Nine requests assistance after cyber attack | Vendors would have to disclose breaches under new US order | Google's top security teams unilaterally shut down a counterterrorism operation
Follow us on Twitter. The Daily Cyber Digest focuses on the topics we work on, including cyber, critical technologies & strategic issues like foreign interference.
Media giant Nine Entertainment Co has requested the assistance of the Australian Signals Directorate after a major cyber attack hit its broadcast systems in the early hours of Sunday morning. The Sydney Morning Herald
A planned Biden administration executive order will require many software vendors to notify their federal government customers when the companies have a cybersecurity breach, according to a draft seen by Reuters. Reuters
The decision to block an “expert” level cyberattack has caused controversy inside Google after it emerged that the hackers in question were working for a US ally. MIT Technology Review
ASPI ICPC
Global brands address forced labor in China, but risk alienating Chinese consumers
Marketplace
@tongscott
Analysts said many multinational name brands are scrambling to scrub their supply chains of sweatshop evidence, following pressure from human rights groups, media reports and government policies. “It’s been a massive wake-up call for multinational corporations,” said James Leibold, senior fellow at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute and China scholar at La Trobe University. “And there’s been a lot going on behind the scenes. We know this because we’re in contact with many companies.”
Read ASPI ICPC's report "Uyghurs for sale" here.
A money transfer to Australia landed this Uighur in prison
Australian Financial Review
@CarrieLafrenz
ESG data provider FairSupply analysed 446 Modern Slavery Statements that showed only 6 per cent of entities assessed the risk of modern slavery beyond the first tier of their supply chain, and just 10 per cent of boards have been trained in modern slavery compliance issues. The Australian Strategic Policy Institute conservatively estimates that more than 80,000 Uighurs were transferred out of Xinjiang to work in factories across China between 2017-2019, and some of them were sent directly from detention camps.
World
Google's unusual move to shut down an active counterterrorism operation being conducted by a Western democracy
MIT Technology Review
@HowellONeill
A decision to shut down exploits being used by "friendly" hackers has caused controversy inside the company's security teams.
Australia
Nine requests assistance from government after major cyber attack
The Sydney Morning Herald
@zoesam93 @katinacurtis @Rabe9
Nine Entertainment Co is suffering from a major company-wide outage caused by a cyber attack.
Channel Nine confirms live broadcasts disrupted by cyber attack
ABC News
A cyber attack has disrupted Channel Nine's live broadcasts out of Sydney, the company says. The Weekend Today show and 5pm news program did not go to air Nine confirmed it had been the target of a cyber attack Staff were asked to work from home.Targeted attack': Nine Network investigating claims cyber-attack stopped TV shows being broadcast
The Guardian
@msmarto
Nine management reportedly informed staff it suspected a ‘malicious’ cyber-attack was responsible for the technical issues.
Australia’s cyber security chiefs investigating Parliament House hack
News.com.au
@samanthamaiden
Assistant Minister for Defence Andrew Hastie has revealed that the Morrison Government was forced to cut access to IT and emails at Parliament House to protect against an incoming cyber attack related to an external provider.
China
A Cautionary Tale For China's Ambitious Chipmakers
NPR
@EmilyZFeng
Wuhan Hongxin Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. was supposed to be one of China's most advanced chipmakers. Now it's bankrupt — a big flop at a time when the country seeks technological self-reliance.
USA
Exclusive: Software vendors would have to disclose breaches to U.S. government users under new order: draft
Reuters
@josephmenn @Bing_Chris @nanditab1
A planned Biden administration executive order will require many software vendors to notify their federal government customers when the companies have a cybersecurity breach, according to a draft seen by Reuters.
Things really are very bad' - Biden navigates cyber attacks without a cyber czar
POLITICO
@NatashaBertrand
The national cyber director role remains unfilled two months into Joe Biden's presidency despite a legal mandate that it be occupied.
Amazon started a Twitter war because Jeff Bezos was pissed
Vox
@DelRey
Amazon has long been at odds with Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren over their criticisms of the company's labor and business practices. But the discord reached a new height last week when Amazon aggressively went after both on Twitter.
Amazon keeps trying to troll US Congress members in perplexing new PR strategy
The Verge
@nickstatt
Amazon is intensifying its bizarre online public relations strategy of picking increasingly petty fights with sitting US Congress members, with the company’s Amazon News account on Friday shifting targets from Rep. Mark Pocan (D-WI) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) to Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA).
NY State launches first US “vaccine passport” app, Excelsior Pass, built on IBM's blockchain-based health pass platform, to be used initially at large venues
USA Today
@Karen Weintraub @Elizabeth Weise
Starting Friday, New Yorkers will be able to pull up a code on their cell phone or a printout to prove they've been vaccinated against COVID-19 or recently tested negative for the virus that causes it.
Parler explains 'free speech' to angry users after sharing Capitol riot posts with the FBI
Mashable
@MattBinder
Just as Congress was finishing up grilling the CEOs of Facebook, Google, and Twitter at a hearing on Thursday, Parler published its response to a separate Congressional inquiry into the company's ties and finances.
Beijing Targets American Business
The Wall Street Journal
The U.S. and China’s Communist Party are strategic and ideological competitors. CEOs have to decide which side they want to help win.
Terrorism and Other Dangerous Online Content: Exporting the First Amendment?
Just Security
@mikehposner @rgoodlaw
The First Amendment is no cause for the United States holding back from international multi-stakeholder efforts to address the spread of dangerous online content. Christchurch is still calling.
T-Mobile, Verizon, AT&T Stop SMS Hijacks After Motherboard Investigation
VICE
@josephfcox
All the mobile carries have mitigated a major SMS security loophole that allowed a hacker to hijack text messages for just $16.
North-East Asia
UK-Japan Digital Cooperation on the 5G Agenda and Beyond
Chatham House
@Hiroki Sekine
UK-Japan cooperation on the 5G agenda will also help shape the future of global digital cooperation.
New Zealand & The Pacific
Anne-Marie Brady welcomes the NZSIS becoming more transparent about their work. NZSIS needs to build trust with the vulnerable targets of CCP foreign interference here
interest.co.nz
@Anne_MarieBrady
NZSIS’s first public mention of foreign interference appeared in their 2017 annual report. NZSIS’s 2017 briefing to the incoming Ardern government - the first time such a briefing had been publicly released - highlighted “attempts to unduly influence expatriate communities” and advised the PM to “openly provide information about public security issues to the public."
UK
The UK professor and the fake Russian agent
BBC
@chloehadj
An email exchange between a UK professor and a man called "Ivan" shows how intense the information war over Syria remains.
Call centre staff to be monitored via webcam for home-working ‘infractions’
The Guardian
@peterwalker99
In a sign of potential battles ahead over the surveillance of remote staff after the pandemic, Teleperformance – which employs about 380,000 people in 34 countries and counts dozens of major UK companies and government departments among its clients – has told some staff that specialist webcams will be fitted to check for home-working “infractions”.
Europe
Digital Jungle Best Tackled by Joint U.S.-EU Effort
CEPA
Europe is forging ahead to regulate tech, the U.S. should pay close attention to the details.
The Americas
Catalyst offered up to $11-million to Israeli firm that launched sting on Ontario judge
The Globe and Mail
Toronto's Catalyst Capital Group Inc. agreed to pay up to US$11-million to an Israeli private investigation company in an arrangement that led to a sting designed to discredit an Ontario judge, according to court documents.
Gender and Women in Cyber
“I’m Afraid to Open Twitter”: Next-Level Harassment of Female Journalists Is Putting News Outlets to the Test
Vanity Fair
@charlottetklein
Newsrooms that once preached “don’t feed the trolls” are being forced to grapple with a daily deluge of smears. “Even the most open-minded media organizations are still run by men who don’t fundamentally understand the misogynistic nature of these attacks,” says one reporter.
Misc
Online climate change communities & COVID-19
Vision of Humanity
@Aaron Castle
Looking at the major issues of today in a factual, balanced and positive light, so you can make better choices to create the kind of world you want to live in.
Why Did Someone Pay $560,000 for a Picture of My Column?
The New York Times
@kevinroose
Bidders say they had many different motivations, including fun, self-promotion and a signal of support for the NFT market.
What Data Can’t Do
The New Yorker
@Hannah Fry
When it comes to people—and policy—numbers are both powerful and perilous.
How to Filter Out Twitter Trolls by Using Block Party
Consumer Reports
@Yael Grauer
Block Party is an anti-harassment tool that automatically filters out Twitter trolls but saves the tweets so that you or a trusted friend can review them later. Consumer Reports has the details.
On Google Podcasts, a Buffet of Hate
The New York Times
@uugwuu
The platform’s tolerance of white supremacist, pro-Nazi and conspiracy theory content pushes the boundaries of the medium.
Can Artificial Intelligence Replace Human Therapists?
The Wall Street Journal
@Lisa Ward
Three experts discuss the promise—and problems—of relying on algorithms for our mental health
Research
China sets hopes on blockchain to close cyber security gaps
Merics
With an already large and growing digital economy and increasing use of the Internet of Things (IoT), China is in dire need of strong data security standards, data privacy protection and an efficient digital infrastructure. Kai von Carnap looks at how China is deploying blockchain technology to meet these challenges and analyzes both its rate of success and the implications China’s approach has for other parts of the world, including Europe.
Facebook's Faces
Harvard Law Review Forum
@Chinmayi Arun
The Facebook Oversight Board’s decision about the suspension of Donald Trump’s account is different from the Board’s other cases because it interests states. The ‘Trump Ban’ case affects the Board’s reputation and Facebook’s relationships with states and publics. We will not understand the case’s impact if we do not understand these relationships.