U.S. Officials Say Huawei Can Covertly Access Telecom Networks | Amazon wants Trump to testify over $10bn Pentagon contract | CIA controlled global encryption company for decades
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U.S. officials say Huawei Technologies Co. can covertly access mobile-phone networks around the world through “back doors” designed for use by law enforcement, as Washington tries to persuade allies to exclude the Chinese company from their networks. Wall Street Journal
Amazon has asked a federal court for permission to get testimony from President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Mark Esper as part of its ongoing protest over the Defense Department's handling of a multibillion-dollar cloud computing contract, according to a court filing unsealed Monday. CNN
The Swiss government has ordered an inquiry into a global encryption company based in Zug following revelations it was owned and controlled for decades by US and German intelligence. The Guardian
Australia
Seven Websites Hosting Terrorist Content Are Banned In Australia
BuzzFeed News
In September 2019, eSafety commissioner Julie Inman Grant, was given the power to compel ISPs to block websites in response to Christchurch, and blocked eight. Inman Grant's powers range from the specific — blocking websites hosting the Christchurch shooter's video or manifesto — to the broad ability to fine or even jail people posting "abhorrent violent material", which can include recordings of a terrorist attack, as well as murder, torture and rape. Given her powers are not yet a year old, and are set to be expanded in 2020, I wanted to see what happens when you ask the eSafety Commissioner to exercise them.
Digital giants must take control of murder online
The Australian
Paul Fletcher MP, Federal Minister for Communications, Cyber Safety and the Arts
During the past year we have seen a depressing and troubling pattern — a murderous rampage by a shooter who simultaneously documents his actions, with the results globally available on the internet.
Labor Bill to fix Australian encryption laws it voted for hits second debate
ZD Net
@dobes
The Australian Labor Party said on Monday it would be debating a Private Senator's Bill to fix the encryption laws that it voted for in 2018. The changes would include judicial authorisation that make the laws compatible with the US CLOUD Act, as well as changes in the previous Bill that was stranded prior to the May 2019 election.
Prime Minister reckons a booklet will keep Aussie kids safe online
ZD Net
@ashabeeeee
Announcing the release of a booklet targeted at those with kids under the age of five, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Online Safety for under 5s, which was developed by the eSafety Commissioner, would help keep more children safe.
China
How China Is Working to Quarantine the Truth About the Coronavirus
Defense One
@peterwsinger
In its battle to contain the coronavirus, the Chinese government has undertaken a wide range of measures, from shutting down cities to using drones to monitor and compel public compliance with public health edicts. But the regime is also waging a second battle: a campaign to control the world’s discussions of the first. The weapons in this information war are Beijing’s massive media and online control mechanisms. Its three prevailing tactics—all too common across authoritarian regimes and wider online warfare— are censorship, diversion, and lying.
China sets up national labatory for advanced policing
Financial Times
China’s biggest military technology company has set up a national laboratory to research advanced policing technologies such as crime prediction and emotion recognition, giving its first wave of grants to academics across China — as well as one lab in the UK. The flagship lab, which does not have a physical presence but is a network of researchers, is owned by China Electronics Technology Group Corporation, a state-owned defence company that has longstanding partnerships with the Chinese police and military.
US
U.S. Officials Say Huawei Can Covertly Access Telecom Networks
Wall Street Journal
@bopanc
U.S. officials say Huawei Technologies Co. can covertly access mobile-phone networks around the world through “back doors” designed for use by law enforcement, as Washington tries to persuade allies to exclude the Chinese company from their networks.
Amazon wants Trump to testify in battle over $10 billion Pentagon contract
CNN
Amazon has asked a federal court for permission to get testimony from President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Mark Esper as part of its ongoing protest over the Defense Department's handling of a multibillion-dollar cloud computing contract, according to a court filing unsealed Monday. The document also seeks permission to depose former Defense Secretary James Mattis and what he may have known about Trump's attitude toward the contract, known as the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure.
Clearview AI Wants To Sell Its Facial Recognition Software To Authoritarian Regimes Around The World
BuzzFeed News
As legal pressures and US lawmaker scrutiny mounts, Clearview AI, the facial recognition company that claims to have a database of more than 3 billion photos scraped from websites and social media, is looking to grow around the world. A document obtained via a public records request reveals that Clearview has been touting a “rapid international expansion” to prospective clients using a map that highlights how it either has expanded, or plans to expand, to at least 22 more countries, some of which have committed human rights abuses.
Areas of expansion, or intended expansion, by Clearview AI.
CIA controlled global encryption company for decades, says report
The Guardian
@julianborger
The Swiss government has ordered an inquiry into a global encryption company based in Zug following revelations it was owned and controlled for decades by US and German intelligence.
The CIA secretly bought a company that sold encryption devices across the world. Then its spies sat back and listened. Washington Post
A Former Google Executive Calls for a New Emphasis on Human Rights
New Yorker
@IChotiner
Ross LaJeunesse, the former global leader of international relations at Google, joined the company in 2008, after working as an aide to California’s then governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger. LaJeunesse was the head of government affairs for Asia and the Pacific in 2010, when the company abandoned its Chinese search engine, after deciding it was no longer willing to censor search results in accordance with the government’s wishes.
China's Hacking Spree Will Have a Decades-Long Fallout
Wired
@vermontgmg
At a press conference announcing the indictment of four Chinese hackers Monday, US Attorney General William Barr spoke out loud what had long been discussed only over drinks at security conferences: Some of the biggest hacks of Americans’ private data in the past decade had been the work of the Chinese government, resulting in a massive, unparalleled espionage advantage.
US Defense R&D Funding Falls As China’s Keeps Growing
Defense One
@DefTechPat
At a time when China’s investment in research and development is growing, the Trump administration wants to rein spending in. The Defense Department’s 2021 budget request includes lots of money for big next-generation tech priorities, such as $3.2 billion for hypersonic research; $1.5 billion for microelectronics and 5G networking; $1.7 billion for autonomy and an additional $800 million for the Joint Artificial intelligence Center. While U.S. research spending is decreasing, slightly, China’s is accelerating.
Trump administration wants private sector to do more to counter foreign intelligence efforts
CyberScoop
@shanvav
The Trump administration’s counterintelligence strategy, released Monday, aims for stronger collaboration between the intelligence community and the private sector on detecting and stopping foreign intelligence threats to U.S. entities. The plan, which President Donald Trump approved in early January, emphasizes a longstanding government argument that the private sector must do more to prevent foreign espionage. As state-sponsored hackers target more U.S. companies, corporate America should prioritize preparations to stifle similar attacks in the future, the director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center, Bill Evanina, told reporters at a briefing Monday.
Japan
Russian diplomat suspected in stolen SoftBank info case leaves Japan
The Mainichi
A Russian diplomat suspected of illegally obtaining proprietary information belonging to SoftBank Corp. left Japan for Russia on Monday, investigative sources said.
Pacific
Supporting a secure digital economy
Standards Australia
Standards Australia has released a report focused on cyber security in the Pacific region. The publication sets out recommendations on how to strengthen cyber security in the Pacific Islands with the use of standards.
Europe
Cybersecurity Institutional Map
EU Agency for Cyber Security
The European Union Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA) has been working to make Europe cyber secure since 2004. The Agency works closely together with Members States and other stakeholders to deliver advice and solutions as well as improving their cybersecurity capabilities. It also supports the development of a cooperative response to large-scale cross-border cybersecurity incidents or crises and since 2019, it has been drawing up cybersecurity certification schemes.
Misc
He Combs the Web for Russian Bots. That Makes Him a Target.
New York Times
@satariano
It didn’t take long for Mr. Nimmo, who helped pioneer investigations into online disinformation, to figure out what was going on: He had been targeted by a shadowy group after reporting, along with others, that American far-right groups had adopted pro-Kremlin messages on social media about Ukraine. His fake death notice was a sinister attempt at disinformation, which is the spreading of falsehoods with the deliberate intent to mislead.
How Apple ‘Intercepts’ And Reads Emails When It Finds Child Abuse
Forbes
@iblametom
Thanks to a search warrant uncovered by Forbes, for the first time we now know how the iPhone maker intercepts and checks messages when illegal material—namely, evidence of child.