Taiwan to block Chinese video streaming | Saudi Arabia's Harassment from inside Twitter | Co-Founder of NSO-group wants to explain himself.
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Taiwan authorities are closing a regulatory loophole to block Tencent Holdings and Baidu from offering video streaming services on the self-governing island, the latest sign that rising geopolitical tensions are weighing on the global ambitions of Chinese internet giants. Nikkei Asian Review
An internal breach at Twitter Inc. a half decade ago yielded data that was later used by Saudi Arabia to harass or arrest people critical of the government, according to lawsuits, human rights groups and the relative of a person apprehended in 2018. In 2015, two Twitter employees allegedly accessed more than 6,000 accounts while acting as spies for the government of Saudi Arabia. Bloomberg
NSO Group Founder: The industry is going away from regulation. I see companies trying to hide activity and hide what they’re doing. It’s damaging the industry. MIT Technology Review
ASPI ICPC
IT spend should drive cyber security improvements: ASPI report
The Canberra Times
@dougdingwall
A new report says governments have taken a fragmented approach in requiring cyber security standards of their IT suppliers.
How China surveils the world
MIT Technology Review
China doesn't only collect enormous amounts of data on its own citizens: it also sucks up data from around the world that might one day be useful for its national security, using both domestic and foreign companies as conduits.
Read Dr Samantha Hoffman's ASPI ICPC report 'Engineering global consent: The Chinese Communist Party's data-driven power expansion' here.
World
How Your Phone Is Used to Track You, and What You Can Do About It
The New York Times
@jenvalentino
Smartphone location data, often used by marketers, has been useful for studying the spread of the coronavirus. But the information raises troubling privacy questions.
Australia
Google accused of 'bullying' Australians with news code letter and yellow warning signs
The Guardian
@meadea
Australia Institute urges the tech firm to stop using its vast platform to threaten the public and start paying for journalism.
China
Inside China’s unexpected quest to protect data privacy
MIT Technology Review
@_KarenHao
A new privacy law would look a lot like Europe’s GDPR—but will it restrict state surveillance?
How a handful of US companies can cripple Huawei's supply chain
Nikkei Asian Review
The latest Washington crackdown on Huawei Technologies reveals how a handful of U.S. companies, dominating a few key areas of the global chipmaking industry, hold the key to choking off supplies to the Chinese tech titan.
USA
China’s National-Security Law Reaches Into Harvard, Princeton Classrooms
The Wall Strret Journal
@lucy_craymer
At Princeton University, students in a Chinese politics class will use codes instead of names on their work to protect their identities. At Amherst College a professor is considering anonymous online chats so students can speak freely.
Microsoft is helping the government build AI disaster response tools
Engadget
@devindra
Together, they’ll co-chair the “First Five Consortium,” a group that will focus on using predictive technology in areas like anticipating wildfires, managing fire lines, assessing overall damage, as well as handling search and rescue.
An Update to How We Address Movements and Organizations Tied to Violence
Facebook
Today we are taking action against Facebook Pages, Groups and Instagram accounts tied to offline anarchist groups that support violent acts amidst protests, US-based militia organizations and QAnon.
Facebook Removes 790 QAnon Groups to Fight Conspiracy Theory. The New York Times
America closes the last loophole in its hounding of Huawei
The Economist
The new rule prohibits anyone from selling any chips to Huawei, custom or not, if these were produced with American technology. This covers practically every chipmaker in the world, including those in China.
Fearing coronavirus, a Michigan college tracks its students with a flawed app
Tech Crunch
@zackwhittaker
The Aura app lets the school know when a student tests positive for COVID-19. It also comes with a contact-tracing feature that alerts students when they have come into close proximity with a person who tested positive for the virus. But the feature requires constant access to the student’s real-time location, which the college says is necessary to track the spread of any exposure.
Rui Ma 马睿同学 @ruima
Tiktok US Info Site This is new right? https://t.co/t8Ueq56z6vApple Reaches $2 Trillion, Punctuating Big Tech’s Grip
The New York Times
It took Apple 42 years to reach $1 trillion in value. It took it just two more years to get to $2 trillion. Even more stunning: All of Apple’s second $1 trillion came in the past 21 weeks, while the global economy shrank faster than ever before in the coronavirus pandemic.
Trump Expresses Support for Oracle to Buy TikTok
The Wall Strret Journal
@aatilley @georgia_wells
President Trump voiced support on Tuesday for Oracle Corp. to buy the U.S. operations of TikTok, adding a fresh wrinkle to the bidding for the Chinese-owned video-sharing app.
A TikTok Ban Is Overdue. The New York Times Opinion
North-East Asia
Taiwan to block streaming services of Tencent and Baidu's iQiyi
Nikkei Asian Review
Taiwan authorities are closing a regulatory loophole to block Tencent Holdings and Baidu from offering video streaming services on the self-governing island, the latest sign that rising geopolitical tensions are weighing on the global ambitions of Chinese internet giants.
FBI, DHS expose North Korean government malware used in fake job posting campaign
CyberScoop
@shanvav
The hackers have been targeting contractors with fake job postings from other defense contracting entities to lure them to click through and install the data-gathering implant on their systems
South-East Asia
AI-based customer engagement platform iKala raises $17 million to expand in Southeast Asia
Tech Crunch
@catherineshu
Taiwanese startup iKala, which offers an artificial intelligence-based customer acquisition and engagement platform, will expand into new Southeast Asian markets after raising a $17 million Series B.
South Asia
Social media platforms can’t be a law unto themselves
Observer Research Fund
@samirsaran
The US elections are witnessing heated, contested, loud and aggressive debates, with media (new and old) donning visibly partisan robes. One such media report has sought to pull India and Indians into the middle of the Trump Vs Biden campaign battle.
UK
UK class action style claim filed over Marriott data breach
TechCrunch
@riptari
A class action style suit has been filed in the UK against hotel group Marriott International over a massive data breach that exposed the information of some 500 million guests around the world.
Europe
Cyberwar reportedly declared between Greek and Turkish hackers after Greek website hacked
The Greek Herald
@OglosPeter
Prior to the Turkish cyber attacks, AnonymousGreece claimed responsibility for attacks last week on at least two Turkish government websites. AnonymousGreece left two messages: “Stop violating our laws and international laws by illegally sending ships, aircrafts, submarines and drones”.
The Americas
Brazil is sliding into techno-authoritarianism
MIT Technology Review
For many years, Latin America’s largest democracy was a leader on data governance. In 1995, it created the Brazilian Internet Steering Committee, a multi-stakeholder body to help the country set principles for internet governance.
Middle East
Spies in Silicon Valley: Twitter Breach Tied to Saudi Dissident Arrests
Bloomberg
@rj_gallagher
An internal breach at Twitter Inc. a half decade ago yielded data that was later used by Saudi Arabia to harass or arrest people critical of the government, according to lawsuits, human rights groups and the relative of a person apprehended in 2018. In 2015, two Twitter employees allegedly accessed more than 6,000 accounts while acting as spies for the government of Saudi Arabia.
Inside NSO, Israel’s billion-dollar spyware giant
MIT Technology Review
@HowellONeill
The world’s most notorious surveillance company says it wants to clean up its act.
Israeli Peace Deal Coaxes UAE Investors Out of the Shadows
Bloomberg
Israeli entrepreneurs are also preparing for a flood of investments into the local technology industry, which along with a shared enmity of Iran, has been a key motivator for the talks. Israel is a tech hub with more than 6,000 startups and both sides share expertise and common needs around areas of health-care, cyber-security and agricultural innovation. For the UAE, betting on technology is another key element of diversifying its economy away from oil.
Misc
The man who built a spyware empire says it’s time to come out of the shadows
MIT Technology Review
@HowellONeill
The industry is going away from regulation. I see companies trying to hide activity and hide what they’re doing. It’s damaging the industry.
Phones could detect drinking over legal driving limit
BBC News
"We have powerful sensors we carry around with us wherever we go," lead researcher Brian Suffoletto said. "We need to learn how to use them to best serve public health."
How One Rental Startup Gamed Airbnb
The Information
@parismartineau
Domio was part of a wave of short-term rental startups drafting behind the Airbnb juggernaut. But an investigation shows it has engaged in efforts to flout local rental laws with misleading online identities and other questionable business practices.
Social media has made society 'inhumane' as it ostracises people for having different opinions
The Telegraph
Social media has made society 'inhumane' as it ostracises people for having different opinions, a British philosopher has warned. De Botton said modern technology and 'group-think' now stifles debate - as a society we are unable to 'forgive' and instead drive people into 'exile'.
Warning: Panasonic i-PRO Deceives About NDAA Compliance
IPVM
IPVM has determined that Panasonic i-PRO has deceived about its NDAA compliance. In fact, the company has products that use Huawei Hisilicon chips, IPVM has verified, while the company deceived about this.
Tens of suspects arrested for cashing-out Santander ATMs using software glitch
ZDNet
Santander says it fixed the ATM software glitch that was exploited this week across the tri-state area.
Research
Facebook's Algorithm: A Major Threat to Public Health
Avaaz
@avaaz
Avaaz uncovers health misinformation spreading networks with an estimated 3.8 billion views in the last year - and shows how to quarantine this infodemic
Misinformation about the coronavirus is thwarting Facebook’s best efforts to catch it. The Washington Post
Jobs
Assistant Professor in Intelligence and Security
University of Leiden
The Research Group Intelligence and Security studies intelligence from a political, historical, ethical, judicial, and methodological perspective. Our main goal is to improve our understanding of how intelligence and security services operate, how their methodologies can be complemented, and how they are and have been embedded in their broader political, bureaucratic, and societal context - in the Western world and, emphatically, beyond. Applications due 15th September 2020.
Professorship in Legal Tech
University of Zurich
The University of Zurich is seeking applications for a Professorship in Legal Tech to take effect from the beginning of the Spring Semester 2021 (1 February 2021), or by arrangement. The position is to be filled by an academic with an outstanding legal track record and excellent knowledge of information technology, whose research focuses on the impact of digital technologies in the field of law. Applications are due by 6 September 2020.
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