New ASPI report: State-sponsored economic cyber-espionage for commercial purposes | Young Europeans face threat from social media misinfo | DeepSeek sent S. Korean user data to China's ByteDance
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This report is a first-ever analytical exercise that examines the vulnerability of emerging economies in the face of economic cyber-espionage. It’s a culmination of two years of research and stakeholder engagement across the Indo-Pacific and Latin America. The focus has been on investigating perspectives on the threat of economic cyber-espionage and the degree to which major emerging economies are prepared to respond. ASPI
Many young Europeans are turning to social media as their primary news source, increasing their exposure to misinformation. In response, the EU plans to deploy disinformation experts globally to counteract fake news, particularly from Russian sources. Euronews
South Korea accused Chinese AI startup DeepSeek of sharing user data with ByteDance. The country removed DeepSeek from app stores over privacy concerns. A U.S. cybersecurity firm found links between DeepSeek and ByteDance. The regulator advises caution, though data transfer details remain unclear. BBC
ASPI
New ASPI report: State-sponsored economic cyber-espionage for commercial purposes: Assessing the preparedness of emerging economies to defend against cyber-enabled IP theft
ASPI
Dr. Gatra Priyandita and Bart Hogeveen with various contributors
Strategic competition is deepening existing tensions and mistrust between states and prompts nations to develop capabilities that they consider central to sovereign national power. Technological capabilities sit at the centre of this. It’s therefore not surprising that governments around the world are seeking technological advantage over their competitors and potential adversaries. In this context, safeguarding intellectual property has become necessary not just because it’s an essential asset for any modern economy—developed or emerging—but because it’s also increasingly underwriting national and regional security.
New ASPI report: State-sponsored economic cyber-espionage for commercial purposes: Governmental practices in protecting IP-intensive industries
ASPI
Dr. Gatra Priyandita and Bart Hogeveen
This report looks at measures that governments in various parts of the world have taken to defend their economic ‘crown jewels’ and other critical knowledge-intensive industries from cyber threats. It should serve as inspiration for other governments, including from those economies studied in State-sponsored economic cyber-espionage for commercial purposes: Assessing the preparedness of emerging economies to defend against cyber-enabled IP theft.
Economic cyber-espionage: a persistent and invisible threat
The Strategist
Dr. Gatra Priyandita and Bart Hogeveen
Economic cyber-espionage, state-sponsored theft of sensitive business information via cyber means for commercial gain, is an invisible yet persistent threat to national economies. As more states use cyber tools to secure economic and strategic advantages, a growing number of countries, particularly emerging economies, are vulnerable.
Australia
Aussie firm sets March date for rocket launch
The Australian Financial Review
Tess Bennett
Gilmour Space Technologies, the Gold Coast-based company hoping to rival Elon Musk’s SpaceX, has notified the Australian Space Agency that it plans to conduct its long-awaited rocket launch in late March, after clearing its final regulatory hurdle.
Major Australian IVF clinic Genea 'urgently investigating' cyber incident
ABC News
Elise Worthington
A major IVF provider used by tens of thousands of patients has confirmed an "unauthorised third party" has accessed its data, five days after its phone lines went down and patients were left concerned their treatment could be affected.
Gov reshaping the way it secures IT infrastructure
iTnews
Ry Crozier
The federal government is consolidating several IT infrastructure policies, which will affect how departments and agencies deploy gateway technology and cloud services in the first instance.
Deepfake threat: Only 0.1% can spot AI-generated fakes
Security Brief Australia
Shannon Williams
New research conducted by iProov has highlighted the significant challenges posed by deepfake technologies, revealing that only 0.1% of people can accurately identify AI-generated deepfakes. The findings expose the alarming susceptibility of both individuals and organisations to identity fraud and misinformation.
Labor is throwing money at quantum but drowning AI in regulation
The Australian Financial Review
Sandy Plunkett
There is an oft-quoted maxim summarising different cultural approaches to the invention, commercialisation and adoption of transformative technologies: America innovates; China imitates; Europe regulates; Australia … hesitates. In the 21st-century digital economy, only the hugely ambitious and rival American and Chinese approaches have won out, transforming the global economy and its geopolitics in the process.
China
China’s tech rally turns pony AI founder into a billionaire
Bloomberg
Diana Li and Pui Gwen Yeung
Self-driving entrepreneur James Peng has hit billionaire status after the rally in Chinese tech firms buoyed stock in his robotaxi startup Pony AI Inc. Peng, a longtime stalwart of China’s AI industry, became interested in the sector in 2016 when Alphabet Inc.’s AlphaGo computer program defeated a champion player in the ancient Asian board game Go.
China’s universities get students up to speed on DeepSeek with new AI classes
South China Morning Post
He Huifeng and Sylvia Ma
In the wake of Chinese artificial intelligence start-up DeepSeek’s overnight success, the country’s universities are racing to create courses centred on the home-grown firm shaking up the global AI industry. Shenzhen University – located in China’s southern tech hub – has partnered with Tencent Cloud to introduce a general AI course based on DeepSeek, according to a Monday post on its official social media account. The class will be available to students starting this semester.
Not just Alibaba’s Jack Ma: Who’s who at the summit seen as a ‘symbolic’ end to China’s crackdown on tech
Fortune
Nicholas Gordon
As soon as details started to trickle out from Monday’s meeting between China’s President Xi Jinping and leading business executives, Chinese commentators pored over photos and video to figure out who got an invite, even making seating charts to figure out which companies were most favored.
Chinese lithium company halts tech exports as trade tensions build
Reuters
Ernest Scheyder and Lewis Jackson
A Chinese company has stopped exporting a piece of equipment used to process the electric vehicle battery metal lithium, in the clearest sign yet manufacturers are already implementing export controls proposed by Beijing.
USA
America risks losing the technology race to China
International Business Times
Paul Michel
A potent mix of bureaucratic red tape and adverse court rulings is deterring U.S. startups and small businesses from investing in cutting-edge technologies -- slowing our tech progress just when America needs to sprint to stay ahead of China.
Why is a government contractor trying to buy iPhone hacking tech from us?
404 Media
Joseph Cox
On January 24 we received a pretty unusual email. The sender, a procurement officer from government contractor Cirrus Systems, wanted to buy multiple licenses for Graykey, the iPhone and Android hacking technology widely used by U.S. law enforcement and agencies.
Americas
How a $6.3b meme coin could bring down Argentina’s president
The Australian Financial Review
Ciara Nugent
Argentina’s libertarian president Javier Milei has been buffeted by a scandal over his promotion of a meme coin that soared in value before collapsing, triggering impeachment calls and lawsuits.
North Asia
DeepSeek 'shared user data' with TikTok owner ByteDance
BBC
Imran Rahman-Jones
The Chinese app caused shockwaves in the AI world in January, wiping billions off global stock markets over claims its new model was trained at a much lower cost than US rivals such as ChatGPT.
DeepSeek sent S. Korean user data to China's ByteDance: regulator
Yonhap News
Kim Hyun-soo
South Korea's data protection regulator has confirmed that the DeepSeek chatbot, developed by a China-based artificial intelligence startup, sent the nation's user data to a third party, the Chinese owner of TikTok, ByteDance. The confirmation came a day after the regulator, the Personal Information Protection Commission, announced it has temporarily suspended new downloads of DeepSeek in South Korea over concerns about its data collection practices.
South Korea seeks edge in AI-equipped vessels
Nikkei Asia
Nami Matsuura
South Korean shipbuilders are combining the knowledge of seafarers with artificial intelligence to develop vessels that require less human input, helping ease a severe crew shortage and opening up the possibility of U.S. deals. Samsung Heavy Industries launched an AI-equipped ship in November on the southern island of Geoje.
AI data center with up to 3 gigawatts of power is envisioned for South Korea
The Wall Street Journal
Asa Fitch and Timothy W. Martin
An investor group is planning one of the world’s largest data centers for artificial intelligence in South Korea, a sign of red-hot AI demand across the globe despite concern about the AI boom’s staying power.
Ex-Samsung official jailed for leaking core semiconductor tech to China
Sammy Fans
Yash
Seoul Court sent ex-Samsung employee to 7 years in prison over charges of leaking core semiconductor tech to China. It’s considered the harshest punishment in recent years over charges of technology leakage crimes.
Southeast Asia
Vietnam concession on Starlink aims to defuse U.S. tariff threat
Nikkei Asia
Vietnam plans to adopt rules that would allow Elon Musk's Starlink to provide satellite internet services in the country while maintaining full ownership of any local subsidiary, a draft of the regulations shows. The change paves the way for Starlink to launch in Vietnam and follows protracted talks with its parent company SpaceX, a government official said.
Indonesia aims to create its version of DeepSeek in bid to become AI hub
South China Morning Post
An ambitious project to develop an inexpensive version of Chinese artificial intelligence start-up DeepSeek in Indonesia has gained momentum as the country seeks a leg up in the race to become a tech powerhouse in Southeast Asia. President Prabowo Subianto’s senior economic adviser expressed optimism about the delivery of the open-source, large language model being built by a group of “smart people”.
Russia
US propagandist paid by Kremlin targets German election with network of fake news sites
France 24
A former Florida deputy sheriff who sought refuge in Russia after facing a string of charges in the US has set up a network of more than 100 AI-generated fake news sites in a bid to tilt Germany's upcoming election in favour of the far right, analysts say.
Russian hackers find ways to snoop on Ukrainian Signal accounts
POLITICO
Antoaneta Roussi
Russian state-linked hacking groups have snuck into some Ukrainian military staffers' Signal messenger accounts to gain access to sensitive communications, Google said in a report on Wednesday.
Europe
Young Europeans face rising threat from misinformation as social media becomes main news source
Euronews
Leticia Batista Cabanas
A growing number of young Europeans are turning to social media as their primary news source, with platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube surpassing traditional media outlets such as TV and print. It’s official: social media is now the number one news source for young people in the EU, surpassing television and both print and digital media.
Musk’s Starlink isn’t ready to rule Europe’s internet airwaves
POLITICO
Mathieu Pollet and Hanne Cokelaere
Elon Musk may be able to beam internet data from thousands of Starlink satellites in space to Earth-bound devices, but as of now, he isn't wowing everyday consumers in Europe with the nifty technology.
Silicon Valley fights EU tech rules with backing from Donald Trump
Financial Times
Barbara Moens, Hannah Murphy and Michael Acton
Big tech companies are growing confident in their efforts to challenge EU regulations, believing new backing from the Trump administration will allow them to fight what they see as hostile rules on artificial intelligence and market dominance.
Europe’s dependence on US tech is a critical weakness
Financial Times
Marietje Schaake
Any hopes for a reasonable US foreign policy under Donald Trump were shattered last weekend at the Munich Security Conference. European leaders received an ice-cold message from vice-president JD Vance. His speech marked the formal end of the transatlantic alliance as it has existed since the second world war.
UK
A ‘teleportation’ breakthrough for quantum computing is here
WIRED
Jorge Garay
A team of scientists at the University of Oxford was able to send the first quantum algorithm wirelessly between two separate quantum processors. The two small cores took advantage of their unique nature, pooled their capabilities, and formed a superior computer to solve problems that neither of them could solve independently.
Turning historical ties into a technology partnership
GovInsider
Amit Roy Choudhury
The British High Commissioner to Singapore, Nik Mehta, is of medium build but the energy and optimism that he exudes quickly fills up the room. This was apparent when GovInsider met him at the sprawling offices of the British High Commission in Singapore.
Gender & Women in Tech
OpenAI’s former chief technology officer starts her own company
The New York Times
Cade Metz
Mira Murati, the former chief technology officer of OpenAI who unexpectedly left the company in September, has helped found a new artificial intelligence start-up called Thinking Machines Lab, adding to the wave of young companies that have been formed in the race to lead A.I.
More than getting girls into science: The lifecycle approach to gender equity in STEM
Diversity Council Australia
Dr Janin Bredehoeft
If you’ve ever wondered how we’re going to get more women and girls into STEM fields, there’s a phrase you’re probably familiar with: “You can’t be what you can’t see”. For the last 15 years or so, STEM workplaces with gender equity problems (i.e., almost all of them) have taken this phrase as gospel and tackled the challenge with gusto. “What girls need”, the thinking goes, “is role models”.
Big Tech
The people in Elon Musk’s DOGE universe
TechCrunch
Kirsten Korosec, Zack Whittaker, Charles Rollet, Sean O'Kane and Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai
TechCrunch set out to report on or confirm the individuals working as Musk representatives in the U.S. government. Importantly, we’ve sought to show the connections between them, and how and when they entered Musk’s orbit. Along the way, TechCrunch has made some new discoveries, including new details about DOGE and its workers and an xAI-powered chatbot on a DOGE-related website subdomain that is hosted on a Musk acolyte’s website.
Can Mark Zuckerberg's Meta build an undersea cable spanning the entire world?
ABC News
Yiying Li
Meta has recently announced its plan to boost artificial intelligence innovation by circling the world with a new underwater cable. Project Waterworth, which Meta calls its "most ambitious subsea cable endeavour", will become the world’s longest undersea cable project once completed.
TikTok to expand e-commerce in more countries as US business remains in limbo
South China Morning Post
Coco Feng
ByteDance-owned TikTok is expanding its e-commerce operations to Italy, Germany and France, with plans to also launch in Japan and Brazil this year, according to three people familiar with the matter.
Artificial Intelligence
AI 'hallucinations' in court papers spell trouble for lawyers
Reuters
Sara Merken
U.S. personal injury law firm Morgan & Morgan sent an urgent email, opens new tab this month to its more than 1,000 lawyers: Artificial intelligence can invent fake case law, and using made-up information in a court filing could get you fired.
The AI diffusion framework: securing U.S. AI leadership while preempting strategic drift
CSIS
Barath Harithas
In one of its final acts, the Biden administration introduced what may be the most ambitious exercise of technological statecraft in modern history—the Framework for Artificial Intelligence Diffusion (AI Diffusion Rule). What was once a simple line drawn around China and a small handful of countries has turned into a sweeping, interventionist framework that dictates not just who can import advanced semiconductors and how many, but where they can be deployed, under what conditions they must be secured, and even how AI capabilities can be shared.
Podcast
The rise of DeepSeek, the Chinese AI chatbot making waves in tech
Acast
Teka Teka
DeepSeek shows an obvious bias when it comes to issues related to China. In this episode, Roby Alampay and Jaemark Tordecilla talk about its implications for the Philippines.
The Daily Cyber & Tech Digest is brought to you by the Cyber, Technology & Security Programs team at ASPI and supported by partners.
In an era defined by relentless cyberattacks, massive data breaches, and the pervasive reach of social media and now, artificial intelligence, trust in online services is collapsing. The current approach – relying on lengthy legal notices, often ignored by users, and levying occasional fines – simply isn't working. The problem isn't a lack of awareness; it's a lack of enforceable standards and real accountability.
The solution? Look to the financial services industry (FSI) for inspiration. The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), established by the G20, has successfully combatted tax evasion, money laundering, and terrorist financing through a combination of rigorous standards, continuous monitoring, and personal accountability for senior management. We need a similar framework for the digital realm.
An "Internet Action Task Force" (IATF), modelled after the FATF, could be empowered to:
• Establish and enforce internationally agreed-upon ISO technical standards for data security and integrity. This would move beyond vague promises and create concrete benchmarks for online service providers.
• Implement continuous oversight and regular audits of online platforms. Just as banks are subject to regular scrutiny, tech companies should face ongoing assessment of their data protection practices.
• Hold senior management personally responsible for data protection failures. This would create a powerful incentive for executives to prioritize data security.
• Impose meaningful penalties for non-compliance. Fines are a start, but when some transgressors have revenues approaching that of small nations, regulators should also have the power to impose trading suspensions on publicly traded companies, and even pursue delisting in cases of egregious violations. For privately held companies, a licensing regime with the threat of suspension or revocation would be essential.
. We need a robust framework, inspired by the financial industry's proven track record, to restore trust in the digital world and protect individuals from the growing threats to their online privacy and data security. The future of online trust depends on it.