Facebook, Microsoft warn defamation laws risk censoring speech | Trump shared an edited Pelosi video on social media | Tech Giants Seek Hong Kong Alternative After U.S. Blocks Data Cable
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Facebook and Microsoft have warned Australia's defamation laws pose a risk to free speech by encouraging platforms to censor content, as Attorney-General Christian Porter foreshadows changes aimed at holding tech giants responsible for defamatory material created by third parties. SMH.
Trump shared an edited Pelosi video on social media, highlighting a gray area in the debate over disinformation. The video is not a sophisticated fake. It shows events that actually happened, just not in the order in which they happened. Is that misleading? Washington Post.
American tech giants such as Alphabet Inc.’s Google are considering alternatives to Hong Kong as a global data hub after U.S. national security officials upended plans for a Trans-Pacific internet link to the territory, according to people familiar with the matter. WSJ.
Australia
Facebook, Microsoft warn defamation laws risk censoring speech
SMH
Facebook and Microsoft have warned Australia's defamation laws pose a risk to free speech by encouraging platforms to censor content, as Attorney-General Christian Porter foreshadows changes aimed at holding tech giants responsible for defamatory material created by third parties.
[Podcast] This predator targeted victims on Tinder for years. Why wasn’t he stopped sooner?
Background Briefing
Glenn Hartland is a serial rapist who lured four Melbourne women on Tinder. His victims say he continued to use dating apps while on bail. How did the police, the court, and the company behind Tinder allow this to happen?
Advisory 2020-003: Mailto ransomware incidents
ACSC
The Australian Signals Directorate’s Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC) is aware of recent ransomware incidents involving a ransomware tool known as ‘Mailto’ or ‘Kazakavkovkiz’. Mailto belongs to the KoKo ransomware family.
Australian companies are getting hack ready
AFR
In Australia, cyber crime costs the economy up to $1 billion annually, according to the federal government’s Cyber Security Review. And the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission says Australia is an “attractive target for serious and organised (cyber) crime syndicates”.
Social giants warned to deal with virus fake news
AFR
Facing growing disinformation about the deadly coronavirus circulating on social media, the federal government has put internet giants on notice about their management of dangerous content.
China
China Just Issued Stark New Threats Over Huawei: This Time Nokia And Ericsson Are In Its Sights
Forbes
@UKZak
China has issued threats to other countries before, warning of the economic consequences of discriminating against its telco champion Huawei in the award of 5G contracts. And so it’s little surprise that Beijing has done so once again, this time in France, where multiple media reports suggest a government shutout of the Chinese manufacturer from its network rollout. What’s different this time, though, is that those threats have been aimed at Nokia and Ericsson, Huawei’s core competition.
Tech Giants Seek Hong Kong Alternative After U.S. Blocks Data Cable
WSJ
@kate_okeefe
American tech giants such as Alphabet Inc.’s Google are considering alternatives to Hong Kong as a global data hub after U.S. national security officials upended plans for a Trans-Pacific internet link to the territory, according to people familiar with the matter. Google and Facebook Inc. last week asked U.S. authorities’ permission to start using the internet conduit’s branches to Taiwan and the Philippines while leaving its Chinese portion offline.
Minitrue: Control Temperature on Death of Coronavirus Whistleblower
China Digital Times
The following censorship instructions, issued to the media by government authorities, have been leaked and distributed online. The name of the issuing body has been omitted to protect the source: Regarding the death of Doctor Li Wenliang of Wuhan Central Hospital, rigidly adhere to standard sources. It is strictly forbidden for reports to use contributions from self-media, and sites may not use pop-up alerts, comment, or sensationalize. Safely control the temperature of interactive sections, do not set up special topic sections, gradually withdraw the topic from Hot Search lists, and strictly manage harmful information.
Citizen Journalist Covering Virus Outbreak From Wuhan Goes Missing
Bloomberg
@luluyilun
China’s internet watchdog has stepped up its policing efforts, announcing on Wednesday it would conduct “targeted supervision” on the largest social media platforms including Weibo, Tencent’s WeChat and ByteDance’s Douyin. The regulator has already frozen a raft of social media accounts, then stepped up online scrubbing to quiet a wave of confused outrage over the death of the doctor that first raised red flags about the disease. In this environment, U.S.-based Twitter has emerged as the destination for locals seeking information about the spread of the virus. It’s officially banned in the country, but many people hop the Great Firewall and access the platform via virtual private networks.
USA
The Billion-Dollar Disinformation Campaign to Reelect the President
The Atlantic
@mckaycoppins
How new technologies and techniques pioneered by dictators will shape the 2020 election.
Trump shared an edited Pelosi video on social media, highlighting a gray area in the debate over disinformation
Washington Post
@drewharwell
The video is not a sophisticated fake. It shows events that actually happened, just not in the order in which they happened. Is that misleading?
Clearview’s Facial Recognition App Is Identifying Child Victims of Abuse
NYT
@kashhill
Law enforcement agencies across the United States and Canada are using Clearview AI — a secretive facial recognition start-up with a database of three billion images — to identify children who are victims of sexual abuse. It’s a powerful use case for the company’s technology, but raises new questions about the tool’s accuracy and how the company handles data.
FBI is investigating more than 1,000 cases of Chinese theft of US technology
ZD Net
@campuscodi
US officials talk about all the methods the Chinese government and its agents have been using to target US companies and universities to steal intellectual property.
Russia engaging in 'information warfare' ahead of 2020 election, FBI chief warns
Associated Press
The FBI director, Christopher Wray, has warned that Russia is engaged in “information warfare” heading into the 2020 presidential election, though he said law enforcement has not seen ongoing efforts by Russia to target America’s election infrastructure.
Federal Agencies Use Cellphone Location Data for Immigration Enforcement
WSJ
@byrantau
The Trump administration has bought access to a commercial database that maps the movements of millions of cellphones in America and is using it for immigration and border enforcement, according to people familiar with the matter and documents reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.
Asia
Singapore accounts for half of Netflix government takedown demands
ZD Net
@eileenscyu
Media streaming company says it has removed nine pieces of content due to government requests worldwide since it began operations 23 years ago, with five of such requests issued by the Singapore government.
India's Data Protection Bill Threatens Global Cybersecurity
Wired
@lukolejnik
The proposed ban on re-identification discourages researchers from investigating security weaknesses—and encourages criminals to exploit them.
MA-774.022020: MyCERT Advisory - Espionage Campaign Based On Technical Indicators
MyCERT
MyCERT observed an increase in number of artifacts and victims involving a campaign against Malaysian Government officials by a specific threat group. The group motives are believed to be data theft and exfiltration.
Indonesian Pro-IS Cyber Groups Call for Virtual Terrorism
Site Intel Group
Two Indonesian Islamic State (IS)-aligned cyber groups disseminated posters inciting virtual terrorism.
United Kingdom
Anti-Huawei UK lawmakers conducting 'witch-hunt': Chinese ambassador
Reuters
Senior members of Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Conservatives who have demanded Chinese telecoms giant Huawei must not have a role in Britain’s 5G mobile network are conducting “a kind of witch-hunt”, China’s ambassador to London said on Sunday.
Europe
$645 Billion Cyber Risk Could Trigger Liquidity Crisis, ECB’s Lagarde Warns
Forbes
@happygeek
ECB president Christine Lagarde has warned that a well-organized cyber-attack on major financial institutions could lead to a financial crisis.
Middle East
Powerful Cyber Attack Takes Down 25% Of Iranian Internet
Forbes
@happygeek
The NetBlocks internet observatory, which maps internet freedom in real-time, confirmed that there was extensive Iranian telecommunications network disruption on the morning of February 8.
Misc.
Hackers deface Facebook's official Twitter and Instagram accounts
ZD Net
@campuscodi
Facebook's official accounts on Twitter and Instagram have been temporarily taken over and then defaced by a group of hackers known as OurMine.
[Podcast] Deepfakes and Cheapfakes, Oh Myyy
George Takei's Oh Myyy Pod!
You’ve seen deep fakes used in movies and fun viral videos. But what happens when the technology is used for nefarious purposes? George and Todd sit down with Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky and P.W. Singer, a strategist at New America, to discuss the future of this new form of disinformation.
Dangerous Domain Corp.com Goes Up for Sale
Krebs On Security
@briankrebs
The asking price — $1.7 million — is hardly outlandish for a 4-letter domain with such strong commercial appeal. O’Connor said he hopes Microsoft Corp. will buy it, but fears they won’t and instead it will get snatched up by someone working with organized cybercriminals or state-funded hacking groups bent on undermining the interests of Western corporations.
Jobs
Researcher - Science & Technology
UNIDIR’s Security and Technology Programme (SecTec) is seeking a Researcher to work on new research and other activities to contribute to building knowledge and awareness on the international security implications and risks of specific technological innovations, in particular artificial intelligence and increasing autonomy in weapon systems, and convene stakeholders to explore ideas and develop new thinking on ways to address them. Read the full job description & apply by 14 Feb 2020
Analyst – Technical
ASPI’s International Cyber Policy Centre has an outstanding opportunity for a talented and passionate technically-focused analyst to join its growing centre. We are looking for a creative and passionate individual who can contribute unique technical skills to work across a range of projects in the centre. This individual may possess skills and experience in one or more of the following areas including malware analysis, reverse-engineering, data analysis and web scraping (for work on online disinformation for example) and/or a deep technical knowledge of critical technologies. The successful candidate will be offered a remuneration package at a level aligned with their demonstrated skills and expertise. This is a contract position for an initial 1 year term with the option of extension. At any one time ASPI has multiple people working at the institute who are on secondments or unpaid leave from the Australian Public Service (APS). Similar arrangements - including secondments - can be negotiated in this instance pending approval from the APS department/agency.
Researcher – Cyber, Technology, Asia-Pacific
ASPI’s International Cyber Policy Centre has an outstanding opportunity for an emerging researcher to join its growing centre and work directly with the ICPC Director. Staff in the centre have diverse backgrounds and are usually involved in several projects at once. We are looking for a team member with a flexible, entrepreneurial approach, who is a self-starter, has the ability to deliver to deadlines and enjoys working in a collaborative team environment. Foreign languages (particularly Asian languages) and social media analysis skills are desirable but not essential. We are looking for a creative and passionate individual who can work collaboratively in a team environment to support the centre’s program of work. This will include working with a variety of centre staff to conduct research on a range of priority projects, on project coordination and administration, working to facilitate international fellowships, supporting public and private events and engaging with key stakeholders.