White House asks Silicon Valley for help to combat coronavirus | Ottawa to release unprecedented report into foreign espionage in Canada | Seeking diversity in Australia's spook and cyber workforce
Follow us on Twitter. The Daily Cyber Digest focuses on the topics we work on, including cyber, critical technologies & strategic issues like foreign interference.
The White House on Wednesday sought help from Amazon, Google and other tech giants in the fight against the coronavirus, hoping that Silicon Valley might augment the government’s efforts to track the outbreak, disseminate accurate information and assist Americans who are out of work or school. The Washington Post
The federal government is set to table an unprecedented report into efforts to combat foreign states’ espionage operations in Canada.. Canadian intelligence agencies have been more open in recent years about hostile state actors operating in Canada. In 2018, CSIS Director David Vigneault highlighted the threat in a speech to Toronto’s business community. The Star
As analysts call for a review of Australia's intelligence agency staffing, aimed at increasing diversity, CyberCX sets up a cyber scholarship for women. ZDNet
ASPI ICPC
Seeking diversity in Australia's spook and cyber workforce
ZDNet
Analysts writing at the Lowy Institute's The Interpreter have called for another independent review of the intelligence community, this time with a focus on why women remain under-represented in senior roles.. "Why is Australia's intelligence community lagging behind its policy peers? ... Why have so few women risen to the most senior ranks from inside the community itself?" asked Cave and Oliver.. In this regard, the Australian Signals Directorate (ASD) is leading the pack, with women making up 56% of its senior executive service.
Lowy Interpreter: Australia’s intelligence community needs another independent review
Australia
USA
White House asks Silicon Valley for help to combat coronavirus, track its spread and stop misinformation
Washington Post
@tonyromm
The White House on Wednesday sought help from Amazon, Google and other tech giants in the fight against the coronavirus, hoping that Silicon Valley might augment the government’s efforts to track the outbreak, disseminate accurate information and assist Americans who are out of work or school.
Coronavirus divides tech workers into the 'worthy' and 'unworthy' sick
The Guardian
@juliacarriew
Campuses have become ‘ghost towns’ as staffers depart – but many contractors still have to show up.
Facebook, Twitter suspend Russia-linked operation targeting African Americans on social media
Washington Post
@TonyRomm @craigtimberg
Facebook and Twitter have disabled a Russian operation designed to stoke racial tensions among African Americans in the United States, the companies announced Thursday, raising fresh alarms that the Kremlin may seek to interfere in the 2020 presidential election and divide American voters.
DHS' cybersecurity agency to test remote capabilities amid coronavirus
Axios
@alaynatreene @jonathanvswan
Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) will send many of its employees home tomorrow as part of a stress test of its telework system, so it will be ready in case the coronavirus makes more work-from-home arrangements necessary in the coming weeks.
Surveillance Tools Will Lapse as Trump Signals Possible Veto
The New York Times
@charlie_savage @npfandos
Three F.B.I. tools for investigating terrorism and espionage will expire at least temporarily on Sunday after President Trump suggested on Thursday that he might veto a bipartisan surveillance bill to extend them and the Senate left town without voting on it.
Facebook removes 203 accounts for foreign interference from Russia
Reuters
Facebook Inc and Twitter Inc said on Thursday they had taken down a network of Russian-linked fake accounts operated out of Ghana and Nigeria which targeted the United States. Facebook told reporters that the network, which it removed from Facebook and Instagram for engaging in foreign interference, was in the early stages of building audiences and was operated by local nationals, some wittingly and some unwittingly.
North Asia
In letter to Congress, UN aviation agency justifies Twitter blocks
Axios
@BethanyAllenEbr
After intense criticism from the U.S. government, the United Nations' International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) is doubling down on its policy of blocking Twitter accounts that criticize its policy of excluding Taiwan from membership, according to a letter viewed by Axios.
Southeast Asia
UK
Washington is furious at Boris's Huawei bid | The Spectator
Spectator
The reaction in Washington DC to Boris Johnson’s decision to allow Huawei to tender for the 5G contract validates the concerns of the new 'awkward squad' of former cabinet ministers and Tory select committee chairs. Rarely have Democrats and Republicans been so united.
Coronavirus 'fake news' Twitter accounts shut down
BBC News
A fake hospital account is among those to have spread misleading information, the NHS says.
Russia
How Russian meddling is back before 2020 vote
CNN
More than 200 accounts were created by the Ghanaian trolls -- the vast majority in the second half of 2019 -- and they reached hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions, of people worldwide.
Canada
Ottawa to release unprecedented report into foreign espionage in Canada
The Star
@alexboutilier
The federal government is set to table an unprecedented report into efforts to combat foreign states’ espionage operations in Canada.. Canadian intelligence agencies have been more open in recent years about hostile state actors operating in Canada. In 2018, CSIS Director David Vigneault highlighted the threat in a speech to Toronto’s business community. “Traditional interference by foreign spies remains the greatest danger, but interference using cyber means is a growing concern,” Vigneault said. “The scales, speed, range and impact of foreign interference has grown as a result of the internet, social media platforms, and the availability of cheaper and more accessible cyber tools.”
Misc
Keeping our employees and partners safe during #coronavirus
Twitter
@jenchristiehr
The safety of our people and those around us is our top priority. We've been closely monitoring #coronavirus COVID-19 developments and wanted to share our current plans and travel policies.
Four months, $1bn... and ICANN still hasn’t decided whether to approve .org sale with just 11 days left to go
The Register
In 11 days, DNS overseer ICANN is supposed to rule on the $1.13bn purchase of a critical piece of the internet – the .org registry with its 10 million domain names. But ICANN has yet to even decide what criteria it will use decide whether to green-light the takeover.
Tinder Cancels International Release of Apocalyptic Original Series ‘Swipe Night,’ Gives Users Precautions for Meeting in Person
Variety
@MattDonnelly
Global dating app Tinder has scrapped international release plans for its original, in-app streaming series “Swipe Night,” the company told Variety exclusively. The decision comes on the heels of advice it gave users about meeting potential love interests in person, as coronavirus continues to spread worldwide.