UK to launch specialist cyber force able to target terror groups / Clearview client list revealed / Cyberattack forces cancellation of wool sales across Australia
Follow us on Twitter. The Daily Cyber Digest focuses on the topics we work on, including cyber, critical technologies & strategic issues like foreign interference.
A specialist cyber force of hackers who can target hostile states and terror groups is due to be launched in the UK later in the spring, after many months of delays and turf wars between the Ministry of Defence and GCHQ. The Guardian
A BuzzFeed News review of Clearview AI documents has revealed the company is working with more than 2,200 law enforcement agencies, companies, and individuals around the world. BuzzFeed News
Wool sales across Australia have been cancelled for the rest of the week after the IT system underpinning auctions and exports was hit by a cyber attack. ABC News
ASPI ICPC
The World
Can cryptocurrency become the UN money of the future?
Quartz
@missanabeem
The UN may not be the most innovative of institutions, yet it does, with surprising frequency, experiment with new technology and solutions. In recent years, it’s undertaken initiatives that incorporate artificial intelligence, virtual reality, and blockchain technology. These projects often remain confined to the realm of experiments. But a recent undertaking by UNICEF, the UN agency tasked with providing aid to children around the world, now offers what could be a glimpse of the future: The Cryptocurrency Fund, which collects contributions in cryptocurrencies, and then doles out those donations in the same currency. No exchange needed.
Australia
Cyberattack forces cancellation of wool sales across Australia
ABC News
@joshvbecker
Wool sales across Australia have been cancelled for the rest of the week after the IT system underpinning auctions and exports was hit by a cyber attack.
Four Australian Police Forces Have Used Clearview AI's Facial Recognition App
BuzzFeed News
@hannahd15
The Australian Federal Police and forces in Queensland, Victoria and South Australia have dozens of registered accounts with facial recognition software company Clearview AI.
China
Eric Schmidt: I Used to Run Google. Silicon Valley Could Lose to China.
The New York Times
@ericschmidt
America’s companies and universities innovate like no other places on earth. We are garage start-ups, risk-taking entrepreneurs and intrepid scholars exploring new advances in science and technology. But that is only part of the story. Many of Silicon Valley’s leaders got their start with grants from the federal government — including me. My graduate work in computer science in the 1970s and ’80s was funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. But in recent years, Americans — Silicon Valley leaders included — have put too much faith in the private sector to ensure U.S. global leadership in new technology. Now we are in a technology competition with China that has profound ramifications for our economy and defense — a reality I have come to appreciate as chairman of two government panels on innovation and national security. The government needs to get back in the game in a serious way.
China’s Uneven High-Tech Drive: Implications for the United States
CSIS
@KennedyCSIS, James Andrew Lewis & Mingda Qiu
This report, with contributions from leading U.S. and Chinese experts, provides a dispassionate assessment of China’s high-tech drive and the implications for the United States and the global economy.
Chinese Hospitals Deploy AI to Help Diagnose Covid-19
WIRED
@tsimonite
China’s government has urged development of AI tools for healthcare as part of sweeping national investments in artificial intelligence. China’s relatively lax rules on privacy allow companies such as Infervision to gather medical data to train machine learning algorithms in tasks like reading scans more easily than US or European rivals.
USA
Clearview’s Facial Recognition App Has Been Used By The Justice Department, ICE, Macy’s, Walmart, And The NBA
BuzzFeed News
@RMac18 @carolineha_ @_loganmcdonald
A BuzzFeed News review of Clearview AI documents has revealed the company is working with more than 2,200 law enforcement agencies, companies, and individuals around the world.
Reddit CEO: TikTok is ‘fundamentally parasitic’
TechCrunch
@lucasmtny
During a brief conversation about the feature innovations of TikTok, Reddit CEO and co-founder Huffman pushed back hard on the notion that Silicon Valley startups had something to learn from the app. “Maybe I’m going to regret this, but I can’t even get to that level of thinking with them,” Huffman said. “Because I look at that app as so fundamentally parasitic, that it’s always listening, the fingerprinting technology they use is truly terrifying, and I could not bring myself to install an app like that on my phone.”
The Political Pundits of the Future Are on TikTok The New York Times
TikTok Marketers Chase Billions of Views in Uncharted Terrain Bloomberg
Swinging the Vote?
The Markup
@adrjeffries @leonyin @suryamattu
Google’s black box algorithm controls which political emails land in your main inbox. For 2020 presidential candidates, the differences are stark.
Steven Seagal charged by Securities and Exchange Commission with failing to disclose payments
CNN
@LisaFranceCNN
The Securities and Exchange Commission announced Thursday it had settled charges against actor Steven Seagal for failing to disclose payments for promotional work. The "Above the Law" star was charged with promoting an investment in an initial coin offering (ICO) conducted by Bitcoiin2Gen (B2G).
South Asia
Southeast Asia
The Philippines Wants to Arrest 8chan Founder Fredrick Brennan: ‘It's Basically a Death Sentence’
Vice News
@daithaigilbert
The owner of 8chan, the hate-filled message board that hosted rants from multiple mass shooters in the last 12 months, is suing the man who founded the site for cyber libel over tweets suggesting he was “senile.”
UK
UK to launch specialist cyber force able to target terror groups
The Guardian
@dansabbagh
A specialist cyber force of hackers who can target hostile states and terror groups is due to be launched later in the spring, after many months of delays and turf wars between the Ministry of Defence and GCHQ. The National Cyber Force – containing an estimated 500 specialists – has been in the works for two years but sources said that after months of wrangling over the details, the specialist unit was close to being formally announced.
A Royal Instagram Mystery
The New York Times
@CaityWeaver
This is a tale of 2 social media accounts, both alike in dignity, yet cast as star-cross’d competitors on Instagram, where we lay our scene.
Europe
Anonymous pro-Russian Telegram channels target protests in Belarus
DFR Lab
Amid ongoing economic integration talks between Russia and Belarus, eight channels attacked opponents of integration and spread pro-Kremlin narratives.
Middle East
Cyber-espionage campaign in Middle East, Europe picked up speed after Soleimani killing
CyberScoop
@shanvav
Iran-linked hackers have been running spearphishing email campaigns against governmental organizations in Turkey, Jordan and Iraq in recent months in a likely effort to gather intelligence, according to research published Wednesday by Dell Secureworks.
Arab Royal Feud Exposed in London Amid Claims of Spying, Hacking
Bloomberg
@rj_gallagher
What began as a legal dispute over a hotel has unfolded in a London courtroom in recent weeks into an extraordinary tale of royal intrigue, one that includes allegations of global undercover spying operation, hacked emails and a covert public relations campaign.
Misc
The juiciest bits from Steven Levy's "Facebook: The Inside Story"
The Interface
@caseynewton
Yesterday I chatted here with author Steven Levy about his new book, Facebook: The Inside Story. Today I wanted to share some of my favorite parts of the story, focusing on Levy’s considerable original reporting. While I’m sharing my favorite parts here, I’m still leaving a ton out. This book is 527 pages, and a memorable event takes place on more pages than not. I highly recommend it for anyone who wants a comprehensive, reality-based account of the company’s first 16 years.
How to Dox Yourself on the Internet
NYT Open
@dontclickonthat @neenahyena
A step-by-step guide to finding and removing your personal information from the internet.
Research
Cyberspace and Geopolitics: Assessing Global Cybersecurity Norm Processes at a Crossroads
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
@duncanhollis @cpruhl @maurertim & Wyatt Hoffman
As cyber threats multiply, efforts to establish international norms for cyber activity have created a disjointed ecosystem. Is the fragmentation a cause for concern or an opportunity to promote cyber stability and security?
Events
The Bushfire Crisis and Indigenous Land Management
ASPI
ASPI warmly invites you to attend a panel discussion to consider the practice of Indigenous Land Management techniques.
TIME: 5:30 pm - 7:30 pm
VENUE: ASPI Auditorium, Ground Level, 40 Macquarie St, Barton, Canberra 2600