Pentagon Contractors’ Report on ‘Wuhan Lab’ Origins of Virus False | FBI finds al Qaeda link on Pensacola attacker's iPhone | Spyware lets police log suspects' passcodes
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A military contractors’ report circulating on Capitol Hill claims to have evidence that COVID-19 escaped from a Chinese lab. It’s filled with information that’s just plain wrong. The Daily Beast
The Saudi military trainee who killed three US sailors and wounded several others in a terror attack last year on a military base in Pensacola, Florida, was a longtime associate of al Qaeda who had communicated with operatives from the group as recently as the night before the shooting, the Justice Department and the FBI announced Monday. CNN
A tool, previously unknown to the public, doesn't have to crack the code that people use to unlock their phones. It just has to log the code as the user types it in. NBC
ASPI ICPC
How a Chinese AI Giant Made Chatting—and Surveillance—Easy
Wired
@MaraHvistendahl
Alexa can tell you the weather. Siri knows a few jokes. In China, voice-computing company iFlytek built similar smart assistants beloved by users. But its tech is also helping the government listen in. For the CCP, monitoring speech appears to be about more than censorship. “The collection of voice and video data assists with identifying people, networks, how people speak, what they care about, and what are the trends,” says Samantha Hoffman, an analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute's Cyber Centre in Canberra.
Take a look at our coverage of iFlytek in the China Tech Map.
Covid-19 could be a game-changer for Australia’s tech sector
The Strategist
Francis Galbally
If there’s a silver lining in the dark cloud of Covid-19, it’s that previous business-as-usual practices cannot continue after the crisis is over. Not only must changes in personal and social behaviour remain, but changes in how businesses and governments approach national economic security must also remain.
Australia
Recent cyber attacks just the tip of the iceberg for Australia
AFR
@macgibbon
Toll Group, BlueScope and Service NSW have all fallen victim to cyber criminals in recent days. The government and industry need to sharpen their response.
Coronavirus misinformation and confusion plagues health workers
ABC
@arielbogle
Healthcare workers are dealing with a global contagion of misinformation and confusion about COVID-19 as well as the pandemic itself.
China
China’s Cyberspace Administration Investigates and Punishes 386 App With Privacy Concerns
Ping West
China’s Cyberspace Administration investigate and punished 386 apps with privacy concerns in the first quarter of 2020, in a bid to protect Chinese Internet users’ personal privacy. These apps include news, education, online forum, entertainment, and more. 97 of them is facing administrative punishments, 192 are asked to stop illegal acts, 51 are removed or stopped operating.
USA
Pentagon Contractors’ Report on ‘Wuhan Lab’ Origins of Virus Is Bogus
The Daily Beast
@ErinBanco @arawnsley @LachCartwright
A military contractors’ report circulating on Capitol Hill claims to have evidence that COVID-19 escaped from a Chinese lab. It’s filled with information that’s just plain wrong.
FBI finds al Qaeda link after breaking encryption on Pensacola attacker's iPhone
CNN
@davidgshortell @evanperez
The Saudi military trainee who killed three US sailors and wounded several others in a terror attack last year on a military base in Pensacola, Florida, was a longtime associate of al Qaeda who had communicated with operatives from the group as recently as the night before the shooting, the Justice Department and the FBI announced Monday.
iPhone spyware lets police log suspects' passcodes when cracking doesn't work
NBS News
A tool, previously unknown to the public, doesn't have to crack the code that people use to unlock their phones. It just has to log the code as the user types it in.
Military And Intelligence Personnel Can Be Tracked With The Untappd Beer App
Bellingcat
@foekepostma
Surprise! The beer-rating app Untappd can be used to track the location history of military personnel. The social network has over eight million mostly European and North American users, and its features allow researchers to uncover sensitive information about said users at military and intelligence locations around the world.
North Asia
TSMC halts new Huawei orders after US tightens restrictions
Nikkei Asian Review
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., the world biggest contract chipmaker, has halted new orders from Huawei Technologies in response to tighter U.S. export controls aimed at further limiting the Chinese company's access to crucial chip supplies, multiple sources told the Nikkei Asian Review.
UK
DCC to cease using ‘blacklisted’ CCTV firm
Buisness Post
@peterodwyer
Chinese firm Hikvision, whose cameras use facial recognition technology, has been implicated in connection with human rights violations and data protection concerns.
UK gov faces human rights lawsuit for granting Huawei 5G role
Telecom Tech News
@Gadget_Ry
The UK government is facing a lawsuit from human rights activists following the decision to grant Huawei a role in 5G networks. Lawyers representing two Uyghur activists will send a letter warning the British government of court action if it presses on with the plan to grant the Chinese telecoms giant a role – claiming it breaks UK human rights and EU procurement rules.
Europe
EU Tech Chief Threatens Facebook’s CEO With Regulation
Bloomberg
The European Union’s tech chief Thierry Breton said Facebook Inc. will face more regulation if Mark Zuckerberg fails to assuage concerns about business practices, including around market power, as the two men went toe-to-toe in a live-streamed debate.
Zuckerberg urges the West to counter China’s ‘dangerous’ approach to internet regulation
CNBC
@RYAN_BROWNE_
Mark Zuckerberg has again sounded the alarm on China, calling out the country’s approach to regulating internet services. The Facebook CEO on Monday said that he was worried about other countries that are looking to replicate the Chinese model, which he labeled “really dangerous.” “What I worry about is, right now I think there are emerging two very different frameworks underpinned by very different sets of values,” Zuckerberg said in a livestreamed discussion with EU official Thierry Breton.
(CERRE brought together Thierry Breton, European Commissioner for the Internal Market, and Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook CEO, for a live-streamed debate.)
Middle East
Israel linked to a disruptive cyberattack on Iranian port facility
Washington Post
@jobywarrick
On May 9, shipping traffic at Iran’s bustling Shahid Rajaee port terminal came to abrupt and inexplicable halt. Computers that regulate the flow of vessels, trucks and goods all crashed at once, creating massive backups on waterways and roads leading to the facility. The port was the victim of substantial cyberattack that U.S. and foreign government officials say appears to have originated with Iran’s archenemy, Israel.
Four of five organisations in UAE faced at least one ‘cyber attack’ in 2019 – study
Gulf Buisness
As many as 82 per cent organisations in the UAE faced at least one cyber attack in 2019, while 51 per cent reported multiple incidents, research by cyber security and compliance firm Proofpoint revealed.
Misc
Mercedes-Benz onboard logic unit (OLU) source code leaks online
ZDNet
The source code for "smart car" components installed in Mercedez-Benz vans has been leaked online over the weekend.
There is a vast and untapped pool of cyber talent hiding in non-IT degrees
WEF
We talk a lot about closing the global cyber talent gap, but we do not talk nearly enough about closing the cyber confidence gap - the gap felt by non-IT applicants when perusing a very technically worded job application. Contrary to perceptions that have dogged the cyber industry and academia, no matter what one has studied - whether fine arts, English literature or education - each brings relevant and necessary skills that can help to upgrade the traditional cyber-skills toolkit.
Research
Weathering TechNationalism
East West Institute
@EWInstitute
The EastWest Institute (EWI) today released a new report, Weathering TechNationalism: A Security and Trustworthiness Framework to Manage Cyber Supply Chain Risk, designed to enhance information and communications technology (ICT) security and trustworthiness by balancing competing national interests. The report warns against relying on “TechNationalism”—measures that favor ICT products and services sold by companies headquartered domestically or in allied states—when it may lead to unintended, negative consequences.
Events
Weaponised Deep Fake - Let's Talk National Security And Democracy
Yarra Valley Writers Festival
Join Gai Brodtmann, former Shadow Assistant Minister for Cyber Security and Defence and the authors of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute’s ground breaking report on deep fakes, Hannah Smith and Katherine Mansted for a discussion on the risks posed by deep fakes, how we counter them and whether a post-truth world already exists.
Sunday 14 June 3pm This session will be presented LIVE so please get your questions ready! Payment is Pay As You Feel starting at $0.
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