China accuses four Taiwanese hackers of espionage & cyberattacks on critical infrastructure | Starlink installed across White House | Singaporean Military partners with Oracle for cloud & AI services
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China’s state security ministry has accused four individuals allegedly linked to Taiwan’s military of carrying out cyberattacks and espionage against the mainland. Beijing claims that ICEFCOM has been conducting cyber operations since 2023, targeting key infrastructure in China, including power grids, water supplies and telecommunications networks. The Record by Recorded Future
Starlink, the satellite internet service operated by Elon Musk’s SpaceX, is now accessible across the White House campus. It is the latest installation of the Wi-Fi network across the government since Mr. Musk joined the Trump administration as an unpaid adviser. The New York Times
Oracle said on Wednesday it would provide Singapore's defense technology arm with "isolated" cloud computing and AI services, in the company's first such deal in Southeast Asia. Southeast Asian governments are frequent targets of cyber espionage campaigns and are facing escalating supply chain attacks, according to security researchers. Reuters
Australia
Research project harnesses artificial intelligence to strengthen cyber defence
Defence Connect
Robert Dougherty
An advanced research initiative has been launched into hybrid moving target defence for container-based cloud environments. The partnership between DEWC Services, the University of Adelaide and Defence Trailblazer will leverage reinforcement learning to develop an artificial intelligence-driven cyber defence framework that adapts dynamically to evolving threats. Moving target defence is expected to disrupt adversarial attacks by continuously modifying the attack surface, making it significantly harder for attackers to penetrate systems.
Sovereign digital infrastructure. Will Australia seize the moment?
InnovationAus
Rupert Taylor-Price
In an increasingly digital world, sovereign digital infrastructure is not just a matter of technological capability, it is a matter of national security, economic strength, and strategic independence. At its core, it ensures that a country retains control over its critical technology stack when it matters most. Sovereign digital infrastructure spans multiple layers, starting with energy and water – the lifeblood of digital operations – before extending to data centers, cloud platforms, software, telecommunications and end-user devices.
Is it too late for Australia to shake China's grip on vanadium batteries?
The Guardian
Shaun Turton and Wataru Suzuki
China's rapid rollout of solar and wind power generation is driving investment in energy storage systems, and the vanadium redox flow battery is emerging as a key technology. But as China pushes ahead with VRFB projects and its leading builder eyes global expansion, Australia's ambitions to be a "renewable energy superpower" -- and the West's broader ambition of cutting its dependence on Chinese supply chains -- are being called into question.
Concerns about AI and social media grow among journalists ahead of Federal Election, survey finds
Associated Press
A new survey of more than 500 journalists revealed growing concerns about the rapidly changing media landscape, particularly regarding the rise of generative AI and the fragmentation of news sources due to social media. The findings raise concerns about the state of journalism just months away from the Federal Election. The Medianet 2025 Media Landscape Report uncovered a slow adoption of generative artificial intelligence, with 63% of journalists claiming not to have used AI tools yet. Even though adoption has increased slightly, widespread anxiety about the impact of AI on journalistic integrity and job security remains high, with 88% of respondents expressing concerns about generative AI and 16% reporting job losses linked to AI.
FPV drones: transitioning from sport to battle
The Strategist
Michael Spencer and Keirin Joyce
It’s one thing for military personnel to hone skills with first-person view drones in racing competitions. It’s quite another for them to transition to the complexities of the battlefield. Drone racing has become a valued way for members of armed services, and not just Australia’s, to advance from a beginners’ level in using the little aircraft, which are revolutionising warfare. But the battlefield is far more complex than the racing environment. Military drone pilots must be ready to fly under pressure, dealing with battlefield stresses and threats. Australia should take note of evolution of the British armed force’s organisation for training drone operators: it’s now moving to bridge the gap.
Introducing ‘Soy Boy’: tackling online disinformation and promoting respect at uni
RMIT
A digital comic series co-designed by RMIT students, educators and violence prevention experts will challenge online disinformation and harmful narratives that particularly target young men. The Adventures of Soy Boy and Friends follows fictional characters Soy Boy, T-Bone, Avo and Pot Noodle as they navigate the challenges of university life, one algorithm and creditable source at a time. The first edition, launched during 2025 Respect at Uni Week, explores real students’ lived experience of the pressures that some young men feel when fake news becomes truth amongst their peers and in their classrooms.
China
China identifies Taiwanese hackers allegedly behind cyberattacks and espionage
The Record by Recorded Future
Daryna Antoniuk
China’s state security ministry has accused four individuals allegedly linked to Taiwan’s military of carrying out cyberattacks and espionage against the mainland. In a statement on Monday, the MSS identified the suspects as members of Taiwan’s Information, Communications, and Electronic Force Command within the defense ministry. It released their names, headshots, birthdates and job titles. Beijing claims that ICEFCOM has been conducting cyber operations since 2023, targeting key infrastructure in China, including power grids, water supplies and telecommunications networks.
China's top telecom software maker plans DeepSeek-powered expansion
Nikkei Asia
Cheng Ting-Fang and Lauly Li
China's largest provider of telecom software infrastructure says working with artificial intelligence startup DeepSeek has helped the company improve its own AI capabilities, which it will use to expand in Southeast Asia, Africa and the Middle East. Ouyang Ye, CTO of AsiaInfo Technologies, told Nikkei Asia in an exclusive interview that his company started collaborating with DeepSeek long before the startup rocketed to global fame early this year with a low-cost approach to AI model development.
China's CATL, BYD targeted under U.S. battery decoupling bill
Nikkei Asia
Pak Yiu
Chinese battery makers are targeted for new restrictions in the U.S. under legislation that would bar the Homeland Security Department from procuring clean energy technology made by six companies. The House of representations passed the “Decoupling from Foreign Adversarial Battery Dependence Act” last week. The bill advances to the Senate, where it likely will receive bipartisan support.
China debuts economic data on service robots as humanoid industry grows
South China Morning Post
Coco Feng
China’s state statistics agency has introduced a new data series on “service robots” in its monthly industrial output report, in addition to the existing “industrial robots” category, offering a clearer view of the country’s growing robotics industry. While China is already the world’s leading industrial robot market, accounting for over half of global installations, the country’s service robot sector – including professional, consumer, and medical robots – is also rapidly expanding, fuelled by the rise of start-ups such as Hangzhou-based Unitree Robotics and Shenzhen-based UBTech Robotics.
Poisoned Windows shortcuts found to be a favorite of Chinese, Russian, N. Korean state hackers
The Record by Recorded Future
Jonathan Greig
Nearly a dozen nation-state groups from North Korea, China and Russia are exploiting a vulnerability affecting a commonly used feature of Microsoft Windows. Researchers at the Zero Day Initiative said they have identified multiple campaigns exploiting the bug — which affects Windows shortcuts, or .lnk files — going back to 2017. The vulnerability arises in the way Windows displays the contents of shortcuts, according to ZDI. Those files, also known as shell links, allow Windows users to quickly click through to a file, folder or application in another part of the system.
USA
Elon Musk’s Starlink expands across White House complex
The New York Times
Maggie HabermanKate Conger, Eileen Sullivan and Ryan Mac
Starlink, the satellite internet service operated by Elon Musk’s SpaceX, is now accessible across the White House campus. It is the latest installation of the Wi-Fi network across the government since Mr. Musk joined the Trump administration as an unpaid adviser. It was not immediately clear when the White House complex was fitted with Starlink after President Trump took office for a second term.
US Commerce department bureaus ban China's DeepSeek on government devices, sources say
Reuters
Karen Freifeld
U.S. Commerce department bureaus informed staffers in recent weeks that Chinese artificial intelligence model DeepSeek is banned on their government devices, according to a message seen by Reuters and two people familiar with the matter. ""To help keep Department of Commerce information systems safe, access to the new Chinese based AI DeepSeek is broadly prohibited on all GFE,"" said one mass email to staffers about their government-furnished equipment.
Knightscope submits AI recommendations to White House
Associated Press
Knightscope, Inc, a leader in developing autonomous security robots and artificial intelligence technologies, today announced it has formally submitted public comment to the White House’s “Development of an Artificial Intelligence Action Plan” emphasizing the urgent need for AI-driven security solutions to safeguard federal facilities and critical infrastructure, while also fostering safer environments for government employees, visitors, and communities. This policy initiative, led by the Office of Science and Technology Policy under the new administration, seeks to strengthen America’s AI capabilities while removing barriers to private sector innovation.
North Asia
Japan's active cyberdefense bills include normal-time monitoring
The Japan Times
The government has submitted a set of bills to the ongoing ordinary session of parliament to introduce active cyberdefense aimed at detecting signs of cyberattacks and taking preemptive actions.The legislation is designed for the government to acquire and analyze communication information in normal times, break into perpetrators' servers and neutralize threats. In view of "the secrecy of any means of communication" guaranteed in the Constitution's Article 21, the bills call for establishing an independent organization to supervise cyberdefense operations and file relevant reports to parliament.
Japan's NTT to open more India data centers in $1.5bn buildup
Nikkei Asia
Shiho Miyajima
Nippon Telegraph and Telephone will invest $1.5 billion in India over three years through fiscal 2027, doubling its data center capacity as the country's digital economy grows. NTT is the leading data center provider in India in terms of power capacity. It has 21 data centers four cities, mainly in Mumbai. The tally will increase to 30 data centers in the coming years, with a move into the city of Kolkata this year.
Southeast Asia
Oracle to provide cloud computing, AI services to Singapore military
Reuters
Oracle said on Wednesday it would provide Singapore's defense technology arm with "isolated" cloud computing and AI services, in the company's first such deal in Southeast Asia. Southeast Asian governments are frequent targets of cyber espionage campaigns and are facing escalating supply chain attacks, according to security researchers. Under the deal, the U.S firm will provide Singapore's armed forces and defense ministry with an "air-gapped" isolated cloud computing infrastructure - meaning that it will be cut off from the internet and connected instead to classified networks via encrypted devices.
War of words: Myanmar migrants face disinformation in Thailand
The Japan Times
More than a million people have fled Myanmar's brutal civil war to seek shelter and work in neighboring Thailand, where experts say nationalists are using disinformation to fuel prejudice against them. Social media platforms have been flooded by false claims that migrant workers from Myanmar were demanding a 700-baht ($21) minimum daily wage — almost twice that paid to Thais. One social media posts attracted millions of views, and a former Thai intelligence heavyweight was among those who shared the images.
Ukraine - Russia
Russia’s shadow war against the West
CSIS
Seth G. Jones
Russia is conducting an escalating and violent campaign of sabotage and subversion against European and U.S. targets in Europe led by Russian military intelligence, according to a new CSIS database of Russian activity. The number of Russian attacks nearly tripled between 2023 and 2024. Russia’s primary targets have included transportation, government, critical infrastructure, and industry, and its main weapons and tactics have included explosives, blunt or edged instruments (such as anchors), and electronic attack. Despite the increase in Russian attacks, Western countries have not developed an effective strategy to counter these attacks.
Russia using criminal networks to drive increase in sabotage acts, says Europol
The Guardian
Lisa O'Carroll
Russia and other state actors are driving an increase in politically motivated cyber-attacks and sabotage of infrastructure and public institutions in the EU, the bloc’s police enforcement agency has found. Europol’s 80-page serious and organised crime threat assessment for 2025 also describes in detail how “hybrid threat” actors have established a “shadow alliance” with organised criminal gangs in Europe to try to destabilise the functioning of the EU and its member states. It identifies “a broad range of criminal activities and tactics” being deployed by “criminal proxies” including sabotage, arson, cyber-attacks, data theft, and migrant smuggling.
Europe
France preparing ‘survival manual’ for every household, report says
The Guardian
Kim Willsher
The French government is reportedly planning to send a “survival manual” to every household in the country with instructions on how to prepare for an “imminent threat” including armed conflict, a health crisis or a natural disaster. If approved by François Bayrou, the prime minister, the 20-page booklet will be sent to households before the summer, French media reported. It quoted a spokesperson from the PM’s office saying: “The purpose of this document is to ensure the resilience of populations in the face of all types of crisis, whether natural, technological, cyber or security-related.”
Russian and Chinese 'influence networks' target Ireland in 7,500 social media posts
Irish Examiner
Cormac O'Keeffe
Known Russian and Chinese “influence networks” sent more than 7,500 posts about Ireland on social media in the last year, according to a European intelligence report. While Ireland receives less interest from Russian networks than most of the 38 European countries covered, it receives proportionally more interest from Chinese networks. Irish academics said there was “an urgent need” to co-ordinate Irish agencies to combat disinformation.
Denmark warns of increased cyber espionage against telecom sector
Dark Reading
Alexander Culafi
Denmark last week warned of nation-state espionage against Europe’s telecommunication sector, signaling that the high-profile breaches against US telecom organizations last year were not isolated incidents. The Danish Civil Protection Authority on March 13 published an assessment of cyber threats targeting the Danish telecommunication sector. This report, which is the first of its kind since 2022, raised the threat level for cyber espionage to "High" due to a wave of relevant attacks targeting the sector in Europe as a whole.
Big Tech
Doxxing' scandal casts shadow over Baidu's AI model release
Nikkei Asia
Cissy Zhou
Chinese tech titan Baidu is facing a wave of online criticism and calls for boycotts of its cloud services after the teenage daughter of one of its executives "doxxed" social media users amid a spat over a K-pop singer. It came to light on Monday that the daughter of Vice President Xie Guangjun, who works in Baidu's cloud unit, had repeatedly shared users' personal information such as their real name, ID numbers and phone numbers, as well as her own father's salary.
Telegram founder returns to Dubai as French inquiry continues
The Guardian
Dan Milmo and Kim Willsher
Pavel Durov, the Russian-born founder and chief executive of Telegram, has returned to Dubai after authorities allowed him to leave France, where he is under investigation over criminal activity on the messaging app. The billionaire, 40, was arrested at Le Bourget airport outside Paris last August. He was subsequently placed under formal investigation and banned from leaving the country, where he holds citizenship.
Google parent Alphabet agrees to buy cyber security group Wiz for $32bn
Financial Times
Ivan Levingston, George Hammond and James Fontanella-Khan and Oliver Barnes
Google parent Alphabet has agreed to buy cyber security start-up Wiz for $32bn, the biggest acquisition in the search group’s history. Alphabet held talks over a $23bn acquisition of Wiz last year, although the negotiations collapsed after some of the cyber security company’s directors and investors became worried about antitrust hurdles. Alphabet announced the all-cash acquisition, which will rank as the biggest deal of the year so far, on Tuesday morning. It will probably still face scrutiny from the Federal Trade Commission under President Donald Trump, whose new chair Andrew Ferguson has maintained guidelines giving the agency the ability to block large deals used by his predecessor Lina Khan.
Artificial Intelligence
AI is turbocharging organized crime, E.U. police agency warns
Associated Press
The European Union’s law enforcement agency cautioned Tuesday that artificial intelligence is turbocharging organized crime that is eroding the foundations of societies across the 27-nation bloc as it becomes intertwined with state-sponsored destabilization campaigns. The grim warning came at the launch of the latest edition of a report on organized crime published every four years by Europol that is compiled using data from police across the E.U. and will help shape law enforcement policy in the bloc in coming years.
Samsung leads gains by Nvidia’s asian suppliers ahead of key AI event
The Wall Street Journal
Sherry Qin
Shares of Nvidia’s Asian suppliers rose ahead of the U.S. chip giant’s key annual artificial-intelligence conference as the expected unveiling of next-generation AI chips boosted investors’ sentiment. Nvidia’s weeklong AI event in San Jose, Calif., known as the GTC developers conference, will feature a keynote speech on Tuesday from Chief Executive Jensen Huang. He is also slated to appear on a panel Thursday about the future of quantum computing with a range of industry executives.
Events & Podcasts
Podcast: To Catch a Thief, Episode 1 - China’s rise to cyber supremacy
Rubrik
Joe Hladik
"There are two kinds of big companies in the United States: those who have been hacked by the Chinese and those who do not yet know they've been hacked by the Chinese." - James Comey, Former Director, United States Federal Bureau of Investigation In 2014, James Comey told CBS news show 60 Minutes that pretty much every major company in the United States had been a victim of state-sponsored cyber espionage. But even at that point, China's coordinated hacking efforts were already more than four years old. Since then, it is estimated that billions of dollars of American intellectual property—trade secrets, military schematics, even the paint recipe for the White House exterior—has been reportedly stolen by the Chinese government. How did this happen?
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