Australia fights back against Zuckerberg with social media penalty fees | U.S. and Japan forge stronger space alliance to counter China | The era of supply chain spy wars is here
Good morning. It's Thursday 12th of December.
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Australia plans to impose substantial levies on social media companies like Facebook if they fail to compensate Australian news organizations for using their content online. This initiative ensures fair negotiations between tech giants and media companies, with significant financial penalties for non-compliance. The Sydney Morning Herald
The US and Japan are teaming up to counter China's growing space dominance. They're focusing on tracking Chinese satellites with advanced, unpredictable orbits. This partnership aims to maintain peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region. Space News
Supply chain sabotage has long served espionage and disruption, evolving from medieval tactics to Cold War exploits like RUBICON. Today, China’s whole-of-society strategy intensifies challenges, demanding U.S. public-private collaboration for resilient, secure, future-proof networks. Foreign Policy
The World
The era of supply chain spy wars is here
Foreign Policy
Calder Walton and Kevin Quinlan
The sabotage earlier this year of Hezbollah’s communications devices, apparently by Israel, was undoubtedly spectacular, but, as a matter of espionage, it was anything but new. Intelligence agencies have long targeted and exploited supply chains both for intelligence and sabotage purposes.
Australia
Australia fights back against Zuckerberg with social media penalty fees
The Sydney Morning Herald
David Crowe and Paul Sakkal
Labor will force big tech companies to pay for Australian journalism under a new scheme that seeks to punish platforms such as Facebook for refusing to sign content deals, raising the prospect of a financial penalty if they do not contribute to local news.
Defence funding boost for quantum technology innovation
The University of Western Australia
Quantum researchers at The University of Western Australia have received a $2 million funding boost from the Australian Government through its Advanced Strategic Capabilities Accelerator’s Emerging and Disruptive Technologies program. The EDT program is pushing the boundaries of scientific knowledge to advance the development of existing and new capabilities to future-proof the innovation ecosystem.
Dutton hires Morrison’s ‘disinformation’ team
The Saturday Paper
Jason Koutsoukis
The Liberal Party has re-engaged controversial New Zealand-based creative agency Topham Guerin, known for its aggressive use of disinformation tactics and deepfake technology, as it moves to bolster its chances of winning the next federal election.
Digital divide report shows thousands of Australians in remote communities still don't have internet access
ABC News
Erin Parke
A national audit has revealed hundreds of bush communities are still living without mobile phone and internet coverage, despite the rapid digitisation of daily tasks. The latest snapshot from the Mapping the Digital Gap project, which monitors connectivity in Australia's 1,505 remote Aboriginal communities, has revealed half still do not have mobile phone coverage.
CyberCX returns as Cyber Security Partner of Australian Open 2025
Tennis Australia
The Australian Open today announced CyberCX - Australia’s leading cyber security provider - has extended its partnership with Tennis Australia and will continue as the Official Cyber Security Partner of the Australian Open in 2025. This is the third year CyberCX will provide cyber security services to support the delivery of the Grand Slam.
AI used to target election fraud and criminal deepfakes
Canberra Times
Jennifer Dudley-Nicholson
Artificial intelligence tools are being deployed to identify deepfake images of child exploitation and ward off attempts to mislead voters at upcoming Australian elections. But the technology is also being primed for use in everyday life in Australia, helping shoppers navigate the aisles of Bunnings Warehouse and choose appropriate pet products.
China
It’s not just TikTok. You probably use lots of Chinese technology.
The Washington Post
Shira Ovide
For 70 years, most of our essential and widely used technology originated from American companies. That’s not true anymore. Americans use a lot of technology from China, and that’s not going to stop. Lenovo, which makes top-selling laptops and Motorola smartphones, is headquartered in Beijing. The popular League of Legends video games, Mavic backyard drones and TP-Link home WiFi routers are all owned by Chinese companies.
Chinese hackers use Visual Studio Code tunnels for remote access
Bleeping Computer
Bill Toulas
Chinese hackers targeting large IT service providers in Southern Europe were seen abusing Visual Studio Code tunnels to maintain persistent remote access to compromised systems. VSCode tunnels are part of Microsoft's Remote Development feature, which enables developers to securely access and work on remote systems via Visual Studio Code. Developers can also execute command and access the file system of remote devices, making it a powerful development tool.
China targets Nvidia with antitrust probe, escalates US chip tensions
Reuters
Liam Mo and Brenda Goh
China said on Monday it has launched an investigation into Nvidia over suspected violations of the country's anti-monopoly law, a probe widely seen as a retaliatory shot against Washington's latest curbs on the Chinese chip sector.
Lithium supply surplus set to stay with battery makers' help
Reuters
Eric Onstad
Many lithium mines, led by Chinese operators, are maintaining production of the raw material needed for electric vehicle batteries, in defiance of prices weak enough to trigger mass output cuts - providing a boon for battery makers. The continued production raises the prospect of years of oversupply and of weak prices.
USA
Location data firm offers to help cops track targets via doctor visits
404 Media
Joseph Cox
A location data company is asking police for the address of specific people’s doctors in case that can be useful in finding their mobile phone in a massive set of peoples’ location data, according to a document provided to U.S. law enforcement and obtained by 404 Media.
Chinese citizen charged with flying drone over key US military, NASA rocket launch base, taking photos
Fox News
Louis Casiano
A Chinese citizen living in Los Angeles allegedly flew a drone and took aerial images of Vandenberg Space Force Base last month, federal prosecutors said Monday. Yinpiao Zhou, 39, was arrested this week at the San Francisco International Airport prior to boarding a China-bound flight, the Justice Department said. He is charged with failure to register an aircraft not providing transportation and violation of national defense airspace.
FBI warns iPhone, Android users—change WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Signal apps
Forbes
Zak Doffman
Republished on December 11 with proposed new legislation to enforce cybersecurity rules on U.S. networks, this follows proposals to mandate interoperability between the end-to-end encrypted platforms. Last week, the FBI warned iPhone and Android users to stop texting and to use an encrypted messaging platform instead.
North Asia
U.S. and Japan forge stronger space alliance to counter China
Space News
Sandra Erwin
The U.S. Space Force is strengthening its partnership with Japan in a bid to counter China’s growing dominance in the space domain. The collaboration includes advancing shared capabilities in space object surveillance in order to track increasingly sophisticated Chinese satellites capable of dynamically altering their orbits.
Taiwan warns internet celebrities on collusion after video uproar
RFA
Alan Lu
Taiwan said some online influencers have become propaganda tools of Beijing and warned that they will be punished if they break the law after revelations of pay-offs for pro-China messages sparked an uproar on the island.
Southeast Asia
Thailand green-lights Foxconn subsidiary's $306m chip plant investment
Nikkei Asia
Apornrath Phoonphongphiphat
Thailand has approved a $306 million investment by a subsidiary of Taiwanese Apple supplier Foxconn to produce machinery parts and equipment for the chip sector, the Board of Investment said on Wednesday. The investment is being made through Unique Integrated Technology, a subsidiary of Foxsemicon Integrated Technology, and will be used to build two factories, one in Chonburi province and one in Rayong province.
Ukraine-Russia
How Russia-backed influencers meddled in Romania’s vote
Financial Times
Valentina Pop, Polina Ivanova and Marton Dunai
The Russian-backed influence campaign that prompted Romania to scrap its presidential election result echoes operations carried out in Moldova and other countries this year, according to Romanian intelligence reports and Moldovan officials.
EU envoys to discuss first sanctions targeting Russian hybrid threats
Reuters
Julia Payne
EU envoys will discuss on Wednesday the first potential sanctions targeting Russian hybrid threats such as undermining elections, cyber attacks and economic sabotage, EU diplomats said. A list of 16 individuals and 3 entities could be added to a new sanctions framework agreed in October in response to a rise in such attacks across the 27-member bloc since Russia's invasion of Ukraine nearly three years ago.
Europe
EU cybersecurity rules for smart devices enter into force
TechCrunch
Natasha Lomas
The Cyber Resilience Act puts obligations on product makers to provide security support to consumers, such as by updating their software to fix security vulnerabilities. Although the deadline for compliance with the main obligations of the law is still three years out — December 11, 2027 — to allow device makers time to comply.
UK
Paul McCartney warns AI ‘could take over’ as UK debates copyright laws
The Guardian
Robert Booth
Paul McCartney has backed calls for laws to stop mass copyright theft by companies building generative artificial intelligence, warning AI “could just take over”. The former Beatle said it would be “a very sad thing indeed” if young composers and writers could not protect their intellectual property from the rise of algorithmic models, which so far have learned by digesting mountains of copyrighted material.
Middle East
How agentic AI will boost the digital economy across the Middle East
Gulf Business
Yousef Khalili
Agentic AI systems are being explored for urban management as part of smart city projects such as Neom, while banks and healthcare institutions are examining its use for risk assessment and adaptive treatment plans
Big Tech
From TikTok to Nvidia, the tech war Is getting uglier
Bloomberg
Catherine Thorbecke
ByteDance Ltd.’s options for TikTok in the US are looking increasingly desolate, as the tech war between Washington and Beijing boils over. The mutual distrust and tit-for-tat animosity lays bare the new reality, where more firms will be pinched from both sides.
SpaceX’s valuation soars to $350bn in employee share deal
Financial Times
Tabby Kinder, George Hammond and Stephen Morris and Ivan Levingston in London
Elon Musk’s SpaceX has been valued at $350bn in a new deal to purchase employees’ shares, making the rocket and satellite maker the world’s most valuable private start-up. SpaceX and its investors will purchase $1.25bn of the company’s existing common shares at $185 a share, said four people with knowledge of the transaction. That marks a 65 per cent leap in its share price since its most recent deal in September, when employees sold shares for $112 apiece.
Artificial Intelligence
Congress pushes Apple to remove deepfake apps after 404 media investigation
404 Media
Emanuel Maiberg
A bipartisan group of members of Congress has sent letters to Google’s and Apple’s CEOs citing 404 Media’s reporting and asking what the giant tech companies are doing to address the rampant problem of nonconsensual AI-generated intimate media enabled on their platforms.
The brave new world of A.I.-powered self-harm alerts
The New York Times
Ellen Barry
Dawn was still hours away when Angel Cholka was awakened by the beams of a police flashlight through the window. At the door was an officer, who asked if someone named Madi lived there. He said he needed to check on her. Ms. Cholka ran to her 16-year-old’s bedroom, confused and, suddenly, terrified.
Podcast
ICYMI: Unpacking China And Russia's New Cyber Warfare Strategies
NPR
Valentina Pop, Polina Ivanova and Marton Dunai
Over the past year, the Chinese government has stepped up its cyber operations, focusing not just on espionage or stealing intellectual property, but on hacking to bolster geopolitical goals.
Jobs
ASPI Director – Defence Strategy Program
ASPI
ASPI is recruiting for one of its key leadership positions - the Director of its Defence Strategy Program. This is an exceptional opportunity for a talented senior leader to contribute to the work of one of the Indo-Pacific’s top think-tanks with a focus on military strategy and capability, emerging security issues and our region. The incoming Director of Defence Strategy is expected to have strong knowledge in at least some of the issues covered by the team, in addition to superior management (including project and stakeholder management) skills, a proven ability to build senior and global relationships and the capacity to fundraise to support the team’s work.
Researcher/Analyst/Senior Analyst - Defence Strategy
ASPI
There are a number of potential roles available in ASPI’s Defence Strategy Program, across multiple levels including researcher, analyst and senior analyst. This is an exceptional opportunity for talented individuals to contribute to the work of Australia's leading think tank on defence and strategic policy issues. ASPI are looking for individuals who have expertise on one or more of the following topics: defence policy and military strategy in the Australian context; defence capability – Australia and the region; regional security issues; Australian and regional defence capability development, force structure, acquisition and industry; defence economics and budgeting; and defence technology.
The Daily Cyber & Tech Digest is brought to you by the Cyber, Technology & Security team at ASPI.
