Myanmar junta's proposed cyber bill alarms Internet giants | U.S. to look at more restrictions on tech exports to China | UN experts: North Korea using cyberattacks to update nukes

Feb 11, 2021

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A group of the world's biggest internet companies joined Myanmar civil society on Thursday in raising alarm over cyber laws floated by the new junta, saying they would contravene fundamental rights and hurt the economy. The 36 pages outlining the proposed laws were given to mobile operators and telecoms license holders for comment on Tuesday - just over a week after the army overthrew the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi, the civil society groups said. Reuters
The Biden administration will look at adding "new targeted restrictions" on certain sensitive technology exports to China in cooperation with allies, a senior official said on Wednesday ahead of the new president's first call with China's leader Xi Jinping. Reuters
North Korea has modernized its nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles by flaunting United Nations sanctions, using cyberattacks to help finance its programs and continuing to seek material and technology overseas for its arsenal including in Iran, U.N. experts said. AP

ASPI ICPC

New social media app Clubhouse makes waves
ABC News
@frankelly08
Social media apps are usually keen to get as many members to sign up as possible, but a relatively new player is making news for being invite-only. Clubhouse is a drop-in audio social network, like "a live podcast", that relies on word-of-mouth and an air of exclusivity. Guest: Ariel Bogle, analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute.

Misinformation moves faster online than truth. But when it comes to elections, COVID-19, vaccines, 5G, QAnon, chemtrails, are the moves by social platforms actually working? And more importantly, what do you say to a person online that you know is sharing content that you know to be untrue - what's the best way of handling that? Guests: Ariel Bogle, Analyst, ASPI & Cameron Wilson, Reporter, Business Insider and Gizmodo.

World

Nick Pickles @nickpickles

We’re building on our work to add context to accounts engaging in the geopolitical conversation. Next, we’ll look to expand these labels to state-affiliated media in this new set of countries.

Twitter Public Policy @Policy

We believe adding context to what people are seeing on Twitter leads to a more informed public conversation, especially when it involves political actors and topics. Today, we’re expanding government account labels to additional countries. https://t.co/Kb6SYOYnOL

Australia

Facebook removes Craig Kelly post claiming children wearing masks is akin to abuse
The Guardian
@murpharoo
Labor complained to Facebook about several of the Liberal backbencher’s posts, but the social media giant says others did not violate misinformation policies.

Rise of fake news is undermining public health and political stability
Sydney Morning Herald
@andrea_carson
The Morrison government has told digital platforms to develop a voluntary code of practice to counter misinformation and conspiracy theories, but there is no easy fix. There is not even a universal definition of fake news.

Government moves to secure foothold in data cloud through new Canberra cyber hub
The Australian
@RichAFerguson
The Morrison government could soon secure its foothold in the global data cloud through a new Canberra data centre run by a local tech company using American cyber technology.

Indo-Pacific tech sector 'ripe for investment' and cyber defence cooperation: Research
ZDNet
@Stilgherrian
Reports for the new Quad Tech Network say nations need to develop a long-term vision for technology, but that Australia is underperforming in research output and advanced digital skills.

NSW Police to establish 24x7 SOC in cyber security overhaul
iTnews
@justinrhendry
NSW Police is building an around-the-clock cyber security operations centre (SOC) to protect its critical IT systems and data holdings from attack as part of a new multi-year program of work.

A New Australian Law Is the Wrong Answer to Big Tech
OneZero
@ow
There is merit in forcing powerful platforms like Google and Facebook to the negotiating table over their treatment of the media. The journalism industry has after all been ravaged by the two companies’ duopoly on digital advertising. But forcing any platform that generates more than $150,000 AUD in annual revenue and hosts links to a piece of news to pay up, as this proposal would, is deeply problematic. This would mean that as I write this piece, simply linking to an Australian news outlet for context could result in Medium, the tech platform that owns OneZero, being charged for the privilege. (The precise cost of a link remains unclear.)

China

Alliance for Securing Democracy @SecureDemocracy

China just announced that it has barred @BBCWorld from airing in China. According to @EtienneSoula, this comes after weeks of particularly harsh criticism of the outlet by the Chinese propaganda network monitored on our Hamilton 2.0 dashboard. 🧵 news.yahoo.com/bbc-world-news…

BBC World News barred from airing in ChinaChina’s National Radio and Television Administration said an investigation found BBC World News’ China-related reports had “seriously violated” regulations, ...news.yahoo.com

How Clubhouse (briefly) exposed China’s fear society
The Washington Post
@joshrogin
In a more open Clubhouse room Tuesday, technical experts raised real questions about whether Chinese users are now vulnerable. The conversations aren’t encrypted, they noted, and are all routed through servers managed by a Shanghai-based company called Zenlayer, in their Los Angeles office. Clubhouse is built on technology developed by the Chinese company Agora. Zenlayer and Agora could be forced to hand over data to the Chinese government, according to China’s national security laws.

Kaiser Kuo @KaiserKuo

On Sinica this week, @goldkorn and I speak with @RayhanAsat , @muyixiao, and "L," the guy from Wuhan who started the room "新疆有个集中营?" on Clubhouse. Hear the room's backstory, and what participants and moderators got out of that remarkable moment.

The Xinjiang camps on Clubhouse - SupChinaThis week on Sinica, Kaiser and Jeremy chat with three of the guests in a remarkable room on the drop-in voice chat app Clubhouse, which ran for 14 hours on Saturday, February 6.supchina.com

Jack Ma Spotted Playing Golf, Easing China Detention Fears
Bloomberg
For months, speculation over Jack Ma’s whereabouts has run rampant. Maybe the embattled billionaire had fled to Singapore, some posited. Or he had been placed under house arrest. Or worse yet, he was locked up in a high-security jail.

Tencent Executive Held by China Over Links to Corruption Case
WSJ
An executive at Tencent Holdings Ltd. , China’s most valuable publicly listed company, has been held by Chinese authorities, part of a probe into a high-profile corruption case involving one of China’s former top law enforcement officials, people familiar with the matter said. Zhang Feng has been under investigation by China’s anti-graft inspector since early last year for alleged unauthorized sharing of personal data collected by Tencent’s social-media app WeChat , the people said. They said Mr. Zhang was suspected of turning over WeChat data to former Vice Public Security Minister Sun Lijun, who is being investigating by Beijing for undisclosed violations of Communist Party rules.

USA

U.S. to look at more restrictions on tech exports to China
Reuters
The Biden administration will look at adding "new targeted restrictions" on certain sensitive technology exports to China in cooperation with allies, a senior official said on Wednesday ahead of the new president's first call with China's leader Xi Jinping.

Biden, China’s Xi Hold Talks Over Human Rights, Trade, Climate
WSJ
@bobdavis187 @glubold
A China task force will study the military’s footprint in Asia, technology, intelligence, the role of allies and partnerships, and other areas of the strategy, administration officials said.

Biden administration pauses Trump's plans to ban WeChat, TikTok
CyberScoop
@timstarks
President Joe Biden is giving a reprieve to Chinese apps that his predecessor’s administration had put on the defensive. On Thursday, the Commerce Department said in a court filing that it was reviewing the Trump administration’s bid to ban WeChat. It comes one day after a similar court filing where Commerce said it was reviewing the proposed ban on TikTok, and after the Biden administration has reportedly “indefinitely” placed on hold the plans to force the sale of TikTok’s American division to Oracle and Walmart.

Read ASPI ICPC’s ‘TikTok and WeChat Curating and controlling global information flows’ here.

Black Doctors Work Overtime to Combat Clubhouse Covid-19 Myths
Bloomberg
@WilliamTurton
Dozens of Black doctors have taken it upon themselves to dispel Coronavirus misinformation on Clubhouse. Some have been harassed and bullied for doing so.

Clubhouse Is Suggesting Users Invite Their Drug Dealers and Therapists
OneZero
@willoremus
Clubhouse employs an unusually aggressive user onboarding process, pressuring users to upload contacts before ranking those contacts based on total connections.

Facebook Investor Probing $5 Billion Privacy Payout Gets a Boost
Bloomberg Law
Jef Feeley & @mike_s_leonard
Facebook Inc. lost a fight to withhold records in an investor lawsuit probing whether the company overpaid in a record $5 billion settlement with a government regulator in 2019 to protect founder Mark Zuckerberg in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica privacy scandal.

Clapper permanently bans QAnon-related content
The Verge
@kellymakena
Clapper has moved to ban accounts spreading QAnon conspiracy theories and vaccine misinformation in the wake of a Verge report last month.

I Miss My Mom': Children Of QAnon Believers Are Desperately Trying To Deradicalize Their Own Parents
HuffPost
@JessReports
Here’s what it’s like to lose the person who raised you to a far-right cult.

Former FBI Officials Tapped for Amazon's Growing Security Apparatus
The Intercept
@lhfang @aidachavez
As Amazon faces antitrust scrutiny, counterfeiting, and worker activism, the company is staffing up with former FBI agents focused on security and intelligence gathering.

North-East Asia

UN experts: North Korea using cyber attacks to update nukes
AP
@edithledererap
North Korea has modernized its nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles by flaunting United Nations sanctions, using cyberattacks to help finance its programs and continuing to seek material and technology overseas for its arsenal including in Iran, U.N. experts said.

South-East Asia

Myanmar junta's proposed cyber bill alarms Internet giants
Reuters
A group of the world's biggest internet companies joined Myanmar civil society on Thursday in raising alarm over cyber laws floated by the new junta, saying they would contravene fundamental rights and hurt the economy. The 36 pages outlining the proposed laws were given to mobile operators and telecoms license holders for comment on Tuesday - just over a week after the army overthrew the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi, the civil society groups said.

Singtel data breached through hack on third-party file-sharing vendor
The Straits Times
Kenny Chee, Ng Wei Kai
A third-party file-sharing system used by Singtel has been hacked, and customer information may have been compromised, the company said in a statement on Thursday morning (Feb 11). Singtel said that an impact assessment on the extent of the data breach is ongoing.

Europe

Fears over China’s forced labor loom over EU solar power
POLITICO
@aitorehm @KarlMathiesen @stuartklau @gioleali
Nearly every solar power panel sold in the European Union has its origins in China’s oppressed Xinjiang region. The solar industry and Brussels lawmakers argue Europe’s renewable energy push should not come at a human cost amid long-standing international concern over reports China has detained 1 million people with Muslim backgrounds in camps in Xinjiang and is putting them to work.

ECB issues stark warning on Big Tech cryptocurrency projects
Euractiv.com
@SamuelStolton
The European Central Bank (ECB) has issued a stark warning on the involvement of Big Tech firms in cryptocurrency projects, cautioning that such moves could jeopardise privacy, create further risks to competition and even “endanger monetary sovereignty”.

Middle East

What do Chinese media outlets say about the Middle East? Depends which language you’re reading
Haaretz
@shainaoppenheim
While the media outside China has reported on Beijing’s disinformation campaign during the pandemic, China’s efforts to sway international public opinion have been going on for far longer, an attempt especially evident in the Middle East.. Haaretz’s analysis of Xinhua’s coverage found a much more blatant attempt to peddle pro-Communist Party messages in Arabic than in English.

Gender and Women in Cyber

Senator Penny Wong @SenatorWong

"Women are 50% of the population. If we are not including them in STEM, we are losing that 50% of potential." Dr Nasiri challenged stereotypes and is now an accomplished scientist and engineer. Her story is a reminder that STEM is an opportunity not a barrier for young girls.

SBS News @SBSNews

On International Day of Women and Girls in Science, scientist and engineer Dr Noushin Nasiri shares her journey from curious schoolgirl in Iran to heading up her own laboratory in Sydney. https://t.co/xVjkZWWn5n

Misc

Amy Studdart @AmyStuddart

The @OpenTechFund has reopened its rapid response fund for short term/urgent projects to help with digital safety and censorship/surveillance circumvention in #Myanmar. Details here:

Rapid Response Fundopentech.fund

Research

China’s Digital Silk Road: integration into national IT infrastructure and wider implications for Western defence industries
IISS
Security-related concerns regarding China’s Digital Silk Road include potential risks to national critical infrastructures, intelligence sharing and defence integration. However, the implication of China’s global digital investments for the United States and other Western defence industries is an understudied subject.

DFRLab @DFRLab

The insurrectionist attack on the US Capitol was not spontaneous. @DFRLab & @just_security are publishing the most comprehensive report to date on the “Stop the Steal” campaign, spanning from the 2016 primaries to the Capitol in 2021. 🧵⬇️ justsecurity.org/74622/stopthes…

#StopTheSteal: Timeline of Social Media and Extremist Activities Leading to 1/6 InsurrectionHow a convergence of disinformation, domestic extremists and anti-democracy movements reached a horrifying climax at the U.S. Capitol.justsecurity.org

The Price of Influence: Disinformation in the Private Sector
Recorded Future
Insikt Group analyzed the operations of two threat actors who were offering disinformation as a service on Russian-speaking underground forums in order to understand the business model of how disinformation is used by cybercriminals, as opposed to nation-states. To do so, we created a fictitious company and commissioned two different threat actors to generate intentionally false narratives across the web.

Jobs

ICPC Senior Analyst or Analyst - China
ASPI’s International Cyber Policy Centre (ICPC) has a unique opportunity for an exceptional and experienced China-focused senior analyst or analyst to join its centre. Applications should be submitted no later than 12 February 2021.

Daily Cyber Digest