Chinese protestors use tricks to evade censors, vent anger | US bans Huawei, ZTE equipment sales amid Chinese spying fears | Interpol seized $130M from cybercriminals in global crackdown operation
Good morning. It's Monday 28th November.
The Daily Cyber Digest focuses on the topics we work on, including cybersecurity, critical technologies, foreign interference & disinformation.
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With pushback against China’s COVID containment policies sweeping the country on the streets and in social media this weekend, the battle between online users and censors has gone into overdrive, forcing people to develop novel strategies to circumvent censorship. Bloomberg
The Biden administration has banned approvals of new telecommunications equipment from China’s Huawei Technologies and ZTE because they pose “an unacceptable risk” to US national security. CNN
Interpol on Thursday announced the seizure of $130 million worth of virtual assets in connection with a global crackdown on cyber-enabled financial crimes and money laundering. The Hacker News
ASPI
Tiktok's risks are compounded by its success
Seriously Risky Business
Tom Uren
Fergus Ryan, a senior analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute and the author of several reports on TikTok, Chinese censorship and propaganda told Seriously Risky Business that TikTok is not just mirroring societal trends but is "creating things". "This is not a crazy idea," he says. "It's been true of every other social media platform so why wouldn't it be true of TikTok, especially as it is eating into the market share of all these other social media platforms?"
The World
Interpol seized $130 million from cybercriminals in global 'HAECHI-III' crackdown operation
The Hacker News
Ravie Lakshmanan
Interpol on Thursday announced the seizure of $130 million worth of virtual assets in connection with a global crackdown on cyber-enabled financial crimes and money laundering. The international police operation, dubbed HAECHI-III, transpired between June 28 and November 23, 2022, resulting in the arrests of 975 individuals and the closure of more than 1,600 cases. This comprised two fugitives wanted by South Korea for their supposed involvement in a Ponzi scheme to embezzle €28 million from 2,000 victims.
Ukraine-Russia
Russia-based Ransomboggs ransomware targeted several Ukrainian organizations
The Hacker News
Ravie Lakshmanan
Ukraine has come under a fresh onslaught of ransomware attacks that mirror previous intrusions attributed to the Russia-based Sandworm nation-state group. Slovak cybersecurity company ESET, which dubbed the new ransomware strain RansomBoggs, said the attacks against several Ukrainian entities were first detected on November 21, 2022.
Australia
Australia to become 'more assertive' on foreign investment in critical minerals
Reuters
Top lithium supplier Australia is set to become more selective about who it lets invest in its growing critical minerals industry, Treasurer Jim Chalmers said on Friday. The strategy will provide friendly nations with an alternative at a time when Russia's invasion of the Ukraine has underlined the strategic risks of having a dominant supplier, Chalmers said.
Cyber black market selling hacked ATO and MyGov logins shows Medibank and Optus only tip of iceberg
ABC
Sean Rubinsztein-Dunlop, Echo Hui, Sarah Curnow and Kevin Nguyen
An ABC investigation has identified large swathes of previously unreported confidential material that is widely available on the internet, ranging from sensitive legal contracts to the login details of individual MyGov accounts, which are being sold for as little as $1 USD. The huge volume of newly identified information confirms the high-profile hacks of Medibank and Optus represent just a fraction of the confidential Australian records recently stolen by cyber criminals.
China
Chinese protestors use tricks to evade censors, vent anger
Bloomberg
With pushback against China’s COVID containment policies sweeping the country on the streets and in social media this weekend, the battle between online users and censors has gone into overdrive, forcing people to develop novel strategies to circumvent censorship. Many are posting a blank white image on social media in defiance of officials who are deleting content so quickly that some internet users complained nothing meaningful could be expressed at all.
Clashes in Shanghai as COVID protests flare across China
Reuters
Casey Hall, Josh Horwitz and Martin Quin Pollard
Hundreds of demonstrators and police clashed in Shanghai on Sunday night as protests over China's stringent COVID restrictions flared for a third day. Widespread public protest is rare in China, where room for dissent has been all but eliminated under Xi, forcing citizens mostly to vent their frustration on social media, where they play cat-and-mouse with censors.
USA
US bans Huawei, ZTE equipment sales amid Chinese spying fears
CNN
The Biden administration has banned approvals of new telecommunications equipment from China’s Huawei Technologies and ZTE because they pose “an unacceptable risk” to US national security. The US Federal Communications Commission said on Friday it had adopted the final rules, which also bar the sale or import of equipment made by China’s surveillance equipment maker Dahua Technology, video surveillance firm Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology and telecoms firm Hytera Communications.
Chinese telecoms groups Huawei and ZTE barred from US sales
Financial Times
James Politi
Washington’s top telecommunications regulator has barred China-based Huawei and ZTE from selling equipment in the US, citing national security concerns in a move that could further fuel tensions with Beijing.
Cyberattack on L.A. schools shows bolder action needed to stop ransomware
VentureBeat
Michael Mestrovich
A ransomware attack on the Los Angeles Unified School District should serve as a wake-up call about the persistent threat to the nation’s critical sectors from cyberattacks and the need for more aggressive, concerted action to protect them. The breach of the nation’s second-largest school system, with more than 650,000 students and 75,000 employees, forced the shutdown of some of the district’s computer systems. The only silver lining is that no immediate demand for money was made and schools opened as scheduled on Sept. 6.
Americas
Foreign affairs minister signals tougher stance on China in new Indo-Pacific Strategy
CTV
Spencer Van Dyk
The federal government has unveiled its long-awaited Indo-Pacific Strategy, which details a decade of plans for investment and partnerships in the region, and signals a tougher stance on China going forward. As part of Canada’s strategy in the Indo-Pacific, the document also states Canada plans to increase its naval presence, have intelligence and security forces in the region, and will take a leadership role in preventing cyber threats, including the spread of disinformation and ransomware.
North Asia
How crypto crime is financing North Korean missiles
Cybernews
Emma Woollacott
Cyber heists have totaled more than $1 billion over the last two years. While earlier this month, North Korea tested a ballistic missile capable of reaching the US mainland, prompting harsh condemnation from the G7 and the United Nations Security Council. And it’s all interconnected.
Southeast Asia
Philippines urged to strengthen cybersecurity infrastructure
The Philippine Star
Janvic Mateo
The Philippines must improve its cybersecurity resilience and infrastructure to address emerging digital threats that are becoming more complex over the years, according to tech giant Microsoft. Microsoft recommended to the Philippine government to implement programs and initiatives to minimize cybersecurity threats. Among specific programs that the tech giant recommended were assessing the feasibility of adopting zero trust principles [and] protecting the country’s critical infrastructure through consistent security baselines.
South & Central Asia
AIIMS server still down four days after ransomware attack
Hindustan Times
Administrative work at the national medical institute continued on manual mode on Saturday with many patients complaining they have been waiting for OPD and test appointments for the past three days. Doctors from the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences, Delhi said on Saturday that government agencies were working to restore data at the “earliest” as the hospital’s server remained affected for the fourth consecutive day in a suspected ransomware attack.
Europe
Sweden launches major state initiative to fight cybercrime aimed at smart cars
Cybershack
Ray Shaw
Initially, about 15 employees at Rise will work on what is described as ‘Europe’s most advanced cyber security work’ regarding the automotive industry. Among the employees, there are also so-called ‘ethical hackers’, i.e., people who have been recruited specifically to test the systems. ‘These are hackers who are really good at getting into systems, but not with the aim of inflicting damage, but to help and contribute to better solutions,’ Sandvik noted.
UK
UK joins others in banning Chinese-made security cameras
The Local
Chinese-made security cameras have been banned by the UK Government. It has joined the US, India, EU, Australia, and many more in banning their use, especially in sensitive areas where AI and facial recognition may be surreptitiously used. In a statement to the UK parliament, Cabinet Office Minister Oliver Dowden said that after a security review, Government Departments had been instructed to immediately stop deploying equipment produced by companies subject to the National Intelligence Law.
Africa
Gangs of cybercriminals are expanding across Africa, investigators say
The Guardian
Police and investigators fear organised gangs of fraudsters are expanding across sub-Saharan Africa, exploiting new opportunities as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic and the global economic crisis to make huge sums with little risk of being caught. The growth will have a direct impact on the rest of the world, where many victims of “hugely lucrative” fraud live, senior police officials have said.
After brief window of access during COP27, WhatsApp calls blocked again on Vodafone Egypt
Mada Masr
WhatsApp calls are once again blocked for Vodafone Egypt network users, according to Mohamed Taher, a tech researcher at Masaar Technology. The restrictions were lifted for the duration of this year’s edition of the United Nations Climate Conference, COP27, during which tens of thousands of visitors from around the world attended two weeks of events hosted in Sharm el-Sheikh. While the VoIP service is still available on some ISPs, Taher told Mada Masr, it is once again blocked on Vodafone Egypt.
Middle East
Iran’s Fars News Agency website hacked as part of anti-govt protests
Hackread
Habiba Rashid
On Friday, 25th November, the hacktivist group by the name of Black Reward attacked the database of the Iranian hardline Fars News Agency, claiming to have deleted nearly 250 terabytes of data from the website from its servers and computers. The hackers also claimed to have obtained the confidential bulletins and directives sent by the news agency to the office of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
Iran blames Israel for Fars News Agency hack
Jewish News Syndicate
Iran has blamed foreign countries, including Israel, for a cyber attack on its semi-official Fars News Agency, which is affiliated with the country’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, AFP reported on Saturday. Fars said in a statement posted to Telegram that its website was disrupted on Friday by a 'complex hacking and cyberattack operation'. 'Cyber attacks are carried out against Fars almost daily by various countries, including the occupied territories [i.e. Israel],' the statement continued.
Gender and Women in Cyber
How women can succeed in cybersecurity
Analytics Insight
Today cyber security becomes increasingly more crucial every day, and women entering the field can be an important component to encountering cybercrime. Considering data breach records in 2021, the knowledge and skills of cyber security professionals, including women, are clearly needed. For women holding an advanced degree such as a Master of Science in Cyber Security, their expertise puts them in a prime position to stop these expensive attacks before they start, across a wide range of fields.
NZ & Pacific Islands
He pointed out a judge’s goof. Now, he faces jail time in Fiji.
The New York Times
Natasha Frost
It was an error that could have happened to anyone, especially two years into a pandemic: In a court document, a judge in Fiji twice wrote ‘injection’ when he meant ‘injunction.’ And so, in a gently mocking Facebook post back in February, Richard Naidu, one of the most senior lawyers in the Pacific nation, pointed out the mistake, concluding with a ‘thinking face’ emoji. He now faces up to six months in prison.
Cryptocurrency: Is more regulation needed after FTX collapse extends 'crypto winter'?
Stuff
Calls for stronger regulations of cryptocurrency are growing in New Zealand and overseas following the crash of the world’s second-largest crypto exchange, currency FTX. The head of New Zealand-based Easy Crypto, Janine Grainger, believes cryptocurrency has higher volatility than other markets for a couple of reasons. “One is that it's a relatively young market, it hasn't got the maturity, the depth of liquidity that the stock markets do,” she told Stuff Explained.
Big Tech
Musk’s ‘free speech’ agenda dismantles safety work at Twitter, insiders say
The Washington Post
Cat Zakrzewski, Faiz Siddiqui and Joseph Menn
Since that Friday in October, Musk’s brief reign at Twitter has been marked by chaos and upheaval as the notoriously mercurial and impatient billionaire seeks to impose his will on a company famous for its deliberative culture. Massive layoffs and Musk’s demand that remaining employees pledge to work “hardcore” hours have left one of the world’s most influential social media sites operating with a skeleton staff and experts predicting an eventual crash. Meanwhile, advertisers are fleeing, raising doubts about Musk’s ability to generate sufficient profits to satisfy investors in the $44 billion deal.
How Washington chased Huawei out of Europe
POLITICO
Laurens Cerulus and Sarah Wheaton
The Chinese telecoms giant is pushing out its pedigreed Western lobbyists, retrenching its European operations and putting its ambitions for global leadership on ice. Pressed by the United States and increasingly shunned on a Continent it once considered its most strategic overseas market, Huawei is pivoting back toward the Chinese market, focusing its remaining European attention on the few countries — Germany and Spain, but also Hungary — still willing to play host to a company widely viewed in the West as a security risk.
Shopify won't cut ties with controversial Libs of TikTok
CBC
Joseph Tunney
The Ottawa-based e-commerce company Shopify Inc. says it won't withdraw its services from the online store of multiple anti-LGBTQ social media accounts despite some public outcry. After starting out with a Twitter account that now has 1.5 million followers, Libs of TikTok-branded accounts have proliferated across social media sites including Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Telegram, Donald Trump's Truth Social and more.
Q&A with Alex Stamos, former chief security officer at Meta's Facebook
Semafor
Reed Albergotti
The problem is that Elon is now running much higher risks, with a team formed of the people who couldn’t afford to quit. One of my big worries is that the team that stopped government influence ops is decimated. It’s pretty much open season on Twitter for Iran, China, Russia, and anybody else who wants to run large networks of fake accounts to manipulate opinion. It comes after Biden implemented sweeping export controls affecting the Chinese semiconductor industry and met with Xi Jinping, China’s president, on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Indonesia earlier this month.
Research
Trust large language models at your own peril
MIT Technology Review
Melissa Heikkilä
Galactica also seems to be an example of something we don’t really need AI to do. It doesn’t seem as though it would even achieve Meta’s stated goal of helping scientists work more quickly... It’s really disappointing (yet totally unsurprising) to see big AI labs, which should know better, hype up such flawed technologies.
Jobs
ICPC Senior Analyst or Analyst - China
ASPI ICPC
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