US electronics firm struck deal to transport and hire Uyghur workers | US Navy engineer charged in attempt to sell nuclear submarine secrets | Philippines’ Nobel Prize newsroom is under siege
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The Nasdaq-listed firm, which has sold its equipment and software to Sony, Samsung, LG, Microsoft and other tech and broadcast companies, has employed at least 400 Uyghur workers from the far-western region of Xinjiang as part of an ongoing worker-transfer agreement, according to the company and local officials in Qinzhou and Xinjiang, government notices and local state media. Reuters
A nuclear engineer for the U.S. Navy and his wife have been charged with trying to share some of the United States’ most closely held secrets on submarine technology with another country, according to court documents unsealed on Sunday. The New York Times
Rappler, the news site co-founded by the new Nobel laureate Maria Ressa, dares to criticize the Philippine president, Rodrigo Duterte. He may yet see it shut down. The New York Times
ASPI ICPC
Huawei waves: why Chinese tech giant is pulling out of Australia
The Daily Telegraph
Australian Strategic Policy Institute analyst Fergus Hanson, who heads its International Cyber Policy Centre, said while “it’s never good to have anyone lose their jobs,” the decision to stop Huawei building Australian infrastructure “has been further vindicated as we’ve gone forward”. “There have been lots of examples of Chinese states co-opting its companies and more risks identified from the use of Chinese technology in many forms,” Mr Hanson said. “It makes this a necessary decision. And if you look at China’s moves in terms of economic coercion, things have only deteriorated more. This is going to be a great debate for a long time to come.” Mr Hanson said Huawei wasn’t the only Chinese company and 5G wasn’t the only technology that should be probed for national security risks in future, however, with potential vulnerabilities from cloud storage, artificial intelligence, and smart city infrastructure, as well as the supply of some technology components like rare earth metals.
Building cyber radar systems could alert Indo-Pacific nations and their allies
ZDNet
@stilgherrian
Russian ransomware operators need to be called out and suffer real consequences, according to retired general Keith Alexander, former head of the US National Security Agency (NSA) and US Cyber Command. "Right now, the ransomware guys, in Russia predominantly, get off pretty much free. There is very limited downside for them," Alexander told a seminar at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute's International Cyber Policy Centre last week. "We have to attribute who's doing it and make them pay a price."
Watch Keith Alexander’s Presentation for ASPI here.
ASPI’s decades: ‘Uyghurs for sale’
The Strategist
ASPI can point to some direct policy impact beyond Australia. Legislation was introduced in the US Congress in 2019 that directly cited ICPC research. Governments in the UK and Europe have introduced laws and regulations citing or informed by the centre’s work on 5G, technology transfer, supply chains, forced labour and other human rights issues, disinformation, critical infrastructure, and talent recruitment focused on science and technology.
Read our report ‘Uyghurs for Sale’ here.
World
It’s Not Misinformation. It’s Amplified Propaganda.
The Atlantic
@noUpside
You don’t need fake accounts to spread ampliganda online. Real people will happily do it.
Australia
You think we're joking, we're not': Deputy PM warns social media platforms that regulation is coming
ABC News
@alexiaattwood @williams__carly
Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce says the time has come to regulate social media giants, after watching an ex-Facebook employee highlight the dangers of the platform before the US Senate.
Naming names won’t stop abuse on social media
The Strategist
@elisethoma5
It doesn’t follow, however, that requiring government identification to open a social media account for all Australians is a proportionate or effective policy response. A high bar for evidence of necessity, safety and effectiveness should be required before the government asks Australians to accept a measure which almost no other country has imposed.
Third tech minister in one year met with dismay by industry
Australian Financial Review
@jessicasier @DLLabs
The Morrison government’s appointment of its third minister for science and technology in 12 months has been met with a mix of dismay and acceptance by Australia’s technology industry, though concerns remain that little policy will emerge before the new election cycle starts.
Australia urges US to follow its lead in regulating social media giants
The Sydney Morning Herald
@LisaVisentin @niltiac
Australia has intervened in the global push to regulate tech giants, writing to the US Senate to urge it to follow the nation’s lead to make social media companies deliver safer products.
350 Qld border-pass applicants caught in police privacy breach
The Brisbane Times
@mattdennien
A group email inviting 350 Queenslanders – including AFP, Defence and Queensland Health staff – to take part in a home-quarantine trial failed to conceal their email addresses.
Grim new warning on ‘relentless’ China
News.com.au
China’s cyber attacks are the biggest threat to our democracy and sovereignty and Beijing will not back down without a fight, according to Liberal senator James Paterson. Senator Paterson, who is the head of the parliamentary committee on intelligence and security, told the Australian on Friday that China’s foreign interference was the biggest danger to Australia’s way of life. “Economic coercion has not worked as well against us as (China) may have hoped, but cyber attacks emanating from China against government entities and critical infrastructure providers is absolutely relentless,” he said.
China
US electronics firm struck deal to transport and hire Uyghur workers
Reuters
@catecadell
U.S. remote-control maker Universal Electronics Inc told Reuters it struck a deal with authorities in Xinjiang to transport hundreds of Uyghur workers to its plant in the southern Chinese city of Qinzhou, the first confirmed instance of an American company participating in a transfer program described by some rights groups as forced labor. The Nasdaq-listed firm, which has sold its equipment and software to Sony, Samsung, LG, Microsoft and other tech and broadcast companies, has employed at least 400 Uyghur workers from the far-western region of Xinjiang as part of an ongoing worker-transfer agreement, according to the company and local officials in Qinzhou and Xinjiang, government notices and local state media.
Read our report ‘Uyghurs for Sale’ here.
US has already lost AI fight to China, says ex-Pentagon software chief
The Financial Times
Nicolas Chaillan speaks of ‘good reason to be angry’ as Beijing heads for ‘global dominance’.
Chinese Journalist Detained After Criticizing Government-Sponsored Blockbuster
The New York Times
@stevenleemyers @amy_changchien
The police detained Mr. Luo, 40, on Thursday, two days after he posted commentary on social media questioning China’s role in the war, the subject of a new film, “The Battle at Lake Changjin.” The movie has dominated the box office over the seven-day holiday known as Golden Week.
China’s Tech Antitrust Campaign Snares Meituan, a Food-Delivery Giant
The New York Times
@zhonggg
The government’s campaign has been blessed by the highest levels of the Communist Party leadership. It has involved a wide cast of regulatory agencies and policymaking bodies. And it has wiped out hundreds of billions of dollars in wealth for shareholders of some of China’s — and the world’s — most successful tech businesses.
USA
U.S. Navy Engineer Charged in Attempt to Sell Nuclear Submarine Secrets
The New York Times
@julianbarnes @SangerNYT @WintrodeBrenda
A nuclear engineer for the U.S. Navy and his wife have been charged with trying to share some of the United States’ most closely held secrets on submarine technology with another country, according to court documents unsealed on Sunday.
Government Secretly Orders Google To Identify Anyone Who Searched A Sexual Assault Victim’s Name, Address And Telephone Number
Forbes
@iblametom
In 2019, federal investigators in Wisconsin were hunting men they believed had participated in the trafficking and sexual abuse of a minor. She had gone missing that year but had emerged claiming to have been kidnapped and sexually assaulted. In an attempt to chase down the perpetrators, investigators turned to Google, asking the tech giant to provide information on anyone who had searched for the victim’s name, two spellings of her mother’s name and her address over 16 days across the year.
U.S. Set Out to Hobble China’s Huawei, and So It Has
The Wall Street Journal
@DanStrumpf
The big maker of telecom gear and phones is short of advanced chips, and it faces customers who heed U.S. sanctions or doubt the company’s technical reliability. It is diving into new ventures, aiming “to seek survival.”
Americans Need a Bill of Rights for an AI-Powered World
Wired
@EricLander46 @AlondraNelson46
Training machines based on earlier examples can embed past prejudice and enable present-day discrimination. Hiring tools that learn the features of a company’s employees can reject applicants who are dissimilar from existing staff despite being well qualified—for example, women computer programmers.
Amazon profits from coronavirus conspiracies
Coda Story
@E_Hellerstein
The fact is that, while much of the public attention on Covid-19-related misinformation is focused on social media, another, far less scrutinized platform is quietly providing fertile ground for misinformation: Amazon. The online retailer is a hotbed for vaccine conspiracies and coronavirus myths.
U.S. investigators increasingly confident directed-energy attacks behind Havana Syndrome
POLITICO
@AndrewDesiderio @laraseligman
The U.S. government’s investigation into the mysterious illnesses impacting American personnel overseas and at home is turning up new evidence that the symptoms are the result of directed-energy attacks, according to five lawmakers and officials briefed on the matter.
C.I.A. Reorganization to Place New Focus on China
The New York Times
@julianbarnes
The agency will create two new mission centers, one focused on China, the other focused on emerging technology, climate change and global health.
What ‘Bad Art Friend’ and the Facebook whistleblower say about our ‘connected’ lives
The Washington Post
@christineemba
Both events went viral. And both painted an unflattering picture of how the social media giant is affecting our everyday lives.
South-East Asia
Philippines’ Nobel Prize Newsroom Is Overjoyed but Under Siege
The New York Times
@suilee
“If you’re a Filipino journalist who is underpaid and who works in an environment that is not exactly secure, economically and financially, your only wealth is your reputation,” said Ms. Gloria. “But when you’re attacked online by a troll army and accused of corruption and unfounded claims, then you lose that right..The company offers advice on dealing with trolls: engage people and debunk lies. Report threats to Facebook immediately. And use investigative skills to expose those behind the trolling.
Why the Nobel Peace Prize award is a huge blow to Facebook
The Washington Post
The award recognizes how Maria Ressa has brought the world's attention to the harm caused by the social network.
Europe
Huawei seeks EU court involvement in Swedish ban
POLITICO
@laurenscerulus
Chinese telecoms giant Huawei is appealing a Swedish court’s decision to uphold a ban on its 5G kit and said it wants the EU’s highest court to weigh in if it doesn’t get its way.
Hacker arrested in France for theft of COVID-19 tests for 1.4 million Parisians
The Record
@campuscodi
Authorities said the suspect breached Paris-based hospital trust Assistance Publique – Hôpitaux de Paris (AP-HP), the largest hospital system in Europe and one of the Top 10 hospital trusts in the world.
The Future Farmers of France Are Tech Savvy, and Want Weekends Off
The New York Times
@LizAldermanNYT
An unconventional school wants to attract a new crowd to French agriculture, and help farms earn a profit.
Germany investigates possible ‘Havana Syndrome’ sonic attack on U.S. Embassy staff
The Washington Post
@Amy_23_Cheng
At least two U.S government employees based in Germany have logged symptoms like dizziness, nausea, and severe headaches, according to numerous media reports.
The Americas
Canada can’t have it both ways when it comes to China. The government must ban Huawei from our 5G infrastructure
The Globe and MailThe Globe and Mail
@cburton001
It remains to be seen whether this policy of weakness will persist to the detriment of Canada’s sovereignty and security when it comes to Huawei’s participation in Canada’s 5G infrastructure. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he will share his decision on this question in the “coming weeks.” It is troubling that after delaying this decision for years, and after our allies in the Five Eyes consortium have all effectively banned Huawei from their 5G networks, Ottawa still wants to move slowly..Approving Huawei 5G in any capacity would indicate that the government has chosen to forge an independent foreign policy that manoeuvres a middle path between the U.S. and China. Let’s be clear: None of our allies will buy this sort of sophistry. If we go this route, China will have succeeded in its overall agenda to put a wedge into the solidarity of the Western alliance.
Misc
I Designed Algorithms at Facebook. Here’s How to Regulate Them.
The New York Times
@RoddyLindsay
The solution is straightforward: Companies that deploy personalized algorithmic amplification should be liable for the content these algorithms promote. This can be done through a narrow change to Section 230, the 1996 law that lets social media companies host user-generated content without fear of lawsuits for libelous speech and illegal content posted by those users.
Facebook's success was built on algorithms. Can they also fix it?
CNN
@rachelmetz
For billions of people around the world, Facebook can be a source for cute baby pictures, vaccine misinformation and everything in between — and all of it surfaces in our feeds with the help of algorithms.
Google has issued a warning to its users after the latest hack
The Sun
Google has urged its users to urgently update one of its most used apps after the tech giant was hacked again this week.
Google to give security keys to ‘high risk’ users targeted by government hackers
TechCrunch
It comes days after Google alerted thousands of high-risk users of state-backed hacking efforts.
Hackers are waging a guerrilla war on tech companies, revealing secrets and raising fears of collateral damage
The Washington Post
@carlypage_
A resurgence of “hacktivism” seeks to portray cyberattacks as a moral crusade. But everyday users can also end up having their private information exposed.
Borrowed a School Laptop? Mind Your Open Tabs
Wired
@sidneyfussell
Students—many from lower-income households—were likely to use school-issued devices for remote learning. But the devices often contained monitoring software.
Facebook Hearings
Saturday Night Live
Honestly, it's mostly just senators discussing memes.
Events
Securing Cyberspace
The Washington Post
The Biden administration has made clear that cybersecurity is critical to our national security plan, and the role of the private sector is integral to national cybersecurity planning. Join Washington Post Live on Thursday, Oct. 14 at 4:00 p.m. ET for a series of conversations about the role of the private sector in charting a path forward to securing cyberspace and lessons learned from recent cyberattacks.
Jobs
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. Analysts usually have at least 5 years, often 7-10 years’ of work experience. Senior analysts usually have a minimum of 15 years relevant work experience and, in addition to research, they take on a leadership role in the centre and tend to be involved in staff and project management, fundraising and stakeholder engagement.