Facebook vows to restrict users if US election descends into chaos | Facebook Takes Down Inauthentic Chinese Network | Russia wants to ban the use of secure protocols such as TLS 1.3, DoH, DoT, ESNI

Sep 22, 2020

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Facebook has said it will take aggressive and exceptional measures to “restrict the circulation of content” on its platform if November’s presidential election descends into chaos or violent civic unrest. Financial Times.
On September 22, 2020, Facebook announced that it had taken down a cluster of fake assets on Facebook and Instagram that it attributed to individuals in China. The assets posted about a range of issues in Chinese, English, Filipino, and Indonesian, including a small volume of content on the U.S. 2020 election, but they showed a particular interest in maritime security, especially in the South China Sea. Graphika.
The Russian government is working on updating its technology laws so it can ban the use of modern internet protocols that can hinder its surveillance and censorship capabilities. According to a copy of the proposed law amendments and an explanatory note, the ban targets internet protocols and technologies such as TLS 1.3, DoH, DoT, and ESNI. ZD Net.

ASPI ICPC

China sharply expands mass labor program in Tibet
Reuters
China is pushing growing numbers of Tibetan rural laborers off the land and into recently built military-style training centers where they are turned into factory workers, mirroring a program in the western Xinjiang region that rights groups have branded coercive labor... Workers transferred under the programs can be difficult to trace, particularly those sent to other parts of China. In similar mass transfers of Uighur people from Xinjiang, workers were discovered in the supply chains of 83 global brands, according to a report released by the The Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI).

Read ASPI ICPC's report 'Uyghurs for Sale'

Time ripe for 5G sovereign capability: ASPI
Innovation Aus
There is a “window of opportunity” for Australia to develop its 5G sovereign capability and address security issues, and urgent action is needed from the federal government, according to a new Australian Strategic Policy Institute report. The report, by ASPI fellow Rajiv Shah, looks at the wider security risks in the 5G ecosystem beyond those of individual vendors..It calls for a risk mitigation strategy with a focus on a diversity of vendors and suppliers, and an emphasis on sovereign capability through a range of policy levers and funding mechanisms, including a Commonwealth investment fund for critical technologies and more regulation to improve competition.

Read ASPI ICPC's report 'Ensuring a trusted 5G ecosystem of vendors and technology'

Australia

ASIO reveals up to 40% of its counter-terrorism cases involve far-right violent extremism
The Guardian
Far-right violent extremism constitutes up to 40% of the Australian domestic spy agency’s counter-terrorism caseload, up from 10-15% before 2016, a senior official has said.

Facebook defamation: $875,000 payout for Nats MP
AFR
A conspiracy theorist who targeted Nationals MP Dr Anne Webster on Facebook has been ordered to pay $875,000 in damages over a series of posts and videos that claimed she was part of a “secret paedophile network”.

China

Operation Naval Gazing
Graphika
On September 22, 2020, Facebook announced that it had taken down a cluster of fake assets on Facebook and Instagram that it attributed to individuals in China. The assets posted about a range of issues in Chinese, English, Filipino, and Indonesian, including a small volume of content on the U.S. 2020 election, but they showed a particular interest in maritime security, especially in the South China Sea. For this reason, we have dubbed this activity Operation Naval Gazing.

Axis Exports To China Police Criticized By Amnesty International
IPVM
Axis Communications and other EU surveillance providers are under fire from Amnesty International over sales to police in China (PRC) that Amnesty says contributes to "indiscriminate mass surveillance" in the country.

USA

Facebook vows to restrict users if US election descends into chaos
FT
Facebook has said it will take aggressive and exceptional measures to “restrict the circulation of content” on its platform if November’s presidential election descends into chaos or violent civic unrest. In an interview with the Financial Times, Nick Clegg, the company’s head of global affairs, said it had drawn up plans for how to handle a range of outcomes, including widespread civic unrest or “the political dilemmas” of having in-person votes counted more rapidly than mail-in ballots, which will play a larger role in this election due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Election Integrity Partnership @2020Partnership

⚡️ New Rapid Response post up: Examining misleading Google ads that demonstrate significant loopholes in Google's ad policies

A Floating Headline, a Misleading Claim: A Google Search Ad Targets Florida Election Officials — Election Integrity PartnershipEIP identified a misleading ad targeting Google Search users alleging voter fraud in Florida. In this case, a link reading “Florida Election Officials Busted For Massive Voter Fraud” appears as an ad paid for by the Florida Citizens’ Alliance, a conservative advocacy group pushing for changes in pubeipartnership.net

C.I.A. Reasserts Putin Is Likely Directing Election Influence Efforts to Aid Trump
NYT
The assessment, which the agency has moderate confidence in, buttresses earlier findings that the Russian president supports President Trump’s re-election.

NCSC @NCSCgov

Foreign actors & cybercriminals likely to spread disinfo on 2020 election results, per @FBI, @CISAgov. They could create new websites, change existing ones, create or share social media content to spread false info to discredit process. ic3.gov/media/2020/200…

Trump officials hint at update for US maritime cybersecurity
Cyberscoop
The White House hopes to update the US government's approach to its maritime cybersecurity strategy in coming months, according to two senior administration officials.

Trump's TikTok Deal: What Just Happened And Why Does It Matter?
NPR
President Trump is claiming victory after blessing a deal in which Oracle and Walmart will own a stake of TikTok, but experts wonder whether the terms of the agreement will really change anything.

Asia

Facebook removes inauthentic assets linked to the Philippine military
DFR Lab
On September 22, 2020, Facebook took down 31 pages and 77 Facebook and Instagram accounts it linked to individuals affiliated with the Philippine military for engaging in coordinated inauthentic behavior targeting domestic audiences in the Philippines.

China-backed telecom firm says won't spy on Philippines
Reuters
A new Philippine telecoms firm with Chinese state investment on Thursday described as “truly misplaced” concerns that communications equipment it will install at military camps will be used for spying.

David Capie @davidcapie

New Zealand MFAT has unveiled changes to 'catch all' export controls for goods and technology that have a military end-use. Broadens restrictions that previously only applied to countries under UN arms embargo. New rules will come into force on 9 October. Changes to ‘catch-all’ export controls for goods and technology destined for a military end-useChanges to New Zealand’s “catch-all” export controls for goods and technology destined for a military end-use have now been Gazetted and will enter into force on 9 October.mfat.govt.nz

Europe

Serbia’s 5G deal with Washington: The art of muddling through
ECFR
While it would be premature to talk about a Serbian pivot away from Huawei (let alone China), the 5G story allows for an interesting thought exercise in mapping out what would happen if Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic was serious about keeping his promises to Washington.

Russia

Russia wants to ban the use of secure protocols such as TLS 1.3, DoH, DoT, ESNI
ZD Net
The Russian government is working on updating its technology laws so it can ban the use of modern internet protocols that can hinder its surveillance and censorship capabilities. According to a copy of the proposed law amendments and an explanatory note, the ban targets internet protocols and technologies such as TLS 1.3, DoH, DoT, and ESNI.

This Russian Facial Recognition Startup Plans To Take Its ‘Aggression Detection’ Tech Global With $15 Million Backing From Sovereign Wealth Funds
Forbes
Next year, in cities across the world, expect to have your face scanned for levels of aggression. NtechLab, a Russian facial recognition company best known for the FindFace app once labelled the harbinger for the end of online privacy, says it’s currently testing “aggression detection” tech with plans for a full rollout to its surveillance partners and customers in 2021.

Middle East

Hackers Hit Virgin Mobile in Saudi Arabia
Bank Info Sec
Hackers compromised Virgin Mobile's office network in Saudi Arabia, gained access to its email system and an Active Directory domain controller and offered stolen data for sale on private dark web forums.