Inside Tim Cook’s secret $275 billion deal with Chinese authorities | Swiss tech company boss accused of selling mobile network access for spying | Microsoft seizes websites from Chinese hacking group
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Interviews and internal Apple documents provide a behind-the-scenes look at how the company made concessions to Beijing and won key legal exemptions. CEO Tim Cook personally lobbied officials over threats that would have hobbled its devices and services. His interventions paved the way for Apple’s unparalleled success in the country. The Information
The co-founder of a company trusted by Google and Twitter to text security codes to millions of users also ran a service that helped governments secretly surveil and track mobile phones, according to former employees and clients. The Bureau of Investigative Journalism
Microsoft announced Monday that it has seized a number of websites that were being used by a China-based hacking firm to carry out cyberattacks in 29 countries, including the U.S. Axios
ASPI ICPC
Sydney Dialogue pointed to need for global tech governance
Asia Times
The month of November saw the world’s first-ever conference dedicated to emerging and critical technologies. The Sydney Dialogue, a brainchild of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI), was held virtually from November 17-19. The presence of and the delivery of keynote addresses from key political leaders emphasized the criticality of the dialogue. In the current digital and information age, emerging technologies have become an intrinsic part of everybody’s lives as well as tools of statecraft.
Cyber watch: Telstra busts scams with AI
Aus Biz
The Australian Strategic Policy Institute analyst Karly Winkler gives her take on Telstra's (TLS) move to blocking scam texts with AI.
World
Microsoft seizes websites from Chinese hacking group
Axios
@ivanas26
Microsoft announced Monday that it has seized a number of websites that were being used by a China-based hacking firm to carry out cyberattacks in 29 countries, including the U.S.
Your Face Is, or Will Be, Your Boarding Pass
The New York Times
@elaineglusac
Tech-driven changes are coming fast and furiously to airports, including advancements in biometrics that verify identity and shorten security procedures for those passengers who opt into the programs.
China
Inside Tim Cook’s Secret $275 Billion Deal with Chinese Authorities
The Information
@waynema
Interviews and internal Apple documents provide a behind-the-scenes look at how the company made concessions to Beijing and won key legal exemptions. CEO Tim Cook personally lobbied officials over threats that would have hobbled its devices and services. His interventions paved the way for Apple’s unparalleled success in the country.
Beijing’s Strategic Blueprint Is Changing as Tensions Grow
Foreign Policy
@RyanFedasiuk @emily_sw1
China is trying to free itself from dependence on imported technology.
China Increasingly Obscures True State of Its Economy to Outsiders
The Wall Street Journal
@lizalinwsj @ByChunHan
A new data-security law has made it harder for foreign companies and investors to get information, including about supplies and financial statements. Several providers of ship locations in Chinese waters stopped sharing information outside the country, making it hard to understand port activity there. Chinese authorities have restricted information on coal use, purged documents related to political dissent cases from an official judicial database, and shut down academic exchanges with other countries.
North-East Asia
U.S., Taiwan discuss semiconductor chips, agree to cooperate under new framework
Reuters
U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo discussed chip supply chains during a call with her opposite number in Taiwan and the two will cooperate on technology trade and investment through a newly established mechanism, her office said.
South-East Asia
Rohingya refugees sue Facebook for $150 billion over Myanmar violence
Reuters
@eculliford
Rohingya refugees from Myanmar are suing Facebook for $150 billion over allegations that the social media company did not take action against anti-Rohingya hate speech that contributed to violence.
South and Central Asia
Afghanistan: Foreign Office chaotic during Kabul evacuation - whistleblower
BBC News
@BBCJLandale
The UK Foreign Office's handling of the Afghan evacuation after the Taliban seized Kabul was dysfunctional and chaotic, a whistleblower has said. Raphael Marshall said the process of choosing who could get a flight out was arbitrary and thousands of emails with pleas for help went unread. The then Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab was slow to make decisions, he added.
UK
Block Chinese takeover of lithium miner, ministers told
The Telegraph
Opponents fear allowing Bacanora Lithium to be bought risk giving Communist China even greater control over production of the element.
Europe
Swiss tech company boss accused of selling mobile network access for spying
The Bureau of Investigative Journalism
The co-founder of a company trusted by Google and Twitter to text security codes to millions of users also ran a service that helped governments secretly surveil and track mobile phones, according to former employees and clients.
EU antitrust regulator seeks input on Microsoft's Nuance deal
Reuters
@peard33
EU's antitrust regulator is taking a deeper look into Microsoft's 16 billion deal for transcription technology company Nuance Communications Inc, asking customers and competitors to draw up a list of concerns, according to a questionnaire from last month seen by Reuters.
Russia
Russia’s anti-satellite test should lead to a multilateral ban
SIPRI
Russia’s ASAT test has sounded alarm bells. Policymakers around the world should heed them to accelerate discussions and pursue a multilateral ban on destructive ASAT tests.
The Americas
Canadian spy agency targeted foreign hackers to ‘impose a cost’ for cybercrime
Global News
@alexboutilier
Canada’s electronic spy agency acknowledged Monday it has conducted cyber operations against foreign hackers to “impose a cost” for the growing levels of cybercrime.
Global chip shortage drives Mexican auto workers to the brink
Rest of World
@marceladmg
Factory closures are pushing workers to a breaking point with manufacturers and their own unions.
Misc
Major outage hits Amazon Web Services; many sites affected
The AP
Amazon Web Services suffered a major outage Tuesday, the company said, disrupting access to many popular sites. The company provides cloud computing services to many governments, universities and companies, including The Associated Press.
Instagram, ahead of U.S. Senate hearing, tightens teen protection measures
Reuters
@eculliford
Instagram said on Tuesday it will be stricter about the types of content it recommends to teens in the photo-sharing app and will nudge them toward different areas if they dwell on one topic for a long time.
The Popular Family Safety App Life360 Is Selling Precise Location Data on Its Tens of Millions of Users
The Markup
@jonkeegan @alfredwkng
Life360, a popular family safety app used by 33 million people worldwide, has been marketed as a great way for parents to track their children’s movements using their cellphones. The Markup has learned, however, that the app is selling data on kids’ and families’ whereabouts to approximately a dozen data brokers who have sold data to virtually anyone who wants to buy it.
Tesla's Musk says Biden's electric vehicle bill should not pass Congress
Reuters
@HyunjooJin
Tesla Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk said on Monday that Congress should not approve the Biden administration's bill to boost subsidies for electric vehicles (EVs), saying the proposal would worsen the U.S. budget deficit.
A New Tesla Safety Concern: Drivers Can Play Video Games in Moving Cars
The New York Times
@nealboudette
The automaker added the games in an over-the-air software update that was sent to most of its cars this summer. They can be played by a driver or by a passenger in full view of the driver, raising fresh questions about whether Tesla is compromising safety as it rushes to add new technologies and features in its cars.
Events
ASPI Presents: Benchmarking Critical Technologies: Building an evidence base for an informed critical technologies strategy
Australian Strategic Policy Institute
Join report author Dr Samantha Hoffman for a discussion on the report's findings, including opportunities that could emerge from increased strategic collaboration on critical technology capabilities and policy formulation.A new report by ASPI’s International Cyber Policy Centre - ‘Benchmarking Critical Technologies: Building an evidence base for an informed critical technologies strategy’ - examines the development of four key critical technologies across some of the world’s leaders and emerging leaders in critical technologies; Australia, China, India, Japan and the United States. This event will be held in a hybrid format allowing for virtual and in-person attendance on 14 December 2021 5.30pm - 6.30pm.
Jobs
ICPC Senior Analyst or Analyst - China
ASPI ICPC
ASPI’s International Cyber Policy Centre (ICPC) has a unique opportunity for exceptional and experienced China-focused senior analysts or analysts to join its centre. This role will focus on original research and analysis centred around the (growing) range of topics which our ICPC China team work on. Our China team produces some of the most impactful and well-read policy-relevant research in the world, with our experts often being called upon by politicians, governments, corporates and civil society actors to provide briefings and advice. Analysts usually have at least 5 years, often 7-10 years’ of work experience. Senior analysts usually have a minimum of 15 years relevant work experience and, in addition to research, they take on a leadership role in the centre and tend to be involved in staff and project management, fundraising and stakeholder engagement.