Stolen data of 600,000 Indians sold on bot markets | TikTok is sued by State of Indiana, accused of targeting teens with adult content | Netherlands plans curbs on China tech exports in deal with US
Good morning. It's Friday 9th December.
The Daily Cyber Digest focuses on the topics we work on, including cybersecurity, critical technologies, foreign interference & disinformation.
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Around five million people globally have had their data stolen and sold on the bot market till date, of which 600,000 are from India, making it the worst affected country, according to one of the world's largest VPN serice providers NordVPN. Reuters
Indiana filed a pair of lawsuits against TikTok Wednesday, alleging the platform is deceiving consumers about its content and data security, the latest in a growing number of moves by state officials to push back against the platform’s influence on children and its connections to China. The Wall Street Journal
Dutch officials are planning new controls on exports of chipmaking equipment to China, according to people familiar with the matter, potentially aligning their trade rules with US efforts to restrict Beijing’s access to high-end technology. Bloomberg
Australia
O’Neil targets 2030 in cyber security strategy
The Australian
Ben Packham
Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil says she wants Australia to be the most cyber-secure nation in the world by 2030, naming former Telstra boss Andy Penn to develop a new cyber security strategy she hopes will deliver on the ambition.
China
Beijing allows US export-control checks on Chinese tech companies
Financial Times
Demetri Sevastopulo and Qianer Liu
The Biden administration says Beijing has relented and allowed US inspections of Chinese businesses, with a number of companies facing a deadline to co-operate by this week or risk being put on a trade blacklist.
How social media is helping China's COVID protests
DW
William Yang
"The first time we got together was when we held a candlelight vigil for the victims in the Urumqi fire," said Sid, a Chinese student who co-organized a series of events with other Chinese students at Oxford University. "From November 27 to December 2, we spent every night designing posters and drafting speeches, while spreading word about the silent protest through Instagram, Twitter, and other channels." China loosens nationwide COVID-19 restrictions. Amid the growing number of solidarity events on college campuses around the world, Sid believes social media plays an indispensable role in sustaining the momentum of this transnational movement. "Due to the censorship regime in China, most messages are hard to be disseminated in the country," he noted.
USA
TikTok is sued by State of Indiana, accused of targeting young teens with adult content
The Wall Street Journal
Stu Woo, Erin Mulvaney and Ben Kesling
Indiana filed a pair of lawsuits against TikTok Wednesday, alleging the platform is deceiving consumers about its content and data security, the latest in a growing number of moves by state officials to push back against the platform’s influence on children and its connections to China.
Biden admin tells Supreme Court law protecting social media companies has limits
Reuters
Dan Whitcomb
The Biden administration argued to the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday that social media giants like Google could in some instances have responsibility for user content, adopting a stance that could potentially undermine a federal law shielding companies from liability.
Meta battles U.S. antitrust agency over future of virtual reality
Reuters
Diane Bartz and Katie Paul
The Federal Trade Commission, which enforces antitrust law, is about to engage in a real-life courtroom fight over virtual reality.
US National Cyber Director plans Japan trip to bolster digital cooperation
CyberScoop
Suzanne Smalley
U.S. National Cyber Director Chris Inglis plans on traveling to Japan later this month to advise government officials there on bolstering cybersecurity defenses, according to a source briefed on the upcoming trip.
News competition bill dropped after tech pushback
The Hill
Rebecca Klar and Ines Kagubare
A journalism competition bill targeting dominant tech platforms was left out of must-pass defense legislation after pushback from the tech industry.
North Asia
South Korean authorities issue warning about disguised North Koreans getting IT jobs
The Record by Recorded Future
Alexander Martin
South Korean authorities issued an interagency advisory Thursday warning companies about hiring North Korean IT workers who disguise their true nationality and use their wages to help fund the country’s sanctioned nuclear weapons program.
South & Central Asia
Stolen data of 600,000 Indians sold on bot markets so far - study
Reuters
Anuran Sadhu
Around five million people globally have had their data stolen and sold on the bot market till date, of which 600,000 are from India, making it the worst affected country, according to one of the world's largest VPN serice providers NordVPN.
Ukraine - Russia
Russian disinformation is demonizing Ukrainian refugees
The Washington Post
Loveday Morris and Will Oremus
As Russian forces continue to shell Ukrainian cities, pro-Kremlin propagandists have homed in on a new target: turning Europeans against the 7.8 million Ukrainian refugees who make up the continent’s largest displacement since World War II. In doing so, Russia’s disinformation merchants are needling at deep-seated European fault lines over immigration, echoing how Russia-linked operatives famously exploited major U.S. social media platforms to sow division around topics such as race ahead of the 2016 presidential election.
How Estonia is helping Ukraine take on Russian cyber threats
POLITICO
Maggie Miller
Ukraine has surprised the world with its ability to fend off major cyberattacks from Russia. And one small country — Estonia — has played an outsized role in helping them do so.
Europe
Netherlands plans curbs on China tech exports in deal with US
Bloomberg
Cagan Koc, Eric Martin, and Jenny Leonard
Dutch officials are planning new controls on exports of chipmaking equipment to China, according to people familiar with the matter, potentially aligning their trade rules with US efforts to restrict Beijing’s access to high-end technology.
Greece to ban spyware as wiretap scandal grows
Associated Press
Lawmakers in Greece are set to approve plans to outlaw commercial spyware following weeks of allegations that senior government officials may have been targeted.
Google must remove 'manifestly inaccurate' data, EU top court says
Reuters
Foo Yun Chee
Google must remove data from online search results if users can prove it is inaccurate, Europe's top court said on Thursday.
Antwerp's city services down after hackers attack digital partner
Bleeping Computer
Ionut Ilascu
The city of Antwerp, Belgium, is working to restore its digital services that were disrupted last night by a cyberattack on its digital provider. The disruption has affected services used by citizens, schools, daycare centers, and the police, which have been working intermittently today.
UK
BBC preparing to go online-only over next decade, says director general
The Guardian
Jim Waterson
The BBC is preparing to shut down its traditional television and radio broadcasts as it becomes an online-only service over the next decade, according to the director general, Tim Davie.
Joint statement on telecommunications supplier diversity
Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport
The United Kingdom, Australia, Canada and the United States are committed to ensuring the security and resilience of our telecommunications networks, including by fostering a diverse supply chain and influencing the development of future telecommunications technologies such as 6G. Collectively, we recognise that open and interoperable architectures are one way of creating a more open, diverse and innovative market.
Gender & Women in Tech
Latest Twitter lawsuit says company targeted women for layoffs
Reuters
Daniel Wiessner
Twitter has been hit with another lawsuit stemming from the recent purging of half its workforce, this one accusing the social media company of disproportionately targeting female employees for layoffs.
Big Tech
Apple under renewed scrutiny over its relationship with China
The Globe and Mail
Nathan Vanderklippe
COVID-19 protests that have swept China in recent weeks are now renewing focus on the company’s symbiotic relationship with Chinese authorities.
We are watching Elon Musk and his fans create a conspiracy theory about Wikipedia in real time
VICE
Jason Koebler and Edward Ongweso Jr
Fresh off his disastrous acquisition of Twitter and a batch of new promises about Neuralink, Elon Musk fans have been eager to find the next project for the billionaire to sink his teeth into. Some have suggested he "buy" Wikipedia, the global, collective non-profit encyclopedia that serves as an international commons for knowledge online.
Misc
On hacking forums, even the scammers aren’t safe
The Record by Recorded Future
Alexander Martin
Cybercriminals use a range of techniques to steal victims’ money — from developing malicious software to siphon financial data to old-fashioned “rip-and-runs” — but that doesn’t mean they’re immune to falling for these scams themselves.
OpenAI chatbot spits uut biased musings, despite guardrails
Bloomberg
Davey Alba
For the uninitiated, ChatGPT is an AI chatbot that generates text that’s eerily close to human language. So, for example, you can ask it to write a resignation letter in the style of a public figure or a poem about your cats, and the results come out better than what a real-live human might produce. But like all AI products, it has the potential to learn biases of the people training it and the potential to spit out some sexist, racist and otherwise offensive stuff.
Jobs
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ASPI ICPC
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