China accuses US spy agency of cyberattacks | DOGE allegedly responsible for labour watchdog cyber breach | OpenAI prototypes social network
Xi's Southeast Asia tour risks further entrenching digital repression in the region
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Chinese police issued wanted notices for three people they said engaged in cyberattacks against China on behalf of the U.S. National Security Agency. “This move by Beijing should not be viewed as retaliation for tariffs specifically,” but rather as a response to what Chinese leaders see as increasingly aggressive U.S. efforts to undercut Chinese interests, said Bethany Allen, head of China investigations and analysis at ASPI, a think tank. The Wall Street Journal
A whistleblower complaint says that billionaire Elon Musk's team of technologists may have been responsible for a "significant cybersecurity breach," likely of sensitive case files, at America's federal labor watchdog. Reuters
OpenAI is working on its own X-like social network, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter. While the project is still in early stages, we’re told there’s an internal prototype focused on ChatGPT’s image generation that has a social feed. The Verge
ASPI
China accuses U.S. spy agency of Winter Games cyberattacks
The Wall Street Journal
Brian Spegele
Chinese police issued wanted notices for three people they said engaged in cyberattacks against China on behalf of the U.S. National Security Agency, a rare step by Beijing as hostilities between the superpowers escalate. The accusations that the NSA targeted the Asian Winter Games held in the northeastern Chinese city of Harbin in February are part of efforts by Beijing to present China as a victim of U.S. aggression alongside the Trump administration’s hefty tariffs against the country...“This move by Beijing should not be viewed as retaliation for tariffs specifically,” but rather as a response to what Chinese leaders see as increasingly aggressive U.S. efforts to undercut Chinese interests, said Bethany Allen, head of China investigations and analysis at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, a think tank.
Strengthening Australia’s space cooperation with South Korea
The Strategist
Malcolm Davis
The time is ripe for Australia and South Korea to strengthen cooperation in space, through embarking on joint projects and initiatives that offer practical outcomes for both countries. This is the finding of a new ASPI report by an ASPI visiting fellow from South Korea’s Defence Acquisition Projects Agency, Sangsoon Lee, on the opportunities ahead for Australia and South Korea in terms of space cooperation. Lee’s paper makes clear that there are opportunities to boost space cooperation and development to mutually benefit both states in areas such as national security, economic growth and resource management.
Australia
Social media is the new election battleground. Is embracing influencers smart, risky or both?
The Conversation
Susan Grantham
From Abbie Chatfield and Hannah Ferguson to Ozzy Man, influencers have never been more central to an Australian election campaign. Much has been made of the increasingly common site of politicians on TikTok or Instagram reels. Some political groups don’t like it, as don’t some in traditional media. But in the first election in which Millennials and Gen Z voters will outnumber Baby Boomers, it’s an inevitable, politically necessary change – though not without its pitfalls.
eSafety report shows widespread underage use of social media
Education Matters Mag
Rhiannon Bowman
Australian children are easily circumventing inadequate and poorly enforced minimum age rules employed by well-known social media services with most only asking kids to self-declare their age at sign-up, according to a recent report released by Australia’s online safety regulator. The report combines the results of a national survey looking at the social media use of Australian children aged 8-15, and information provided directly to eSafety by social media platforms about how they enforce their own age restrictions.
China
China accuses US of launching 'advanced' cyberattacks, names alleged NSA agents
Reuters
Laurie Chen, Farah Master and Liz Lee
China accused the United States National Security Agency on Tuesday of launching "advanced" cyberattacks during the Asian Winter Games in February, targeting essential industries. Police in the northeastern city of Harbin said three alleged NSA agents to a wanted list and also accused the University of California and Virginia Tech of being involved in the attacks after carrying out investigations, according to a report by state news agency Xinhua on Tuesday. The NSA agents were identified by Xinhua as Katheryn A. Wilson, Robert J. Snelling and Stephen W. Johnson. The three were also found to have "repeatedly carried out cyber attacks on China's critical information infrastructure and participated in cyber attacks on Huawei and other enterprises."
China: Southeast Asia visit raises alarm over digital repression
Article 19
From 14 to 18 April China’s leader Xi Jinping will visit Cambodia, Malaysia, and Vietnam to tighten China’s ties with the countries amid escalating trade war with the United States. Ahead of the mission, last week Xi Jinping chaired a meeting of the Central Work Conference on Diplomacy with Neighbouring Countries, where he reiterated calls for deepening regional partnerships. China is likely to sign a number of agreements as it seeks to deepen ‘all-around cooperation’ with the three Southeast Asian nations. These are likely to include ongoing attention to digital infrastructure, technology, and governance norms-setting under digital cooperation – and risk further entrenching digital repression in the region.
Chinese police ensnaring Tibetans over phone and internet activity, Human Rights Watch says
The Record by Recorded Future
James Reddick
More than 60 people in Tibetan areas of China have been arrested since 2021 for offenses connected to phone and internet use, according to the nonprofit Human Rights Watch. The dozens of arrests — which are likely an undercount since the government does not publish data on such prosecutions or detentions — coincide with a tightening surveillance regime throughout Tibet. Many of the arrests have involved the possession of outlawed content on phones, such as material related to Tibetan religious figures. In 2022, the government banned the sharing online of all religious content not authorized by the government.
USA
Whistleblower org says DOGE may have caused 'significant cyber breach' at US labor watchdog
Reuters
Raphael Satter and A.J. Vicens
A whistleblower complaint says that billionaire Elon Musk's team of technologists may have been responsible for a "significant cybersecurity breach," likely of sensitive case files, at America's federal labor watchdog. The National Labor Relations Board, a New Deal-era agency that is tasked with protecting workers' rights to organize and join unions, has for years been a target of America's corporate titans, including Musk, some of whom are now seeking to have the agency's powers declared unconstitutional.
Pentagon’s ‘SWAT team of nerds’ resigns en masse
POLITICO
Mohar Chatterjee
Under pressure from the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency, nearly all the staff of the Defense Digital Service — the Pentagon’s fast-track tech development arm — are resigning over the coming month, according to the director and three other current members of the office granted anonymity to discuss their job status freely, as well as internal emails. The resignations will effectively shut down the decade-old program after the end of April.
US allies must band together in weapons development
The Strategist
Bill Sweetman
Let’s assume, as prudence demands we assume, that the United States will not at any predictable time go back to being its old, reliable self. This means its allies must be prepared indefinitely to lean on it far less than they have. They will have to lean on each other, and one of the most difficult areas for doing that will be weapons acquisitions, where the US has long been the main supplier of systems that use the most difficult technology. An unwritten clause in the US’s alliances has been that Washington’s big spending included the development and mass procurement of big-ticket defence items that could then be exported, so foreign defence budgets helped employ US workers.
Avoid US or take burner phones, Canada executives tell staff
Bloomberg
Major public institutions in Canada, including a pension management firm and a leading hospital, are advising staff against traveling to the US, marking a greater erosion in the country’s longstanding trust with its neighbor. The Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario, one of Canada’s top pediatric research hospitals, is recommending its staff avoid US trips. “Due to the escalation of issues and volatility in the US, CHEO strongly encourages individuals to refrain from travel to that country at this time,” Chief Executive Officer Vera Etches. Arrivals of non-citizens to the US by plane declined almost 10% in March from a year earlier, according to data from the US International Trade Administration.
CSIS warned Beijing would brand conservatives as Trumpian. Now Carney’s campaign is doing it.
The Bureau
Sam Cooper
Canadian intelligence reported in 2021 that Beijing planned to interfere in Canada’s next federal election with disinformation suggesting the Conservatives “will follow the path of … Donald Trump”—a narrative now echoed in a clandestine dirty tricks operation exposed inside Prime Minister Mark Carney’s campaign. The warning comes from a classified CSIS bulletin dated December 20, 2021 and marked Secret, distributed to Canadian departments including Global Affairs Canada, the Privy Council Office, the Communications Security Establishment, and Five Eyes intelligence partners. The report was based on information from Chinese consular officials in Canada.
North Asia
Taiwan charges Chinese ship captain with breaking subsea cables
The Record by Recorded Future
Alexander Martin
The captain of a Chinese-crewed ship has been charged in Taiwan with breaking a subsea cable near the island, the first such formal charge following almost a dozen similar incidents in recent years. Taiwan’s coast guard seized the Togo-flagged Hong Tai 58, a cargo ship, in February following an incident in which the ship broke a telecommunications link by apparently dropping and dragging its anchor. At the time, Taiwanese officials — who often complain about Beijing’s “hybrid warfare and covert influence” targeting the self-governing island — said they could not rule out that the damage had been caused as part of a Chinese sabotage campaign targeting the island.
Japan orders Google to stop favoring Google Search, Chrome on Android
Nikkei Asia
Kyonosuke Kikuchi
The Japan Fair Trade Commission on Tuesday issued a cease and desist order to Google to halt its monopolistic practice of demanding that manufacturers give preferential treatment to its search services on Android phones. According to the finding, Google has asked at least six Android phone manufacturers to give such preferential treatment to the Google Search app and Chrome browser since July 2020 at the latest, when the makers signed the license agreement for Google's app store, covering around 80% of Android devices sold in Japan.
South & Central Asia
Apple airlifted iPhones worth a record $2 billion from India in March as Trump tariffs loomed
Reuters
Aditya Kalra and Munsif Vengattil
Apple's main India suppliers Foxconn and Tata shipped nearly $2 billion worth of iPhones to the United States in March, an all-time high, as the U.S. company airlifted devices to bypass President Donald Trump's impending tariffs, customs data shows. The smartphone maker stepped up production in India and chartered cargo flights to ferry 600 tons of iPhones to the United States to ensure sufficient inventory in one of its biggest markets on concern Trump's tariffs would push up costs. In April, the U.S. administration imposed 26% duties on imports from India, much lower than the more than 100% China was facing at the time. Trump has since paused most duties, except for China for three months.
Europe
EU gives staff 'burner phones, laptops' for US visits
The Register
Iain Thomson
The European Commission is giving staffers visiting the US on official business burner laptops and phones to avoid espionage attempts, according to the Financial Times. The use of clean and locked-down hardware is common practice for anyone visiting China, Russia, and other states where aggressive electronic surveillance is expected. Apparently the European Union has added the United States to that list. "The transatlantic alliance is over," an EU official told the newspaper, which reported the commission "is issuing burner phones and basic laptops to some US-bound staff to avoid the risk of espionage — a measure traditionally reserved for trips to China."
UK
Revealed: Chinese researchers can access half a million UK GP records
The Guardian
Tom Burgis
Researchers from China are to be allowed access to half a million UK GP records despite western intelligence agencies’ fears about the authoritarian regime amassing health data, the Guardian can reveal. Preparations are under way to transfer the records to UK Biobank, a research hub that holds detailed medical information donated by 500,000 volunteers. One of the world’s largest troves of health data, the facility makes its information available to universities, scientific institutes and private companies. A Guardian analysis shows one in five successful applications for access come from China.
Big Tech
Meta's Zuckerberg eyed Instagram spinoff amid antitrust scrutiny, document shows
Reuters
Jody Godoy and Katie Paul
CEO Mark Zuckerberg considered spinning off popular photo-sharing app Instagram in 2018 over concerns about the growing risk of antitrust scrutiny, according to a document shown at a trial in Washington on Tuesday. The document was shown during Zuckerberg's second day of testimony at the high-stakes trial, in which the U.S. Federal Trade Commission is seeking to unwind Meta's acquisitions of prized assets Instagram and WhatsApp. The case, filed during President Donald Trump's first term, is widely seen as a test of the new Trump administration's promises to take on Big Tech companies.
What if Mark Zuckerberg had not bought Instagram and WhatsApp?
The New York Times
Mike Isaac
On Monday, the government argued in a landmark antitrust trial that both acquisitions — now considered among the greatest in Silicon Valley history — were the actions of a monopolist guarding his turf. Mr. Zuckerberg, who was called as the first witness in the trial, has previously denied that buying Instagram and WhatsApp hurt competition. But the case, which could bring about the breakup of one of tech’s most powerful companies, largely deals in hypotheticals.
Nvidia faces $5.5 billion charge as US restricts chip sales to China
Reuters
Stephen Nellis
Nvidia on Tuesday said it would take $5.5 billion in charges after the U.S. government said it would require licenses for exports to China of its H20 artificial intelligence chip, which has been one of its most popular chips. Nvidia's AI chips have been a key focus of U.S. export controls as U.S. officials have moved to keep the most advanced chips from being sold to China. Almost immediately after those controls were implemented, Nvidia began designing chips that would come as close as possible to U.S. limits while still being legal to sell in China.
Temu pulls its U.S. Google Shopping ads
Search Engine Land
Anu Adegbola
Temu completely shut off Google Shopping ads in the U.S. on April 9, with its App Store ranking subsequently plummeting from a typical third or fourth position to 58th in just three days. The company’s impression share, which measures how often their ads appear compared to eligibility, dropped sharply before disappearing completely from advertiser auction data by April 12. The timing coincided with the Trump administration’s hardened stance on Chinese imports, raising tariffs to 125% while maintaining a more moderate approach to other trading partners.
X’s UK profits collapsed the year after Elon Musk’s takeover
The Guardian
Ben Quinn
X’s revenues and profits collapsed in the UK in the year after Elon Musk took over the social media platform, the company has admitted. A decline in advertising spending amid concerns about “brand safety and/or content moderation” were cited as the reason for the fall, according to accounts filed this week to Companies House. Twitter UK Ltd also narrowly averted being struck off last month for failing to file the accounts on time, according to other recent filings to Companies House. It only filed full accounts on Monday for 2023, the year in which it was rebranded as X after Musk’s takeover.
Artificial Intelligence
Hackers using AI-produced audio to impersonate tax preparers, IRS
The Record by Recorded Future
Jonathan Greig
Artificial Intelligence has supercharged an array of tax-season scams this year, with fraudsters using deepfake audio and other techniques to intercept funds and trick taxpayers into sending them financial documents. Cybercriminals have long used tax season lures during the first four months of the year, but multiple cybersecurity experts have recently pointed to one worrying update to the schemes: AI-enabled voice phishing attacks. Hackers are using AI-generated audio to pretend to be a person’s tax preparer, accountant or the IRS — using previously stolen personal information to lend credence to the scam.
OpenAI is building a social network
The Verge
Kylie Robison and Alex Heath
OpenAI is working on its own X-like social network, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter. While the project is still in early stages, we’re told there’s an internal prototype focused on ChatGPT’s image generation that has a social feed. CEO Sam Altman has been privately asking outsiders for feedback about the project, our sources say. It’s unclear if OpenAI’s plan is to release the social network as a separate app or integrate it into ChatGPT, which became the most downloaded app globally last month.
‘She helps cheer me up’: the people forming relationships with AI chatbots
The Guardian
David Batty
Men who have virtual “wives” and neurodiverse people using chatbots to help them navigate relationships are among a growing range of ways in which artificial intelligence is transforming human connection and intimacy. Dozens of readers shared their experiences of using personified AI chatbot apps, engineered to simulate human-like interactions by adaptive learning and personalised responses, in response to a Guardian callout.
Events & Podcasts
Nuclear security and the nuclear supply chain in the age of artificial intelligence
Vienna Center for Disarmament and Non-Proliferation
The Vienna Center for Disarmament and Non-Proliferation cordially invites you to attend a panel discussion entitled “Nuclear Security and the Nuclear Supply Chain in the Age of Artificial Intelligence,” to be held on Thursday, 17 April 2025 from 15:00 to 16:00 Central European Summer Time. The event will be held in the VCDNP Conference Room and live streamed to Zoom. Light refreshments will be provided at 14:45.
The rise of the digital welfare state
UWA Institute of Advanced Studies
In 2019, Philip Alston, then UN Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty, warned of harms emerging from the rise of the digital welfare state, which he framed as the growing reliance on digital data and technologies to target and monitor social assistance recipients. Mixed narratives about the digital welfare state continue to circulate: organisations like the OECD suggest the digitalisation of aid and social services increases productivity and improves inclusivity, even as analyses draw attention to how such tools can embed biased assumptions about the populations they are meant to help. It highlights how these findings not only trouble popular narratives but also reveal emergent contours of welfare governance. They illuminate new dimensions that can extend existing observations about what scholars commonly call the ‘regulatory state’.
Cosmic shield: A panel on space security
United States Studies Centre
United States Studies Centre invites you for a discussion on space security with a panel of esteemed experts on Monday 12 May 2025 at 6:00 PM - 7:00 PM (AEST). The rise of space-related threats, from increased orbital congestion to the proliferation of anti-satellite weapons now threatens to upend the international balance of power and drive crisis instability and arms racing between the world’s major powers. What are the strategic implications of the militarisation of space? What measures exist to safeguard critical space infrastructure and to manage space traffic? And how are space-based threats reflected in Australian policy and strategic thinking?
Chaotic Trump tariffs send Apple, tech giants scrambling to adjust
Nikkei Asia
In this episode, Akito speaks with Taipei tech correspondent Annie Cheng Ting-Fang about how Apple, HP and the global tech supply chain are tackling the uncertainty of U.S President Donald Trump's tariffs.
Misc
Cybersecurity firm buying hacker forum accounts to spy on cybercriminals
Bleeping Computer
Bill Toulas
Swiss cybersecurity firm Prodaft has launched a new initiative called 'Sell your Source' where the company purchases verified and aged accounts on hacking forums to spy on cybercriminals. The goal is to use these accounts to infiltrate cybercrime spaces and communities, collecting valuable intelligence that could lead to the exposure of malicious operations and platforms. "As a threat intelligence company, we specialize in obtaining visibility into the infrastructures of cybercriminals, searching for patterns, tactics, techniques, and procedures that help us understand adversarial networks and detect and mitigate potential cyberattacks," explains Prodaft.
Jobs
The Receptionist/Executive Assistant to Director Defence Strategy
ASPI
The ASPI Receptionist/Executive Assistant to the Director of Defence Strategy is a dynamic and multifaceted position that serves as a key support role within the organisation. The primary focus of this role is to manage the director's schedule, coordinate meetings and travel, and handle communications with internal and external stakeholders. The receptionist aspect requires providing excellent customer service, greeting visitors, and directing enquiries. This role requires strong organisational skills, attention to detail and the ability to maintain confidentiality.
ASPI Director – Professional Development
ASPI
ASPI’s role is to generate new ideas for government and foster better-informed decisions on strategic policy matters. The role of ASPI’s Professional Development Centre is to enhance strategic policy capability by exploring current and emerging policy challenges and building effective policy making and strategic analytical skills. Our PD programs are designed to address emerging trends, equipping our participants with the knowledge and skills needed to remain ahead of the curve in an ever-changing professional landscape.
The Daily Cyber & Tech Digest is brought to you by the Cyber, Technology & Security Programs team at ASPI and supported by partners.
For more on China's pressure campaign against Taiwan—including military threats, interference and cyberwarfare, check out ASPI’s State of the Strait Weekly Digest.
