U.S. Accuses Google of Illegally Protecting Monopoly | Sweden bans Huawei, ZTE from upcoming 5G networks | Social media groups under fire in France over Islamist killing
U.S. Accuses Google of Illegally Protecting Monopoly | Sweden bans Huawei, ZTE from upcoming 5G networks | Social media groups under fire in France over Islamist killing
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The Justice Department accused Google of illegally protecting its monopoly over search and search advertising in a lawsuit filed on Tuesday, the government’s most significant legal challenge to a tech company’s market power in a generation. The New York Times
Sweden has banned telecoms equipment from Huawei and ZTE in its 5G network, joining other European nations that have restricted the role of Chinese suppliers on security grounds. Reuters
Within hours of the assassination of a history teacher by an 18-year-old Islamist in France on Friday, fingers were pointed at social media platforms for having helped motivate the killer before he decapitated Samuel Paty and then for allowing him to gruesomely claim responsibility moments afterwards. The Financial Times
ASPI ICPC
Right-wing media falsely ties Black Lives Matter movement to Beijing
Axios
There appears to be no open-source evidence of a close relationship between CPASF and the Chinese government," said Alex Joske, a China analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute in Canberra whose work has focused on tracking China's covert political interference abroad. "The organization has received little attention from Chinese state media and definitely doesn't have the hallmarks of a united front group.
Australia
Home Affairs intelligence section role a mystery to departing NIC spy chief Nick Warner
The Australian
Outgoing spy chief Nick Warner has raised questions over the role of an intelligence section in the Department of Home Affairs, and suggested some intelligence agencies need better oversight. The Home Affairs Intelligence Division, which answers directly to department secretary Mike Pezzullo, is part of the National Intelligence Community (NIC), which Mr Warner heads as Office of National Intelligence (ONI) director-general.
How technology can help Australia's agricultural sector thrive
Independent Australia
The rise of "smart farming" is heavily dependent on the accessibility of technology and the internet.
China
Huawei says smart city business will grow despite US pressure
Nikkei Asia
Huawei Technologies can continue to expand its global smart city business in 2021 despite the U.S. crackdown that is threatening the Chinese company's flagship smartphone operations, a senior Huawei executive has told Nikkei Asia.
Read more about Huawei’s global smart city and public security technology work here in our Mapping China’s Technology Giants project here.
USA
U.S. Accuses Google of Illegally Protecting Monopoly
The New York Times
The Justice Department accused Google of illegally protecting its monopoly over search and search advertising in a lawsuit filed on Tuesday, the government’s most significant legal challenge to a tech company’s market power in a generation.
U.S. Diplomats and Spies Battle Trump Administration Over Suspected Attacks
The New York Times
What began as strange sounds and symptoms among more than a dozen American officials and their family members in China in 2018 has turned into a diplomatic mystery spanning multiple countries and involving speculation about secret high-tech weapons and foreign attacks.
Russian cyber-attack spree shows what unrestrained internet warfare looks like
The Guardian
The Sandworm team of Russian military intelligence, alleged to have unleashed computer chaos against the Kremlin’s enemies around the world, is said to operate out of a blue-tinted glass skyscraper known simply as “the tower”.
The 8th Wonder of the World
The Verge
@joshdzieza
Hopes were high among the employees who joined Foxconn’s Wisconsin project in the summer of 2018. In June, President Donald Trump had broken ground on an LCD factory he called “the eighth wonder of the world.” The scale of the promise was indeed enormous: a $10 billion investment from the Taiwanese electronics giant, a 20 million-square-foot manufacturing complex, and, most importantly, 13,000 jobs.
How Will the U.S. Combat Election Day Cyberwarfare? With Paper.
The New York Times
The 2016 U.S. election was a game changer for voting technology. Widespread Russian interference in our voting systems spurred new federal scrutiny of the country’s vast and fragmented election infrastructure. Four years later, “The psychological import of what the Russians did may be greater than anything that they actually hacked into, because they have managed to shake the confidence of American voters that their votes will be counted as they cast them,” said David Sanger, national security correspondent for The New York Times. And this lack of trust has led to a renewed examination of the nation’s voting equipment.
New Zealand
South and Central Asia
Pakistan lifts ban on TikTok
TechCrunch
Pakistan Telecommunication Authority said on Monday it has lifted the ban on TikTok, 11 days after the South Asian nation’s telecom authority blocked the popular short video app in the country over problematic videos on the platform. The authority, however, warned that TikTok needs to actively moderate content on its app or else it will be permanently blocked in the nation.
Read ASPI ICPC's report on TikTok & WeChat here.
Europe
Sweden bans Huawei, ZTE from upcoming 5G networks
Reuters
@Tech_Correspond
Sweden has banned telecoms equipment from Huawei and ZTE in its 5G network, joining other European nations that have restricted the role of Chinese suppliers on security grounds.
Social media groups under fire in France over Islamist killing
The Financial Times
Within hours of the assassination of a history teacher by an 18-year-old Islamist in France on Friday, fingers were pointed at social media platforms for having helped motivate the killer before he decapitated Samuel Paty and then for allowing him to gruesomely claim responsibility moments afterwards.
Czech telecoms group CETIN chooses Ericsson for 5G network
Reuters
Czech telecoms network operator CETIN will use technology from Swedish group Ericsson to build next-generation 5G networks, CETIN said on Monday. CETIN, part of investment group PPF, which also holds 81% in mobile operator O2 Czech Republic, is the first Czech network to signal its choice for building the new system.
Russia
Russian embassy responds to cyber hacking allegations
Asia Times
This week, a federal grand jury in Pittsburgh returned an indictment charging six computer hackers, all of whom were residents and nationals of the Russian Federation and officers in Unit 74455 of the Russian Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU), a military intelligence agency, the US Department of Justice announced. The indictment alleges the six current and former Russian military officers sought to disrupt through computer hacking the French election, the Winter Olympics and US hospitals and businesses, Canada’s CBC reported.
Misc
A shadowy AI service has transformed thousands of women’s photos into fake nudes: ‘Make fantasy a reality’
The Washington Post
An artificial intelligence service freely available on the Web has been used to transform more than 100,000 women’s images into nude photos without the women’s knowledge or consent, triggering fears of a new wave of damaging “deepfakes” that could be used for harassment or blackmail.
Events
ASPI Webinar: Australia’s Cyber Security Strategy In-Focus
Speakers: Abigail Bradshaw, Marc Ablong and Fergus Hanson
The Covid-19 pandemic has emphasised the importance of the online world; it is now critically important in managing this pandemic. Yet at the same time, the risks and threats are increasing—in June the Prime Minister warned us that Australia was being targeted by a sophisticated state actor. In this webinar, hear from Abigail Bradshaw CSC, head of the Australian Cyber Security Centre, and Marc Ablong PSM, head of National Resilience and Cyber Security group at Home Affairs, in a discussion moderated by Fergus Hanson, Director of ASPI's International Cyber Policy Centre, about Australia’s Cyber Security Strategy 2020 and how it will be operationalised.
Date & Time: 22 October 2020, 3:00 pm - 4:00 pm (AEST).
Register here.
Coping with COVID-19 in ASEAN – Challenges of Digitalisation
ERIA-OECD Webinar
The COVID-19 pandemic has affected ASEAN countries in many ways beyond the immediate health crisis. Negative impacts and pressures on firms, the labour market and households are already apparent, although they vary by sector. In addition to policies to prevent the spread of the virus, such as border closures, lockdowns and restrictions on social interaction, all countries in the region have taken measures to ease the economic shock, including stimulus packages, but further efforts are needed. Continuous policy support is necessary to overcome the issues confronting the sectors most affected by the pandemic.
Jobs
Senior Researcher / Project Lead
ASPI ICPC
ASPI’s International Cyber Policy Centre (ICPC) has an outstanding opportunity for a senior researcher to lead a one-year project looking at leadership networks across Asia. Interviews will start immediately.
Intern
ASPI
Are you a recent graduate wanting to develop your expertise in defence, national and cyber security and strategic policy? Do you want to inform the public and government on critical strategic choices facing Australia and learn what it takes to be a professional strategic analyst? If so, you might be interested in applying for the ASPI Research Internship Program.
Executive Level 1 - Assistant Director, Cyber Policy and Technology (Specialist)
DFAT
The Cyber Affairs and Critical Technology Branch (CYB) is responsible for implementing Australia’s International Cyber and Critical Technology Engagement Strategy (ICCTES) and Australia’s broader international cyber and critical technology agenda, led by Australia’s Ambassador for Cyber Affairs and Critical Technology. We are seeking enthusiastic and high calibre individuals to fill multiple positions in the Branch.