White House official to discuss Ukraine cyber security with European allies | NSO offered ‘bags of cash’ for access to U.S. cell networks | Berlin blocks takeover of chip supplier by Taiwan rival
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 White House cyber security official will meet European counterparts this week to discuss the threat of cyber attacks against Ukraine by Russia, the White House said. Reuters
The surveillance company NSO Group offered to give representatives of an American mobile-security firm “bags of cash” in exchange for access to global cellular networks, according to a whistleblower who has described the encounter in confidential disclosures to the Justice Department that have been reviewed by The Washington Post. The Washington Post
The acquisition of German chip supplier Siltronic by its bigger Taiwan rival GlobalWafers has collapsed after Berlin did not approve the transaction, highlighting how national security concerns over supply chains are shaping deals in the industry. Financial Times
ASPI ICPC
Big Data and national security: A guide for Australian policymakers
Lowy Institute
Miah Hammond-Errey
Data abundance, digital connectivity, and ubiquitous technology are redefining national security and the way governments protect individual rights and freedoms. This Analysis examines Australia’s policy options in a world defined by big data.
World
White House official to discuss Ukraine cyber security with European allies
Reuters
A White House cyber security official will meet European counterparts this week to discuss the threat of cyber attacks against Ukraine by Russia, the White House said. Anne Neuberger, deputy national security advisor for cyber and emerging technology, will meet European Union and NATO officials in Brussels on Tuesday to discuss "deterring, disrupting, and responding to further Russian aggression against Ukraine," the White House said.
Conversation with a top Ukrainian cyber official: What we know, what we don't, what it means
CyberScoop
AJ Vicens
Zhora spoke with CyberScoop Monday and explained the biggest outstanding questions related to the cyberattacks against his country, how the attacks fit into the context of Russian aggression toward Ukraine for the last eight years, and how other countries, including the U.S., are helping decipher what’s happening in the attacks.
What's Life Like In Ukraine When A Russian Invasion Seems Imminent? Pretty Normal TBH.
BuzzFeed News
Christopher Miller and Pete Kiehart
Moscow has waged what Ukraine calls “hybrid warfare” against it for years. A mix of conventional military action, cyberattacks, economic pressure, and disinformation, it keeps its targets anxious and guessing. While the world waits to see what Russian President Vladimir Putin decides to do with his more than 100,000 soldiers, Tsybulska said she is already seeing information attacks from Russia.
Australia
AFLW star Tayla Harris reveals shocking cyber abuse at social media inquiry
News.com.au
Ashleigh Gleeson
AFLW star Tayla Harris has opened about up shocking online abuse she has suffered since calling out vile, sexist comments about her kicking a footy.
China
China more ‘brazen and damaging’ than ever, says FBI director
The Guardian
Martin Farrer
The threat to the west from the Chinese government is “more brazen, more damaging” than ever before, FBI director Christopher Wray has said, accusing Beijing of stealing American ideas and innovation and launching massive hacking operations.
USA
NSO offered ‘bags of cash’ for access to U.S. cell networks, whistleblower claims
The Washington Post
The surveillance company NSO Group offered to give representatives of an American mobile-security firm “bags of cash” in exchange for access to global cellular networks, according to a whistleblower who has described the encounter in confidential disclosures to the Justice Department that have been reviewed by The Washington Post. The mobile-phone security expert Gary Miller alleges that the offer came during a conference call in August 2017 between NSO Group officials and representatives of his employer at the time, Mobileum, a California-based company that provides security services to cellular companies worldwide. The NSO officials specifically were seeking access to what is called the SS7 network, which helps cellular companies route calls and services as their users roam the world, according to Miller.
AFL-CIO strongly backs U.S. House bill on China competition, chips
Reuters
David Shepardson
The largest U.S. labor organization said Monday it strongly supported a U.S. House of Representatives bill designed to improve competition with China, boost U.S. semiconductor production and reform key trade provisions.
Crypto advocates score win as Himes revises ransomware safeguard
POLITICO
Sam Sutton
Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.) is proposing that the House narrow a financial crimes provision he drafted in Democrats' China competitiveness bill, after cryptocurrency advocates warned the proposal threatened the industry and its users.
Big Tech increases funding to US foreign policy think-tanks
Financial Times
Kiran Stacey and Caitlin Gilbert
The world’s largest technology companies are pouring money into the biggest foreign policy think-tanks in the US, as they seek to advance the argument that stricter competition rules will benefit China. Google, Amazon, Facebook and Apple are behind an increase in funding to four of Washington’s most prestigious research groups: the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the Center for a New American Security, Brookings and the Hudson Institute.
How CNN, The New York Times, and other major media outlets monetize your data and lobby against regulation
The Intercept
Lee Fang
New outlets entrusted with promoting transparency and privacy are also lobbying behind closed doors against proposals to regulate the mass collection of Americans’ data.
South and Central Asia
India’s Rahul Gandhi Says His Twitter Following Was Squashed by Modi Government
The Wall Street Journal
Shan Li and Salvador Rodriguez
Politician writes to Twitter CEO to complain about curbs he blames on India’s government, highlighting how New Delhi polices U.S. social media companies.
UK
Far-Right Groups Have Picked Up Boris Johnson’s False Jimmy Savile Claim
VICE
Ruby Lott-Lavigna
The false claim about Keir Starmer not prosecuting Savile was originally concocted by conspiracy groups, and has gone full circle after being repeated by the Prime Minister.
Europe
Berlin blocks takeover of chip supplier by Taiwan rival
Financial Times
Kathrin Hille and Guy Chazan
The acquisition of German chip supplier Siltronic by its bigger Taiwan rival GlobalWafers has collapsed after Berlin did not approve the transaction, highlighting how national security concerns over supply chains are shaping deals in the industry..Chinese competition regulators had approved the deal on the condition that the Taiwanese company spun off Topsil, a Denmark-based unit, and continued to sell wafers to Chinese clients without discrimination. The demands could have complicated operations for the combined company if a third country, such as the US, imposed sanctions requiring companies to cut supplies to China in the future.
Germany: 2 oil storage and supply firms hit by cyberattack
AP News
Two companies involved in storing and supplying oil and other materials said Tuesday they have been hit by a cyberattack that has impacted operations in Germany.
Huawei is taking Sweden to court after the country banned its 5G products
Euro News
Chinese tech giant Huawei said it has initiated arbitration proceedings against Sweden after the Nordic country banned it from rolling out 5G products. “The Swedish authorities’ decision to discriminate against Huawei and exclude it from the 5G rollout has significantly harmed Huawei’s investment in Sweden, in breach of Sweden’s international obligations,” the Chinese company said in a statement to AFP on Sunday.
Russia
Inside Trickbot, Russia’s Notorious Ransomware Gang
WIRED
Matt Burgess
Internal messages WIRED has viewed shed new light on the operators of one of the world's biggest botnets.
Middle East
Saudi Arabia announces $6.4 billion investments in future tech
Reuters
Aziz El Yaakoubi
Saudi Arabia has launched investments worth $6.4 billion in future technologies, the Saudi minister of communication and information technology said on Tuesday, as the kingdom races to diversify its economy from oil in the face of fierce regional competition.
Iranian state-sponsored group APT35 linked to Memento ransomware
The Record by Recorded Future
Catalin Cimpanu
Security researchers have found links between APT35, one of Iran’s most active cyber-espionage groups, and Memento, a ransomware strain that was deployed in attacks in the fall of 2021. The links, discovered and detailed in a report published today by cybersecurity firm Cybereason, show, once again, the duality of Iranian cyber-espionage operations.
[Israel] In about-face, police appear to admit misuse of NSO phone hacking tech
Times of Israel
Amy Spiro and Toi Staff
Police say new evidence ‘changes the state of affairs,’ after initially denying unauthorized use of Pegasus spyware; Justice Ministry taps committee to probe bombshell claims.
Africa
Deepfake news videos circulate in Mali amid tensions with France
France24
Derek Thomson
We take a look at one means of assembling a deepfake video online for free and see how this technique has been used to disseminate fake videos of newscasts in Mali. This comes amid a rise in tensions between Bamako and Paris.
Misc
This company says it’s developing a system that can recognize your face from just your DNA
MIT Technology Review
Tate Ryan-Mosleyarchive
Though it almost certainly won’t work, it is a telling sign of where the field is heading.
The NFT Ecosystem Is a Complete Disaster
VICE
Edward Ongweso Jr
Top marketplaces facilitate epic amounts of theft and wash trading, scams are rampant, and the cringe is unbearable. Can it last?
The Plan to Put Bitcoin in Mouse DNA With a Genetically Engineered Virus
VICE
Matthew Gault
BitMouseDAO has exactly two investors and almost no money, but they do have a wild idea.
Meet the NSA spies shaping the future
MIT Technology Review
Patrick Howell O'Neillarchive
In his first interview as leader of the NSA's Research Directorate, Gil Herrera lays out challenges in quantum computing, cybersecurity, and the technology American intelligence needs to master to secure and spy into the future.
Billionaire Facebook Investor Peter Thiel Secretly Funded A ‘Cyber Warfare’ Startup That Hacked WhatsApp
Forbes
Thomas Brewster
As Israeli spyware dealer NSO Group is facing renewed scrutiny over the abuse of its WhatsApp hacking tools, an American startup could also reportedly bypass the messaging app’s security. That startup was secretly backed by the millions of billionaire Silicon Valley investor Peter Thiel.
The Collateral Damage of Facebook’s Flops
The New York Times
Shira Ovide
Experimentation is great, yada yada. But it costs us when influential companies change their mind.
Research
Messages and user data from secret sharing app Whisper exposed online (again): report
CompariTech
Bob Diachenko
Two databases containing user information and messages ostensibly from the secret sharing app Whisper were exposed on the web without a password or any other authentication required to access them, according to Comparitech researchers.
The Earn It Act threatens our online freedoms. New amendments don't fix it.
Stanford Law School
Riana Pfefferkorn
The July 2 manager’s and Leahy amendments attempt to respond to some of the concerns that I and others have raised about EARN IT. But they perpetuate the basic underlying problem: if passed, even in this amended form, the bill would still pose a serious threat to our freedoms online, especially freedom of speech. That threat is inherent to this legislation; no amount of amendments can fix it. And here’s the kicker: it still won’t guarantee children’s safety online.
Events and Podcasts
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.
ICPC Data Analyst
ASPI ICPC
ASPI’s International Cyber Policy Centre (ICPC) has an outstanding opportunity for talented Data Analysts to join its growing centre. ASPI’s ICPC undertakes complex research on some of the most challenging issues at the intersection of technology and public policy. How do we develop international norms to deter information operations and coercive diplomacy, how should we build international cooperation on the development of emerging critical technologies, what is the right balance between regulation and innovation? We deliver empirical research that is policy-relevant and we’re looking for people who can help us analyse data at scale.