Superpower competition will be about technology, cyberconflict and influence operations | Facebook removed 1.3 billion fake accounts in late 2020 | BEC gang arrested in Nigeria for internet fraud
Follow us on Twitter. The Daily Cyber Digest focuses on the topics we work on, including cyber, critical technologies & strategic issues like foreign interference.
It may look like the bad old days of the Cold War, but today’s bitter superpower competition is about technology, cyberconflict and influence operations. The New York Times
Facebook Inc said on Monday it took down 1.3 billion fake accounts between October and December and that it had over 35,000 people working on tackling misinformation on its platform. Reuters
Nigerian authorities arrested 18 suspects last week in the province of Ogun on internet fraud-related charges, including malware and business email compromise (BEC) attacks. The Record
ASPI ICPC
World
U.S., allies announce sanctions on China over Uyghur ‘genocide’
Politico
@nahaltoosi
The United States and its allies in Canada, Britain and the European Union on Monday announced sanctions on several Chinese officials alleged to have links to what U.S. officials say is a genocidal campaign against Uyghur Muslims.
Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Announces Sanctions on Relevant EU Entities and Personnel
Ministry of Foreign Affaris of the People's Republic of China
China decides to sanction ten European individuals and four entities in response to European Union sanctions.
Australia
Social media users urged to cyber cull in 2021
Australian Federal Police
Australians are being urged to cyber cull and pause before they post in 2021 to protect themselves from cyber criminals, fraudsters, organised crime gangs and sex offenders.
China
Elon Musk Says Tesla Won’t Share Data From Its Cars With China or U.S.
The Wall Street Journal
@Trefor1
Tesla would never provide the U.S. government with data collected by its vehicles in China or other countries, Elon Musk, the company’s chief executive, told a high-level conference in China. Mr. Musk’s assurance that Chinese customer data is fully protected followed the Chinese government’s decision to restrict the use of Tesla cars by military personnel or employees of key state-owned companies, as first reported by the Journal on Friday.
Jolly Gene Giant
The Wire China
@bcamcrane
Last April, as the world fell to Covid-19, one Chinese company was there to offer a helping hand: BGI. But the line between the biotech giant and Beijing is increasingly blurry.
About Yang Jiechi’s Instant Noodle Lunch at the US-China Talks in Alaska
What's on Weibo
@manyapan
A 12-second video in which top diplomat Yang Jiechi said he had an instant noodle lunch became a topic of discussion in China, where one hashtag on the issue attracted over 270 million views. It’s about more than noodles alone.
USA
That Was Fast: Blowups With China and Russia in Biden’s First 60 Days
The New York Times
@SangerNYT
It may look like the bad old days of the Cold War, but today’s bitter superpower competition is about technology, cyberconflict and influence operations.
Big Tech taps libertarian lifeline in D.C.
Axios
@margarethmcgill
Tech companies bracing for increased scrutiny in Washington are leaning on their last friends in town — the libertarians.
Platforms vs. PhDs: How tech giants court and crush the people who study them
Protocol
@issielapowsky
A legal standoff between NYU researchers and Facebook sheds light on the increasingly fraught dynamic between tech companies and academics.
What an upcoming Apple privacy prompt will mean for you – and the apps you use
USA Today
@robpegoraro
A new prompt in Apple’s mobile and TV software will soon enlighten you about a hidden sideline of many apps – seeing what you do in other apps.
Trump plans social media return with his own platform, adviser tells Fox News
Reuters
@andrea_shalal
Former U.S. President Donald Trump, suspended from Twitter, Facebook and other social media sites after the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, plans to launch his own platform in two to three months, one of his senior advisers told Fox News on Sunday.
Hobby Lobby Exposed 138GB of Data
VICE
Hobby Lobby, the American arts and crafts giant that also happened to purchase thousands of ancient artifacts looted from modern-day Iraq, exposed a large amount of data online, including customer names, phone numbers, physical and email addresses, and the last four digits of their payment card, as well as source code for the company's app, according to a security researcher.
North Asia
Japan's Astroscale launches space debris-removal satellite
Nikkei Asia
@mit_obe
Japanese startup Astroscale launched a satellite on Monday designed to usher in an era of sustainable space flight by locating and retrieving used satellites and other space junk.
South and Central Asia
China’s Huawei, ZTE may qualify for trusted gear vendors list: Report
ET Telecom
China’s Huawei and ZTE may finally make their way into India’s 5G telecom networks, given that they fit the eligibility criteria for “trusted” telecom equipment sources being prepared by the government, Mint reported citing a government official aware of the matter.
The Huawei Factor in US-India Relations
The Diplomat
@BasuArindrajit @jshermcyber
U.S. and Indian decisions about Huawei have implications not just for their separate relations with China, but the U.S.-India bilateral as well.
UK
Britain’s armed forces must be ready to fight cyberwars
The Times
@JSHeappey
The integrated review published last week recognises that we now live in a world where information, data and technology shapes conflict every bit as much as ships, tanks and fighter jets. Military hardware can be undermined by cyberattacks or by severing undersea cables, while the use of proxy forces and other covert activities make it harder to determine when the threshold for war has been crossed.
UK 'heading towards digital skills shortage disaster'
BBC News
@concertina226
Fewer than half of British employers believe young people are leaving full-time education with sufficient advanced digital skills, while 76% of firms think a lack of digital skills would hit their profitability.
My crazy first year down the conspiracy theory rabbit hole
The Times
@mariannaspring
As lockdown kicked in, Marianna Spring started her job as the BBC’s new disinformation reporter. The hoaxers and true believers have kept her busy
Europe
Russia
Russian Police Break Up Weeklong Anti-5G Protests
The Moscow Times
Police in Russia’s fourth-largest city of Yekaterinburg have broken up weeklong protests against the construction of a 5G wireless technology tower.
Experts Concerned about Growing Censorship in Russia
OCCRP
Moscow’s lawsuits against five social media giants for not removing calls to join government-banned rallies from their platforms are part of a new wave of censorship in President Vladimir Putin’s Russia, experts said on Wednesday.
Africa
Suspected BEC gang arrested in Nigeria amid internet fraud crackdown efforts
The Record
@campuscodi
Nigerian authorities arrested 18 suspects last week in the province of Ogun on internet fraud-related charges, including malware and business email compromise (BEC) attacks.
Misc
Facebook says took down 1.3 billion fake accounts in Oct-Dec
Reuters
Facebook Inc said on Monday it took down 1.3 billion fake accounts between October and December and that it had over 35,000 people working on tackling misinformation on its platform.
Mastercard, SoftBank and others call on G7 to create tech group
Financial Times
@SVR13
A group of leading companies including Mastercard, SoftBank and IBM have called on the G7 to create a new body to help co-ordinate how member states tackle issues ranging from artificial intelligence to cyber security.
Jack Dorsey’s first tweet sold as an NFT for an oddly specific $2,915,835.47
The Verge
@SocialKimLy
Dorsey put the tweet up for digital auction as an NFT — non-fungible token — a digital good that lives on the Ethereum blockchain, on March 5th. Bids were handled on a platform called Valuables by Cent that lets people make offers on tweets that are “autographed by their original creators.”
Research
TikTok vs Douyin: A Security and Privacy Analysis
The Citizen Lab
@2Pellaeon
This report provides a comparative analysis of security, privacy, and censorship issues in TikTok and Douyin, both developed by ByteDance.
TikTok Doesn’t Pose Overt Threat to U.S. National Security, Researchers Say
The Wall Street Journal
@evawxiao
Study by university cybersecurity group finds no evidence of ‘overtly malicious behavior’ in short-video app’s code.
Events
Unmasking Influence Operators: What Are Best Practices for Attribution?
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
This event will explore one of the thorniest investigative challenges - identifying who is behind an influence operation. Join us for a conversation moderated by BBC disinformation reporter Marianna Spring featuring Elise Thomas of the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, Emerson Brooking of the Atlantic Council's DFRLab, and Olga Belogolova of Facebook on the challenges of attributing influence operations.
Jobs
Research Manager, Gender
Web Foundation
We’re looking for someone to join our research team and lead our work on closing the digital gender divide. You’ll cover issues including internet access, affordability and use, data rights and other areas.