Red Cross begs hackers not to leak data of “highly vulnerable people” | Twitter expands misinformation reporting feature to more markets | Chinese investment in US plane maker draws FBI
Red Cross begs hackers not to leak data of “highly vulnerable people” | Twitter expands misinformation reporting feature to more markets | Chinese investment in US plane maker draws FBI
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The Red Cross has disclosed that it was the victim of a cyber attack and has asked the hackers who broke into the IT network of one of its contractors not to leak the personal information of more than 515,000 of “highly vulnerable people.” The Record by Recorded Future
In addition to the U.S., Australia and South Korea, where the feature had already gone live, Twitter is rolling out the [misinformation] reporting option to users in Brazil, Spain and the Philippines. TechCrunch
The FBI and a U.S. investment-screening panel are investigating a Chinese investment in an aircraft startup following allegations of improper technology transfer to China, according to people familiar with the matter and documents reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. The Wall Street Journal
World
Red Cross begs hackers not to leak data of “highly vulnerable people”
The Record by Recorded Future
Catalin Cimpanu
The Red Cross has disclosed that it was the victim of a cyber attack and has asked the hackers who broke into the IT network of one of its contractors not to leak the personal information of more than 515,000 of “highly vulnerable people.” The data was stolen from a Red Cross program called Restoring Family Links, which aims to reunite family members separated by conflict, disaster, or migration. “While we don’t know who is responsible for this attack, or why they carried it out, we do have this appeal to make to them,” said Robert Mardini, director-general for the International Committee of the Red Cross.
Twitter expands misinformation reporting feature to more international markets
TechCrunch
Sarah Perez
Last August, Twitter introduced a new feature in select markets, including the U.S., that invited users to report misinformation they encountered on its platform — including things like election-related or COVID-19 misinformation, for example. Now the company is rolling out the feature to more markets as its test expands.
Australia
Australia’s Adult Cyber Abuse Scheme Kicks Off Soon, Here’s What to Expect
Gizmodo
Asha Barbaschow
From Sunday, Australia’s eSafety Commissioner will have sweeping new powers to, among other things, order the removal of material that seriously harms adults. These powers come by way of an Adult Cyber Abuse scheme, afforded by the Online Safety Act.
China
China Notifies Firms of Tougher Investment Rules for Big Tech
The Wall Street Journal
Keith Zhai
China has notified some companies of new rules that require the country’s biggest internet firms to seek approval for investment deals, a mechanism that is likely to curb domestic technology giants from growing even bigger through acquisitions, according to people familiar with the issue.
China’s high-tech rise sharpens rivalry with the US
Financial Times
James Kynge
Alarm over the country’s growing military strength is accelerating moves towards economic decoupling.
USA
Chinese Investment in U.S. Plane Maker Draws FBI, National-Security Reviews
The Wall Street Journal
Kate O’Keeffe
The FBI and a U.S. investment-screening panel are investigating a Chinese investment in an aircraft startup following allegations of improper technology transfer to China, according to people familiar with the matter and documents reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. Under review is a Chinese government-backed investment company’s nearly 47% stake—the largest of any shareholder—in Icon Aircraft Inc., a California-based maker of small recreational, amphibious planes. A group of U.S. shareholders has accused the Chinese firm of hollowing out Icon and moving its technology, which the Americans say has possible military applications, to China.
Microsoft sets itself up as a one-stop tech shop with historic purchase of video game giant
The Washington Post
Mikhail Klimentov, Shannon Liao, Rachel Lerman and Cat Zakrzewski
Deal to buy Activision Blizzard — the maker of Candy Crush and Call of Duty — for $68.7 billion would be Microsoft’s largest acquisition.
Microsoft bought Activision because gaming is the new social media
The Washington Post
Games aren’t just where kids go to unwind anymore. They’re where kids go to hang out.
What’s All the Hype About the Metaverse?
The New York Times
Brian X. Chen
Microsoft cited the metaverse as a reason for buying Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion. Let’s break down what that really means.
Major U.S. airlines warn 5G could ground some planes, wreak havoc
Reuters
David Shepardson
The chief executives of major U.S. passenger and cargo carriers on Monday warned of an impending "catastrophic" aviation crisis in less than 36 hours, when AT&T and Verizon are set to deploy new 5G service.
Democrats unveil bill to ban online ‘surveillance advertising’
The Verge
Makena Kelly
On Tuesday, Democrats introduced a new bill that would ban nearly all use of digital advertising targeting on ad markets hosted by platforms like Facebook, Google, and other data brokers. The Banning Surveillance Advertising Act – sponsored by Reps. Anna Eshoo (D-CA), Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), and Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) – prohibits digital advertisers from targeting any ads to users. It makes some small exceptions, like allowing for “broad” location-based targeting. Contextual advertising, like ads that are specifically matched to online content, would be allowed.
South & Central Asia
UK
Social media sites should not ban misleading content, UK scientists say
Financial Times
Clive Cookson
Calls for social media sites to remove misleading content — for example about vaccines, climate change and 5G technology — should be rejected, according to the UK’s senior scientific academy. After investigating the sources and impact of online misinformation, the Royal Society concluded that removing false claims and offending accounts would do little to limit their harmful effects. Instead, bans could drive misinformation “to harder-to-address corners of the internet and exacerbate feelings of distrust in authorities,” its report says.
Europe
What We Know and Don’t Know about the Cyberattacks Against Ukraine
Zero Day
Kim Zetter
Last week dozens of government agencies in Ukraine were targeted in a web site defacement campaign in which hackers replaced their main web page with a politically charged message. Although the message asserted that the hackers had also stolen data from the agencies, the government was quick to announce that data had not been stolen... To help understand the incidents that are still unfolding, I’ve compiled what is currently known and unknown.
Misc
Privacy Is Power
Foreign Affairs
Andrew Imbrie, Daniel Baer, Andrew Trask, Anna Puglisi, Erik Brattberg, and Helen Toner
In reality, few of the policymakers who were present at the creation of the Internet predicted that the hypertext transfer protocol used to load webpages would prove dominant, and even fewer considered what it might take to govern the Internet at scale. Present-day Web users are living with the consequences of their inaction: weaponized social media, cyber-intrusions that prey on the vulnerabilities of Internet architecture, the buying and selling of informed predictions about individual Internet users’ future behavior, and information monopolies that threaten democratic discourse online.
‘It’s All Just Wild’: Tech Start-Ups Reach a New Peak of Froth
The New York Times
Erin Griffith
There’s more money and more bubbly behavior. Investors insist it’s rational.
Reddit founder says 90% of games will pay you to play them in 5 years
Independent
Anthony Cuthbertson
The co-founder of Reddit has predicted that 90 per cent of the gaming market will be Play-to-Earn games within the next five years.
Snapchat says it’s getting better at finding illicit drug dealers before users do
TechCrunch
Taylor Hatmaker
Snapchat has faced increasing criticism in recent years as the opioid crisis plays out on social media, often with tragic results... Snapchat provided a glimpse at its progress Tuesday, noting that 88% of the drug-related content it finds is now identified proactively by automated systems, with community reporting accounting for the other 12%. Snap says this number is up by a third since its October update, indicating that more of this content is being detected before being identified by users.
Instagram launches early test of creator subscriptions in the U.S.
TechCrunch
Sarah Perez
Instagram is giving creators more ways to make money with today’s launch of Instagram Subscriptions. The feature, which was spotted hitting the App Store back in November, is now officially in early testing with a small group of U.S. creators who will be able to offer their followers paid access to exclusive Instagram Live videos and Stories. Subscribers will also receive a special badge that will help them to stand out in the comments section and creators’ inboxes.
Research
AI and Compute - Center for Security and Emerging Technology
Center for Security and Emerging Technology
Because of cost, hardware availability and engineering difficulties, the next decade of AI can't rely exclusively on applying more and more computing power to drive further progress.
Subversion over Offense: Why the Practice of Cyber Conflict looks nothing like its Theory and what this means for Strategy and Scholarship
Offensive Cyber Working Group
Cyber attacks are both exciting and terrifying, but the ongoing obsession with ‘cyber warfare’ clouds analysis and hampers strategy development.
Jobs
ICPC Analyst / Project Lead - Cyber Capacity Building
ASPI ICPC
ASPI’s International Cyber Policy Centre (ICPC) has a unique opportunity for a talented Analyst / Project Lead to support a new project that looks at supporting states in the Indo-Pacific in defending against cyber-enabled theft of intellectual property. The successful candidate will work in a small, high-performing team to produce original research and analysis that directly informs broader diplomatic and cyber capacity building activities on the topic of equipping countries globally with tools to defend against the use of cyber tools to steal IP for commercial purposes.Together with a project lead on Learning and Development and the Project Director, the analyst will also participate in international workshops, provide training to foreign governments and present to other external stakeholders.
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.
