New ASPI ICPC report maps China-Russia tech cooperation | Dissent erupts at Facebook over hands-off stance on political ads | Home Affairs pushes face-matching service for porn age verification
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The latest policy report by ASPI’s International Cyber Policy Centre - A new Sino-Russian high-tech partnership: Authoritarian innovation in an era of great-power rivalry authored by Russian specialist Samuel Bendett and China specialist Elsa Kania - maps out the unique ecosystem underpinning expanding technology cooperation between Moscow and Beijing. ASPI ICPC.
Dissent erupts at Facebook over hands-off stance on political ads. In an open letter, the social network’s employees said letting politicians post false claims in ads was “a threat” to the company. NYT.
The Department of Home Affairs is hoping to use its Face Verification Service and Document Verification Service across the economy, and is backing its use for age verification for Australians to look at pornography. ZD Net.
ASPI ICPC
NEW ASPI ICPC report examines deepening Sino-Russian technology ties as US tensions mount
China and Russia have not only expanded military cooperation but are also undertaking more extensive technological cooperation, including in 5G, new media, artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, biotechnology & the digital economy.
The latest policy report by ASPI’s International Cyber Policy Centre - A new Sino-Russian high-tech partnership: Authoritarian innovation in an era of great-power rivalry authored by Russian specialist Samuel Bendett and China specialist Elsa Kania - maps out the unique ecosystem underpinning expanding technology cooperation between Moscow and Beijing.
The distinct deepening of this relationship is also a response to increased pressures imposed by the US. Over the past couple of years, US policy has sought to limit Chinese and Russian engagements with the global technological ecosystem, including through sanctions and export controls. Under these geopolitical circumstances, the determination of Chinese and Russian leaders to develop indigenous replacements for foreign, particularly American technologies, from chips to operating systems, has provided further motivation for cooperation.
The authors say “These advances in authoritarian innovation should provoke concerns for democracies for reasons of security, human rights, and overall competitiveness. Notably, the Chinese and Russian governments are also cooperating on techniques for improved censorship and surveillance and increasingly coordinating on approaches to governance that justify and promote their preferred approach of cyber sovereignty and internet management, to other countries and through international standards and other institutions”.
World
Dissent Erupts at Facebook Over Hands-Off Stance on Political Ads
NYT
@MikeIsaac
In an open letter, the social network’s employees said letting politicians post false claims in ads was “a threat” to the company.
Australia
Home Affairs pushes its face-matching service for porn age verification
ZD Net
@dobes
The Department of Home Affairs is hoping to use its Face Verification Service and Document Verification Service across the economy, and is backing its use for age verification for Australians to look at pornography.
China
China passes cryptography law as gears up for digital currency
Reuters
China’s largely rubber stamp parliament has passed a new law on cryptography as the country gears up to launch its own digital currency, state media reported late on Saturday.
Xi’s Blockchain Push Triggers Frenzy in China Technology Stocks
Bloomberg
Chinese investors snapped up every blockchain-related stock in sight after President Xi Jinping said Beijing wants to speed up development of the technology.
Can China’s Government Advance Its Case on Twitter?
ChinaFile
How successful have Chinese officials been at their use of English-language social media? Has the Chinese Party-state’s use of Facebook and Twitter been good or bad for Chinese soft power?
USA
Pentagon, With an Eye on China, Pushes for Help From American Tech
NYT
@donal888
Pentagon officials have been holding private discussions with tech industry executives to wrestle with a key question: how to ensure future supplies of the advanced computer chips needed to retain America’s military edge.
The top FBI lawyer who tried to force Apple to backdoor its crypto now says working crypto is essential to public safety and national security
Boing Boing
Jim Baker served as the FBI's general counsel from 2014 until 2017, and he presided over the the FBI's attempt to force Apple to undermine its cryptography under the rubric of investigating the San Bernadino shooters; he has long been a prominent advocate for mass surveillance, but he has had a change of heart.
Google Misled Employees About A New Staffer's Family Separation Background At DHS
Buzzfeed
@RMac18 @JasonLeopold
Google executives misled their own employees last week when they said a former top Department of Homeland Security official who had recently joined the company was “not involved in the family separation policy,” government emails obtained under the Freedom of Information Act reveal.
The U.S. Army Didn’t Even Use Tools it Bought from Hacking Team
Vice
@josephfcox
A group focused on counterintelligence and insider threats purchased the malware, according to a FOIA response to Motherboard.
Europe
Sweden authorises the use of facial recognition technology by the police
The New Europe
Sweden’s data protection authority has approved the use of facial recognition technology by the police, to help identify criminal suspects. The decision is controversial following successive bans of this technology in US cities. The technology is widely used in China.
Largest cyber-attack in Georgia's history linked to hacked web hosting provider
ZD Net
@campuscodi
A hacker has defaced over 15,000 websites hosted on the infrastructure of Pro-Service, a Georgian web hosting provider, including government sites, local newspapers, and TV stations.
Norsk Hydro's cyber insurance has paid just a fraction of its breach-related losses so far
Cyber Scoop
@jeffstone500
Norsk Hydro received an insurance payout of $3.6 million following a highly publicized cyberattack earlier this year, the company revealed in its third quarter earnings report.
Russia
Russia and Huawei team up as tech cold war deepens
Nikkei Asian Review
Huawei Technologies has drawn closer to Russia, after having been blacklisted by the U.S. and several European countries, a move that has huge implications for both sides, analysts said.
Americas
Montreal-based UN aviation agency tried to cover up 2016 cyberattack, documents show
CBC
@DebraArbecCBC
In November 2016, the Montreal-based International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) was hit by the most serious cyberattack in its history, and internal documents obtained by CBC suggest key members of the team that should have prevented the attack tried to cover up how badly it was mishandled.
More needs to be done,' Gould says after some online election meddling detected
CBC
@LizT1
The government has to step up its fight against online disinformation in the wake of the federal election, says Democratic Institutions Minister Karina Gould.
Asia
In Afghanistan’s War and Peace, WhatsApp Delivers the Message
NYT
@MujMash @tmgneff
WhatsApp has proliferated in the highest echelons of the Afghan government — as well as among the Taliban.
Fancy Bear hackers targeted at least 16 athletic organizations ahead of Tokyo Olympics
Cyber Scoop
State-sponsored Russian hackers are targeting anti-doping authorities and other sports-related organizations ahead of the Tokyo Olympics in 2020, Microsoft announced on Monday.
Middle East
Why did Microsoft fund an Israeli firm that surveils West Bank Palestinians?
NBC
@oliviasolon
Microsoft has invested in a startup that uses facial recognition to surveil Palestinians throughout the West Bank, in spite of the tech giant’s public pledge to avoid using the technology if it encroaches on democratic freedoms.
Africa
City of Joburg says it knows who ransom hack attacker is, refuses to pay off criminals
The Register
@gazthejourno
Several hours past the payment deadline, Johannesburg has vowed not to give in to criminal hackers who demanded £29,000 (4 bitcoins) not to publish its data, four days after the South African city shut down its public sector networks in response to the breach.
Misc.
What's Blockchain Actually Good for, Anyway? For Now, Not Much
Wired
@GregoryJBarber
Not long ago, blockchain technology was touted as a way to track tuna, bypass banks, and preserve property records. Reality has proved a much tougher challenge.
Models for Platform Governance: A CIGI essay series
Centre for International Governance Innovation
@cigionline
Google, Facebook and Amazon serve billions of users around the globe and increasingly perform core functions in society. The private gains are obvious — these are among the most profitable companies in history. But they come with a cost: platforms threaten our social fabric, our economy and our democracy. To begin to address this, CIGI has convened leading thinkers to explore new models for platform governance. Read the series or watch the video.
Pwn2Own Expands Into Industrial Control Systems Hacking
Threatpost
@lindseyod123
White-hat hackers will now have the chance to win $20,000 for sniffing out remote code-execution flaws in industrial control systems.
Remember that competition for non-hoodie hacker pics? Here's their best entries
The Register
@gazthejourno
A competition to produce stock pictures of infosec that does not involve hoodies or waterfalls of 0s and 1s has yielded a mixed bag of images to illustrate the industry's digital doings for the world's consumption.
Events
The rise of information warfare: in-conversation with Peter W. Singer
ASPI ICPC
This event for 29 October is SOLD OUT but you can watch a livestream on the ASPI Facebook page.
ASPI's International Cyber Policy Centre invites you to an in-conversation with Peter W. Singer and Danielle Cave to consider the rise of information warfare. Peter Warren Singer is strategist and senior fellow at New America. He has been named by the Smithsonian as one of the nation’s 100 leading innovators, by Defense News as one of the 100 most influential people in defense issues, by Foreign Policy to their Top 100 Global Thinkers List, and as an official “Mad Scientist” for the U.S. Army’s Training and Doctrine Command. A drinks and canapes reception will conclude the event. This event is kindly supported by Microsoft.