YouTube takes down Xinjiang videos | EU wants emergency team for 'nightmare' cyber-attacks | TikTok insiders say social media company is tightly controlled by Chinese parent ByteDance
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A human rights group that attracted millions of views on YouTube to testimonies from people who say their families have disappeared in China's Xinjiang region is moving its videos to little-known service Odysee after some were taken down by the Google-owned streaming giant, two sources told Reuters…Following inquiries from Reuters as to why the channel was removed, YouTube restored it on June 18, explaining that it had received multiple so-called 'strikes' for videos which contained people holding up ID cards to prove they were related to the missing, violating a YouTube policy which prohibits personally identifiable information from appearing in its content. Reuters
The European Commission has announced plans to build a Joint Cyber Unit to tackle large scale cyber-attacks. Recent ransomware incidents on critical services in Ireland and the US has "focused minds", the commission said.
It argued cyber-attacks were a national security threat, as incidents in Europe rose from 432 in 2019 to 756 in 2020. A dedicated team of multi-national cyber-experts will be rapidly deployed to European countries during serious attacks, it said. BBC NewsFormer TikTok employees say there is cause for concern when it comes to the popular social media app's Chinese parent company. They say ByteDance has access to TikTok's American user data and is closely involved in the Los Angeles company's decision-making and product development. Some cybersecurity experts worry that the Chinese government could use TikTok to spread propaganda or censorship to American audience, or to exercise influence over users who may come to regret what they posted on the service. CNBC
World
Bases go uninspected in Antarctica as geopolitical tensions ramp up
Stuff
Lucy Craymer
Antarctica is a vast snowy wonderland and one of the last, largely, unspoiled places on earth. But safeguards in place to collectively monitor the region are failing.
Australia
Online Safety Bill passes
ABC News
The Senate has passed a new bill which gives the e-safety commissioner sweeping new powers to force platforms to remove abusive or violent content and block sites that refuse. The legislation extends the online takedown scheme to adults, and increases the maximum penalty for using a carriage service to harass to five years imprisonment.
Australian Law Could Force Facebook, Google to Strip Content
Bloomberg
@JasonVScott @vladsavov
Australia’s government has passed legislation to reduce cyber abuse, allowing it to force social media platforms such as Facebook Inc. and Google to remove harmful material within 24 hours or be fined as much as $415,000.
Australia's eastern seaboard ready for driverless vehicles, but regional roads 'lack infrastructure'
ABC News
Jane McNaughton
Australia has robots that pick fruit, harvest crops and milk cows, but is the nation ready for driverless trucks hauling fresh produce on our major transport routes?
Facebook rejects talks with Australia publisher, may test online law
Reuters
Byron Kaye
Australia's competition watchdog is looking into a claim that Facebook Inc (FB.O) refused a publisher's request to negotiate a licensing deal, the regulator told Reuters, setting the stage for the first test of the world's toughest online content law.
China
YouTube takes down Xinjiang videos, forcing rights group to seek alternative
Reuters
Victoria Waldersee Paresh Dave
A human rights group that attracted millions of views on YouTube to testimonies from people who say their families have disappeared in China's Xinjiang region is moving its videos to little-known service Odysee after some were taken down by the Google-owned streaming giant, two sources told Reuters.. Following inquiries from Reuters as to why the channel was removed, YouTube restored it on June 18, explaining that it had received multiple so-called 'strikes' for videos which contained people holding up ID cards to prove they were related to the missing, violating a YouTube policy which prohibits personally identifiable information from appearing in its content.
TikTok insiders say social media company is tightly controlled by Chinese parent ByteDance
CNBC
@sal19
Former TikTok employees say there is cause for concern when it comes to the popular social media app's Chinese parent company. They say ByteDance has access to TikTok's American user data and is closely involved in the Los Angeles company's decision-making and product development. Some cybersecurity experts worry that the Chinese government could use TikTok to spread propaganda or censorship to American audience, or to exercise influence over users who may come to regret what they posted on the service.
Read our report ‘TikTok and WeChat: Curating and controlling global information flows’ and learn more about ByteDance here via our Mapping China's Technology project here.
The Chinese content farms behind Factory TikTok
Rest of the World
@decka227
How workers manufacturing products like aloe jelly and gardening gloves also became the influencers selling them.
China’s Trademark Push
The Wire China
@carrierana22
A flood of new trademark applications coming from China -- many of them believed to be fraudulent -- is swamping the U.S. system, making it harder for homegrown companies to register their products and defend themselves against intellectual property theft.
Huge China tech merger marks latest push for scale in US rivalry
Nikkei Asia
Shunsuke Tabeta Kenji Kawase
The Chinese government has greenlighted the merger of two major state-owned technology companies as it seeks to build bigger industrial groups that can better compete with U.S. and other rivals.
He tried to commemorate erased history. China detained him, then erased that too
Los Angeles Times
@aliceysu
It wasn’t just Dong’s case. Thousands of politically sensitive cases disappeared last month from China Judgments Online, the public archive. The deletions were first noticed by a Chinese activist with the Twitter handle @SpeechFreedomCN, who has been keeping an archive of speech crime cases. He has tracked more than 2,040 cases, dating to 2013, based on official documentation in China Judgments Online or public security bureaus’ reports on the social media apps Weibo and WeChat.
USA
Cyber Risk Across the U.S. Nuclear Enterprise
Texas National Security Review
@Herbert Lin
As the United States embarks on an effort to modernize many elements of its nuclear enterprise, it needs to consider how dependencies on modern information technologies could lead to cyber-induced failures of nuclear deterrence or to nuclear war.
A State Department for the Digital Age
War on the Rocks
Ferial Ara Saeed
Lawmakers want the department to fix the coordination problems that limit its effectiveness on technology issues, elevate cyber diplomacy as a foreign policy priority, and ensure equal focus on economic, security, and political concerns. Congress also seeks a separate China strategy, given the decisive role of technology competition in Sino-American rivalry.
The Challenge of Educating the Military on Cyber Strategy
War on the Rocks
Erica Borghard Mark Montgomery Brandon Valeriano
From a defensive perspective, the U.S. Department of Defense is as vulnerable to cyber threats to its networks and critical warfighting capabilities as the rest of U.S. society, if not more so. Yet there are significant gaps in how the military educates the officer corps as a community about the nature and practice of cyber strategy and operations.
Microsoft says new breach discovered in probe of suspected SolarWinds hackers
Reuters
Joseph Menn
Microsoft (MSFT.O) said on Friday an attacker had won access to one of its customer-service agents and then used information from that to launch hacking attempts against customers.
Trial of Scientist Accused of Hiding China Work Ends in Hung Jury
The Wall Street Journal
@aviswanatha
A federal judge ordered a mistrial Wednesday after a jury deadlocked over whether a former University of Tennessee scientist hid his work in Beijing in order to obtain U.S. government research grants..The six-day trial featured testimony from government agents about Mr. Hu’s work at the Beijing University of Technology, but also from University of Tennessee employees fumbling to explain disclosure policies..Prosecutors alleged that Mr. Hu, who specializes in nanotechnology research, misled his university and the U.S. government by not reporting his Beijing post in University of Tennessee conflict-of-interest forms and in applications for National Aeronautics and Space Administration grants.
Chinese surveillance firm builds influence in Washington, with help from former members of Congress
The Washington Post
@drewharwell
Three former lawmakers have registered as foreign agents for the U.S. branch of Hikvision, the maker of cameras used to monitor Uyghur Muslims inside China’s detention camps. The firm has been blacklisted in the U.S. due to security and human-rights concerns.
Facebook Must Face Claims Linked to Sex Trafficking, Judge Says
Bloomberg
Malathi Nayak
Facebook Inc. must face lawsuits filed by three women claiming they were forced into prostitution as teenagers by abusers who used the social-media site to ensnare girls.
North-East Asia
US-Taiwan talks to focus on supply chains and digital trade
Financial Times
Taiwan and the US will discuss supply chain security and digital trade in their first trade talks in five years, as the countries seek to deepen economic ties in the face of growing tension with China.
Semiconductor investment frenzy ramps up in Asia amid chip shortages, tech war
South China Morning Post
@Che Pan
A wave of chip foundry investment is sweeping across Asia, propelled by China and Taiwan and with Japan and Singapore also seeking to benefit from strong demand for chips, while the US continues to build up semiconductor manufacturing on American soil.
Taiwan chipmakers keep workers ‘imprisoned’ in factories to keep up with global pandemic demand
The Telegraph
@Nicola Smith @John Liu
Foreign workers in Taiwan are being “imprisoned” in dormitories, banned from brushing their teeth and told they will be cremated without their families if they die from Covid-19 as factories struggle to maintain production of key microchips, it is claimed. In efforts to keep up with the global surge in demand for consumer electronics during the pandemic, technology firms are alleged to be using fear to keep workers isolated, with some telling employees they will face financial penalties if they get infected with coronavirus.
Japanese police to launch team to fight state-sponsored cyberattacks
The Japan Times
Officers adept at cyber and internet probes will work for the team, which will focus on serious cases, including those targeting administrative offices and core infrastructures.
Hong Kong's Apple Daily is being stored on blockchain
The Block
@Wolfie Zhao
Apple Daily, a pro-democracy tabloid in Hong Kong, has been forced to shut down by the government amid a national security probe. And now it is being backed up on a censorship-resistant blockchain.
S. Korea to deploy mobile robots, AI-based surveillance system in border areas
Yonhap News Agency
South Korea plans to deploy moving robots on guard missions and establish an artificial intelligence (AI)-based surveillance system in border areas to beef up border security, the arms procurement agency said Tuesday.
South-East Asia
The Future of Asia’s Battle Against Online Misinformation
The Diplomat
@Jeff Paine
Blunt “fake news” legislation is open to easy abuse. There are other good options for tackling the complex problem of misinformation.
New Zealand & The Pacific
Pacific island turns to Australia for undersea cable after spurning China
Reuters
Jonathan Barrett
The Pacific island of Nauru is negotiating for the construction of an undersea communications cable that would connect to an Australian network, two sources with knowledge of the talks told Reuters, after the earlier rejection of a Chinese proposal.
South and Central Asia
Big Tech and the State: The necessity of regulating tech giants
ORF
@samirsaran
India, too, must take some tough calls. The vision of Digital India has advanced—from only four unicorn companies in 2014, India had 12 in just 2020 alone. Regulation must keep pace with this economic and social reality. It is absolutely critical that the Privacy and Data Protection Bill, currently being examined by a Parliamentary Joint Committee be brought forth and enacted as law.
India's digital database for farmers stirs fears about privacy, exclusion
Reuters
Rina Chandran
A plan by India to build digital databases of farmers to boost their incomes has raised concerns about privacy and the exclusion of poor farmers and those without land titles.
Can Reliance do for renewable energy in India what Jio did for telecoms?
Quartz
@sharma_niaa
Mukesh Ambani hopes his renewables strategy will become as dominant as his mobile internet business.
UK
UK technology vulnerable to 'exploitation' by Chinese military due to weak export rules
Express
Tim McNulty
Boris Johnson has been warned British technology has been left vulnerable to "exploitation" by China's military.
UK's departing spy tech chief: We're at serious risk if we lose edge
BBC News
@Gordon Corera
Prof Finkelstein has been working with front-line spies to ensure the UK retains its edge by employing the latest technology in pursuit of its secret missions. And much is at stake, he argues. "If you don't have that edge... your adversaries are able to apply superior technology against you and they place your national security at risk."
Financial watchdog bans crypto exchange Binance from UK
Financial Times
@adamsamson @staffordphilip
The UK’s financial watchdog has ordered Binance to stop all regulated activities in Britain and imposed stringent requirements in a stinging rebuke of one of the world’s biggest cryptocurrency exchanges.
Nvidia’s Planned Arm Takeover Gets Boost From Chip Giants
Bloomberg
Priscila Azevedo Rocha
Nvidia Corp.’s $40 billion proposed acquisition of U.K. semiconductor group Arm Ltd. got a boost after three of the world’s largest chipmakers expressed support for the controversial deal.
Europe
Berlin’s No 1 digital detective agency is on the trail of human rights abusers
The Guardian
@philipoltermann
Investigators in Germany are using Google Earth, YouTube clips and social media posts to bring political crimes to the courts.
EU wants emergency team for 'nightmare' cyber-attacks
BBC News
Joe Tidy
The European Commission has announced plans to build a Joint Cyber Unit to tackle large scale cyber-attacks. Recent ransomware incidents on critical services in Ireland and the US has "focused minds", the commission said.
Germany’s misinformation problem
POLITICO
@markscott82
Facebook, Twitter and Google don’t have a good track record of dealing with non-English language misinformation. The companies are only now rolling out their election game plans in Germany. Yet after I did a search for #Wahlfälschung, or election fraud, on both Facebook and Twitter, I quickly found myself in a rabbit hole of false claims, conspiracy theories and politically-motivate hate speech.
Middle East
Suspected Iranian hackers exploit VPN, Telegram to monitor dissidents
CyberScoop
@snlyngaas
For the last six years, hackers have stalked Iranian dissidents with spying tools that mimic the software those dissidents use to protect their communications, security firm Kaspersky said Wednesday.
Africa
Senegal to move all government data to Huawei-run data center
RFI
Jan van der Made
Senegal will move all government data and digital platforms from foreign servers to a new national data centre in an effort to strengthen its digital sovereignty. The move risks making the African country's digital infrastructure fully dependent on Chinese technology.
Misc
Inside the shady world of influencers promoting cryptocurrency
Mashable
@MattBinder
From FaZe Clan to Tana Mongeau, why are so many influencers shilling altcoins?
How much energy does bitcoin use?
Quartz
@AShendruk @timmcdonnell
How much electricity does bitcoin consume globally? The answer is important not only for the health of the planet, but also for the currency’s value.
Meet the activists perfecting the craft of anti-surveillance
Financial Times
At some point, the surveilled started fighting technology with technology. Take the apps Telegram and Threema, which offer ephemeral messaging that erases records of conversations after they’ve taken place. Once favoured by drug dealers and organised crime, they’ve both become more mainstream.
Apple Is Letting Over 150 Countries Censor LGBTQ+ Content In The App Store
VICE News
Gita Jackson
Despite its rainbow branding for Pride Month, the company's App Store is blocking queer dating and news apps around the world.
Inside Wikipedia's endless war over the coronavirus lab leak theory
CNET
@dctrjack
Building a better encyclopedia requires consensus and neutrality, but behind the scenes, editors wrangle with the pandemic's most contentious question.
Microsoft admits to signing rootkit malware in supply-chain fiasco
Bleeping Computer
@Ax_Sharma
Microsoft has now confirmed signing a malicious driver being distributed within gaming environments. This driver, called "Netfilter," is in fact a rootkit that was observed communicating with Chinese command-and-control (C2) IPs.
An Algorithm That Predicts Deadly Infections Is Often Flawed
WIRED
@tsimonite
A study found that a system used to identify cases of sepsis missed most instances and frequently issued false alarms.
Events
ASPI Webinar: In-conversation with Will Cathcart, Head of WhatsApp
ASPI
ASPI's International Cyber Policy Centre is delighted to invite you to the webinar 'In-conversation with Will Cathcart, Head of Whatsapp'. Join Fergus Hanson in a 'fireside chat' with the CEO of WhatsApp Will Cathcart as they discuss the big issues facing the world’s largest messaging service. This webinar will include Q&A with the online audience. How do we balance requirements for safety, privacy and security? Why does WhatsApp use end-to-end encryption and how has WhatsApp evolved to combat misinformation?
Join us at 10am on Thursday, 8 July to take part in this important conversation.
Report launch: 'Cyber Capabilities and National Power: A Net Assessment'
IISS
The IISS has undertaken a major two-year study of global cyber power, using a new qualitative methodology to understand different national capabilities. Please join us for the launch of this important new report, which for the first time sets out how the IISS assesses the cyber power of 15 major global nations, including both the United States and China, and provides a tiering of the 15 countries studied.
Monday 28 June 2021 13:00 - 14:15 Online (BST).
Assessing the Risk Associated with Chinese Companies Present in the Architecture of Open RAN
Prague Security Studies Institute
This rounds table event will focus discussion on the original objectives of Open RAN, whether new solutions are consistent with the Prague 5G Principles, and the geopolitical and security risk of Chinese vendors in the networks.
Jun 28, 2021 05:00 PM in Prague Bratislava.
Research
Experts Doubt Ethical AI Design Will Be Broadly Adopted as the Norm Within the Next Decade
Pew Research Center: Internet, Science & Tech
Sara Atske
A majority worries that the evolution of artificial intelligence by 2030 will continue to be primarily focused on optimizing profits and social control. Still, a portion celebrate coming AI breakthroughs that will improve life.
Ransomware Cyberattacks Are Heading Toward AI Autonomous Cars
AI Trends
Allison Proffitt
Eventually, you can expect that the advent of AI-based true self-driving cars is going to be disrupted by the ransomware blight.
The Connection of Everything: China and the Internet of Things
MERICS
@J_B_C16
China now plays a significant role in shaping the IoT, which is growing with the technological footprint of Chinese firms. This is being driven by the incentives of private industry, and by the Chinese state’s sustained policies to boost the role of Chinese actors in IoT development, including technical standardization. Concerns about how China may exploit the IoT are driving moves to disconnect from Chinese networks, led by the US.
Jobs
ICPC Analyst or Senior Analyst - Cyber & technology
ASPI ICPC
ASPI’s International Cyber Policy Centre (ICPC) has a unique opportunity for an exceptional cyber-security or technology focused analyst or senior analyst to join its centre in 2021. Please note that interviews have commenced for this position and will continue until the end of June. This role will focus on policy relevant cybersecurity analysis, informed public commentary and either original data-heavy research and/or technical analysis. Analysts usually have around 7-15 years work experience. Senior analysts usually have a minimum of 15 years relevant work experience and tend to be involved in staff and project management, fundraising and stakeholder engagement.
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.
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