Spotify suspends its streaming services in Russia | Four Russian nationals indicted for cyber intrusions by U.S. | Telegram signs agreement to combat misinformation ahead of Brazilian election
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Spotify said on Friday it will suspend its streaming service in Russia in response to the country's new media law. Reuters
The Department of Justice unsealed two indictments today charging four defendants, all Russian nationals who worked for the Russian government, with attempting, supporting and conducting computer intrusions that together, in two separate conspiracies, targeted the global energy sector between 2012 and 2018. U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs
Messaging app Telegram on Friday signed an agreement to join a program created by Brazil's Electoral Court to combat misinformation ahead of the country's presidential election in October, the court said on its website. Reuters
ASPI ICPC
How Australia can end the race for bases in the Pacific
ASPI ICPC
Fergus Hanson
While Australia has been doing good work in the Pacific, there has been a lingering flaw in our strategy. That flaw has been exposed with the leaked draft draft agreement between China and the Solomon Islands to establish what is, in all but name, a military base in our own backyard. To counter this, Australia needs to rapidly pivot to ensure our region stays free from foreign military bases.
Ukraine - Russia
Spotify says it will suspend service in Russia
Reuters
Dawn Chmielewski
Spotify said on Friday it will suspend its streaming service in Russia in response to the country's new media law.
‘Like a Weapon’: Ukrainians Use Social Media to Stir Resistance
The New York Times
Megan Specia
Photos and videos of the war’s horrors have spread quickly, searing into the global public consciousness and providing powerful ammunition in the information battle.
Abramovich’s Dubai House Hunt Shows Russian Diaspora Widening
Bloomberg
Ben Bartenstein, Nicolas Parasie and Archana Narayanan
Lawyers for Russian businessmen say some are attempting to move assets to the United Arab Emirates, of which Dubai is a part. Specialist aviation sites have identified jets belonging to Russian tycoons, including that of Abramovich, coming to the city, though it is not known who was actually on board. The U.K. and European Union have placed sanctions on Abramovich, but there are none imposed by the UAE.
Russians Are Racing to Download Wikipedia Before It Gets Banned
Slate
Annie Rauwerda
On March 1, after a week of horror in Ukraine, reports came out that Russia’s censorship office had threatened to block Russian Wikipedia. A 32-year-old who asked to be called Alexander soon made a plan to download a local copy of Russian-language Wikipedia to keep with him in eastern Russia.
Australia
TikTok’s plan to stop lies about the federal election
Australian Financial Review
Tom McIlroy
Australians opening TikTok in the run-up to the federal election will be directed to check or update their enrolment status after the popular social media app committed to removing damaging political misinformation.
Cryptocurrency scammers turn to deep fakes to snare victims
The Age
Henrietta Cook
Cybersecurity and consumer experts say cryptocurrency scams are becoming increasingly sophisticated. The concern comes as new data from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission shows cryptocurrency investment scams have exploded in the past year, with 4730 reports and victims’ losses more than tripling from $27.9 million to $99 million.
China
China’s microblogging giant Weibo faces delisting risks in US
TechCrunch
Rita Liao
U.S. regulators have hastened their pace to enforce a law that could delist Chinese companies of which accounting papers can’t be inspected. The addition of Weibo, the Twitter equivalent of China, to a delisting watchlist by the Securities and Exchange Commission could mean other Chinese internet giants like Alibaba and Baidu are not far from facing the same pressure.
USA
Four Russian Government Employees Charged in Two Historical Hacking Campaigns Targeting Critical Infrastructure Worldwide
U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs
The Department of Justice unsealed two indictments today charging four defendants, all Russian nationals who worked for the Russian government, with attempting, supporting and conducting computer intrusions that together, in two separate conspiracies, targeted the global energy sector between 2012 and 2018.
Statement on the US Department of Justice indictment of cyber actors
Ministry for Foreign Affairs and Ministry for Women
Marise Payne
The Australian Government is concerned about global malicious cyber intrusions, as detailed in the indictments by the United States Department of Justice. The indictments note the US Department of Justice is bringing criminal charges against four individuals working on behalf of the Russian government for their respective roles in separate cyber campaigns that targeted the global energy sector between 2012 and 2018.U.S. Accuses 4 Russians of Hacking Infrastructure, Including Nuclear Plant
The New York Times
Katie Benner and Kate Conger
The Justice Department unsealed charges on Thursday accusing four Russian officials of carrying out a series of cyberattacks targeting critical infrastructure in the United States, including a nuclear power plant in Kansas, and evidently compromising a petrochemical facility in Saudi Arabia.
U.S. FCC adds Russia's Kaspersky, China telecom firms to national security threat list
Reuters
David Shepardson and Raphael Satter
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on Friday added Russia's AO Kaspersky Lab, China Telecom (Americas) Corp and China Mobile International USA to its list of communications equipment and service providers deemed threats to U.S. national security.
Preparation, not panic': Top US cyber official asks Americans to look out for Russian hacking efforts
CNN
Sean Lyngaas
"All businesses, all critical infrastructure owners and operators need to assume that disruptive cyber activity is something that the Russians are thinking about, that are preparing for, that are exploring options, as the President said," Jen Easterly, director of the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), said in an exclusive interview with CNN's Pamela Brown.
The hard truth behind Biden’s cyber warnings
POLITICO
Maggie Miller
The Biden administration has offered ominous warnings about looming Russian cyberattacks. But another reality is equally foreboding: The U.S. may have too many targets to defend them all.
Estonian man sentenced to prison for role in cyber intrusions, ransomware attacks
CyberScoop
Suzanne Smalley
An Estonian man was sentenced to 66 months in federal prison Friday for participating in ransomware attacks which caused more than $53 million in losses, federal prosecutors said.
North Asia
How North Korean Cyberattacks Threaten the Developing World
The National Interest
Benjamin R. Young
North Korea once fostered supportive relationships with the Global South, but it now uses cyber attacks against developing countries for its own purposes.
Europe
EU, US strike preliminary deal to unlock transatlantic data flows
POLITICO
Brussels and Washington have struck an agreement in principle on a revamped “Privacy Shield” data transfer agreement, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and U.S. President Joe Biden said Friday.
U.S., EU Reach Preliminary Deal on Data Privacy
The Wall Street Journal
Daniel Michaels and Sam Schechner
The U.S. and the European Union reached a preliminary deal to allow data about Europeans to be stored on U.S. soil, heading off a growing threat to thousands of companies’ trans-Atlantic operations.
Greek Institutions Hit by Hackers Disrupting Services, Seeking Ransom
The National Herald
A cyberattack against the Hellenic Post (ELTA) that interfered with postal service in Greece was just the latest in a growing string of them designed by hackers to try to get ransom in cryptocurrency to unblock seized data.
Americas
Telegram joins program from Brazil's Electoral Court to fight fake news
Reuters
Alexandre Caverni and Peter Frontini
Messaging app Telegram on Friday signed an agreement to join a program created by Brazil's Electoral Court to combat misinformation ahead of the country's presidential election in October, the court said on its website.
How to save the Amazon? Brazil company says NFTs are the answer
Reuters
Anthony Boadle
A Brazilian company that owns 410 square kilometers (158 square miles) of Amazon rainforest is offering a new way to fund conservation: selling non-fungible tokens (NFTs) that allow buyers to sponsor the preservation of specific areas of jungle.
Gender and Women in Cyber
As the Russia threat rises, male domination of cybersecurity is a risk
The Sydney Morning Herald
Meraiah Foley
As Russia prepared to invade Ukraine, Australia’s lead cyber-security agency issued a warning urging Australian organisations to “adopt an enhanced cyber-security posture”, citing the risk that Russian-enabled cyberattacks could soon reach our shores. But Australia doesn’t have enough skilled cyber-security workers to meet this rising threat. What’s driving the shortage? Cybersecurity remains a highly male-dominated sector.
Big Tech
Elon Musk giving 'serious thought' to build a new social media platform
Reuters
Jahnavi Nidumolu and Bhargav Acharya
Tesla Inc Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk is giving "serious thought" to building a new social media platform, the billionaire said in a tweet on Saturday.
I want you back: Getting my personal data from Amazon was weeks of confusion and tedium
The Intercept
Nikita Mazurov
Given Amazon’s obsession with speed and eliminating friction to foster faster consumerism, the dawdling data solicitation process seems like it just might be intentional, designed to dissuade requests.
Misc
LAPSUS$: How a Sloppy Extortion Gang Became One of the Most Prolific Hacking Groups
VICE
Joseph Cox
The U.S. government has said it is paying close attention to LAPSUS$, the group that breached Okta, Microsoft, and Nvidia. The answers for the group's motivations are hiding in plain sight.
Jobs
The Sydney Dialogue - Director
ASPI ICPC
The Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) is currently recruiting for a Director to lead the second iteration of ASPI’s Sydney Dialogue - the world’s premier summit on emerging, critical and cyber technologies.
The Sydney Dialogue - Senior Events Coordinator
ASPI ICPC
The Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) is currently recruiting for an experienced events professional to coordinate the planning and logistics of the second iteration of ASPI’s Sydney Dialogue - the world’s premier summit on emerging, critical and cyber technologies.
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.
Important disclaimer: This digest is a daily collation of material designed to provide authoritative information and commentary in relation to the subject matters covered. The views expressed in this material are those of the authors only. To provide feedback please contact: icpc@aspi.org.au