Russia, Iran, China likely to engage in new US election interference efforts | Aus govt announces investigation into telecom outage | Chinese APT groups target dozens of Cambodian govt orgs
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The Daily Cyber & Tech Digest focuses on the topics we work on, including cybersecurity, critical technologies, foreign interference & disinformation.
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Russia, Iran and China are likely to engage in newly sophisticated influence and interference efforts ahead of the 2024 U.S. presidential election and in other pivotal elections worldwide, a new analysis by Microsoft has found. CBS News
The federal government has announced an investigation into Wednesday's massive Optus outage. Communications Minister Michelle Rowland said her department would undertake the review, adding it was critical the telecommunications industry learned from the incident. ABC News
Two prominent Chinese government hacking groups are targeting at least 24 Cambodian government organizations through cloud backup services, according to a new report. The Record
ASPI
How should Optus manage future risks?
ABC Listen
Dr Alex Caples, Director of Cyber, Technology and Security at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute speaks about the Optus outage that took 10 million people offline, and hit hundreds of thousands of businesses. The government has announced a review into the 14-hour outage, and analysts say Optus needs to be transparent about what happened and explain how they will manage future risks.
Australia
Federal government announces investigation into Optus outage, minister urges telco consider compensation
ABC News
Jake Evans
The federal government has announced an investigation into Wednesday's massive Optus outage. Communications Minister Michelle Rowland said her department would undertake the review, adding it was critical the telecommunications industry learned from the incident. She said the Australian Communications and Media Authority had already launched an investigation into whether emergency calls on mobiles were hampered during the outage.
Optus CEO says ‘no soundbite’ to explain phone outage
Australian Financial Review
Jenny Wiggins and Paul Smith
Optus chief executive Kelly Bayer Rosmarin says a national outage of phone and internet services that disrupted 10 million customers, shut down Melbourne’s trains, and stopped some people making calls to emergency services was too “technical” to explain.Optus outage mystery cause has left millions in the dark
The Australian
Jared Lynch and Joseph Lam
While Optus has issued an official update on its social media platforms to let customers know that services are gradually being restored, it could still be a long wait. “This may take a few hours for all services to recover, and different services may restore at different sites over that time,” it said. Millions of Optus customers have been without internet and been unable to make phone calls since early Wednesday morning - including calling 000 from a landline as a national outage cripples the beleaguered telco.
Defence export review floats ‘catch-all’ for dual-use tech research
InnovationAus
Justin Hendry
A ‘catch-all prohibition’ to prevent emerging dual-use technology from making its way into the hands of foreign militaries is being contemplated as part of the ongoing review of Australia’s defence export controls. The proposal, aimed at helping regulation keep pace with changes in the technology landscape, was floated by review co-leads during a roundtable last month and has gained the in-principle backing of Universities Australia and the Australian Academy of Science.
Australia and UK sign Quantum Joint Statement
Manufacturers’ Monthly
Phillip Hazell
Last week, the Australian Government signed a Joint Statement with the United Kingdom to advance cooperation in the field of quantum technology. Minister for industry and science, Ed Husic and UK secretary of state for science, innovation and technology, Michelle Donelan signed the Joint Statement on Cooperation in Quantum Technologies, during the AI Safety Summit in held at Bletchley Park. The arrangement will open channels for more investment between UK and Australian companies, facilitate research exchanges and increase the sharing of expertise between the two countries.
China
Alibaba CEO Eddie Wu reaffirms AI commitment, aims to turn e-commerce empire into ‘open tech platform’
South China Morning Post
Zhou Xin
Alibaba Group Holding, the e-commerce giant founded by Jack Ma that changed the way Chinese consumers shop, is remaking itself as an “open technology platform”, riding on a wave of rapid artificial intelligence innovation, new CEO Eddie Wu Yongming said on Wednesday. Alibaba is “becoming an open-technology-platform enterprise to provide infrastructure services for AI innovation and transformation in thousands of industries”, Wu told the audience at the World Internet Conference in Wuzhen, eastern Zhejiang province – an annual gathering of the country’s internet executives and government officials.
USA
Russia, Iran, China likely to engage in new election interference efforts, Microsoft analysis finds
CBS News
Olivia Gazis
Russia, Iran and China are likely to engage in newly sophisticated influence and interference efforts ahead of the 2024 U.S. presidential election and in other pivotal elections worldwide, a new analysis by Microsoft has found. All three countries are expected to seek to shape geopolitical outcomes in their favor amid major ongoing or potential regional conflicts, though Russia remains "the most committed and capable threat" to the upcoming American federal election, it said.
Reform bill would overhaul controversial surveillance law
CyberScoop
Elias Groll
Bipartisan legislation introduced to Congress on Tuesday would overhaul a controversial surveillance law to require a warrant for searches of Americans’ data collected under the measure, a proposal that would significantly curtail the U.S. government’s sweeping surveillance powers. The proposal is the first major piece of legislation introduced to renew Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which is set to expire at the end of the year, and includes a range of proposals designed to modernize U.S. surveillance law and improve privacy protections.
Americas
Russian ‘influence-for-hire’ firms spread propaganda in Latin America: US State Department
The Record
Daryna Antoniuk
The U.S. government has uncovered an ongoing Russia-funded disinformation campaign across Latin America aimed at undermining support for Ukraine and discrediting the U.S. and NATO. The U.S. State Department on Tuesday attributed Russia’s propaganda efforts to three local companies: the Social Design Agency, the Institute for Internet Development, and Structura. These are “influence-for-hire” firms with deep technical capability, according to the department.
Canada: The foreign interference inquiry can’t shy away from revealing sensitive truths
The Globe and Mail
Thomas Juneau
In early November, Justice Marie-Josée Hogue issued a statement confirming that the independent inquiry into foreign interference in Canada’s elections and democratic institutions that she chairs is in the process of hiring staff and setting up its office. In working toward producing a final report by December, 2024, the commissioner pledged to make available as much information as possible to the public. This is essential, but it will be a challenge: the national security community in Canada has a deeply entrenched tradition of hoarding information.
North Asia
Japan eyes $13bn in aid for chips, generative AI in stimulus budget
Nikkei Asia
Riho Nagao
Japan's government will seek 2 trillion yen ($13.2 billion) in budget funding to support chip production and advances in generative AI technology, including more aid for TSMC. The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry seeks about 650 billion yen in a proposed supplementary budget for Japanese chipmaker Rapidus' prototype production line and an Intel research center, as well as support for advanced semiconductor designs.
Southeast Asia
Chinese APT groups target dozens of Cambodian government orgs
The Record
Jonathan Greig
Two prominent Chinese government hacking groups are targeting at least 24 Cambodian government organizations through cloud backup services, according to a new report. First reported by the Washington Post on Wednesday, the report from Palo Alto Networks’ Unit 42 does not name the APT groups but said the company’s researchers “assess with high confidence that these Cambodian government entities were targeted and remain compromised by Chinese APT actors.”
South & Central Asia
Apple should tell Indians what it knows about politicians’ phones being hacked
Rest of World
Barkha Dutt
India’s opposition has accused the government of spying on them after multiple iPhone users in the country received an alert from Apple. “State-sponsored attackers may be targeting your iPhone,” the automated text message read. So far, all the members of Parliament who have come forward about receiving the alert are those who oppose the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.
Ukraine - Russia
Putin lauds Russia's 'high-tech' military cooperation with China
Reuters
Guy Faulconbridge
President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday lauded what he described as important "high-tech" Russian military cooperation with China at a meeting in Moscow with a top Chinese general who is a close ally of President Xi Jinping. China and Russia declared a "no limits" partnership in February 2022 when Putin visited Beijing just days before he sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine, triggering the deadliest land war in Europe since World War Two.
Europe
Google and prominent telecom groups call on Brussels to act over Apple’s iMessage
Financial Times
Javier Espinoza
Google and some of Europe’s largest telecoms operators have called on Brussels to designate iMessage as a “core” service that would require Apple to make the chat app fully compatible with rivals. The European Commission, the EU’s executive body, is investigating whether iMessage should be on a list of services that must comply with the new Digital Markets Act, and so be able to connect seamlessly with competitors such as WhatsApp.
EU to ask YouTube, TikTok for details on measures protecting minors
Reuters
Foo Yun Chee
Google’s YouTube and TikTok will be asked by EU industry chief Thierry Breton to provide information on how they comply with new EU online content rules regarding the protection of children, a person with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters on Wednesday. Breton will send his request to the companies on Friday, the source added. The new EU rules known as the Digital Services Act requires Big Tech to do more to fight harmful and illegal online content, especially content that targets minors.
UK
Tech groups fear new powers will allow UK to block encryption
Financial Times
Anna Gross and Cristina Criddle
Tech groups have called on ministers to clarify the extent of proposed powers that they fear would allow the UK government to intervene and block the rollout of new privacy features for messaging apps. The Investigatory Powers Amendment Bill, which was set out in the King’s Speech on Tuesday, would oblige companies to inform the Home Office in advance about any security or privacy features they want to add to their platforms, including encryption.
Africa
Meta pressed to compensate war victims amid claims Facebook inflamed Tigray conflict
TechCrunch
Annie Njanja
Meta is facing growing calls to set up a restitution fund for victims of the Tigray War, which Facebook is alleged to have fueled leading to over 600,000 deaths and the displacement of millions across Ethiopia. Rights group Amnesty International, in a new report, has urged Meta to set up a fund, which will also benefit other victims of conflict around the world, amidst heightened fears that the social site’s presence in “high-risk and conflict-affected areas” could “fuel advocacy of hatred and incite violence against ethnic and religious minorities” in new regions.
Middle East
Israel hopes technology will help it fight in Hamas’s tunnels
The Economist
Israel’s stated goal is to destroy Hamas. Its troops, which entered Gaza on October 27th, are therefore trying to attack and destroy the tunnels. On November 8th Israel said it had destroyed 130 already. But subterranean fighting is notoriously hard and lethal work. The Israel Defence Forces will be using a variety of technology to help its soldiers with the task.
Big Tech
Amazon links One Medical primary care to Prime memberships
The Washington Post
Caroline O'Donovan
Amazon is making membership of One Medical, the boutique primary care clinic it purchased for $3.9 billion, cheaper for its Amazon Prime subscribers, a move that further merges the e-commerce behemoth’s health-care offerings with its core business. Previously, One Medical memberships — initially available largely via employer benefits — cost $199 annually. Starting Wednesday, Amazon Prime members can buy One Medical memberships for $99 a year, a price that signals the tech giant is eager to take the next step in its march into mainstream health care.
Mark Zuckerberg taps the strengths of WhatsApp
The New York Times
Mike Isaac
When Facebook bought WhatsApp for $19 billion nearly a decade ago, Mark Zuckerberg made a promise: The Facebook chief said he wouldn’t meddle often with the messaging app so as not to mess with a good thing. Now WhatsApp has become increasingly crucial to Meta, the company that owns Facebook, Instagram and other apps. More than half of Americans ages 18 to 35 who own a cellphone have installed WhatsApp, according to the company’s studies, making it one of Meta’s fastest-growing services in its most mature market.
Artificial Intelligence
Rapid AI proliferation is a threat to democracy, experts say
Reuters
Anna Tong and Sheila Dang
The acceleration of artificial intelligence may already be disrupting democratic processes like elections and could even threaten human existence, AI experts warned at the Reuters NEXT conference in New York. The explosion of generative AI - which can create text, photos and videos in response to open-ended prompts - in recent months has spurred both excitement about its potential as well as fears it could make some jobs obsolete, upend elections and even possibly overpower humans.
Research
Charting China’s climb as a leading global cyber power
Recorded Future
Insikt Group
Over the past five years, Chinese state-sponsored cyber operations have evolved into a more mature and coordinated threat, focusing on exploiting both known and zero-day vulnerabilities in public-facing security and network appliances. They have also placed a strong emphasis on operational security and anonymity, making it harder to detect their activities. These changes have been influenced by both internal factors like military restructuring and changes in domestic regulations, as well as external factors including reporting by Western governments and the cybersecurity community. This evolution has made it more challenging for organizations, governments, and the cybersecurity community to defend against these threats.
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