France fines Apple over data tracking consent | FBI raids home of prominent computer scientist | AI and satellites help Myanmar aid response to earthquake
The AI image generator behind fake receipts and the rise of digital fraud
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France’s antitrust regulator fined Apple €150 million after a lengthy probe into how the technology company asks to collect iOS users’ data and the impact on advertisers. Apple’s ATT system is not allowing app publishers to comply with Europe’s GDPR privacy rules, the authority said, forcing these apps to display multiple pop-ups and making their use excessively complex. Bloomberg
A prominent computer scientist who has spent 20 years publishing academic papers on cryptography, privacy, and cybersecurity has gone incommunicado, had his professor profile, email account, and phone number removed by his employer, Indiana University, and had his homes raided by the FBI. No one knows why. ArsTechnica
Just after sunrise on Saturday, a satellite set its long-range camera on the city of Mandalay in Myanmar, not far from the epicenter of Friday’s 7.7 magnitude earthquake that devastated the Southeast Asian country’s second-largest city. The mission was to capture images that, combined with artificial intelligence technology, could help relief organizations quickly assess how many buildings had collapsed or were heavily damaged and where helpers most needed to go. AP News
ASPI
Red tape that tears us apart: regulation fragments Indo-Pacific cyber resilience
ASPI
Ravi Nayyar
The fragmentation of cyber regulation in the Indo-Pacific is not just inconvenient; it is a strategic vulnerability. In recent years, governments across the Indo-Pacific, including Australia, have moved to reform their regulatory frameworks for cyber resilience. Though well-intentioned, inadequate coordination with regional partners and stakeholder consultations have created a situation of regulatory fragmentation—the existence of multiple regulatory frameworks covering the same subject matter—within and among Indo-Pacific jurisdictions.
Australia
Quantum outfit QuintessenceLabs lands $15m NRF boost
InnovationAus
James Riley
The National Reconstruction Fund Corporation has ploughed $15 million of fresh capital into Canberra-based quantum outfit QuintessenceLabs as the dominant lead investor in a $20 million round. The investment is the NRF’s second into an Australian quantum company, following its $13 million investment in diamond processor startup Quantum Brilliance in December.
China
China's Zhipu AI launches free AI agent, intensifying domestic tech race
Reuters
Chinese artificial intelligence startup Zhipu AI unveiled a free AI agent on Monday, joining a wave of similar launches in China's increasingly competitive AI market. The product, called AutoGLM Rumination, can perform deep research as well as tasks including web searches, travel planning, and research report writing, CEO Zhang Peng said at a lunch event in Beijing.
A trillion times brighter than the sun: Beijing builds most powerful X-ray light source
South China Morning Post
Ling Xin
About 50km north of Beijing’s city centre, construction is wrapping up on what is expected to be the world’s brightest X-ray light source, slated to switch on later this year to power research in fields ranging from materials science to biomedicine and physics. The High Energy Photon Source will generate beams that are a trillion times brighter in terms of photon density than the surface of the sun, thanks to their extreme focus and precision.
Apple chip engineer returns to China, joins Fudan University amid push for talent
South China Morning Post
Ben Jiang
A former Apple chip engineer from China has left the US tech giant to join China’s prestigious Fudan University in Shanghai, underscoring the country’s efforts to attract top semiconductor talent as it seeks to bolster domestic chipmaking capabilities. Kong Long, who spent more than seven years at Apple’s California headquarters working on wireless semiconductors, has joined Fudan’s School of Microelectronics as a researcher and doctoral adviser. His work will focus on radio frequency integrated circuit system design, digital-analogue hybrid computing chips, and high-speed data interface ICs.
Flying taxis prepare for lift-off in China as first companies gain key licence
South China Morning Post
Kandy Wong
China has taken a major step towards creating a commercial flying taxi industry, after regulators granted the country’s first-ever approvals for two companies to operate autonomous passenger drones. The two companies – Nasdaq-listed EHang Holdings and Hefei Hey Airlines – obtained air operator certificates from the Civil Aviation Administration of China on Saturday, according to state-run news agency Xinhua. The move means that both companies are cleared to use unmanned aerial vehicles to offer commercial passenger services, including urban sightseeing tours.
USA
FBI raids home of prominent computer scientist who has gone incommunicado
ArsTechnica
Dan Goodin
A prominent computer scientist who has spent 20 years publishing academic papers on cryptography, privacy, and cybersecurity has gone incommunicado, had his professor profile, email account, and phone number removed by his employer, Indiana University, and had his homes raided by the FBI. No one knows why.
China Initiative 2.0? Raids on scientist Wang Xiaofeng revive spectre from first Trump era
South China Morning Post
Holly Chik and Dannie Peng
Security raids on the homes of a noted Chinese-American cybersecurity researcher have reignited fears of racial profiling in Trump-led America, under what some are calling a de facto “China Initiative 2.0”. According to local media, officers from the US Federal Bureau of Investigation and Department of Homeland Security on Friday searched two homes owned by Wang Xiaofeng, a professor at Indiana University Bloomington.
Mike Waltz is losing support inside the White House
The Wall Street Journal
Alexander Ward, Josh Dawsey and Meridith McGraw
President Trump has decided for now not to fire his national security adviser over the revelation that he included a journalist on a group text chat to discuss and execute a military strike, but the damage to Mike Waltz’s reputation has put him on shaky ground in the White House. Despite repeated messages of support by Trump, Waltz has lost sway with the president and the backing of senior aides within the White House, just as the administration struggles to broker peace deals and faces the threat of further war in the Middle East.
A Peter Thiel protégé is leading Trump’s AI strategy against China
The Wall Street Journal
Amrith Ramkumar
Many Trump administration officials work on national security or artificial intelligence. Michael Kratsios is thinking about how they collide. Confirmed by the Senate on Tuesday to lead the Office of Science and Technology Policy, he is taking charge at a pivotal moment in the AI race with China. The Chinese startup DeepSeek rattled lawmakers in January when it released a powerful model trained at much lower costs than US competitors. One of Kratsios’s first tasks is sifting through thousands of suggestions companies submitted recently for the administration’s AI plan.
Democratic senators call for Privacy Act reform in response to DOGE takeover
WIRED
Dell Cameron
On Monday, Democratic senators Ron Wyden, Ed Markey, Jeff Merkley, and Chris Van Hollen introduced the Privacy Act Modernization Act of 2025—a direct response, the lawmakers say, to the seizure by DOGE of computer systems containing vast tranches of sensitive personal information—moves that have notably coincided with the firings of hundreds of government officials charged with overseeing that data’s protection.
Extension for TikTok sale winding down, but deadline may not matter: analysts
South China Morning Post
Khushboo Razdan
The final chapter of the TikTok divest-or-ban saga is set to unfold before Saturday, when the extension US President Donald Trump gave the Chinese-owned platform to secure an American buyer expires. But with Trump apparently holding the popular short-video app as a bargaining chip for a trade negotiation with Beijing, analysts say the deadline may not matter.
North Asia
North Korea ramps up cyber offensive: New research center to focus on AI-powered hacking
Daily NK
Jeong Tae Joo
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has ordered the establishment of “Research Center 227” under the military’s Reconnaissance General Bureau to research and develop international cyber hacking technologies. Through the center, North Korean authorities appear to be planning to neutralize Western countries’ cybersecurity systems while strengthening hacking capabilities aimed at stealing information and assets and disrupting computer networks.
Southeast Asia
AI and satellites help aid workers respond to Myanmar earthquake damage
AP News
Matt O'Brien
Just after sunrise on Saturday, a satellite set its long-range camera on the city of Mandalay in Myanmar, not far from the epicenter of Friday’s 7.7 magnitude earthquake that devastated the Southeast Asian country’s second-largest city. The mission was to capture images that, combined with artificial intelligence technology, could help relief organizations quickly assess how many buildings had collapsed or were heavily damaged and where helpers most needed to go.
One app, many services: How Laos is integrating public services to increase efficiency
GovInsider
Sol Gonzalez
Governments have been approaching the digital age in different ways, by creating websites, applications, and digital services for various functions. But operating on different platforms has its own set of problems. With government agencies using different digital platforms, citizens were left with the responsibility of understanding the different paths to access the services they needed, thus wasting time to navigate complicated journeys and bureaucratic procedures.
Ukraine - Russia
Moscow subway app and website disrupted in possible retaliation for Ukraine railway hack
The Record by Recorded Future
Daryna Antoniuk
The Moscow subway system’s website and mobile application experienced disruptions on Monday, possibly due to a cyberattack, according to local reports. During the outage, the subway’s website displayed a message purportedly from Ukraine’s national railway operator, Ukrzaliznytsia, which was recently hit by a large-scale cyberattack. The message resembled what Ukrainian users saw immediately after the attack on Ukrzaliznytsia.
Europe
France fines Apple €150 million over iOS data tracking consent
Bloomberg
Benoit Berthelot
France’s antitrust regulator fined Apple €150 million after a lengthy probe into how the technology company asks to collect iOS users’ data and the impact on advertisers. Apple’s ATT system is not allowing app publishers to comply with Europe’s GDPR privacy rules, the authority said, forcing these apps to display multiple pop-ups and making their use excessively complex.
UK
Authors call for UK government to hold Meta accountable for copyright infringement
The Guardian
Ella Creamer
A group of prominent authors including Richard Osman, Kazuo Ishiguro, Kate Mosse and Val McDermid have signed an open letter calling on the UK government to hold Meta accountable over its use of copyrighted books to train artificial intelligence. The letter asked Lisa Nandy, the secretary of state for culture, media and sport, to summon Meta senior executives to parliament.
Banks and tech groups commit to live data-sharing in UK fraud clampdown
Financial Times
Georgina Quach
Britain’s biggest banks, technology and telecoms companies have pledged to step up efforts to share live fraud data, as calls grow for the government to take stronger leadership in coordinating the fight against online scammers. The coalition said it was moving from a testing phase to real-time exchange of fraud indicator data — such as suspicious URLs or unusual transaction activity — to detect scammers faster than existing systems.
British intel intern pleads guilty to smuggling top secret data out of protected facility
The Record by Recorded Future
Alexander Martin
A former intern at the British cyber and signals intelligence agency GCHQ has pleaded guilty to risking national security by smuggling top secret information out of a protected computer. Hassan Arshad, 25, was accused of transferring sensitive material off an agency computer and onto a smartphone which he had brought into GCHQ on August 24, 2022.
Africa
Kenya unveils AI Strategy 2025-2030 to lead Africa’s digital future
TechAfrica News
Aayushya Ranjan
The Ministry of Information, Communications and Digital Economy is set to launch the Kenya Artificial Intelligence Strategy 2025-2030 on Thursday 27th March, 2025 at the Kenyatta International Convention Center. The strategy has been developed by the National AI working group and Steering Committee through extensive consultations with government Agencies, private sector stakeholders, academia, civil society, international partners and local communities.
Big Tech
Microsoft shutters AI lab in Shanghai, signalling a broader pullback from China
South China Morning Post
Wency Chen
Microsoft has closed its IoT & AI Insider Lab in Shanghai’s Zhangjiang hi-tech zone, marking the latest sign of the US tech giant’s retreat from China amid rising geopolitical tensions. The Shanghai lab, meant to help with domestic development of the Internet of Things and artificial intelligence technologies, closed earlier this year, according to people who work in the Zhangjiang AI Island area.
Tech war: Huawei’s consumer business reports 38% surge in revenue on robust smartphone sales
South China Morning Post
Ann Cao
Huawei Technologies’ consumer business saw annual revenue surge 38 per cent in 2024, signalling the tech giant’s recovery in a segment that has been reinvigorated despite the ongoing US-China tech war. Revenue for the consumer unit, which includes its smartphone business, surged 38 per cent year on year to 339 billion yuan, contributing to a 22 per cent increase in total revenue, according to data released by the US-sanctioned company on Monday.
Oracle under fire for its handling of separate security incidents
TechCrunch
Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai
Tech giant Oracle is facing criticism for how it’s handling two seemingly separate data breaches. At least one of the incidents appears to still be unfolding, despite Oracle reportedly denying a breach at all. The other relates to a breach of patient data under the tech giant’s healthcare subsidiary, Oracle Health.
API testing firm APIsec exposed customer data during security lapse
TechCrunch
Zack Whittaker
API testing firm APIsec has confirmed it secured an exposed internal database containing customer data, which was connected to the internet for several days without a password. The exposed APIsec database stored records dating back to 2018, including names and email addresses of its customers’ employees and users, as well as details about the security posture of APIsec’s corporate customers.
GlobalFoundries weighs merger with No. 2 Taiwan chipmaker UMC: sources
Nikkei Asia
Cheng Ting-Fang
U.S. contract chipmaker GlobalFoundries and United Microelectronics Corp., Taiwan's No. 2 chipmaker, are exploring the possibility of a merger amid American efforts to mitigate risks surrounding the Taiwan Strait and fend off growing competition from China in mature chips. The aim of the merger would be to create a company with the economic scale to ensure America has access to mature chips as tensions simmer between China and Taiwan and as China produces more chips on its own.
Signal sees its downloads double after scandal
TechCrunch
Sarah Perez
Encrypted messaging app Signal continues to see spiking downloads in the wake of the messaging scandal that saw The Atlantic’s editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg added to a group chat where high-ranking officials in the Trump administration were discussing an attack on Houthi rebels in Yemen. The resulting press coverage around the leak of these sensitive plans has been driving more people to check out Signal’s app for the first time, leading to a doubling of its downloads.
Artificial Intelligence
OpenAI plans to release a new ‘open’ AI language model in the coming months
TechCrunch
Kyle Wiggers
OpenAI says that it intends to release its first “open” language model since GPT‑2 “in the coming months.” That’s according to a feedback form the company published on its website Monday. The form, which OpenAI is inviting “developers, researchers, and [members of] the broader community” to fill out, includes questions like, “What would you like to see in an open-weight model from OpenAI?” and “What open models have you used in the past?”
ChatGPT’s new image generator is really good at faking receipts
TechCrunch
Charles Rollet
This month, ChatGPT unveiled a new image generator as part of its 4o model that is a lot better at generating text inside images. People are already using it to generate fake restaurant receipts, potentially adding another tool to the already-extensive toolkit of AI deepfakes used by fraudsters.
Deep tech diplomacy: A US-Israel model for the age of AI
The Hill
Amos Yadlin, Ylli Bajraktari, and Avner Golov
What will the Middle East look like in 2040? One vision, shared by America’s allies, sees the cradle of civilization becoming the sandbox for tomorrow’s critical technologies. In this narrative, a US-led economic corridor stretching from Delhi to the Mediterranean would enhance regional integration, and usher in a new era of shared prosperity.
Events & Podcasts
AI safety & sustainability: A multidisciplinary expert panel discussion
Australian National University
Join us on Thursday 10th April from 12:30pm - 2:30pm AEST for an expert panel discussion to delve into what different parts of the ANU are up to when it comes to AI Safety & Sustainability! Our panellists are ANU experts and scholars from medical research, computing, maths and cybernetics. We will discuss practices in data science, sustainable development and smart cities, biology and more.
The Daily Cyber & Tech Digest is brought to you by the Cyber, Technology & Security Programs team at ASPI and supported by partners.