Zuckerberg Loses $7 Billion as Firms Boycott Facebook Ads | ‘PizzaGate’ Conspiracy Theory Thrives Anew in the TikTok Era | The Trump 2020 app is a voter surveillance tool of extraordinary power
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Mark Zuckerberg just became $7.2 billion poorer after a flurry of companies pulled advertising from Facebook Inc.’s network. Shares of the social media company fell 8.3% on Friday, the most in three months, after Unilever, one of the world’s largest advertisers, joined ther brands in boycotting ads on the social network. Bloomberg.
'PizzaGate’ conspiracy thrives anew in the TikTok era. The false theory targeting Democrats, now fueled by QAnon and teenagers on TikTok, is entangling new targets like Justin Bieber. NYT.
Both presidential campaigns use apps to capture data, but Trump's asks to scoop up your identity, your location, and control of your phone's Bluetooth function. MIT Technology Review.
ASPI ICPC
Forget Trump And Google—Huawei Now Has A Critical New Problem In China
Forbes
Back in November, ASPI urged countries around the world to take Huawei’s “Xinjiang activities into consideration during debates about 5G technologies.” And while the Xinjiang allegations have taken second stage to the broader U.S. claims, it now seems that Xinjiang is about to become critical. Now, as reported by both the Daily Mail and Daily Telegraph, politicians in the U.K. are planning to use these claims to force the government into reversing its decision to allow Huawei a role in the deployment of its 5G network.
[Podcast] The rise of disinformation during coronavirus – Australian politics live
The Guardian
Katharine Murphy speaks with Jake Wallis and Tom Uren, analysts from the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, about their recent investigation into online disinformation, and China’s increasing employment of it since the outbreak of Covid-19. What are the differences between disinformation peddled by China and the US governments, and what role has it played in Australian politics?
Satellite images show buildup at site of deadly India-China border clash
CNN
Ruser said his analysis of satellite photos showed that since May the number of Chinese troops and vehicles within a kilometer of the border had gone from three to 46 while on the Indian side that number had decreased from 84 to 17.
[Podcast] Popular Front: China's Attack on the Uighurs of Xinjiang
Popular Front
We speak to researcher Nathan Ruser about how the Chinese government is violently oppressing the Uighur people of Xinjiang province.
World
Zuckerberg Loses $7 Billion as Firms Boycott Facebook Ads
Bloomberg
Mark Zuckerberg just became $7.2 billion poorer after a flurry of companies pulled advertising from Facebook Inc.’s network. Shares of the social media company fell 8.3% on Friday, the most in three months, after Unilever, one of the world’s largest advertisers, joined ther brands in boycotting ads on the social network. Unilever said it would stop spending money with Facebook's properties this year.
Australia
The cyber honey trap that caught out Beijing
AFR
The group, whose members have been indicted by the US Department of Justice for stealing commercial secrets, penetrated the NSW Department of Premier and Cabinet. But the NSW government was not their ultimate target. Rather, the goal was to take control of email accounts ending in .gov.au, which would not be blocked by spam filters at the Department of Defence in Canberra, he says. This then allowed APT10 – short for Advanced Persistent Threat – to mount a spear phishing campaign against Defence in an attempt to infiltrate its network.
This is happening every day and it's like manure': Inside the hacking attacks bombarding Australia
ABC
Australia is experiencing a significant rise in cyber attacks that prompted the PM to address the nation. So who are these people? Who is directing them? What are they after? And most important of all — how can they be stopped?
Dishonest': COVIDSafe app has not detected a case despite 6 million downloads
SMH
@bengrubb
The federal government's COVIDSafe app has not identified any close contacts of a person infected with coronavirus who had not already been found through manual contact tracing, despite being downloaded by more than 6 million Australians in two months.
Cyber security strategy needed ‘yesterday’
Innovation Aus
Australia’s new cybersecurity strategy was needed “yesterday”, with the government’s recent cyber warning stoke fear and uncertainty around the country, a number of industry experts have said.
Warrior women leave Bunnings, coffee shop jobs to fight cyber war
AFR
Meet two warrior women headed for the frontline of Australia’s war on the state-based actors and cyber criminals attacking our companies, infrastructure and government secrets.
USA
The Trump 2020 app is a voter surveillance tool of extraordinary power
MIT Technology Review
Both presidential campaigns use apps to capture data, but Trump's asks to scoop up your identity, your location, and control of your phone's Bluetooth function.
Twitter’s Least-Bad Option for Dealing With Donald Trump
The Atlantic
So what should social-media platforms such as Twitter or Facebook do if their respective CEOs think the president is engaging in behavior that would, and should, result in deletion or suspension for a regular account with ten followers?
Facebook to label newsworthy posts, including by Donald Trump, that break rules
ABC
Facebook will begin labelling newsworthy content that violates its policies in the lead-up to November's US elections.The social media company also said it would label all posts and advertisements about voting with links to accurate information. This applies to entries from politicians, including US President Donald Trump.
TikTok apologizes after being accused of censoring #BlackLivesMatter posts
CNBC
TikTok has said sorry after users complained that posts with the hashtags #BlackLivesMatter and #GeorgeFloyd were shown to have zero views. Users questioned why the short-video app, which is owned by China’s ByteDance, was supressing the hashtags as protests sweep across the U.S. following the death of George Floyd, who was killed in police custody in Minneapolis just over one week ago.
‘PizzaGate’ Conspiracy Theory Thrives Anew in the TikTok Era
NYT
The false theory targeting Democrats, now fueled by QAnon and teenagers on TikTok, is entangling new targets like Justin Bieber.
Firm That Tracked Protesters Targeted Evangelicals During 2016 Election
Vice
The CEO of data broker Mobilewalla, which worked with Republican SuperPACs, says it tracked Evangelicals’ cell phone locations for six months.
Asia
Phishing attacks last year tripled from 2018
Straits Times
The number of phishing attempts to trick users to give up personal information almost tripled last year from the year before, and doubled during the months when people had to stay home to stem the spread of Covid-19. Revealing this in its latest report, the Cyber Security Agency of Singapore (CSA) said there were 47,500 cases of phishing here last year, compared with 16,100 cases in 2018.
UK
Peers could deliver knockout blow to Huawei involvement in UK's 5G network
The Telegraph
Boris Johnson's plans to allow Huawei into the UK's 5G network could be dealt a crippling blow on Monday under a plan to ban firms from investing in broadband if they have poor human rights records. Tory rebels in the House of Lords are backing a cross-party amendment to the Telecommunications Infrastructure (Leasehold Property) Bill, which regulates the installation of broadband in leasehold flats.
The rise and fall of Hancock’s homegrown tracing app
FT
Health secretary promised in mid-May a nationwide rollout was imminent but a month later the technology was shelved.
Europe
Chinese bank forced western companies to install malware-laced tax software
ZD Net
A Chinese bank has forced at least two western companies to install malware-laced tax software on their systems, cyber-security firm Trustwave said in a report published today. The two companies are a UK-based technology/software vendor and a major financial institution, both of which had recently opened offices in China.
U.S. Presses Europe to Uproot Chinese Security-Screening Company
WSJ
@Kate_Okeefe
Amid a global anti-Huawei effort that has seen mixed results, the U.S. sets another Chinese tech company in its crosshairs: Nuctech, a state-controlled firm that is quietly dominating Europe’s cargo and airport screening market.
Germany won't agree on 5G rules before summer break
Reuters
Telecommunications companies will have to wait until at least September for Germany’s government to agree rules on installing components in the future 5G mobile communications network, a government official said on Thursday.
Poland, US sign joint declaration on 5G
First News
Poland and the United States signed a joint declaration on 5G technology in Washington on Wednesday, US President Donald Trump announced. Addressing a joint press conference with Polish President Andrzej Duda, President Trump said that Poland is a leader when it comes to using trusted suppliers and trusted equipment and appropriate supply chains.
Americas
Saskatchewan shuns Huawei for SaskTel’s 5G network
Global News
SaskTel is the latest Canadian telecommunications company to announce it will not use infrastructure from Huawei Technologies Inc. in its 5G network. Don Morgan, the minister responsible for SaskTel, said one reason for the decision is to follow its partners at Bell and Telus.
Events
Understanding Information Operations with Twitter Data Launch Event
As the first event in a series of workshops on research exploring information operations, the Partnership for Countering Influence Operations and Twitter invite you to back-to-back panels featuring expert speakers. This session will feature two keynote panels outlining the central problems and issues with information operations. This event launches a wider series of workshops centered on a call for proposals from the research community.
Jobs
Program Manager/Senior Analyst
ASPI’s International Cyber Policy Centre (ICPC) has an outstanding opportunity for a talented, proactive and super efficient program manager/senior analyst to join its growing centre. The successful candidate will need to have a proven track record of leading teams and experience in project management including financial and stakeholder management (which will include industry, the Australian Government, Parliament and foreign governments). To succeed in this position candidates should have exceptional communication and problem-solving skills and experience in research, policy analysis or policy development.
Analyst
ASPI’s International Cyber Policy Centre has an outstanding opportunity for a talented and proactive allrounder to join its growing centre. The ICPC is looking for someone who is an excellent writer and researcher and who is a team player - you will need to juggle multiple research projects that could span the range of topics listed above. This is not an entry level position. Analysts in ICPC have between 5-15 years’ relevant work experience and, depending on experience, are involved in stakeholder and project management, fundraising and the management of small teams.
Citizen Lab Fellowship: Surveillance, Digital Security, and Race
As an academic institution focused on the advancement of human rights within the technological sphere, we are committed to addressing systemic racism and inequality while also making our own space more representative of the communities we serve. To better achieve these goals, we are pleased to announce a fellowship program on issues related to surveillance, digital security, and race.