TikTok created an alternate universe just for Russia | DHS foiled cyberattack on undersea internet cable in Hawaii | Political campaigns are facing risks with crypto donations
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Last month, as many tech companies sided with Ukraine over Russia’s invasion, TikTok appeared to follow suit by suspending new video uploads and live streams from Russia. The company said it made the move to protect Russian users from the country’s new laws criminalizing criticism of its military. The Washington Post
Federal agents in Honolulu last week “disrupted” an apparent cyberattack on an unnamed telecommunication company’s servers associated with an underwater cable responsible for internet, cable service and cell connections in Hawaii and the region. Cyberscoop
Crypto platforms are obscuring the identities of people who make political donations in crypto, which makes public audits of donations nearly impossible. BuzzFeed News
The World
U.S- NATO role in the cyber conflict and Taiwan to confront China after the Ukraine war
Modern Diplomacy
Nadia Helmy
The tension between the United States of America and China does not depend on geopolitical issues, especially in Taiwan and the South China Sea, as other issues, such as: (electronic security and cyber technology), are among one of the most prominent manifestations of tension between the two countries as well and cast a shadow on other features of political and economic competition and strategy between the two sides.
Ukraine - Russia
A practical reason why crypto might not work for large-scale sanctions evasion
Cyberscoop
Joe Warminsky
When lawmakers recently asked experts about Russia’s ability to use cryptocurrency to avoid sanctions, the answer was simple: There wasn’t any evidence of such activity. The experts now say they have more insight as to why cryptocurrency isn’t playing a large-scale role in whatever Russia might be doing to dodge the restrictions Western nations have placed on its industries and the oligarchs that run them.
Russia is leaking data like a sieve
WIRED
Matt Burgess
Names, birthdays, passport numbers, job titles—the personal information goes on for pages and looks like any typical data breach. But this data set is very different. It allegedly contains the personal information of 1,600 Russian troops who served in Bucha, a Ukrainian city devastated during Russia’s war and the scene of multiple potential war crimes.
TikTok created an alternate universe just for Russia
The Washington Post
Will Oremus
Last month, as many tech companies sided with Ukraine over Russia’s invasion, TikTok appeared to follow suit by suspending new video uploads and live streams from Russia. The company said it made the move to protect Russian users from the country’s new laws criminalizing criticism of its military.
Russian state media is still posting to TikTok a month after the app blocked new content
TechCrunch
Taylor Hatmaker
The social network cut off new content originating in Russia in early March in response to a harsh new law in the country criminalizing “fake news” about the invasion, an offense now punishable with lengthy prison sentences. But even with all new content in Russia ostensibly suspended on TikTok, some prominent Russian state media accounts are filling the information gap.
Facebook's Ukraine-Russia moderation rules prompt cries of double standard
The Intercept
Sam Biddle
An unprecedented spree of policy changes and carveouts aimed at protecting Ukrainian civilians from Facebook’s censorship systems has earned praise from human rights groups and free expression advocates. But a new open letter addressed to Facebook and its social media rivals questions why these companies seem to care far more about some attempts to resist foreign invasion than others.
Australia
Government tech is hard. If not the DTA, then what?
Innovation Aus
Dr Lesley Seebeck
The digital transformation of government has proven difficult for Australia, particularly at the federal level. While some of the states are having some success, the federal government seems stalled, with frustration evident amongst ministers, a well-fed and buoyant consulting industry, and a weary resentment within a starved public service.


China
China is winning the middle east’s data, cyber, and technology race
The National Interest
Mohammed Soliman
Currently, the United States is deprioritizing the Middle East as its main theater of interest and refocusing its strategic footprint worldwide on its main ascending rival, China. One of the leading Chinese instruments of geostrategic influence is Beijing’s use of technology and innovation policy, such as Huawei’s hardware and technology education in Chinese universities.
DIA warns China’s space tech seeks to block U.S. radars, jam munitions
Defense One
Tara Copp
China has become increasingly reliant on space to prevail in a major conflict with the United States and is aggressively launching, acquiring, and obtaining through espionage the counter-space capabilities necessary to do so.
China’s banking association proposes restrictions on NFTs
TechCrunch
Rita Liao
The verdict that China’s web3 community has been waiting for months is here: NFTs, or the tokens used to prove the ownership and authenticity of an item, must not be used for securitization or transacted in cryptocurrencies, said China’s banking, securities and internet financial associations in an announcement on Wednesday.
‘Always on and watching’: A former Xinjiang prisoner describes life inside China’s detention camps
TechCrunch
Zack Whittacker
As a former prisoner, Turdakun is one of only a few people with a firsthand account of the inside of China’s detention camps, including rare knowledge of how the Chinese government uses technology, surveillance and facial recognition to oppress millions of Xinjiang residents.
How China’s united front system works overseas
The Strategist
Ryan Fedasiuk
On balance, the united front system represents a formidable tool to advance Chinese influence, power and access to technology abroad. Many of its activities are best described as extralegal or ‘grey zone’ operations and are difficult to mitigate at scale. Liberal democracies should coordinate and think of novel ways to blunt the impact of China’s influence operations and stymie unwanted technology outflows.
USA
DHS investigators say they foiled cyberattack on undersea internet cable in Hawaii
CyberScoop
Aj Vicens
Federal agents in Honolulu last week “disrupted” an apparent cyberattack on an unnamed telecommunication company’s servers associated with an underwater cable responsible for internet, cable service and cell connections in Hawaii and the region.
U.S. crypto researcher sentenced to five years for helping North Korea evade sanctions
Reuters
Jody Godoy
A former researcher at a high-profile cryptocurrency group was sentenced to five years and three months in prison on Tuesday for conspiring to help North Korea evade U.S. sanctions using cryptocurrency.
U.S. space systems see 'dramatic' spike in risks amid global competition
FCW
Lauren Williams
Threats to space-based systems, from navigation to communications, are increasing, defense intelligence officials warn. The DIA summarized its analysis in a recently released report on current security challenges in space, which names threats as electronic warfare, cyberattacks, kinetic energy weapons, and nuclear detonation.
US agencies warn of custom-made hacking tools targeting energy sector systems
The Record by Recorded Future
Jonathan Greig
In an alert released on Wednesday, the Department of Energy (DOE), the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), the National Security Agency (NSA), and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) warned critical infrastructure operators of potential attacks targeting multiple industrial control systems (ICS) and supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) devices.
Southeast Asia
How social commerce is bridging Southeast Asia’s infrastructure gaps
TechCrunch
Amit Anand
The popularity of social commerce in Southeast Asia has been accelerated by high rates of mobile internet penetration, a mobile-first generation that spends a lot of time on social media, and high engagement. But the biggest driver of social commerce is the fact that this is a collectivist society.
NZ & The Pacific
Government websites inaccessible after being affected by privacy issue
Stuff
John Anthony
Government websites including the New Zealand Parliament website and the Companies Office were inaccessible and showing security warnings on Tuesday afternoon.
South & Central Asia
WhatsApp permitted to extend payments service to 100 million users in India
TechCrunch
Manish Singh
The National Payments Corporation of India, the payments body that oversees the widely popular UPI instrument, has given approval to WhatsApp to extend its payments service to 100 million users in the South Asian market. WhatsApp was previously allowed to rollout WhatsApp Pay to 40 million users in the world’s second largest internet market.
Europe
EU’s digital rule-book reboot could fumble dark patterns ban and trader checks, warns BEUC
Tech Crunch
Natasha Lomas
When the European Commission presented its Digital Services Act proposal in December 2020, it listed beefed up consumer protections as a headline goal for the flagship update to the bloc’s rules for digital services. But now, as negotiations over the draft law are in the final stretch, where EU co-legislators hash out the detail and seek to reach a compromise between differing positions, consumer protection organizations are warning that key provisions risk being fatally weakened or even dropped entirely.
Americas
Why Canada should take a critical look at Australia's internet regulations
Canada's National Observer
Dwayne Winseck
As much as Australia’s new platform governance effort flags the possibility of designing sovereign internet policy and regulation that serve the public interest and democracy, it falls short of reaching that high bar. Instead of being a model Canada should follow, the Australian case teaches us that the pursuit of internet regulation for the public interest and democracy must be more ambitious in its goals and more circumspect of who has the power to define them.
The Middle East
How Iran built Hezbollah into a top cyber power
The National Interest
Benjamin R. Young
Since the Stuxnet attack on Iran's nuclear facilities, Tehran has focused on expanding its cyber operations and digital surveillance capabilities. Iran sees its ally, Hezbollah, as a key part of its enhanced cyber program.
Africa
The importance of training in managing a cybersecurity skills shortage
IT News Africa
Luis Monzon
According to a report released by Ireland-based multinational professional services company Accenture, a low investment in cyber security, and immature cybercrime legislation, makes South Africa a target for cybercrime, with the country registering the third-highest number of cybercrime victims worldwide. In addition, as with other countries, the cybersecurity skills shortage is hindering the ability of businesses to effectively manage and stay ahead of constantly-evolving cyberthreats.
Big Tech
T-Mobile secretly bought its customer data from hackers to stop leak. It failed.
VICE
Joseph Cox
Last year, T-Mobile confirmed it was breached after hackers offered to sell the personal data of 30 million of its customers for 6 bitcoin, worth around $270,000 at the time. According to court documents unsealed today and reviewed by Motherboard, a third-party hired by T-Mobile tried to pay the hackers for exclusive access to that data and limit it from leaking more widely.
Google files suit against Cameronian cybercriminal who used puppies as lures
CyberScoop
AJ Vicens
Google filed a lawsuit Monday against a Cameroonian man, accusing him of creating scam websites that promise to “sell adorable puppies,” only to take victims’ money as part of a sprawling network of non-delivery scams.
The AI that draws what you type is very racist, shocking no one
VICE
Janus Rose
To the casual observer, DALL-E is Silicon Valley’s latest miraculous AI creation—a machine learning system that allows anyone to generate almost any image just by typing a short description into a text box. But DALL-E suffers from the same racist and sexist bias AI ethicists have been warning about for years.
Elon Musk is sued by shareholders over delay in disclosing Twitter stake
Reuters
Jonathan Stempel
Elon Musk was sued on Tuesday by former Twitter shareholders who claim they missed out on the recent run-up in its stock price because he waited too long to disclose a 9.2% stake in the social media company.
TikTok is testing a private dislike button for comments
TechCrunch
Aisha Malik
TikTok announced today that it has started testing a way for users to identify comments that they think are irrelevant or inappropriate. Following the announcement, the company confirmed to TechCrunch that users who are part of the test will be able to flag these sorts of comments via a private dislike button.
Misc
Political campaigns are facing risks with crypto donations on Coinbase and BitPay
BussFeed News
Emily Baker-White
Crypto platforms are obscuring the identities of people who make political donations in crypto, which makes public audits of donations nearly impossible.
Pop culture is cybersecurity’s best recruiter
Cybercrime Magazine
Steve Morgan
Pop culture has been recruiting tech workers for decades, it’s just that HR managers and recruiters are largely unaware of how much so. Some of today’s top security leaders and entrepreneurs told us they found their calling after watching a movie.
Feds warn about foreign government-connected hackers aiming to disrupt vital industrial systems
Cyberscoop
Tim Starks
A joint federal advisory Wednesday says that foreign government-linked hackers are targeting specific industrial processes with tools meant to breach and disrupt them, with one cybersecurity firm noting that the prospective intruders demonstrate an unprecedented “breadth of knowledge” about industrial control systems.
‘Club Penguin Rewritten’ allegedly shut down by Disney, website seized by London police
TechCrunch
Amanda Silberling
Over 140,000 users were members of a Discord server for the game until today, when every message on the Discord disappeared. The game’s website now shows a notice that it was seized by the City of London police.
INCONTROLLER: New state-sponsored cyber attack tools target multiple industrial control systems
Mandiant
Nathan Brubaker, Keith Lunden, Ken Proska, Muhammad Umir, Daniel Kapellmann Zafra, Corey Hildebrandt and Robb Caldwell
INCONTROLLER is very likely linked to a state-sponsored group given the complexity of the malware, the expertise and resources that would be required to build it, and its limited utility in financially motivated operations.
Events


Research
The XR Associatiion and Bipartisan Policy Center release report on immersive technology
XR Association
The XR Association and Bipartisan Policy Center are convening a virtual event to unveil “Thinking Ahead About XR: Charting a Course for Virtual, Augmented and Mixed Reality”, a report summarizing key findings on public policy for immersive technologies. The report provides guidance on important XR policy challenges society should address to optimize the technology’s benefits and minimize its harms.
Jobs
ICPC Data Scientist/Data Analyst
ASPI ICPC
ASPI’s International Cyber Policy Centre (ICPC) has an outstanding opportunity for talented Data Scientists or Data Analysts to join its growing centre. The role is suitable for applicants with between 1- and 4-years professional experience. Candidates with less than 1-year professional experience are encouraged to emphasise non-technical skills that they would bring to the role. For example, include evidence of well-developed communication skills, team collaboration abilities, or policy experience.
The Sydney Dialogue - Senior Events Coordinator
ASPI ICPC
The Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) is currently recruiting for an experienced events professional to coordinate the planning and logistics of the second iteration of ASPI’s Sydney Dialogue - the world’s premier summit on emerging, critical and cyber technologies.
ICPC Senior Analyst or Analyst - China
ASPI ICPC
ASPI’s International Cyber Policy Centre (ICPC) has a unique opportunity for exceptional and experienced China-focused senior analysts or analysts to join its centre. This role will focus on original research and analysis centred around the (growing) range of topics which our ICPC China team work on. Our China team produces some of the most impactful and well-read policy-relevant research in the world, with our experts often being called upon by politicians, governments, corporates and civil society actors to provide briefings and advice.