unauthorised political advertising on dominant social network WeChat, during a federal election campaign where major parties are courting their votes in key marginal seats. ASPI’s Fergus Ryan is sceptical of how seriously WeChat is about enforcing its rules.
WeChat posts spread misinformation saying Labor plans ‘to turn children gay’ and ‘destroy Chinese wealth’
The Guardian
Anne Davies and Wing Kuang
A subterranean campaign on the Chinese-language social media platform WeChat has ramped up in the final weeks of the 2022 federal election campaign, with material being shared in private groups that alleges Labor and the Greens will fund school programs to turn students gay, impose new taxes and destroy Chinese wealth.
Ukraine maps reveal how much territory Russia has lost in just a few days
Newsweek
Gerrard Kaonga
New maps have shown how much territory the Russian army has lost in Ukraine in the past few days as foreign intelligence agencies say that Russia clearly underestimated the resistance they would face from Ukrainians.
Russian military documents appear to show plan for total Ukraine occupation
Newsweek
Aila Slisco
Nathan Ruser, a researcher for the independent nonpartisan think tank Australian Strategic Policy Institute, shared multiple maps to Twitter on Tuesday that suggested the Russian army had recently lost control of a significant amount of Ukrainian territory.
Ukraine - Russia
Congress asks Meta, TikTok, Youtube and Twitter to archive evidence of Russian war crimes
TechCrunch
Amanda Silberling
Four U.S. representatives signed letters to the CEOs of Meta, TikTok, YouTube and Twitter urging them to archive any content uploaded to their platforms that could be used as evidence of Russian war crimes.
The case for war crimes charges against Russia’s Sandworm hackers
WIRED
Andy Greenberg
For weeks, evidence has been piling up of the Russian military's apparent war crimes in the midst of its brutal invasion of Ukraine: mass graves, bombed hospitals, even makeshift torture chambers. But amidst those atrocities—and the push to hold the perpetrators accountable—one group is making the counterintuitive case that another arm of the Russian military should be included in any international war crimes charges: the Kremlin's most disruptive and dangerous hackers.
Is Putin sick - Or are we meant to think he is?
New Lines Magazine
Michael Weiss
An oligarch close to the Kremlin was recorded on a tape saying the president is ‘very ill with blood cancer.’ Is this true, idle speculation or disinformation designed to make an erratic and paranoid dictator vulnerable?
Sanctions forcing Russia to use appliance parts in military gear
The Washington Post
Jeanne Whalen
U.S.-led sanctions are forcing Russia to use computer chips from dishwashers and refrigerators in some military equipment.
Escalating Russian cyber attacks could risk widening the war in Ukraine
The Hill Times
Erika Simpson and Ryan Atkinson
Cyber attacks by Russia could risk widening the war in Europe as numerous incidents of malware designed to erase hard drives of infected computers, delete data, and wipe programs are being reported.
They fled Ukraine to keep their cyber startup alive. Now, they’re hacking back
The Wall Street Journal
David Uberti
Dozens of employees at Ukrainian cybersecurity startup Hacken fled their war-torn country and found refuge about 2,000 miles away in Portugal. Since then, they have managed to keep their business alive and are now supporting cyber operations against Russia.
Australia
Chinese-speaking voters critical of Coalition’s ‘militaristic’ stance on China in lead-up to 2022 election, WeChat study shows
The Guardian
Anne Davies and Wing Kuang
The study of more than 3,000 political news stories and associated comments appearing on the Chinese social media platform, WeChat, has been undertaken by researchers at Monash and Deakin Universities over the past 11 months, including during the election campaign. It provides an insight into the Australian political news reaching Chinese speakers and how they are reacting to it.
Local firm to support RAAF cyber capabilities with Lockheed Martin
Australian Aviation
Local cyber company Penten has been tapped by the global defence prime to deliver advanced cyber security capabilities in support of its joint “system of systems” offering for the RAAF. Lockheed Martin Australia (LMA) has onboarded the support of the Canberra-based company for the delivery of advanced cyber security capabilities as part of Competitive Evaluation Process Stage 2 of its bid for the Royal Australian Air Force’s Joint Air Battle Management Systems Project (AIR 6500-1).
New model needed to fix ‘lacklustre tech regulation’
Financial Review
Tess Bennett
Australia will miss out on the opportunity to grow its technology sector and could sleepwalk into dangerous situations if the government doesn’t figure out how to adequately regulate the sector, experts argue.
‘Sydney Daddy’: Why the Chinese-language YouTube shock jock wears a mask in public
The Guardian
Anne Davies and Wing Kuang
“Sydney Daddy” is an Australian YouTube phenomenon: a kind of Alan Jones for Mandarin-speakers, who has found unexpected success, not just in Australia but throughout the diaspora. YouTube offers a platform that is free from the censorship that applies to the popular China-based WeChat, allowing Lu to build his rightwing profile and earning him a sizeable audience.
China
Sanctions against a Chinese surveillance firm would answer a real threat
The Washington Post
Many of the same manufacturers hawking security cameras in the United States for the anodyne purpose of warding off home burglars sell their wares for far more insidious ends in their home country — China. Now, the White House is considering imposing unprecedented sanctions against the most powerful of these companies, Hikvision.
Chinese CCTV cameras on our streets have hidden microphones that could be spying on you
The Telegraph
Gordon Rayner
Chinese-made CCTV cameras on Britain’s streets contain hidden microphones that could be used to spy on the public, the Government’s snooping tsar has warned.
China’s internet platforms are revealing user location—and embarrassing nationalist bloggers
Quartz
Jane Li
After a number of Chinese social media platforms began displaying user locations drawn from internet protocol addresses, it turned out some of the country’s most nationalistic online figures share one thing in common: They are all abroad. The reveal led many to mock the influencers for their so-called “offshore patriotism,” a term used for those who aggressively defend China from the comfort of their foreign residences.
USA
State to gain more ability to monitor DOD cyber ops under White House agreement
CyberScoop
Suzanne Smalley
The Biden administration has forged a new agreement under which the State Department will have more ability to weigh in on certain kinds of cyber operations.
Washington goes on the global data privacy offensive
POLITICO
Mark Scott and Vincent Manancourt
Washington's deadlocked Congress isn't going to pass federal privacy rules any time soon. But on the global stage, the United States wants to show its allies that it means business — even if that means butting heads with the European Union.
Senator introduces bill giving Big Tech its own federal watchdog
The Washington Post
Cat Zakrzewski
Amid growing concerns about the power of Silicon Valley, a Democratic senator suggests reforming current institutions isn’t enough: a new federal watchdog is needed to regulate the country’s most influential tech companies.
North Asia
Japan, EU agree to step up 'Beyond 5G' cooperation
NHK
Japan and the European Union have agreed to step up cooperation in research and development of next-generation communication standards known as Beyond 5G.
NZ & Pacific Islands
Vanuatu police crack down with arrests over ‘slander’ of MPs accused of breaking Covid lockdown
The Guardian
At least four people on two separate islands have been arrested as part of a major investigation by Vanuatu’s Serious Crime Unit in the last few weeks, including a factory worker, a printer, a business owner, and a Facebook page moderator. They face charges of cyber stalking, cyber slander, and cyber libel and face up to three years in prison and fines of up to three million Vatu (US$25,838).
Europe
Irish organisations warned about increased cyber attack risk
The Irish Times
Ciara O'Brien
Irish organisations need to be on high alert for a potential attack by Russian hackers, cybersecurity experts have warned, with State bodies particularly at risk. The threat level for such a breach is believed to have increased in recent weeks, with Ireland thought to be a target due to its public support for Ukraine.
EU countries want tech firms to pay for telecoms infrastructure
POLITICO
Clothilde Goujard and Samuel Stolton
European Union member countries want tech companies like Google and Netflix to chip in cash for telecoms infrastructure in order to ramp up 5G across the bloc.
Americas
Costa Rica declares emergency in ongoing cyber attack
ABC News
Javier Córdoba
After a month of crippling ransomware attacks, Costa Rica has declared a state of emergency. In theory, the measure usually reserved to deal with natural disasters or the COVID-19 pandemic would free up the government to react more nimbly to the crisis.
Big Tech
Chinese taxi app Didi shelves plans for major overseas expansion
The Guardian
Jasper Jolly
The Cyberspace Administration of China, a powerful regulator, banned the country’s dominant ride-hailing company from listing its app on mobile app stores in the country. The ban came only days after the company floated on the New York stock exchange, and sent shockwaves around the Chinese tech sector. The move was widely seen by analysts as an attempt by the ruling Communist party to rein in the country’s tech companies after rapid growth in their market value and power.
Cyber-espionage attack drops post-exploit malware framework on Microsoft Exchange servers
Dark Reading
Jai Vijayan
A likely China-based, state-sponsored threat actor has been deploying a sophisticated post-exploitation malware framework on Microsoft Exchange servers at organizations in the technology, academic, and government sectors across multiple regions since at least last fall.
Facebook withdraws guidance request for Ukraine war content policies
Axios
Sara Fischer
Facebook parent Meta on Wednesday said it would be withdrawing its earlier request for policy guidance from the independent Oversight Board it helped create and fund on its content moderation decisions related to Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Google offers a more modest vision of the future
The New York Times
Daisuke Wakabayashi
A more modest Google was on display on Wednesday as the company kicked off its annual developer’s conference. The Google of 2022 is more pragmatic and sensible — a bit more like its business-focused competitors at Microsoft than a fantasy play land for tech enthusiasts.
Misc
Look behind the curtain: Don’t be dazzled by claims of ‘artificial intelligence’
The Seattle Times
Emily M. Bender
It behooves us all to remember that computers are simply tools. They can be beneficial if we set them to right-sized tasks that match their capabilities well and maintain human judgment about what to do with the output. But if we mistake our ability to make sense of language and images generated by computers for the computers being “thinking” entities, we risk ceding power — not to computers, but to those who would hide behind the curtain.
The tech to make green energy more efficient also increases cyber risk
Forbes
Roslyn Layton
Growing demands for cleaner, more efficient fuel-sources have profoundly changed the geopolitics for energy suppliers and consumers. The technology to manage the generation, distribution, and transmission of energy is increasingly robust and integrated. However, this digitization expands the surface attack area for both nation-state actors and cyber criminals.
Bitcoin is increasingly acting like just another tech stock
The New York Times
David Yaffe-Bellany
Bitcoin was conceived more than a decade ago as “digital gold,” a long-term store of value that would resist broader economic trends and provide a hedge against inflation. But Bitcoin’s crashing price over the last month shows that vision is a long way from reality. Instead, traders are increasingly treating the cryptocurrency like just another speculative tech investment.
Events
Tech regulations: A national security threat?
Foreign Policy
As state and non-state security threats increase, how can legislators mitigate these concerns with their approach to regulation? This event is the first of a two-part series on the intersection of technology, policy, and geopolitics.
Research
Exploring the civil-military divide over artificial intelligence
RAND Corporation
James Ryseff, Eric Landree, Noah Johnson, Bonnie Ghosh-Dastidar, Max Izenberg, Sydne Newberry, Christopher Ferris and Melissa A. Bradley
Artificial intelligence (AI) is anticipated to be a key capability for enabling the U.S. military to maintain its military dominance. The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD)'s engagement with leading high-tech private sector corporations, for which the military is a relatively small percentage of their customer base, provides a valuable conduit to cutting-edge AI-enabled capabilities and access to leading AI software developers and engineers.
Unprompted and unwarranted: YouTube’s algorithm is putting young men at risk in Australia
Institute for Strategic Dialogue
Elise Thomas
It is concerning that YouTube’s recommendations appear to be pushing young men (and potentially young men who are already interested in right-wing ideas) towards content that promotes warped, unhealthy concepts of masculinity and disrespectful, potentially harmful attitudes towards women.
Jobs
The Sydney Dialogue - Senior Events Coordinator
ASPI ICPC
The Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) is currently recruiting for an experienced events professional to coordinate the planning and logistics of the second iteration of ASPI’s Sydney Dialogue - the world’s premier summit on emerging, critical and cyber technologies.
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.