Online influence campaigns risk undermining Covid-19 vaccination programs | Google threatens to disable search in Australia if media code becomes law | Ant Group drops $108 billion after crackdown
Follow us on Twitter. The Daily Cyber Digest focuses on the topics we work on, including cyber, critical technologies & strategic issues like foreign interference.
As Tuesday 26 January is a public holiday in Australia, there will be no Cyber Digest tomorrow.
Our analysis of 455,940 tweets mentioning vaccine-related terms between 11 January and 19 January found an overall shift towards negative sentiment on vaccines following the Norwegian Medicines Agency report. This suggests that negative portrayals of one vaccine might erode public trust in all vaccination programs. Tweets mentioning ‘pfizer’ had the greatest relative increase in negative sentiment across the eight-day period. The Strategist
Melanie Silva, Google managing director and vice-president of Australia and New Zealand, says the company will cut off search to Australian users if it is forced to pay for news content. The code aims to force digital platforms to pay media companies for news content, and follows a 12-month review into Google and Facebook by the competition watchdog. The legislation, which was introduced into the House of Representatives in December, comes amid a push by global governments to rein in the power of digital monopolies. The Sydney Morning Herald
Ant Group Co.’s valuation may be cut further under new measures proposed by China to curb market concentration in its online payments market, according to new estimates from Bloomberg Intelligence. Bloomberg
ASPI ICPC
Chinese and Russian influence campaigns risk undermining Covid-19 vaccination programs
The Strategist
@arielbogle @AlbertYZhang
The battle over vaccine narratives has led to online influence and disinformation campaigns that aim to mislead or to amplify potentially negative news about rival vaccine candidates without proper context. Such behaviour could erode public trust and vaccine uptake, delaying global efforts to eradicate the disease and recover from the severe social, political and economic damage caused by the pandemic. Our analysis of 455,940 tweets mentioning vaccine-related terms between 11 January and 19 January found an overall shift towards negative sentiment on vaccines following the Norwegian Medicines Agency report. This suggests that negative portrayals of one vaccine might erode public trust in all vaccination programs. Tweets mentioning ‘pfizer’ had the greatest relative increase in negative sentiment across the eight-day period.
Chats of Arnab Goswami expose the Government even more than the anchor and businessman
National Herald
Satellite data analysis by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute’s Nathan Ruser concluded there was “no apparent evidence of extensive damage and on the face of it does not validate Indian claims regarding the effect of the strikes”. The mystery about the Balakot strike persists.
Why Are Moscow and Beijing Happy to Host the U.S. Far-Right Online?
Foreign Policy
@fryan
That Chinese and Russian servers have seemingly become safe harbors for extremist Western content reflects a disturbing and growing alliance between the far-right and authoritarian governments, Fergus Ryan writes.
World
The World Needs a Cyber-WHO to Counter Viruses in Cyberspace
Foreign Policy
A global body has helped poorer nations counter COVID-19, but less technologically advanced countries need a similar institution to protect against the coming plague of cyberattacks.
Australia
Google threatens to disable search in Australia if media code becomes law
The Sydney Morning Herald
Google Australia managing director Mel Silva told a Senate inquiry that the company would have "no real choice" but to shut down Google Search in Australia if the laws passed.
Google Escalates Dispute With Australia by Threatening Search Shutdown Wall Street Journal.
Google's threat to withdraw its search engine from Australia is chilling to anyone who cares about democracy The Guardian.
Google is threatening to pull its search engine from Australia. So what does that mean for you? ABC News
Frydenberg hits out at tech giants for ‘shifting goalposts’ on media code The Sydney Morning Herald
Defence delays Global Switch data centre exit by up to five years
iTnews
@justinrhendry
The Department of Defence has delayed its exit from Global Switch’s Sydney-based data centre by up to five years after plans to move all of its data from the facility fell short last year. The department extended its relationship with the Chinese-owned facility under a $53.5 million deal last October, despite previously flagging its intention to leave.
QAnon and targeted abuse require online reform: commissioner
Australian Financial Review
@SaysSmithy
Australia's eSafety Commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, has warned big tech platforms that they must do more to tackle the problems caused by anonymous accounts on their services, ahead of the proposed introduction of new powers that could force individuals to be unmasked and see fines levied.
Allens victim of high-profile cyber attack
Australian Financial Review
Major Australian law firm Allens was the victim of a high-profile cyber attack that compromised the service provider it trusted with sensitive information, including commercial-in-confidence documents related to Westpac’s anti-money laundering compliance.
China
Ant Group’s Valuation Seen Dropping to $108 Billion on Crackdown
Bloomberg
Ant Group Co.’s valuation may be cut further under new measures proposed by China to curb market concentration in its online payments market, according to new estimates from Bloomberg Intelligence.
China Is Joining the Global Push to Rein In Tech Giants
Wall Street Journal.
Beijing recently unveiled guidelines for competition, adding to efforts in Brussels and Washington to curb the power of digital companies.
To Rule the Invisible Battlefield: The Electromagnetic Spectrum and Chinese Military Power
War on the Rocks
The People’s Liberation Army understands electronic warfare in a similar way to the U.S. military, despite a slightly different usage of terms.
Inside China Tech: China’s central bank defines monopoly amid antitrust curb of fintech market
SCMP
For the first time, the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) has outlined how it will define monopoly among third-party online payments, as it moves ahead with a plan to curb market concentration in the world’s largest fintech market. The proposed definitions are the most detailed so far, but they have left analysts and legal scholars scratching their heads over whether Ant Group’s Alipay and Tencent Holdings’ WeChat Pay, the leading mobile payment operators in China, will be subject to penalties or broken up.
To read more on the PBOC and its role in regulating China’s evolving currency markets, see ASPI ICPC’s The flipside of China’s central bank digital currency.
USA
The transfer of executive Twitter power
Fortune
@DanielleDigest
President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris were officially sworn into office on Wednesday, setting into motion another transfer of power: the handover of the official Twitter handles.
America Has a GPS Problem
The New York Times
“If we don’t get good backups on line, then GPS is just a soft rib of ours, and we could be punched here very quickly,” said Todd Humphreys, an associate professor of aerospace engineering at the University of Texas in Austin. If GPS was knocked out, he said, you’d notice. Think widespread power outages, financial markets seizing up and the transportation system grinding to a halt.
Parler’s attempt to get back on Amazon Web Services rejected by judge
Ars Technica
@jbrodkin
A federal judge today rejected Parler's motion for a preliminary injunction against Amazon Web Services (AWS), scuttling the social network's attempt to quickly get back onto Amazon's Web-hosting platform.
Facebook Gives FBI Private Messages Of Users Discussing Capitol Hill Riot
Forbes
@iblametom
Despite attempts to play down the use of Facebook amongst Capitol Hill rioters, the social media giant is furnishing the feds with data on users who took part in the siege, including their private messages, after calls from lawmakers to do so.
Intelligence Analysts Use U.S. Smartphone Location Data Without Warrants, Memo Says
The New York Times
@charlie_savage
A military arm of the intelligence community buys commercially available databases containing location data from smartphone apps and searches it for Americans’ past movements without a warrant, according to an unclassified memo obtained by The New York Times.
Big Tech nemesis Lina Khan is gaining traction for top Biden antitrust role
Vox
@DelRey
Lina Khan, an antitrust expert, Columbia law professor and thorn in the side of Big Tech, is gaining traction as a candidate to fill one of the commissioner roles at the Federal Trade Commission under President Joe Biden, three sources familiar with the discussions told Recode this week.
The Face Of QAnon Isn’t Just White Dudes With Guns, It’s Instagram #BoyMoms
Buzzfeed News
@stephemcneal
Little Miss Patriot is amassing followers despite Instagram suspending her accounts for spreading disinformation. Why is her messaging so potent?
What Happens When You Click ‘Agree’?
The New York Times
The same legalese that can ban Donald Trump from Twitter can bar users from joining class-action lawsuits. It’s time to fix the fine print.
Tech is having a reckoning. Tech investors? Not so much.
MIT Review
@eileenguo
The events in Washington forced technology companies to face a public reckoning over their role in promoting and amplifying extreme content. For years, critics called for social media platforms to enforce their own policies on hate speech, harassment, and incitement to violence, but the companies largely resisted. In the wake of the attack on the Capitol, however, they began taking action. Facebook and Instagram disabled Trump’s ability to post until after the inauguration, Twitter banned the president as well as 70,000 QAnon-related accounts, and YouTube prevented Trump’s account from posting for seven days.
After big hack of U.S. government, Biden enlists 'world class' cybersecurity team
Reuters
President Joe Biden is hiring a group of national security veterans with deep cyber expertise, drawing praise from former defense officials and investigators as the U.S. government works to recover from one of the biggest hacks of its agencies attributed to Russian spies.
North-East Asia
A Neglected Frontier: Challenges to Japan’s Cyber Security
Global Risk Insights
In 2021 the proportion of the budget assigned to cyber security spending is set to rise to JP¥30.1 billion, an increase of almost JP¥5 billion, though one which will still not see spending on cyber rise to 1% of the budget. Importantly, the Ministry of Defence intends to consolidate Japan’s cyber security infrastructure by abolishing the C4SC and expanding the Cyber Defence Group to 540 personnel.
South-East Asia
UK
Former MI6 chief says he was 'shocked' not to be consulted over decision to use Huawei technology in Britain's 5G
The Telegraph
A former MI6 chief says he was “shocked” not to be consulted over the decision to use Huawei technology in British infrastructure. Sir Richard Dearlove said he had been “militant” at the time the original decision was taken as he felt the government was “going in the wrong direction”.
Europe
China's $150 Billion Chip Push Has Hit a Dutch Snag
Bloomberg
@atbwebb
Europe’s largest tech company supplies the machines that can make next-generation semiconductors. But it’s isn’t selling these to China.
Russia
Russia wages online battle against TikTok and YouTube
Yahoo News
@AfPalasciano
"I'm an American!" a young Russian under the username Neurolera exclaims in English on the popular video-sharing app TikTok as she explains how to impersonate a tourist to avoid arrest at a street demonstration.
Misc
WhatsApp Fueled A Global Misinformation Crisis. Now, It’s Stuck In One.
Buzzfeed News
@PranavDixit
A new privacy policy will be delayed three months after people were confused about what it would mean.
Intel says hacker obtained financially sensitive information
Financial Times
Intel said it was the victim of a hacker who stole financially sensitive information from its corporate website on Thursday, prompting the company to release its earnings statement ahead of schedule.
Microsoft Files Patent to Create Chatbots That Imitate Dead People
IGN
@AdeleAnkers
Microsoft has filed a patent that would allow the company to digitally revive deceased loved ones as chatbots, using the individual's personal information.
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