As Taiwan voted, Beijing spammed AI avatars, faked paternity tests and ‘leaked’ documents | ASEAN tycoons to Japan: Speed up or lose out | Foxconn to partner with India's HCL on chip testing plant
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ASPI has identified multiple attempts by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to manipulate Taiwanese voters by spreading disinformation and propaganda across social media. The Strategist
The top executives from leading ASEAN conglomerates Saha Group and FPT have sounded a warning for Japanese companies in Southeast Asia. Nikkei Asia
Taiwan's Foxconn will partner with tech firm HCL Group for a semiconductor assembly and testing facility in India, the companies said on Thursday. Nikkei Asia
ASPI
As Taiwan voted, Beijing spammed AI avatars, faked paternity tests and ‘leaked’ documents
The Strategist
Albert Zhang
ASPI has identified multiple attempts by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to manipulate Taiwanese voters by spreading disinformation and propaganda across social media. These influence operations primarily sought to undermine Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential and legislative candidates. We assess they likely had a minimal impact on the integrity of the election results due to the resilience of Taiwan’s civil society.
Australia
Action to help ensure AI is safe and responsible
Australian Cyber Security Magazine
The Australian Government says it is taking action to help ensure that AI is safe and responsible, releasing its interim response to the Safe and Responsible AI in Australia consultation. The Government says its response is targeted towards the use of AI in high-risk settings, where harms could be difficult to reverse, while ensuring that the vast majority of low risk AI use continues to flourish largely unimpeded. The Government adds that it is now considering mandatory guardrails for AI development and deployment in high-risk settings, whether through changes to existing laws or the creation of new AI specific laws.
Victorian courts reveal cyber-attack targeted files dating back as far as 2016
The Guardian
The cyber-attack that hit Victoria’s court system last year was worse than officials first thought, with hackers accessing years’ worth of recorded hearings from as far back as 2016.Court Services Victoria was first made aware of the infiltration on 21 December and initially believed hackers accessed hearings from the supreme, county, magistrates and coroner’s courts dating from 1 November 2023.
China
China could face more chip restrictions in 2024, analysts say
CNBC
Sheila Chiang
China could face more semiconductor export curbs from the likes of the U.S. and the Netherlands to contain the Asian powerhouse’s chip tech, analysts told CNBC. Earlier this year, the Netherlands blocked Dutch semiconductor equipment maker ASML from exporting some of its deep ultraviolet lithography systems to China. ASML sells lithography machines that are key to manufacturing advanced chips. It came after the U.S. tightened export controls on advanced semiconductors and chipmaking tools to China in October last year, building on previous rules.
USA
Senators consider giving cyber investigators extraordinary new authority to fight hackers
The Washington Times
Ryan Lovelace
The next stage of the Biden administration’s collaboration with cyber firms could involve giving certain tech executives special investigatory powers, depending on congressional action. The Biden administration wants Congress to make a federal board of cyber investigators permanent, but many questions linger about what authority to give the investigators — some of whom work full-time in the private sector. President Biden created the Cyber Safety Review Board to investigate devastating hacks via a 2021 executive order.
One of Biden’s favorite chip projects is facing new delays
The Wall Street Journal
Yang Jie
Taiwanese chip maker TSMC; said it expected to delay production at the second of two semiconductor plants it is building in Arizona, and cast uncertainty on an earlier statement that the plant would produce an advanced type of chip.The statement by TSMC Chairman Mark Liu at a news conference Thursday offered further evidence that the $40 billion Arizona project is running into challenges in meeting aggressive timeline targets.
Regulators crack down on company selling detailed location data
The Washington Post
Cristiano Lima-Strong
Federal regulators are expanding their crackdown against companies that improperly profit off people’s most sensitive personal information, announcing a first of its kind settlement on Thursday that will prohibit a broker from selling users’ precise location data. The Federal Trade Commission unveiled the order as part of an agreement to settle allegations that data aggregation company InMarket Media failed to get users’ consent before using their location data for marketing and advertising purposes.
Federal agencies release cyber guidance for water sector after watchdog criticism
The Record by Recorded Future
Jonathan Greig
A trio of federal agencies published a guide of cybersecurity best practices for the water and sanitation sector following criticism from a U.S. government watchdog about the government’s work with the industry. On Wednesday, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) partnered with the FBI and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) to release a manual providing the water industry with more information on cyber incident response as well as the roles, resources and responsibilities for each federal agency involved in cybersecurity.
Southeast Asia
ASEAN tycoons to Japan: Speed up or lose out
Nikkei Asia
Kenya Akama, Yuji Nitta
The top executives from leading ASEAN conglomerates Saha Group and FPT have sounded a warning for Japanese companies in Southeast Asia: Leave your slow decision-making and outdated technology behind or lose Southeast Asian opportunities to your Chinese and South Korean rivals.
South & Central Asia
Foxconn to partner with India's HCL on chip testing plant
Nikkei Asia
Taiwan's Foxconn will partner with tech firm HCL Group for a semiconductor assembly and testing facility in India, the companies said on Thursday. The firms will set up an outsourced assembly and testing (OSAT) unit in the South Asian nation. Foxconn said in a regulatory filing that its India unit will own a 40% stake in the joint venture with a $37.2 million investment. HCL did not disclose financial details from its side.
Ukraine - Russia
Cyberattack on Ukraine’s largest telecom provider will cost it about $100 million
The Record by Recorded Future
Daryna Antoniuk
The recent cyberattack on Ukraine’s largest telecom provider will cost its parent company, Netherlands-based Veon, almost $100 million, according to a statement issued on Thursday. The company anticipates that “there will be an impact on its consolidated revenue results for 2024 associated with the revenue loss arising from the customer loyalty measures” taken by its subsidiary, Kyivstar, in order to compensate for inconveniences caused by the attack in December.
Europe
EU eyes new fund to boost spending on dual-use technologies
Bloomberg
Jillian Deutsch, Alberto Nardelli
The European Union should consider creating a dedicated fund to boost the development of technologies that can serve both military and civil purposes, as part of its effort to ensure the bloc’s economic security. A draft document, seen by Bloomberg, is one element of an economic security package to be unveiled next week. It’s part of a broader plan that focuses on critical technologies such as chips, AI, quantum computing and biotech — and the know-how and investments relating to them. The aims include ensuring they don’t end up in the wrong hands.
Belgium wants better interoperability in cyber defence, defence minister says
Euractiv
Aurélie Pugnet
“The interoperability of European armies is today more than ever conditioned by their interoperability in cyberspace,” Dedonder said at an event with the bloc’s cyber ambassadors and commanders in Brussels. According to the interoperability principle, defence equipment – ammunition, tanks, radios and others – between national armed forces that work together should easily work and be used together, to be more efficient on the battlefield. The constant introduction of new technologies, software, and methods in the cyber landscape makes it more and more difficult to create interoperability between all users, as the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) think tank underlines in a study.
Swiss websites hit by DDoS attacks during World Economic Forum in Davos
The Record by Recorded Future
Daryna Antoniuk
Swiss websites were hit by a wave of distributed denial-of-service attacks this week, likely orchestrated by pro-Russian hackers. According to the Swiss National Cybersecurity Centre, the attacks temporarily disrupted access to several websites run by the Federal Administration — the government's executive branch. A Russian politically-motivated hacker group known as NoName claimed responsibility for the attacks on its Telegram channel.
Google: Russian state hackers deploying malware in espionage attacks around Europe
The Record by Recorded Future
Jonathan Greig
Russian state hackers are increasingly attempting to deploy backdoors on the devices of targets in NATO countries and Ukraine, according to new research from Google’s Threat Analysis Group.The researchers found that the tactics of hackers from Center 18, a unit within Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), have evolved in recent months to more sophisticated efforts involving .pdf files. The researchers dub the hackers COLDRIVER and said that since November 2022 they have lured victims into downloading backdoors onto their devices through the documents.
EU sends information request to 17 tech firms including Amazon, Apple, Meta
Reuters
The European Commission said on Thursday it had send requests for information under the EU's Digital Services Act o 17 tech companies that it regards as very large online platforms and search engines. The EU asked the companies to provide more information by February 9 on measures they have taken to give researchers access to data that could be relevant to the upcoming EU and national elections as well as countering illegal content and goods sold online. The DSA came into force in November last year and requires very large online platforms and search engines to do more to tackle illegal content and risks to public security.
Big Tech
Google CEO tells employees to expect more job cuts this year
The Verge
Alex Heath
Google has laid off over a thousand employees across various departments since January 10th. CEO Sundar Pichai’s message is to brace for more cuts. Pichai said the layoffs this year were about “removing layers to simplify execution and drive velocity in some areas.” He confirmed what many inside Google have been fearing: that more “role eliminations” are to come.
TikTok owner ByteDance looks to expand in US, Canada and Australia amid rising competition and political headwinds
South China Morning Post
Coco Feng
ByteDance, which owns global short video hit TikTok, is looking to expand in Silicon Valley in the United States, and also in Canada and Australia as the sector continues to boom and amid rising competition. In addition to hiring new staff, ByteDance is also transferring existing employees from other regions to some of the new locations. For example, it has relocated 120 people working across product, operations, and research and development from China to Canada and Australia, according to the Jiemian report.
Artificial Intelligence
OpenAI announces first partnership with a university
CNBC
Hayden Field
OpenAI on Thursday announced its first partnership with a higher education institution. Starting in February, Arizona State University will have full access to ChatGPT Enterprise and plans to use it for coursework, tutoring, research and more. With the OpenAI partnership, ASU plans to build a personalized AI tutor for students, not only for certain courses, but also for study topics. STEM subjects are a focus and are “the make-or-break subjects for a lot of higher education,” Gonick said.
TikTok owner ByteDance quietly launched 4 generative AI apps powered by OpenAI’s GPT
Forbes
Emily Baker-White
TikTok’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance, has quietly launched four new generative AI apps for users outside of China, Forbes has learned. Dubbed Cici AI, Coze, ChitChop, and BagelBell, the apps were all launched in the past three months and collectively have millions of downloads. But ByteDance did not build the underlying large language models that power them. Instead, the apps rely on OpenAI’s GPT technology, accessed through a Microsoft Azure license, according to ByteDance spokesperson Jodi Seth.
Mark Zuckerberg’s new goal is creating artificial general intelligence
The Verge
Alex Heath
Fueling the generative AI craze is a belief that the tech industry is on a path to achieving superhuman, god-like intelligence. OpenAI’s stated mission is to create this artificial general intelligence, or AGI. Demis Hassabis, the leader of Google’s AI efforts, has the same goal.Now, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is entering the race. The goal is for Meta’s AI breakthroughs to more directly reach its billions of users.
The Davos elite embraced AI in 2023. Now they fear it.
The Washington Post
Cat Zakrzewski
ChatGPT was the breakout star of last year’s World Economic Forum, as the nascent chatbot’s ability to code, draft emails and write speeches captured the imaginations of the leaders gathered in this posh ski town. But this year, tremendous excitement over the nearly limitless economic potential of the technology is coupled with a more clear-eyed assessment of its risks. Heads of state, billionaires and CEOs appear aligned in their anxieties, as they warn that the burgeoning technology might supercharge misinformation, displace jobs and deepen the economic gap between wealthy and poor nations.
AI buzzes Davos, but CEOs wrestle with how to make it pay
Reuters
Jeffrey Dastin
Bright banners tout the promise of artificial intelligence along the main promenade of Davos, but executives at the World Economic Forum (WEF) say they are grappling with how to turn early demos into money-makers.The arrival of OpenAI's viral ChatGPT triggered a frenzy of venture investment and an abrupt change of course inside the world's biggest technology companies since late 2022.
Misc
Oceans are the Earth’s last frontier. Can new technology make people care about it?
TIME
Yasmeen Serhan
Humankind’s curiosity about what lies up above in space has long outpaced its interest in what lurks beneath the surface of the Earth’s oceans. The “Live From the Deep Sea” panel, moderated by TIME Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs, discussed the potential that existing technologies have to not only unveil the ocean’s unknowns but also address many of the man-made challenges that are adversely affecting Earth’s waters and the communities that rely on them today.
Apple ends Samsung's 12-year run as world's top smartphone seller, as tech giants push more AI into our phones
ABC News
Apple's iPhone has become the world's biggest selling smartphone for the first time, ending rival Samsung's 12-year run as market leader, new data shows. According to the International Data Corporation (IDC), the iPhone stole Samsung's crown in 2023 with 234.6 million units sold, compared to the South Korean firm's 226.6 million units.
Research
71% of Australian small businesses view cyber attacks as major risk
SecurityBrief Australia
Catherine Knowles
Global online protection giant, McAfee Corp, has revealed the results of its Global Small Business Study. Conducted in association with Dell Technologies, the study investigated the cybersecurity views and practices of small business owners and IT decision-makers across six international locations, including Australia. The research highlights that cybersecurity is a substantial concern for 71% of Australian small businesses, who consider it among their most significant risks.
Events & Podcasts
Transnational Repression: problems and solutions when foreign states interfere
Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy
As tensions escalate between Canada and two Asian powerhouses, and elsewhere around the globe, what are the problems and solutions? Join a panel of experts on transnational repression to probe into this urgent issue.
Jobs
Cyber, Technology & Security Program Coordinator
ASPI CTS
The Coordinator will coordinate CTS’s business processes, projects, stakeholder engagement and events schedule. The Coordinator will work closely with Director CTS, senior ASPI staff, other ASPI Programs and Corporate, Strategic Communications and Finance areas. The ideal candidate has 1-3 years’ experience in executive assistance, business coordination or events management roles.
The Daily Cyber & Tech Digest is brought to you by the Cyber, Technology & Security team at ASPI.