‘New weapons’: Indian PM calls for democracies to work together on cyber war | U.S. indicts Iranian hackers over 2020 election misinformation | Amazon's dark secret: it has failed to protect your data
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“We are at a historic moment of choice. Whether all the wonderful powers of technology of our age will be instruments of co-operation or conflict, coercion or choice, domination or development, operation or opportunity,” Indian Prime Minister Modi said in an address to the Australian Strategic Policy Institute’s Sydney Dialogue technology summit on Thursday. Australian Financial Review
Two alleged Iranian hackers were indicted by the U.S. Justice Department on Thursday and accused of engaging in a hacking and disinformation campaign targeting American voters in the run-up to the 2020 U.S. presidential election. The Washington Post
A Reveal and WIRED special report that includes confidential documents and more than a dozen interviews with former employees points to a secret Amazon has been keeping from you: your data has been handled much less carefully than your packages. WIRED
ASPI ICPC
Modi adds strength to alliance
The Australian
India’s importance – as the world’s most populous democracy – to meeting the strategic and economic challenges bearing down on the Indo-Pacific region has never been in doubt. But just how crucial that role is was made clear by Prime Minister Narendra Modi when, in the keynote address on Thursday to the inaugural Sydney Dialogue organised by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, he repeatedly emphasised his country’s firm commitment to democratic values in a fast-changing digital world.
Australia and India share deep friendship, ties will grow with time, PM Scott Morrison says
The Print
Asserting that Australia and India share a deep friendship, Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Thursday said that both countries are making great progress in many areas including space, science, digital technology.
Sydney Dialogue | Democracies must ensure cryptocurrencies don’t end up in wrong hands: PM Modi
The Hindu
The Sydney Dialogue is an annual summit of cyber and critical technologies to discuss the fallout of the digital domain on the law and order situation in the world. Mr Modi said India’s space sector was open to private investment and that the agriculture sector was reaping the benefits of digital revolution. The PM’s speech referred to the perils of technology and data that had turned them into new forms of “weapons”.
Modi warns on weaponisation of technology
Australian Financial Review
Andrew Tillett
Technology and data are rapidly becoming “new weapons”, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has warned, and in a thinly veiled shot at China said there was a risk of “vested interests” exploiting the openness that defines democracies. Mr Modi implored democracies to work together to create trusted supply chains, invest in research and development and preserve internet freedom.Modi urges democracies to use tech to spread values
Al Jazeera
John Power
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has called on democracies to work together on cutting-edge technologies to promote democratic values, outlining a “historic moment of choice” between conflict and cooperation. Speaking via videolink at a summit on emerging technologies in Sydney, Australia on Thursday, Modi said the digital era had created opportunities for progress and prosperity but also the risk of new forms of conflict.‘New weapons’: Indian PM calls for democracies to work together on cyber warfare
The Sydney Morning Herald
Anthony Galloway
“We are at a historic moment of choice. Whether all the wonderful powers of technology of our age will be instruments of co-operation or conflict, coercion or choice, domination or development, operation or opportunity,” he said in an address to the Australian Strategic Policy Institute’s Sydney Dialogue technology summit on Thursday.Cryptocurrency must not end up in wrong hands: PM Modi
The Indian Express
Anisha Dutta
It is essential for democracies to work together to invest in future technology, deepen intelligence on cyber security and prevent manipulation of public opinion, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Thursday while flagging cryptocurrency as one of the areas where they should work together to “ensure it does not end up in the wrong hands” and “spoil our youth”.'Can spoil our youth': PM Modi urges nations to work on cryptocurrency
Hindustan Times
Amit Chaturvedi
All democratic nations must work together to ensure cryptocurrency "does not end up in wrong hands, which can spoil our youth," Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Thursday, in his first public comments on the subject.PM Modi Speaks At The Sydney Dialogue: Top 5 Quotes
NDTV
Debanish Achom
Prime Minister Narendra Modi delivered the keynote address at The Sydney Dialogue this morning on the theme "India's technology evolution and revolution". The Sydney Dialogue is an initiative of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute.Sydney Dialogue: PM Modi lists 5 'digital transitions' shaping India
ET Telecom
Noting that India's digital revolution is rooted in its democracy, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday listed out "Digital transitions shaping" the country, at the inaugraul edition of The Sydney Dialogue.India with respect for individual rights is best partner for other democracies, Modi says at Sydney Dialogue
Tribune India
Sandeep Dikshit
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday flagged the downside of critical technologies saying India with its strong democratic credentials, with an accent on individual rights, was the best partner for other democracies. Modi was delivering the keynote address at the Sydney Dialogue where Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison had listed 63 critical technologies that would enable the Quad and AUKUS groupings to match China’s advances in technologies that could enable global economic and security dominance.
Get ready for a quantum leap to hi-tech future
The Australian
Cathy Foley
The blueprint for critical technologies released in a keynote address by Scott Morrison on Wednesday has the potential to catalyse our science and research sector by using breakthrough science to deliver on the strategy for the technologies that it sets out. Australia is strong in foundational research. And we have world-leading innovation and expertise in sectors such as cyber and data analytics, quantum and biotech. The task now is to ensure we achieve the greatest impact. The accompanying action plan supports research and industry to come together to solve what are non-trivial scientific challenges in these sectors, and to develop the technologies and products that will secure Australia’s place in the deep-tech supply chain. This is a job that starts with science.
New 'compact' between tech and government
Cowra Guardian
Marion Rae
The "new compact" between technology and government has already cost one player $1 billion. The Sydney Dialogue is having a conversation about emerging and critical technologies as governments grapple with what companies and communities are already doing.
Social media creating virus of lies, says Nobel winner Maria Ressa
The Guardian
Rebecca Ratcliffe
Speaking at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute’s Sydney Dialogue, Ressa accused social media companies of misusing arguments around freedom of speech. “It’s a freedom of reach issue, not a freedom of speech issue,” she said.
Google CEO Sundar Pichai was asked if he owns cryptocurrency. Here's what he said
Mint
Earlier today, Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged cooperation between the world's democracies to ensure cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin do not "end up in the wrong hands", delivering the comments while his government drew up new rules for digital currencies. PM Modi did not elaborate on those fears in his speech delivered virtually to the Sydney Dialogue, a forum focused on emerging, critical and cyber technologies.
World
U.S.-China tech war clouds SK Hynix's plans for a key chip factory
Reuters
Plans by Korea's SK Hynix to overhaul a huge facility in China so it can make memory chips more efficiently are in jeopardy, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters, because U.S. officials do not want advanced equipment used in the process to enter into China.
Australia
Critical infrastructure facing cyber security risks
Australian Financial Review
Andrew Tillett
The cyber threat facing businesses is rapidly evolving, as criminals motivated by money and rogue state actors striving to achieve geostrategic ends embark on more sophisticated forms of attack. But Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews has reassured firms that new “step in” powers that would allow the government’s cyber spies to take over computer systems to protect critical infrastructure from cyber attack would only be used as a last resort.
Trolls face $111,000 penalties for sharing intimate images as online regulator gets new powers
The Sydney Morning Herald
Michaela Whitbourn and Laura Chung
The nation’s eSafety Commissioner says she will use “all available powers” to keep Australians safe online as her office prepares for the rollout in January of tougher laws to tackle internet trolls sharing intimate images without a person’s consent.
TikTok users offered $300 to produce anti-ScoMo content for Labor campaign
Crikey
Cam Wilson
A marketing firm claiming to work for the Labor Party is offering to pay TikTok users to post anti-Scott Morrison sponsored content. Crikey has obtained an email and campaign brief from Vocal Media, a small US-based based influencer marketing agency that has worked with other left-leaning political and non-for-profit organisations.
Threat from COVID-inspired extremism not new for Australian security agencies
ABC News
Andrew Greene
Earlier this year, the director-general of security declared "COVID has reinforced extremist beliefs and narratives about societal collapse". "Extreme right-wing propaganda used COVID to portray governments as oppressors, and globalisation, multiculturalism and democracy as flawed and failing," he said at the time.
Read our report ‘Buying and selling extremism: New funding opportunities in the right-wing extremist online ecosystem’
China
Meet China's new National Anti-Monopoly Bureau
Protocol
Zeyi Yang
On Thursday, China officially launched the new national bureau to supervise anti-monopoly work. According to the bureau's website, the new administration will consist of three divisions, each focusing on a different task: policymaking, rules enforcement and M&A reviews. What pops out from the official description of each division's responsibility is the focus on the digital economy. It is the only industry singled out as an emphasis of the bureau's work going forward, after several major Chinese tech companies like Alibaba have gone through anti-monopoly reviews this year.
Off the grid: Chinese data law adds to global shipping disruption
Reuters
Jonathan Saul and Eduardo Baptista
Ships in Chinese waters are disappearing from tracking systems following the introduction of a new data law in China, frustrating efforts to ease bottlenecks that are snarling the global economy, according to three shipping sources directly impacted.
Beware the Chinese Ransomware Attack With No Ransom
Bloomberg
Tim Culpan
A breach by Chinese hackers of almost a dozen targets in Taiwan looked, on the surface, like just another ransomware attack: infiltrate a network, encrypt a ton of files, lock the owners out of their own systems, and wait to be paid. But this one was different for what it didn’t contain, and portends a type of threat that could stymie attempts by corporate and government leaders to make their computer systems more secure.
Alibaba's sale growth slows, and its profit falls
The New York Times
Raymond Zhong
Alibaba, China’s biggest e-commerce company, reported its slowest sales growth in a year and a half on Thursday, the effect of Beijing’s regulatory clampdown on internet giants and tough competition from rival online retail destinations in China.
In Alibaba's Parallel Universe, Where Ant Had an IPO
Bloomberg
Tim Culpan
The aborted listing of its fintech unit kicked off a challenging 12 months for Alibaba, but it was going to be tough anyway.
China has no plans to replace foreign technology, says foreign ministry
Reuters
Stephen Nellis and Joyce Lee, Toby Sterling
China has no plans to replace foreign technology, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said on Thursday, in response to a media report which said China was accelerating efforts to replace U.S. technology.
USA
U.S. indicts two Iranian hackers over 2020 election misinformation campaign
The Washington Post
Devlin Barrett
Two alleged Iranian hackers were indicted by the U.S. Justice Department on Thursday and accused of engaging in a hacking and disinformation campaign targeting American voters in the run-up to the 2020 U.S. presidential election.
Amazon's Dark Secret: It Has Failed to Protect Your Data
WIRED
Will Evans
On September 26, 2018, a row of tech executives filed into a marble- and wood-paneled hearing room and sat down behind a row of tabletop microphones and tiny water bottles. They had all been called to testify before the US Senate Commerce Committee on a dry subject—the safekeeping and privacy of customer data—that had recently been making large numbers of people mad as hell.
Deputy Secretary General discusses NATO-industry cooperation on cyber security
NATO
It is crucial for NATO to partner with industry, especially the defence and technology sectors across Europe and North America, to harness the power and potential of technological innovation. Key message from NATO Deputy Secretary General Mircea Geoană to senior representatives from technology, pharmaceutical and insurance companies, gathered at the virtual Ibec Global Summit, ‘Cybersecurity: The Transatlantic Reboot’
Republican pushback to the Biden tech agenda is getting personal
Protocol
Ben Brody
Sen. Ted Cruz called Alvaro Bedoya, who is Biden’s nominee to the FTC, a “bomb-thrower” at a Thursday hearing. And Gigi Sohn, a net-neutrality advocate and progressive favorite whom the president wants at the FCC, faces a “rocky road.”
U.S. House, Senate will negotiate on China tech bill
Reuters
Patricia Zengerle and David Shepardson: U.S. House and Senate leaders said on Wednesday that lawmakers would negotiate to try to reach final agreement on a bill to boost U.S. technology competitiveness with China and semiconductor manufacturing.
Visions of a U.S. Computer Chip Boom Have Cities Hustling
The New York Times
David McCabe: Many local governments see a silver lining in the shortage of semiconductor chips that has contributed to a slowdown in the global economy.
Facebook Isn’t Telling You How Popular Right-Wing Content Is on the Platform
The Markup
Corin Faife
Facebook insists that mainstream news sites perform the best on its platform. But by other measures, sensationalist, partisan content reigns.
State attorneys general open an inquiry into Instagram’s impact on teens.
The New York Times
Cecilia Kang and Mike Isaac
The states were examining whether the actions of Facebook, now called Meta, violated state consumer protection laws and put the public at risk.
3 Years After the Maven Uproar, Google Cozies to the Pentagon
WIRED
Tom Simonite
The company has contracts to detect corrosion on Navy ships and help maintain Air Force jets. Now it wants to bid for a lucrative cloud contract.
North Asia
How South Korea Is Attempting to Tackle Fake News
The Diplomat
Hyejin Kim
South Korea is attempting to deal with the now-universal issue of disinformation. So why did its draft bill attract such fierce criticism?
Previously unreported North Korean espionage part of busy 2021 for country's hackers
CyberScoop
AJ Vicens
A North Korean cyber espionage group known primarily for targeting think tanks, advocacy groups, journalists and others related to Pyongyang’s adversaries around the world has been quite prolific in 2021, according to email security firm Proofpoint.
South-East Asia
Partnership Step’s Up Vietnam’s Digital Transformation
ASEAN Tech & Sec
The Vietnamese government recently signed a decision on establishing the National Committee on Digital Transformation, chaired by Prime Minister Chinh. The government is emphasising technology adoption and innovation as part of its 2021 – 2025 Socioeconomic Development Plan.
South and Central Asia
Google keen on more Jio-like partnerships in India, says India engineering lead for Android
ET Telecom
Danish Khan
Internet major Google said that it is looking to form more Jio-like partnerships in India to solve customer requirements in the country. It is looking at partnerships with handset makers, telecom operators and developers.
Europe
Germany may have been naive on China at first, Merkel says
Reuters
Andreas Rinke
Germany may at first have been naive in some areas of cooperation with China, but should not sever all connections in reaction to growing tensions, Chancellor Angela Merkel has told Reuters..Merkel said Germany was continuously in discussions with Beijing on intellectual property and patent protection, "both with regard to Chinese students in Germany and German enterprises operating in China".
Huawei, Alibaba sponsorship overshadows European cloud Gaia-X’s summit
POLITICO
Clothilde Goujard
Senior members of Europe's Gaia-X cloud computing initiative have voiced concerns about sponsorship of its annual gathering in Milan by Chinese tech companies Huawei and Alibaba, according to internal correspondence seen by POLITICO. In emails traded between board members and the group's management ahead of the summit, which kicks off on November 18, several board members aired reservations about having the Chinese firms — as well as American cloud giants Amazon Web Services and Microsoft — being seen as key backers of an initiative geared at promoting European data "sovereignty."
Google signs 5-year deal to pay for news from AFP
Reuters
Paresh Dave
Alphabet Inc's Google will begin paying Agence France-Presse for its news content as part of broad five-year partnership announced Wednesday that marks one of the biggest licensing deals struck by a tech giant under a new French law. News organizations, which have been losing ad revenue to online aggregators such as Google and Facebook (FB.O), have complained for years about the tech companies using stories in search results or other features without payment.
Volkswagen powers up the grid to take on Tesla
Reuters
Vera Eckert, Christoph Steitz and Tom Käckenhoff
Volkswagen plans to double staff numbers at its charging and energy division, roll out new payment technology next year and strike more alliances to take on Tesla (TSLA.O) in a key electric vehicle (EV) battleground: power infrastructure.
Russia
How the Kremlin has weaponized the Facebook files
Brookings
Jessica Brandt
In recent weeks, Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen has delivered damning testimony to lawmakers in Washington, London, and Brussels, painting a portrait of a company aware of its harmful effects on society but unwilling to act out of concern for profits and growth. Her revelations have created a public-relations crisis for the social-media giant and spurred renewed calls for stiffer oversight of online platforms. But Haugen’s revelations have also resulted in a less expected outcome: Russian propagandists using her testimony for their own ends.
Events
The Sydney Dialogue - Contested Space: Collaborating in the New Golden Age of Space
ASPI
@ASPI_ICPC
This session will convene on 19 Nov at 12:00-13:00 AEDT with space leaders from the US, Japan, India, and Australia. It will consider challenges and opportunities in a contested, congested, and competitive space domain. It will explore how the Quad states can work together towards achieving the next giant leap in space exploration - specifically the return of humans to the lunar surface to achieve the ability to undertake crewed missions to Mars. Finally, the panel will consider how a high visibility collaborative project between Quad members in space can deliver a key advance in space globally.
The Sydney Dialogue - Democracies and Global Technology Governance
ASPI
@ASPI_ICPC
There is rising awareness that how technologies are designed, where they come from, and how they are deployed, matters. To preserve human rights and free societies, democracies are coming to realise they need to play a more active role, as a group, shaping global tech governance. Be it standard setting, design principles, ethical frameworks or law enforcement access to digital content, there is a pressing need to ensure the interests of citizens are kept central. This panel on 19 Nov at 13:00-14:00 AEDT will look at how states can best advance global technology governance to preserve freedoms and the important role for the Indo-Pacific.
Research
Understanding the global chip shortages
Stiftung Neue Verantwortung
Julia Hess, Jan-Peter Kleinhans
The global chip shortages and the resulting severe spillover damages in many sectors put the spotlight on questions of the health of the semiconductor supply chain. The struggle to cope with skyrocketing demand, natural disasters and lock-downs – all happening concurrently – reveals the supply chains fragility. Governments ask themselves what their role should and could be to strengthen the resilience of this vital supply chain, beyond mulling substantial subsidies to strengthen their domestic chip manufacturing.
Jobs
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.
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.
Director of Public Policy
Atlassian
We are looking for a Director of Public Policy to join our growing Public Policy and Regulatory Affairs function, within the Legal team. We’re seeking an experienced public policy and government relations professional with a strong understanding of regulatory and policy processes to directly represent Atlassian in our engagement with the US Government and legislature. The right candidate will monitor legislative and regulatory developments within Federal Government, build relationships with lawmakers, policymakers and regulators and develop out a pro-active engagement strategy in support of our public policy and regulatory affairs goals.