The Secretive Company That Might End Privacy as We Know It | Vietnam's battalions of 'cyber-armies' silencing online dissent | Johnson will defy US and allow use of Huawei, says top security adviser
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A little-known start-up helps law enforcement match photos of unknown people to their online images — and “might lead to a dystopian future or something,” a backer says. NYT.
Vietnam's Force 47 is run by the Ministry of Public Security (MPS) to hack anti-government websites and spread pro-government messages online, and is believed to be at least 10,000-strong. Al Jazeera.
Boris Johnson is likely to approve the use of Huawei technology in the UK’s new 5G network against the pleas of the US government, a former national security adviser has said. The Guardian.
ASPI ICPC
Can the ‘core’ and ‘edge’ of a 5G network really be separated?
ASPI Strategist
@rachael_falk
The 5G network build is a matter for the UK government alone, and it’s perfectly entitled to make a decision different from those of its Five Eyes partners. News reports indicate that the 5G decision was subject to heated debate in cabinet, in which there was no uniform view on the question of excluding high-risk vendors. However, the debate marked the start of the ‘core versus edge’ public narrative, which could be convenient nuance for justifying the UK government’s approach. So, where did all of this leave Germany? In June 2019, it appeared to be landing somewhere between the Australian and UK approaches.
Australia's Bushfires Are the Worst Ever. So Is the Disinformation Campaign
Vice
"What appears to have happened is that Australia's bushfire crisis—like other crises, including the burning of the Amazon rainforest in 2019—has been sucked into multiple overlapping fringe right-wing and conspiracy narratives which are generating and amplifying disinformation in support of their own political and ideological positions," wrote Elise Thomas, a researcher at Australia's Strategic Policy Institute's International Cyber Policy Centre.
World
A Multistakeholder Meeting at the United Nations Could Help States Develop Cyber Norms
Council on Foreign Relations
@joshgold3
December’s meeting is the first time that UN deliberations on cyberspace governance and state behavior have been held in a multistakeholder format, whereby businesses and civil society groups could submit their views to UN member states.
Australia
The Australian lag in tech policy
The Interpreter
As European regulators catch up with the digital economy, their Aussie counterparts seem nothing but laid-back.
Australian police using face recognition software as privacy experts issue warning
SMH
@carolynannewebb
Privacy experts have described as “very dangerous” revelations an Australian entrepreneur has developed facial recognition technology that is being used by US law enforcement agencies, allowing surveillance images to identify suspects by matching their social media profiles.
Huawei ban to blow out 5G costs
The Australian
The cost of building Australia’s ultra-fast 5G network is set to blow out by nearly 30 per cent because of the decision to ban Chinese telco Huawei from building the network, according to a new report from Britain’s Oxford Economics.
China
Thousands of Chinese Students’ Data Exposed on Internet
WSJ
@Liz_in_Shanghai
A Chinese facial-recognition database with information on thousands of children was stored without protection on the internet, a researcher discovered, raising questions about school surveillance and cybersecurity in China.
US
Georgia election systems could have been hacked before 2016 vote
Politico
@KimZetter
A Georgia election server contains evidence that it was possibly hacked before the 2016 presidential election and the 2018 vote that gave Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp a narrow victory over Democratic opponent Stacey Abrams, according to an election security expert.
The Secretive Company That Might End Privacy as We Know It
NYT
@kashhill
A little-known start-up helps law enforcement match photos of unknown people to their online images — and “might lead to a dystopian future or something,” a backer says.
Asia
Facebook ‘bug’ knocks ethnic language off platform
Medium
@ayleighk
On January 16, Facebook users in Myanmar found that they were unable to post updates in the Kachin language.
Facebook blames 'technical error' for Xi Jinping offensive name translation gaffe
Reuters
Facebook has blamed a technical error for Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s name appearing as “Mr Shithole” in posts on its platform when translated into English from Burmese, apologising for any offence caused and saying the problem had been fixed.
Vietnam's battalions of 'cyber-armies' silencing online dissent
Al Jazeera
@adambemma
Vietnam's Force 47 is run by the Ministry of Public Security (MPS) to hack anti-government websites and spread pro-government messages online, and is believed to be at least 10,000-strong.
NITI Aayog’s Saraswat says allowing Huawei for 5G trials will make India ‘vulnerable again’
Indian Express
The NITI Aayog member added the Centre’s decision has come at a time when India is struggling to deal with cyber security issues related to electronic goods being imported from foreign countries, including China.
UK
Some Travelex services back up and running after cyber attack
Yahoo
Travelex has successfully re-launched some services in the UK, over two weeks after its entire business was paralysed by a ‘ransomware’ cyber attack.
Removing all of Huawei 5G tech ‘would cost the economy billions’
The Times
@steven_swinford
British mobile phone companies have already used 5G technology from Huawei in 70 UK towns and cities and removing it would cost the economy billions of pounds, government sources have said.
Huawei's cheap 5G comes at an incalculable cost
The Telegraph
@CitySamuel
It is high time that the UK woke up and recognised what we are facing.
Johnson will defy US and allow use of Huawei, says top security adviser
The Guardian
@michaelsavage
Boris Johnson is likely to approve the use of Huawei technology in the UK’s new 5G network against the pleas of the US government, a former national security adviser has said.
Revealed: betting firms use schools data on 28m children
The Times
Betting companies have been given access to an educational database containing names, ages and addresses of 28 million children and students in one of the biggest breaches of government data. They have used it to help increase the proportion of young people who gamble online.
Europe
The $150 Million Machine With $200 Billion at Stake for China
Bloomberg
@atbwebb
The U.S. has succeeded in keeping a cutting-edge semiconductor machine out of China’s hands even though it’s made in Europe.
Middle East
HSBC aware of Huawei’s ties with Iran unit before arrest of founder’s daughter, documents show
SCMP
@xinzhou
The Canadian extradition proceedings of Huawei Technologies chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou hinge on allegations she made a fraudulent presentation to HSBC in 2013 over the technology giant’s business ties in Iran, but recently revealed documents show the bank had been aware of Huawei’s business relationships in the Middle Eastern country for years earlier.
Turkey Restores Wikipedia After More Than 2-Year Ban
NYT
The Turkish government lifted a two-and-a-half-year ban on Wikipedia on Wednesday, restoring access to the online encyclopedia a month after the country’s top court ruled that blocking it was unconstitutional.
Misc.
Facebook The Plaintiff: Why The Company Is Suddenly Suing So Many Bad Actors
Buzzfeed
@CraigSilverman
When people and companies ran afoul of its policies, Facebook would slap them with bans and cease-and-desist letters but rarely took them to court. But in a turbulent moment for the company — with antitrust investigations mounting and US presidential candidates seeking to break it up — the social media giant is attempting to demonstrate it’s serious about cleaning up its act. And that means sending a message via the courts.
Hacking Humanitarians: moving towards a humanitarian cybersecurity strategy
ICRC
@massimomarelli
As humanitarian organizations become more active in and reliant upon new technologies and the digital domain, they evolve from simple bystanders to full-fledged stakeholders in cyberspace, vulnerable to adverse cyberoperations that could impact their capacity to protect and assist people affected by violence or armed conflict. There are several key elements that an international humanitarian organization should consider in moving towards a cybersecurity strategy.
Hacker leaks passwords for more than 500,000 servers, routers, and IoT devices
ZD Net
@campuscodi
A hacker has published this week a massive list of Telnet credentials for more than 515,000 servers, home routers, and IoT (Internet of Things) "smart" devices.
A hacker is patching Citrix servers to maintain exclusive access
ZD Net
@campuscodi
FireEye believes this is a bad guy hoarding Citrix servers, rather than a good-guy vigilante looking out for organizations.
Hypocrisy is at the heart of Facebook’s refusal to ban false political advertising
The Guardian
@jjn1
Executive Andrew Bosworth’s handwringing about the company’s stance should not blind us to the fact that doing nothing is extremely lucrative for it
Jobs
Analyst – Technical: ASPI’s International Cyber Policy Centre has an outstanding opportunity for a talented and passionate technically-focused analyst to join its growing centre. We are looking for a creative and passionate individual who can contribute unique technical skills to work across a range of projects in the centre. This individual may possess skills and experience in one or more of the following areas including malware analysis, reverse-engineering, data analysis and web scraping (for work on online disinformation for example) and/or a deep technical knowledge of critical technologies. The successful candidate will be offered a remuneration package at a level aligned with their demonstrated skills and expertise. This is a contract position for an initial 1 year term with the option of extension. At any one time ASPI has multiple people working at the institute who are on secondments or unpaid leave from the Australian Public Service (APS). Similar arrangements - including secondments - can be negotiated in this instance pending approval from the APS department/agency.
Researcher – Cyber, Technology, Asia-Pacific: ASPI’s International Cyber Policy Centre has an outstanding opportunity for an emerging researcher to join its growing centre and work directly with the ICPC Director. Staff in the centre have diverse backgrounds and are usually involved in several projects at once. We are looking for a team member with a flexible, entrepreneurial approach, who is a self-starter, has the ability to deliver to deadlines and enjoys working in a collaborative team environment. Foreign languages (particularly Asian languages) and social media analysis skills are desirable but not essential. We are looking for a creative and passionate individual who can work collaboratively in a team environment to support the centre’s program of work. This will include working with a variety of centre staff to conduct research on a range of priority projects, on project coordination and administration, working to facilitate international fellowships, supporting public and private events and engaging with key stakeholders.