Israeli spyware Paragon behind 90 hacks across two dozen countries | US probes potential sourcing of DeepSeek's chips from Nvidia | Japan sanctions Chinese hi-tech firms for supporting Russia
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An official with Meta Platforms' popular WhatsApp chat service said Israeli spyware company Paragon Solutions had targeted scores of its users, including journalists and members of civil society. iTnews
US officials are probing whether Chinese AI startup DeepSeek bought advanced Nvidia Corp. semiconductors through third parties in Singapore, circumventing US restrictions on sales of chips used for artificial intelligence tasks, people familiar with the matter said. Bloomberg
Beijing will take necessary measures to defend its legitimate interests, China’s Ministry of Commerce said on Friday after Japan announced a series of tech and trade curbs, including sanctions on more than a dozen Chinese companies. South China Morning Post
ASPI
Democracies should learn the TikTok lesson and restrict risky apps from day one
The Strategist
Bethany Allen
With its recent halt on implementing a legally mandated ban on TikTok, the United States is learning the hard way that when it comes to Chinese technology, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. The US and like-minded democracies should no longer permit any social media platforms with direct ties to authoritarian governments with political censorship regimes to operate without restriction.
DeepSeek may be cheap AI, but Australian companies should beware
The Strategist
Simeon Gilding
Amid the shocked reactions this week to the release of the Chinese artificial intelligence model, DeepSeek, the risk we should be most concerned about is the potential for the model to be misused to disrupt critical infrastructure and services. These include things such as digital railway networks, electric vehicles, solar inverters, giant cranes for unloading containers, border screening equipment, and industrial control technology in power stations, water and sewerage works.
Australia
‘Doing this to ourselves’: misinformation threat is local, Australian Electoral Commission warns
The Guardian
Sarah Basford Canales
“Sovereign citizens, conspiracy theorists and keyboard warriors” are among the domestic threats being monitored ahead of the upcoming federal election, the electoral authority has warned. The Australian Electoral Commission, deep into its preparations for the yet-to-be announced polling day, said the mis- and disinformation threats to the 2025 federal election were coming from within the country, rather than from overseas actors. “We’re doing this to ourselves … which is one of the sort of sad things about how this thing’s playing out,” the AEC’s acting electoral commissioner, Jeff Pope, told a media briefing in Canberra on Friday.
How an error kicked off asylum-seeker visa misinformation
ABC News
Michael Workman
For News Corp tabloids it was a delicious scoop: evidence that Labor had opened the floodgates to the families and partners of asylum seekers who arrived by boat, issuing them 21,581 permanent visas over an 18-month period. "No wonder people smugglers are testing Australia's resolve again — they think Labor will eventually give in as they have with this cohort," Senator Paterson said in a quote included in the article published on Tuesday. The only catch? The figures weren't correct: they were inflated by a factor of 10. The actual figure was 2,158.
China
China urges Japan to rethink planned hi-tech export bans
South China Morning Post
Enoch Wong
Beijing will take necessary measures to defend its legitimate interests, China’s Ministry of Commerce said on Friday after Japan announced a series of tech and trade curbs, including sanctions on more than a dozen Chinese companies. “For some time, certain countries have broadened the concept of national security and abused export controls to suppress China’s semiconductor industry,” the ministry said. “China reserves the right to take necessary measures and will firmly safeguard its legitimate interests.” The ministry’s comments follow Tokyo’s announcement on January 17 that 18 Chinese firms would be among dozens around the world added to its sanctions list over accusations that they aided Russia in evading sanctions.
USA
US Probing if DeepSeek got Nvidia chips from firms in Singapore
Bloomberg
Jordan Robertson, Mackenzie Hawkins, and Jenny Leonard
US officials are probing whether Chinese AI startup DeepSeek bought advanced Nvidia Corp. semiconductors through third parties in Singapore, circumventing US restrictions on sales of chips used for artificial intelligence tasks, people familiar with the matter said. Some prominent engineers have marveled at R1’s capabilities, and DeepSeek has touted the tool’s low cost and efficiency, prompting rivals to speculate whether it was built on the back of Western technology.
Trump deals hammer blow to Taiwan with semiconductor tariffs
Newsweek
Micah McCartney
US President Donald Trump's threat to impose tariffs of up to 100 percent on Taiwan's semiconductor industry has sent shockwaves through the Silicon Island. A tariff is a tax imposed by governments to protect domestic industries and generate revenue. The cost is not borne by the exporting country, but rather by importers—then typically passed on to consumers. Taiwan is the linchpin of the global chip supply chains, accounting for some 60 percent of semiconductors and more than 90 percent of the most advanced semiconductors, such as those used to power technologies like artificial intelligence—key to America's tech competition with China.
US tariffs: how Trump’s tax is impacting big tech and beyond
The Verge
Emma Roth
President Donald Trump has announced that he’s imposing a tariff on goods from some of the US’s biggest trade partners: Canada, Mexico, and China. Under the executive orders signed on February 1st, Canada and Mexico will face a 25 percent tariff, while goods from China will be subject to a 10 percent tax. Energy resources from Canada will also have a lower 10 percent tariff. The change will have a big impact on the cost of a wide variety of goods imported from each country, including electronics, produce, clothing, and much more.
US Government websites are disappearing in real time
WIRED
Vittoria Elliott, Dhruv Mehrotra and Dell Cameron
Several government websites have been taken down, including the USAID.gov, ForeignAssistance.gov, NeglectedDiseases.gov, and ChildrenInAdversity.gov. A WIRED analysis of more than 1,000 federal .gov websites found that at least seven sites linked to a USAID server went offline in a two-hour span on Saturday afternoon. On Friday, Reuters reported that word of sites being taken offline was the result of confusion around new guidelines on language allowed to appear on federal sites. Agencies had been instructed to “take down all outward facing media that inculcate or promote gender ideology” by Friday, January 31.
Pakistan-based cybercrime network dismantled by US, Dutch authorities
The Record by Recorded Future
Daryna Antoniuk
U.S. and Dutch law enforcement agencies have seized dozens of domains linked to a Pakistan-based cybercrime network operated by a group known as Saim Raza. The group, also tracked under the name HeartSender, has been using these websites since at least 2020 to sell hacking tools — including phishing kits, scam pages and email extractors — to thousands of customers worldwide, according to a statement from the Justice Department.
North Asia
Japan plans to curb exports of chips, quantum-computing tech
Bloomberg
Mayumi Negishi
Japan expanded its export controls to include cutting-edge chips and quantum computer-related technology, a move China warned could have a negative impact on trade between the two countries. The Japanese government is expanding its list of export-controlled items to include advanced chips, lithography equipment and cryocoolers needed for the manufacture of quantum computers, according to draft revisions to the foreign exchange law.
Southeast Asia
Social media age restrictions, identity and female youth radicalisation: lessons from Indonesia
Australian institute of International Affairs
Nuri Veronika
Indonesia’s proposed social media restrictions risk alienating young users, particularly women, by cutting them off from vital online communities that shape their identities and provide support. Instead of outright bans, a more effective approach would focus on digital literacy, mental health support, and targeted interventions to prevent online radicalisation while preserving safe spaces for youth engagement.
Hackers use fake wedding invitations to spread Android malware in Southeast Asia
The Record by Recorded Future
Daryna Antoniuk
Cybercriminals are using fake wedding invitations targeting users in Malaysia and Brunei to distribute a newly discovered Android malware called Tria. Since mid-2024, the attackers have been spreading the malware through private and group chats on Telegram and WhatsApp, inviting users to weddings and prompting them to install a mobile app to receive the invitation, according to a report published Thursday by Russian cybersecurity firm Kaspersky.
South & Central Asia
India’s AI roadmap: Does budget 2025-26 get it right?
Policy Circle
The Union Budget 2025-26 has put artificial intelligence in focus, with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announcing the establishment of a Centre of Excellence for AI in education with an outlay of Rs 500 crore. This follows the three CoEs announced in 2023 for AI in agriculture, health, and sustainable cities. Additionally, five National Centres of Excellence for Skilling, set up in collaboration with global partners, aim to equip India’s workforce for an AI-driven future. But the question remains—are these steps enough to position India as a global leader in AI, or do they merely scratch the surface of what’s needed?
India axes import tax on some smartphone parts in boost to Apple, Xiaomi
Reuters
Shivangi Acharya
India has removed import duties on some components key to producing mobile phones, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced in the annual budget on Saturday, in a boost for local production efforts and benefiting firms such as Appleand Xiaomi (1810.HK). India's electronics production has more than doubled in the last six years to $115 billion in 2024, with the country now becoming the world's second-largest mobile phone manufacturer.
Europe
Former Polish justice minister arrested in sprawling spyware probe
The Record by Recorded Future
Suzanne Smalley
Polish police on Friday arrested the country’s former justice minister, alleging that he signed off on the use of government money to pay for spyware used to snoop on opposition leaders and supervised cases where the technology was deployed. The arrest of Zbigniew Ziobro — who was justice minister from 2015 to 2023 — follows the arrest earlier this week of the country’s former Internal Security Agency chief Piotr Pogonowski.
German authorities ‘well prepared’ for social media election interference
POLITICO
Eliza Gkritsi
Germany's Federal Network Agency is "well prepared" to respond to online interference in the country’s Feb. 23 parliamentary election, the agency's president Klaus Müller said following a stress test with social media platforms on Friday. “Today we realistically simulated possible infringements, tested the platforms’ reporting procedures and mechanisms and practised action and the relevant exchange of information,” he said in a statement. "We are well prepared, with tasks assigned to the national authorities and communication paths to all relevant players in place."
Italian investigative journalist targeted on WhatsApp by Israeli spyware
The Guardian
An Italian investigative journalist who is known for exposing young fascists within prime minister Giorgia Meloni’s far-right party was targeted with spyware made by Israel-based Paragon Solutions, according to a WhatsApp notification received by the journalist. Francesco Cancellato, the editor-in-chief of the Italian investigative news outlet Fanpage, was the first person to come forward publicly after WhatsApp announced on Friday that 90 journalists and other members of civil society had been targeted by the spyware.
UK
AI-generated child sex abuse images targeted with new laws
BBC
Sima Kotecha
Four new laws will tackle the threat of child sexual abuse images generated by artificial intelligence, the government has announced. The Home Office says the UK will be the first country in the world to make it illegal to possess, create or distribute AI tools designed to create child sexual abuse material with a punishment of up to five years in prison. Possessing AI paedophile manuals - which teach people how to use AI for sexual abuse - will also be made illegal, and offenders will get up to three years in prison.
Middle East
Foreign influence and disinformation campaigns exacerbating sectarian instability in post-Assad Syria
Disinformation Social Media Alliance
The fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria, after years of brutal civil war, has ushered in a new era fraught with uncertainty and instability. While the Sunni Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, formerly affiliated with al Qaeda, has claimed victory and pledged to protect minority rights, the country’s digital landscape is awash with disinformation campaigns that threaten to reignite sectarian tensions and derail the transition of power. Former allies and enemies of the ousted president, both domestic and foreign, are manipulating online narratives, utilizing sophisticated tactics to sow discord and undermine the nascent new order.
Big Tech
WhatsApp says spyware company Paragon targeted users
iTnews
Raphael Satter
An official with Meta Platforms' popular WhatsApp chat service said Israeli spyware company Paragon Solutions had targeted scores of its users, including journalists and members of civil society. The WhatsApp official told Reuters it had detected an effort to hack approximately 90 users. The official declined to say who, specifically, was targeted. But he said those targeted were based in more than two dozen countries, including several people in Europe.
Mark Zuckerberg teases a 2025 return to ‘OG Facebook’
TechCrunch
Sarah Perez
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg teased a “return to OG Facebook” as part of his key goals for 2025 in Wednesday’s Q4 earnings call with investors. While the company was short on details as to what specific changes lay in store, it’s clear that Meta is in desperate need of younger Facebook users to sustain itself for the next generation.
Meta blocked news in Canada. Ads for scams are taking its place
Bloomberg
Thomas Seal
Social media platforms in Canada are hosting hundreds of ads from scam artists pretending to be news publishers, while suppressing authentic news content. Instagram and Facebook owner Meta Platforms Inc. has blocked links to news outlets for users in Canada since August 2023 in response to a law designed so social platforms compensate news publishers for hosting their content. People in Canada who try to post stories on Facebook by the Toronto Star, Canadian Broadcasting Corp. and other professional news outlets receive a message: “In response to Canadian government legislation, news content can’t be shared.
Artificial Intelligence
The Manhattan Project was secret. Should America’s AI work be too?
The Wall Street Journal
Christopher Mims
Tim Dettmers is one of the scientists at the cutting edge of artificial intelligence who contributed to the DeepSeek breakthrough that grabbed the world’s attention this past week. He’s never had any contact with the Chinese team that built it. Dettmers, a researcher at Seattle’s Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence who previously worked for Meta Platforms, pioneered a new way to train, and run, an AI model using less powerful hardware. He published his work in 2021. When the DeepSeek team recently published its own papers on how they had built their models, he discovered his paper among their citations. It turns out they were eager readers of his work.
Was this the week DeepSeek started the slow unwinding of the AI bet?
The Guardian
At 2.16pm California time last Sunday, the US billionaire tech investor Marc Andreessen called it. “DeepSeek R1 is AI’s Sputnik moment,” he posted on X. A Chinese startup, operating since 2023 and helmed by a millennial mathematician, had unveiled a new chatbot that seemed to equal the performance of America’s leading models at a fraction of the cost. But was the world’s largest autocratic nation about to leapfrog the west in AI? What might it mean for control of a technology that many fear could be pressed into malicious use in cyber-attacks, the production of biological weapons and thought control?
How DeepSeek caused a financial market frenzy that changed AI forever
ABC News
Kate Ainsworth and Rachel Clayton
When China's first foray into artificial intelligence roared into the public domain, it dealt a blow straight to the financial heartland of the United States. Billions of dollars were wiped off Wall Street in less than 24 hours after Chinese startup DeepSeek cast clouds of uncertainty over investors. At the eye of the share market storm was Nvidia, a darling of the New York Stock Exchange whose cutting-edge chips have powered the AI revolution. The storm eased just as quickly as it hit, and the days that followed proved the market ructions were short-lived. What it left behind would form the basis of a new AI climate altogether.
Misc
A man stalked a professor for six years. Then he used AI chatbots to lure strangers to her home
The Guardian
A man from Massachusetts has agreed to plead guilty to a seven-year cyberstalking campaign that included using artificial intelligence chatbots to impersonate a university professor and invite men online to her home address for sex. James Florence, 36, used platforms such as CrushOn.ai and JanitorAI, which allow users to design their own chatbots and direct them how to respond to other users during chats, including in sexually suggestive and explicit ways.
Events & Podcasts
Women in Cyber Security Summit
AISA
The tech world's most critical frontier is calling for change. With women representing a mere 17% of the cyber security workforce, our upcoming Women in Cyber Security Summit is set to challenge the status quo and redefine industry potential. This groundbreaking event brings together top industry leaders, visionary experts, and emerging talents to address the most pressing challenge in cyber defence: diversity. Attendees will dive deep into critical conversations about breaking down barriers to entry, understanding systemic challenges, and developing actionable strategies for meaningful change. From mentorship programs to inclusive hiring practices, our panels will explore comprehensive approaches to increase women's representation in this crucial sector.
Digital Dialogue: Social media and content moderation
International Civil Society Centre
When content moderation disappears from social media: What are the consequences and what can CSOs do? The recent announcement from Mark Zuckerberg on the drastic changes for content moderation in the US and shifts in policies around political and harmful content have raised significant concerns among CSOs and digital rights actors. In this panel discussion will bring together experts from the fields of digital governance, human rights, and CSOs working on these issues and have a discussion around: How big tech’s content moderation policies are evolving; the risks for CSOs and marginalised communities, particularly regarding online harassment, misinformation, and political discourse; and broader consequences for free expression and democracy.
The Daily Cyber & Tech Digest is brought to you by the Cyber, Technology & Security team at ASPI.