Japan, Europe and U.S. app developers tie up to check IT giants | China to Cleanse Online Content That ‘Bad-Mouths’ Its Economy | COVIDSafe report shows government ignored app's major shortfalls
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Smartphone app providers in Japan, Europe and the U.S. will work together in a bid to curb the influence wielded by tech giants such as Apple and Google. Nikkei Asia
China kicked off a two-month campaign to crack down on commercial platforms and social media accounts that post finance-related information that’s deemed harmful to its economy. Bloomberg
The federal government has defended its COVIDSafe app as playing a "very important" role in the pandemic despite being handed a damning report warning it was adding up to two hours to contact tracing workloads for little-to-no benefit. The Canberra Times
ASPI ICPC
ANZUS at 70: Technological cooperation—a critical alliance pillar
The Strategist
@bec_shrimpton @DaniellesCave
Something significant sits behind the vital Australia–US military and political alliance: technological cooperation. It gives both a practical and strategic edge to the bilateral relationship. Technology cooperation is a key pillar in the interoperability between our military forces, it enabled our cooperation to put men on the Moon and is driving renewed determination to go beyond the Moon to Mars, and it fuels successful collaborations among our universities in sectors from medical science to quantum technologies. Looking back, technological cooperation must be recognised for the critical role it’s played in bringing Australia and the US together and achieving shared objectives. But now it’s time to look forward: the imperative to work even more closely, as trusted friends and allies, is only growing in magnitude and urgency. Technology itself has now become far more than an enabler of our daily lives. It’s a source of global power, geopolitical influence and control, and strategic and economic competition. And nowhere is that more apparent than in the Indo-Pacific region.
U.S. national (cyber)security, UK tech superpower bid
EURACTIV
@BertuzLuca @_MollyKilleen
Disinformation is increasingly being spread via “influence-for-hire” schemes, which are promoting government policies in countries in the Asia-Pacific region. A report released this week by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute outlines how for-profit content farms are producing and disseminating online material designed to strengthen certain government positions or discredit news articles. The cheap digital labour readily available in South-East Asia seems to provide fertile soil for the phenomenon.
Read our new report ‘Influence for hire: The Asia-Pacific’s online shadow economy’
World
Japan, Europe and U.S. app developers tie up to check IT giants
Nikkei Asia
Smartphone app providers in Japan, Europe and the U.S. will work together in a bid to curb the influence wielded by tech giants such as Apple and Google, Nikkei has learned.
Australia
Damning COVIDSafe report shows government ignored contact tracer frustrations, app's major shortfalls
The Canberra Times
@sbasfordcanales
The federal government has defended its COVIDSafe app as playing a "very important" role in the pandemic despite being handed a damning report warning it was adding up to two hours to contact tracing workloads for little-to-no benefit.
China
China to Cleanse Online Content That ‘Bad-Mouths’ Its Economy
Bloomberg
China kicked off a two-month campaign to crack down on commercial platforms and social media accounts that post finance-related information that’s deemed harmful to its economy.
China's Microsoft Hack May Have Had A Bigger Purpose Than Just Spying
NPR
@NPRDina
NPR's months-long examination of the attack — based on interviews with dozens of players from company officials to cyber forensics experts to U.S. intelligence officials — found that stealing emails and intellectual property may only have been the beginning. Officials believe that the breach was in the service of something bigger: China's artificial intelligence ambitions. The Beijing leadership aims to lead the world in a technology that allows computers to perform tasks that traditionally required human intelligence — such as finding patterns and recognizing speech or faces.
China Plans to Ban U.S. IPOs for Data-Heavy Tech Firms
The Wall Street Journal
@QiZHAI
China plans to propose new rules that would ban companies with large amounts of sensitive consumer data from going public in the U.S., a move that is likely to thwart the ambitions of the country’s tech firms to list abroad.
Pushing the Limits Paid Off for Didi, Until China Cracked Down
The New York Times
@zhonggg @LiYuan6
Didi and other Chinese internet giants grew big and powerful by learning to thrive in regulatory gray zones. And by and large, Beijing was fine with that. The companies were making China richer, more productive and better entertained. They moved fast, and they might have broken a few rules. But so long as online conversations were filtered, search results were sanitized and videos were censored, internet companies’ success was the nation’s.
Related article by ASPI’s Fergus Ryan: ‘China takes on its tech leaders’
China's online population surpasses 1bn in shadow of tech crackdown
Nikkei Asia
Shunsuke Tabeta
China now has more than 1 billion internet users, a government agency said Friday, as the likes of Alibaba Group Holding draw in more of the world's most populous country with services ranging from shopping to bill payment.
Unpacking China’s game-changing data law
Protocol
@shenlulushen
China's National Congress passed the highly anticipated Personal Information Protection Law on Friday, a significant piece of legislation that will provide Chinese citizens significant privacy protections while also bolstering Beijing's ambitions to set international norms in data protection.
China's Big Tech vows to give back as Xi touts 'common prosperity'
Nikkei Asia
Nikki Sun
China's Big Tech vows to give back as Xi touts 'common prosperity' - China's top internet companies have pledged billions of dollars for social goods in response to President Xi Jinping's call to share their wealth, in a sign of the big politically driven change in a sector already hit by Beijing's regulatory crackdown.
Xi’s Data Clampdown Spurs Novel Solution From Tim Hortons China
Bloomberg
The company running the Chinese business of Canadian coffee shop chain Tim Hortons is proposing a novel solution to address Beijing’s data security concerns as it seeks to go public in the U.S. through a blank check company. Tim Hortons China said that as part of its merger with Silver Crest Acquisition Corp. it will create an independent entity incorporated in China, which will have the “sole purpose” of safeguarding and protecting customer data. Tim Hortons China will not own any equity in the entity, called NewCo in the filing, which will provide its services back to the parent at cost. Tim Hortons China “believes that the creation and operation of NewCo directly addresses the valid concerns highlighted by recent statements by the Cyberspace Administration of China (“CAC”) as they have been articulated to date,” it said in a filing.
Beijing has a plan for automated governance
Protocol
@yindavid
In a recent policy document released by China's powerful State Council focused on 2021 through 2025, Beijing doubled down on its push for various levels of government and private businesses to exchange data with one another. But rather than using the resource to grow the country's digital economy and drive economic efficiency —the focus of previous guidelines — the new plan, themed around the rule of law, looks to data, analytics and AI and how they can be useful in law enforcement and market regulation.
The Semiconductor Heist Of The Century | Arm China Has Gone Completely Rogue, Operating As An Independent Company With Inhouse IP/R&D
SemiAnalysis
@dylan522p
Arm is widely regarded as the most important semiconductor IP firm. Their IP ships in billions of new chips every year from phones, cars, microcontrollers, Amazon servers, and even Intel's latest IPU. Originally it was a British owned and headquartered company, but SoftBank acquired the firm in 2016. They proceeded to plow money into Arm Holdings to develop deep pushes into the internet of things, automotive, and server. Part of their push was also to go hard into China and become the dominant CPU supplier in all segments of the market..As part of the emphasis on the Chinese market, SoftBank succumbed to pressure and formed a joint venture. In the new joint venture, Arm Holdings, the SoftBank subsidiary sold a 51% stake of the company to a consortium of Chinese investors for paltry $775M. This venture has the exclusive right to license Arm’s IP within China. Within 2 years, the venture went rogue. This is the tech heist of the century.
Rejecting Covid Inquiry, China Peddles Conspiracy Theories Blaming the U.S.
The New York Times
@austinramzy @amy_changchien
Beijing is peddling groundless theories that the United States may be the true source of the coronavirus, as it pushes back against efforts to investigate the pandemic’s origins in China. The disinformation campaign started last year, but Beijing has raised the volume in recent weeks, reflecting its anxiety about being blamed for the pandemic that has killed millions globally. These theories, promoted by officials, academics, central propaganda outlets and on social media, have gained wider currency in China. They risk further muddying inquiries into the source of the virus and aggravating already frayed relations between the world’s top two powers at a time when cooperation is badly needed.
To survive, China’s biggest gay dating app became a pharmacy
Rest of World
@decka227 @WilliamYang120
In early July, Tencent suddenly erased over a dozen LGBTQI university groups from WeChat, sending an ominous signal about the future of queer activism that reverberated across the Chinese internet. The message came amid a wide-reaching government crackdown on technology firms, which caused many of their stocks to go into free fall.
Douyin removes Chinese male blogger's account following complaints his videos were too feminine
Yahoo! News
Sylvia Looi
Chinese blogger Feng Xiaoyi had his Douyin account removed following complaints that his videos were too feminine and lacked masculinity. Douyin is a Chinese version of TikTok. Global Times reported that one of Feng’s Douyin videos Eating A Peach had previously gone viral on Chinese social media
USA
Amazon Web Services disables ISIS propaganda website it had hosted since April
The Washington Post
@craigtimberg @greene
The company took down the site, which touted the suicide attack that killed at least 170 people in Kabul, after The Post reported extremists were using the service.
Researchers, cybersecurity agency urge action by Microsoft cloud database users
Reuters
@josephmenn
Researchers who discovered a massive flaw in the main databases stored in Microsoft Corp’s Azure cloud platform on Saturday urged all users to change their digital access keys, not just the 3,300 it notified this week.
Clamoring for ivermectin, some turn to a pro-Trump telemedicine website
NBC News
@BenCollinsNBC @BrandyZadrozny
Much as the anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine became an unproven remedy for Covid deniers, ivermectin has emerged in recent weeks as a new false cure.
Their work secured the election. It also paved the way for pro-Trump conspiracies.
NBC News
@kevincollier
While their research heavily contributed to security upgrades ahead of the contentious 2020 election — one that election officials jointly called “the most secure in American history” — it has proven to be a double-edged sword. Election cybersecurity researchers who spoke with NBC News say they worry it also provided ammunition to bad-faith actors who have sought to convince some Americans that the election was illegitimate. “We always knew we were walking a bit of a scary line when flagging vulnerabilities,” Maggie MacAlpine, an election security researcher, said. “We’re always battling the fact that the appearance of a hack can be as impactful on an election as an actual hack.”
January 6 committee seeks answers on misinformation from social media companies
CNN
@AnnieGrayerCNN @ryanobles @WhitneyWReports @ZcohenCNN
The House Select Committee investigating the deadly January 6 Capitol riot sent letters to 15 social media companies, including Facebook, YouTube and Twitter, seeking to understand how misinformation and efforts to overturn the election by both foreign and domestic actors existed on their platforms.
Rubio reiterates calls for Tik Tok ban after China's reported ownership stake
The Hill
@millsrodrigo
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) renewed calls to ban TikTok in the U.S. following reports that the Chinese government has acquired an ownership stake in its parent company, ByteDance. “The Biden Administration can no longer pretend that TikTok is not beholden to the Chinese Communist Party,” the Florida lawmaker said in a press release.
Vote on US 'China bill' recedes to fall or beyond
Nikkei Asia
Taisei Hoyama
The U.S. Congress will not vote this summer on comprehensive legislation to boost American competitiveness against China in semiconductors and other critical technologies, with the House and the Senate struggling to bridge the divide between their proposals.
Biden tells top CEOs at White House summit to step up on cybersecurity
The Washington Post
@Cat_Zakrzewski @Joseph_Marks_ @greene
The unusually public and ambitious gathering was part of a broader Biden administration effort to prioritize cyberattacks as a national security and economic threat.
Planned Expansion of Facial Recognition by US Agencies Called 'Disturbing'
Common Dreams
@juliakconley
Digital rights advocates reacted harshly Thursday to a new internal U.S. government report detailing how ten federal agencies have plans to greatly expand their reliance on facial recognition in the years ahead.
Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco Announces Creation of New Cyber Fellows Positions
The United States Department of Justice
Today, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco announced the creation of a new Cyber Fellowship program, designed to develop a new generation of prosecutors and attorneys equipped to handle emerging national security threats.
North-East Asia
World’s Largest Chip Maker to Raise Prices, Threatening Costlier Electronics
The Wall Street Journal
Yang Jie @StephanieAYang @Kubota_Yoko
The world’s largest contract chip maker is raising prices by as much as 20%, according to people familiar with the matter, a move that could result in consumers paying more for electronics. The price increases come in the wake of a global semiconductor shortage that has affected Apple and most car makers, including General Motors Co. and Toyota Motor Corp. In August, GM said it had to idle three factories in North America that make large pickup trucks, the company’s biggest moneymaker. Last week, Toyota said it would curb production by 40% in September.
Japan Ruling Party Lawmakers Back Taiwan Joining Trade Pact
Bloomberg
@IsabelRTokyo Emi Nobuhiro @hwang61
Liberal Democratic Party lawmakers pledged to support Taiwan’s addition to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership during first-of-their-kind security talks with Taiwanese counterparts Friday. They also called on Taipei to help ensure that semiconductor giant Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. picks Japan as a site for a manufacturing hub, LDP lawmaker Taku Otsuka said.
South-East Asia
Bangkok Airways reports cyberattack
The Bangkok Post
Bangkok Airways says it is investigating a cyberattack in which some customers’ personal data may have been compromised.
South and Central Asia
A Digital Dunkirk: Veterans Online Scramble to Get People Out of Afghanistan
The New York Times
@David_Philipps
Using office software, satellite maps and messaging apps, volunteers are acting like digital guide services to helping American citizens and Afghan allies flee the country.
Afghanistan and China's Digital Silk Road
Field Notes
@HillmanJE
I’ve been reluctant to write about Afghanistan, all the more so after last week’s tragedy. There’s no shortage of commentary, much of it focused on assigning blame rather than finding solutions. Some observers predict that China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is going to race into Afghanistan in a big way. Below, I explain why that’s unlikely, with one important exception: digital infrastructure... Changes are likely to extend beyond telephone and internet access. Taliban leaders could also enhance surveillance by deploying “safe city” systems and biometric checkpoints. They may have already gained access to existing biometric databases, such as fingerprints and iris scans. Chinese vendors have these capabilities, and facing greater scrutiny in Western markets, they are eager to find new customers.
Europe
Hackers are trying to topple Belarus’s dictator, with help from the inside
MIT Technology Review
@HowellONeill
Opposition from inside the regime of Alexander Lukashenko is helping hackers run what may be the most comprehensive cyberattack on a nation ever.
Nokia pauses 5G project due to fear of US penalties
POLITICO
@laurenscerulus
Finnish telecoms equipment maker Nokia suspended its work in a key industry group due to fears that it could face U.S. penalties for working with Chinese technology firms on Washington's blacklist. Nokia informed a group called the O-RAN Alliance that "we have no choice but to suspend all of our technical work activities" in the group because of a "compliance-related matter ... regarding the O-RAN contributors included in the U.S. entity list," according to an email seen by POLITICO.
Russia
Russia’s Drive to Replace Foreign Technology Is Slowly Working
The Moscow Times
@AndreiSoldatov
The relentless Russian offensive against global online platforms doesn’t show any sign of slowing down. That poses a question: Is Russia preparing to get rid of global platforms by the end of the year? Such a development now seems highly likely, given the scale of the Russian import substitution effort in technology.
Report: China Is Hacking Russia, Too
Defense One
@DefTechPat
Much has been made about the emerging relationship between China and Russia, two countries that the National Defense Strategy recognizes as near-peer competitors to the United States. They’re already collaborating on research, both are run by autocratic regimes, and neither has much affinity for the United States. But the marriage may not be as steady as Russia, especially, would like others to believe. A new report out of Russia accuses the Chinese government of hacking Russian state targets.
Misc
Scammers and Hackers See New Frontier in NFT Art
The Wall Street Journal
@KellyCrowWSJ
Fake art, stolen credit-card numbers and phishing schemes: Impostors take advantage of security loopholes in the rapidly growing marketplace.
Internet shown to amplify and expose real-life trolls, but not create them
Engineering and Technology
New research suggests that the internet is not responsible for making people become more aggressive when engaging in political discussions online, but rather makes the behaviour of more aggressive people more visible.
Ransomware: It's only a matter of time before a smart city falls victim, and we need to take action now
ZDNet
@dannyjpalmer
Ransomware groups go after targets that downtime causes the most disruption for. That means an insecure 5G IoT connected city could be a prime target for extortion attacks.
Read our new ransomware report: ‘Exfiltrate, encrypt, extort: The global rise of ransomware and Australia’s policy options’
Responsible and Ethical Military AI
Center for Security and Emerging Technology
@zoemsl
Allies of the United States have begun to develop their own policy approaches to responsible military use of artificial intelligence. This issue brief looks at key allies with articulated, emerging, and nascent views on how to manage ethical risk in adopting military AI. The report compares their convergences and divergences, offering pathways for the United States, its allies, and multilateral institutions to develop common approaches to responsible AI implementation.
Headline or Trend Line? Evaluating Chinese-Russian Collaboration in AI
Center for Security and Emerging Technology
Margarita Konaev @Andrew_Imbrie @RyanFedasiuk @emily_sw1
Chinese and Russian government officials are keen to publicize their countries’ strategic partnership in emerging technologies, particularly artificial intelligence. This report evaluates the scope of cooperation between China and Russia as well as relative trends over time in two key metrics of AI development: research publications and investment. The findings expose gaps between aspirations and reality, bringing greater accuracy and nuance to current assessments of Sino-Russian tech cooperation.
Events
ASPI Webinar: Cybersecurity, critical technologies and energy: Japan and its role in the Indo-Pacific
ASPI ICPC
Tokyo is becoming more vocal in calling out cyber risks and threat actors. Just this year, Japan called out the Chinese Communist Party for malicious cyber attacks, the only country in Asia to do so. In September, the Japanese Government is expected to present their new national cybersecurity strategy. At the same time, Japan is pursuing ‘Society 5.0’, the country's national vision for a digital nation, which seeks to harness technologies such as artificial intelligence, robotics, internet of things, synthetic biology, quantum to tackle social issues including the country’s ageing population, pollution, productivity and sustainable energy. Join the Director of ASPI’s International Cyber Policy Centre Fergus Hanson on Monday 30 August at 1pm, for an online panel discussion on Japan's approach to cyber issues, technology, digital innovation and energy transition.
Research
Bridging the divide: Technology and inclusion in the Asia-Pacific
Chatham House
As Asia-Pacific emerges from COVID-19, experts consider how policymakers can harness technology for inclusive economic growth.
The future of money: The end of cash and the rise of digital currencies
Brookings
On September 13, Eswar Prasad will discuss his forthcoming book "The Future of Money: How the Digital Revolution Is Transforming Currencies and Finance," followed by a panel discussion on the government’s role in managing and regulating digital currencies
Jobs
New ICPC Program on Critical Technologies - 3 positions
ASPI ICPC
ASPI’s International Cyber Policy Centre (ICPC) has a unique opportunity for three exceptional and experienced senior analysts and analysts to join its large team from October 2021. These new roles will focus on original research, analysis and stakeholder engagement centred around international critical technology development, including analysis of which countries are leading on what technologies.
ICPC Pacific Islands Analyst - Information operations & disinformation
ASPI ICPC
ASPI’s International Cyber Policy Centre (ICPC) has an outstanding opportunity for a talented and proactive Pacific Islands analyst who will work with the Centre’s information operations and disinformation program. The successful candidate will work with a small, high-performing team to produce original research and analysis centred around policy responses to information operations and disinformation by actors in the Pacific Islands region. They will also work with senior staff in the centre to engage globally with governments, social media and Internet companies. Candidates must have a demonstrated background in, and strong knowledge of, the Pacific Islands region, including the region’s digital, media and social media landscape.
ICPC Analyst & Project Manager - Coercive diplomacy
ASPI ICPC
ASPI’s International Cyber Policy Centre (ICPC) has a unique opportunity for an Analyst and Project Manager to manage, and help lead, a project on coercive diplomacy in the Indo-Pacific region. This new role will focus on analysis, workshops and stakeholder engagement centred around coercive diplomacy, including how countries in the Indo-Pacific can work together to tackle this complicated policy challenge. Candidates must have excellent coordination, project management and stakeholder engagement skills.
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. Analysts usually have at least 5 years, often 7-10 years’ of work experience. Senior analysts usually have a minimum of 15 years relevant work experience and, in addition to research, they take on a leadership role in the centre and tend to be involved in staff and project management, fundraising and stakeholder engagement.
Executive Level 1 - Assistant Director, Cyber Policy and Technology (Specialist)
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
The Cyber Affairs and Critical Technology Branch (CYB) is seeking innovative, collaborative and driven leaders to join a busy and expanding team responsible for policy advice and program delivery on cyber and critical technology issues. The Branch, through the Ambassador for Cyber Affairs and Critical Technology, coordinates Australia’s international engagement across the full spectrum of these issues – from deterring malicious cyber activity, to enabling a prosperous and secure Indo-Pacific region, to shaping the future of the international technology environment.
APS Level 6 - Policy Officer, Cyber Policy and Technology (Specialist)
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
The Cyber Affairs and Critical Technology Branch (CYB) is seeking innovative, collaborative and driven leaders to join a busy and expanding team responsible for policy advice and program delivery on cyber and critical technology issues. The Branch, through the Ambassador for Cyber Affairs and Critical Technology, coordinates Australia’s international engagement across the full spectrum of these issues – from deterring malicious cyber activity, to enabling a prosperous and secure Indo-Pacific region, to shaping the future of the international technology environment.