TikTok confirms Chinese employees can access US data | Bipartisan push to increase US semiconductor production faces new Republican scrutiny | Indian cyber mercenaries involved in global lawsuits
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The Daily Cyber Digest focuses on the topics we work on, including cybersecurity, critical technologies, foreign interference & disinformation.
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TikTok, the viral video-sharing app owned by China’s ByteDance, said certain employees outside the US can access information from American users. Bloomberg
A bipartisan push to increase U.S. semiconductor production and competitiveness with China has run into further trouble and could cloud companies’ investment plans, with the Senate’s top Republican tying its fate to a separate climate and prescription-drug budget plan being pursued by Democrats. The Wall Street Journal
A trove of thousands of email records uncovered by Reuters reveals Indian cyber mercenaries hacking parties involved in lawsuits around the world – showing how hired spies have become the secret weapon of litigants seeking an edge. Reuters
ASPI ICPC
What would a First Nations foreign policy look like?
The Sydney Morning Herald
Huon Curtis and Blake Johnson
Developing a First Nations foreign policy is arguably the biggest development in Indigenous relations in decades. NAIDOC week is an opportune time to ask – what is a First Nations foreign policy, and how does it differ from Australia’s approach in the past? Australia excels at capacity building in the Indo-Pacific, which will be key to implementing digital economy and green technology initiatives.
The World
How mercenary hackers sway litigation battles
Reuters
Raphael Satter and Christopher Bing
A trove of thousands of email records uncovered by Reuters reveals Indian cyber mercenaries hacking parties involved in lawsuits around the world – showing how hired spies have become the secret weapon of litigants seeking an edge.
Ukraine - Russia
Google allowed a sanctioned Russian ad company to harvest user data for months
ProRepublica
Craig Silverman
As recently as June 23, Google was sharing potentially sensitive user data with a sanctioned Russian ad tech company owned by Russia’s largest state bank, according to a new report provided to ProPublica.
Russia arrests scientist for alleged collaboration with Chinese secret services
Reuters
Russia has detained a scientist in Siberia on suspicion of state treason for allegedly collaborating with China's security services.
Australia
Country and tech come together to improve Indigenous representation in tech industry
The National Indigenous Times
Emma Ruben
In an aim to increase industry efforts to bring more Indigenous Australians into the technology industry, Thoughtworks, General Assembly and Indigitek have come together to offer a hands-on scholarship experience.
Australia made a $75 million app for incoming travellers. Everyone hates it
Crikey
Cam Wilson
Australia’s new digital passenger declaration app was supposed to make entering the country quicker and easier, but only months after release the new system has been widely slammed as buggy, redundant and a pain to use.
Anti-Beijing firebrand Vicky Xu is back, taking Chinese attacks head-on
The Australian
Noah Yim
Anti-Beijing firebrand Vicky Xu is back in the fray after making a strategic withdrawal in the face of unprecedented threats to her life. Her work brought her the ire of the Chinese government and its legions of social media bots and supporters.
China
TikTok confirms some China-based employees can access US user data
Bloomberg
Alex Barinka
TikTok, the viral video-sharing app owned by China’s ByteDance Ltd., said certain employees outside the US can access information from American users, stoking further criticism from lawmakers who have raised alarms about the social network’s data-sharing practices.
China destroyed Muslim culture in this ancient city - Then turned it into Disneyland
Buzzfeed
Alison Killing, et al.
The government’s campaign in Kashgar began with CCTV cameras watching people pray. Now it features tourists taking Instagram selfies.
Chinese hackers kept up hiring drive despite FBI indictment
Financial Times
Eleanor Olcott and Helen Warrell
Hackers with suspected links to China’s intelligence agencies were still advertising for new recruits to work on cyber espionage, even after the FBI indicted the perpetrators in an effort to disrupt their activities.
Chinese tech giants vow to stop NFT secondary trading
Reuters
Josh Ye
Chinese tech giants including Tencent Holdings and Ant Group have signed a pact to stop the secondary trading of digital collectibles and "self-regulate" their activities in the market, Chinese state media reported on Thursday.
USA
Tech investment bill to counter China hits new hurdle
The Wall Street Journal
Natalie Andrews and John McKinnon
A bipartisan push to increase U.S. semiconductor production and competitiveness with China has run into further trouble and could cloud companies’ investment plans, with the Senate’s top Republican tying its fate to a separate climate and prescription-drug budget plan being pursued by Democrats.
Ruling could dampen government efforts to rein in Big Tech
ABC News
Matt O'Brien
The Supreme Court’s latest climate change ruling could dampen efforts by federal agencies to rein in the tech industry, which went largely unregulated for decades as the government tried to catch up to changes wrought by the internet.
U.S. promises bigger fines, stepped up enforcement of sensitive-technology technology restrictions
The Wall Street Journal
Dylan Tokar
As Russia and China have worked their way up the list of U.S. national-security concerns, successive administrations have placed greater weight on regulations designed to keep sensitive U.S. technology out of the hands of geopolitical rivals. Now, the agency in charge of enforcing those rules is trying to give them sharper teeth, including by imposing bigger fines on companies that mishandle restricted technology and by pouring resources into investigating the most serious violations.
State Department offers up to $10M reward for info on foreign election interference
POLITICO
Matt Berg
The State Department is offering up to $10 million to those who provide information on foreign interference in U.S. elections, officials announced on Thursday. The Rewards for Justice program aims to gather information that leads to the identification or location of any foreign person or entity “who knowingly engaged or is engaging in foreign election interference.
Export controls 'matter more than ever,' US commerce chief Raimondo says
Bloomberg
Eric Martin
US restrictions on exports “are at the red-hot center of how we best protect our democracies” because they cut off supply of crucial technologies tocountries that threaten American national security, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said.
Chinese company’s purchase of North Dakota farmland raises national security concerns in Washington
CNBC
Eamon Javers
Inside the Air Force, an officer circulated a memo about the project in April, casting it as a national security threat to the United States and alleging that it fits a pattern of Chinese subnational espionage campaigns using commercial economic development projects to get close to Department of Defense installations.
North Asia
TSMC struggles to keep new hires, warns of power supply risks
Nikkei Asia
Cheng Ting-Fang and Lauly Li
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing revealed it is struggling to retain new hires amid an intensifying battle for engineers, while also warning that Taiwan's precarious power and water supplies could potentially impact its operations on the island.
NZ & Pacific Islands
Misinformation is a threat and affecting NZ, Jacinda Ardern says ahead of NATO speech
Stuff
Glenn McConnell
As Nato member states finalise their strategy for how to deal with security risks in their region, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has stressed the significance of fiction masquerading as fact – an issue she sees as a major security threat.
Southeast Asia
As cyber threats grow, Indonesia's data protection efforts are falling short
The Diplomat
Estey Chen
Despite the magnitude of Indonesia’s cyberspace vulnerabilities, the country’s government has yet to implement comprehensive cybersecurity or data protection bills.
Europe
UK deploys military experts to counter Russian malign influence in Bosnia and Herzegovina
UK Government
At the request of NATO Headquarters Sarajevo, a UK military counter-disinformation expert and a civilian strategic defence adviser will be deployed to support and train the Bosnia and Herzegovinian Armed Forces. In addition, the UK will provide £750,000 to establish a cyber-security centre of excellence within the University of Sarajevo.
Big Tech
Facebook and Instagram blamed for surge in scams
The Times
David Byers
Fraudsters using Facebook and Instagram are responsible for more than eight in ten of all online investment scams, one of Britain’s biggest banks has revealed.
Google to delete location history of visits to abortion clinics
Reuters
Anaya Rajesh and Jeffrey Dastin
Google will delete location data showing when users visit an abortion clinic, the online search giant said on Friday, following concern that a digital trail could inform law enforcement if an individual terminates a pregnancy illegally.
Facebook asks judge to 'crack the whip' in attempt to silence a black whistleblower
Time
Billy Perrigo
A lawyer representing Facebook’s parent company Meta called on a judge to “crack the whip” against a Black South African whistleblower on Monday, requesting a gagging order to prevent him from speaking to the media.
Jobs
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ASPI ICPC
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