UN Security Council meets for the first time over spyware | FBI agents' confidential information compromised in hack | Japan to lead in improving next-gen fighter jet stealth capabilities

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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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• Members of the U.N. Security Council for the first time gathered Tuesday to discuss the threat posed by commercial spyware at an informal meeting where a senior U.S. diplomat called for enhanced efforts to obtain justice for victims of the technology, and other nations pledged to take action. The Record by Recorded Future

• FBI leaders have warned that they believe hackers who broke into AT&T’s system last year stole months of their agents’ call and text logs, setting off a race within the bureau to protect the identities of confidential informants. Bloomberg

• Japan will lead the design of the airframe of a next-generation fighter jet being developed with the U.K. and Italy, contributing know-how in composite materials to help improve stealth performance. Nikkei Asia

ASPI

US 'TikTok Refugees' migrate to another Chinese app as ban looms
VOA News
William Yang
“TikTok is owned by a Chinese company but it has international operations, which means there are theoretically several layers between TikTok and the Chinese Party-State,” said Bethany Allen, the head of China Investigations and Analysis at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute. But “there are no layers of insulation between Xiaohongshu and Beijing,” she told VOA.

World

UN Security Council members meet on spyware for first time
The Record by Recorded Future
Suzanne Smalley
Members of the U.N. Security Council for the first time gathered Tuesday to discuss the threat posed by commercial spyware at an informal meeting where a senior U.S. diplomat called for enhanced efforts to obtain justice for victims of the technology, and other nations pledged to take action.

Australia

Securing wellbeing in the Pacific through collaborative cybersecurity
The Mandarin
Debi Ashenden, Sally Burt, Elena Steiner and Tim Stevens
Pacific Small Island Developing States face pressing human security challenges spanning environmental sustainability, economic resilience, territorial protection, and social cohesion. The impact of continuing climate change threatens the very livelihood of these small island states. Cybersecurity, if thoughtfully applied, could contribute to addressing these human security challenges. And it could offer Australia an opportunity to support regional communities while advancing its strategic interests.

China

China unveils ‘Crimson Skyblade’ in nuclear fusion quest for unlimited clean energy
South China Morning Post
Zhang Tong
One of the scientific teams helping to develop a Chinese nuclear fusion reactor capable of producing unlimited power has unveiled a device they say will be key to testing whether the facility can withstand the intense flows of plasma produced during fusion. Chi Xiao, or “Crimson Skyblade”, is a superconducting linear plasma device that is intended to help scientists test building materials for use in a fusion reactor, according to a panel of experts who introduced the device on Tuesday.

Exclusive: Chinese tech firm founded by Huawei veterans in the FBI's crosshairs
Reuters
Alexandra Alper
The U.S. Commerce Department and FBI are both investigating a little-known telecoms hardware firm founded by senior Huawei veterans in China over possible security risks, sources and documents show. Founded in 2014, Baicells Technologies opened a North American business the next year in Wisconsin and has since provided telecoms equipment for 700 commercial mobile networks across every U.S. state, according to its website.

China probes U.S. chip subsidies, alleging harm to mature node chipmakers
Nikkei Asia
China will launch an investigation in U.S. government subsidies to its semiconductor sector over alleged harm caused to Chinese mature node chipmakers, the Commerce Ministry said on Thursday. Unlike the cutting-edge chips that power artificial intelligence models, mature node chips are cheaper, easier to manufacture and used for less complex tasks, including home appliances and communication systems.

Douyin cracks down on fake foreign accounts amid wave of ‘TikTok refugees’
South China Morning Post
Wency Chen
Douyin, the ByteDance-owned sibling of TikTok that is only available in mainland China, has said it is stepping up efforts to crack down on accounts impersonating overseas users amid a wave of “TikTok refugees” ahead of that app’s pending ban in the US.

USA

FBI warned agents it believes phone logs hacked last year
Bloomberg
Jake Bleiberg and Margi Murphy
FBI leaders have warned that they believe hackers who broke into AT&T’s system last year stole months of their agents’ call and text logs, setting off a race within the bureau to protect the identities of confidential informants, a document reviewed by Bloomberg News shows. FBI officials told agents across the country that details about their use on the telecom carrier’s network were believed to be among the billions of records stolen, according to the document and interviews with a current and a former law enforcement official.

Biden’s new executive order aims to shore up US cyber defenses
Associated Press
David Keppler
President Joe Biden issued an executive order Thursday aimed at strengthening the nation’s cybersecurity and making it easier to go after foreign adversaries or hacking groups that try to compromise U.S. internet and telecommunication systems. The order calls for the development of minimum cybersecurity standards for government technology contractors and requires that contractors submit evidence that they’re complying.

Biden’s Cyber Ambassador urges Trump not to cede ground to Russia and China in global tech fight
WIRED
Eric Geller
America’s outgoing cyber ambassador has a warning for his successors in the incoming Trump administration: Stay engaged with tech and digital security debates on the world stage, because otherwise, Russia and China will fill the void. "An increasingly isolationist United States creates or amplifies a lot of problems that we're not going to be able to turn our backs on,” says Nathaniel Fick, who has spent almost two and a half years as the US’s first ambassador at large for cyberspace and digital policy. “We may not be interested in the world, but the world is interested in us.”

Biden warns in farewell address that an ‘oligarchy’ of ultrarich in US threatens future of democracy
Associated Press
Chris Megerian, Zeke Miller and Colleen Long
President Joe Biden used his farewell address to the nation Wednesday to deliver stark warnings about an “oligarchy” of the ultra-wealthy taking root in the country and a “tech-industrial complex” that is infringing on Americans’ rights and the future of democracy.

FTC finalizes children's privacy rule minimizing data collection
Bloomberg Law
Tonya Riley
The Federal Trade Commission will require companies to secure opt-in consent for targeting advertising to children and bar them from retaining kids’ data indefinitely under finalized amendments to its children’s privacy rule being unveiled Thursday. But the update to the FTC’s rules implementing the 1998 Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act drops proposed changes that would have prohibited businesses from sending kids push notifications without prior consent from parents and required companies to disclose when they collect personal information from those notifications.

Executive Order on Advancing United States Leadership in Artificial Intelligence Infrastructure
The White House
Recent advancements in AI demonstrate its rapidly growing relevance to national security, including with respect to logistics, military capabilities, intelligence analysis, and cybersecurity. Building AI in the United States will help prevent adversaries from gaining access to, and using, powerful future systems to the detriment of our military and national security. It will also enable the United States Government to continue harnessing AI in service of national-security missions while preventing the United States from becoming dependent on other countries’ infrastructure to develop and operate powerful AI tools.

Trump will keep TikTok from 'going dark' if deal is on table, adviser says
Reuters
David Sherpardson
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's incoming national security adviser said on Thursday the new administration will keep TikTok alive in the United States if there is a viable deal, in a potential reprieve for the popular Chinese-owned video app. TikTok, which is used by more than 170 million Americans, is set to be banned on Sunday - one day before Trump's inauguration - under a law mandating that it find a non-Chinese owner due to national security concerns.

• TikTok CEO to attend Trump inauguration as app's ban looms
  Axios
  Ivana Saric
  TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew intends to attend President-elect Trump's inauguration next week and is expected to sit on the dais alongside other prominent guests, a Trump transition source confirmed to Axios Thursday. News of his invite comes as TikTok's fate hangs in the balance, with the U.S. ban of the popular platform set to take effect on Sunday, barring any eleventh-hour intervention.

• TikTok is set to be banned in the US this weekend. Here's what that actually means
  ABC News
  Rachel Rasker
  TikTok — one of the biggest entertainment and social media platforms in the world — is due to be blocked in the United States this weekend. If TikTok's China-based parent company, ByteDance, doesn't sell its US operations, and if the US Supreme Court doesn't step in, the ban will take effect this Sunday, January 19. Unnamed sources have told Reuters news agency that TikTok plans to shut down its app nationwide when the ban hits. The following day, President-elect Donald Trump will be inaugurated. And, despite attempting his own ban during his first term in 2020, he's now vowed to "save TikTok".

North Asia

Japan to handle stealth tech for fighter developed with U.K. and Italy
Nikkei Asia
Shinno Suke Nagatomi
Japan will lead the design of the airframe of a next-generation fighter jet being developed with the U.K. and Italy, contributing know-how in composite materials to help improve stealth performance. Japanese Defence Minister, Gen Nakatani met with his U.K. and Italian counterparts in London on Wednesday, stressing the importance of the project and security in the Indo-Pacific.

US cracks down on North Korean IT worker army with more sanctions
Bleeping Computer
Sergiu Gatlan
The U.S. Treasury Department has sanctioned a network of individuals and front companies linked to North Korea's Ministry of National Defense that have generated revenue via illegal remote IT work schemes. "The DPRK continues to rely on its thousands of overseas IT workers to generate revenue for the regime, to finance its illegal weapons programs, and to enable its support of Russia's war in Ukraine," said Acting Under Secretary of the Treasury Bradley T. Smith.

Korean startup to deliver data analysis of Los Angeles wildfires to UN disaster risk office
The Korea Times
Korean space startup TelePIX said Thursday it has conducted a satellite imagery analysis of wildfires that have devastated a vast area around Los Angeles, with the outcome of its analysis set to be provided to the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction. The analysis suggests the LA wildfires incurred damage on 102.4 square kilometers of land, which is some 35 times the size of Seoul's massive financial district Yeouido, in just five days since they broke out on Jan. 7. The devastated area is equivalent to the combined area of over 12,000 soccer fields.

Southeast Asia

Chinese celebrities and tourists think twice about Thailand
The New York Times
Tiffany May, Muktita Suhartono and Claire Fu
Chinese travelers have been scrapping trips to Thailand, frightened by the story of a Chinese actor who was abducted there, taken to Myanmar and forced to work in an online scam compound. The incident is a blow to Thailand’s tourism sector ahead of the peak Lunar New Year holiday at the end of this month, when many Chinese had been expected to visit.

Even world leaders receive scam calls. Just ask Thailand’s prime minister
CNN
Jay Ganglani and Kocha Olarn
We are all vulnerable to the rapid spread of phone scams – including, it seems, world leaders. Thailand’s prime minister has revealed she got a call from an AI system, demanding money in the voice of another famous head of government. Paetongtarn Shinawatra did not reveal who the computer was mimicking, but said she received a message in a voice identical to a well-known leader.

Ukraine - Russia

Suspected Ukrainian hackers impersonating Russian ministries to spy on industry
The Record by Recorded Future
Daryna Antoniuk
A suspected Ukraine-linked hacker group is targeting Russian scientific and industrial enterprises in a new cyber-espionage campaign, researchers have found. Russian cybersecurity firm F.A.C.C.T. intercepted fraudulent emails purportedly from Russia's Ministry of Industry and Trade. These emails, described in a report released Wednesday by the firm, instructed local defense industry companies to place orders with correctional facilities and suggested collaborating with prisoners who have a mechanical and engineering background.

WhatsApp targeted by Russian hackers seeking data on Ukraine
Bloomberg
Margi Murphy
A hacking group linked to Russia’s government tried stealing WhatsApp data of employees at non-governmental organizations offering assistance to Ukraine, according to Microsoft Corp. Attackers associated with Russia’s Federal Security Service, or FSB, sent emails to specific targets asking them to join WhatsApp groups, Microsoft researchers said in a blog post Thursday.

Europe

Germany aims to allow military to shoot down suspected spy drones
POLITICO
Chris Lunday and Joshua Posaner
Germany wants to fight back against a surge in suspicious drone activity over critical infrastructure and military sites in the country by allowing its military to shoot down the unmanned aircraft. The federal Cabinet approved a draft law on Wednesday that will allow Germany’s armed forces, or Bundeswehr, to fire at drones over sensitive sites.

TikTok, 5 other Chinese firms hit by EU privacy complaints
Reuters
Supantha Mukherjee and Foo Yun Chee
TikTok, Shein, Xiaomi and three other Chinese companies were named in a privacy complaint filed on Thursday by Austrian advocacy group Noyb which claimed the firms were unlawfully sending European Union user data to China. Noyb is known for filing complaints against American companies such as Apple, Alphabet and Meta, which has led to several investigations and billions of dollars in fines.

As Macron courts Musk, Paris quits X
POLITICO
Csongor Koromi
The city of Paris has quit the platform X over concerns about disinformation and hate speech. The PR account's exit comes at the same time as French President Emmanuel Macron is pushing for X owner Elon Musk and United States President-elect Donald Trump to attend Paris' flagship artificial intelligence summit next month.

UK

Cambridge leads governmental project to understand impact of smartphones and social media on young people
University of Cambridge
Cambridge researchers are leading the first phase of a new research project that will lay the groundwork for future studies into the impact on children of smartphone and social media use. The work has been commissioned by the UK government’s Department for Science, Innovation and Technology after a review by the UK Chief Medical Officer in 2019 found the evidence base around the links to children’s mental health were insufficient to provide strong conclusions suitable to inform policy.

Artificial Intelligence

Despite tensions, US-China AI research collaborations are alive and well
Rest of World
Khadija Alam
The field of artificial intelligence has long been dominated by the U.S. and Europe. Recently, however, AI research has become more collaborative across countries outside of the West, according to a Rest of World analysis. The findings show that over the past 10 years, AI researchers in non-Western countries are participating in more transnational research collaborations.

US targets China’s answer to OpenAI with trade blacklisting
Financial Times
Eleanor Olcott, Ryan McMorrow and Zijing Wu
Washington has blacklisted Zhipu, China’s most prominent start-up developing large language models for artificial intelligence, as the Biden administration looks to consolidate its legacy of getting tough on Chinese tech. The Beijing-based company was singled out among China’s leading LLM start-ups as it was added on Wednesday to the entity list, a compilation of companies deemed to be of national security concern and subject to trade restrictions.

Events & Podcasts

Safeguarding Australian elections: Addressing AI-enabled disinformation
ASPI
As artificial intelligence advances, it creates new challenges for democracy and electoral integrity. AI-enabled disinformation, deepfakes, and influence operations are increasingly being weaponised to distort political discourse and erode public trust. This event on Thursday 6 February, 5:30-6:30pm, co-hosted by ASPI and CETaS, will focus on the intersection of AI, electoral integrity and democratic resilience.

Jobs

ASPI Deputy Director – Cyber, Technology & Security Program
ASPI
ASPI is seeking a talented leader for the Deputy Director of Cyber, Technology & Security (CTS) Operations. This is an exceptional opportunity to contribute to one of the Indo-Pacific’s leading think tanks, focused on advancing policy and research at the intersection of cyber, technology, and national security. The CTS Program is ASPI’s largest program, and includes ASPI’s China Investigations and Analysis team. The closing date for applications is Friday, 17 January 2025 – an early application is advised as we reserve the right to close the vacancy early if suitable applications are received.

ASPI Analyst – Hybrid Threats – Cyber, Technology & Security Program
ASPI
ASPI is seeking a motivated and detail-oriented individual to join the Cyber, Technology & Security (CTS) program as an Analyst – Hybrid Threats. This role involves contributing to the analysis of hybrid threats and information manipulation, including election integrity, resilience of critical technologies, and cybersecurity. The closing date for applications is Friday, 17 January 2025 – an early application is advised as we reserve the right to close the vacancy early if suitable applications are received.

Quad Fellowship
Quad Fellowship
The Quad Fellowship is an initiative of the governments of Australia, India, Japan, and the United States. Announced by the Quad partners on September 24, 2021, this first-of-its-kind scholarship program is designed to build ties among the next generation of scientists and technologists. The Quad Fellowship is operated in consultation with a non-governmental task force composed of academic, foreign policy, and private sector leaders from each Quad country.

The Daily Cyber & Tech Digest is brought to you by the Cyber, Technology & Security team at ASPI.