Asia Pacific
Singapore Tells Facebook to Correct User’s Post in Test of ‘Fake News’ Laws
The government of Singapore said in a statement that it had issued an order requiring Facebook “to publish a correction notice” on a Nov. 23 post which contained accusations about the arrest of a supposed whistleblower and election rigging. This has raised fresh questions about how the company will adhere to government requests to regulate content. The Asia Internet Coalition, an association of internet and technology companies, called the law the most far-reaching legislation of its kind to date. There is worry that the new law could undermine internet freedoms elsewhere in Southeast Asia. Facebook is also concerned with aspects of the new law which grant broad powers to the Singapore executive branch to compel it to “remove content they deem to be false and to push a government notification to users.”
Tata Communications, Kacific sign global IP connectivity, cyber security deal
Digital infrastructure provider Tata Communications on Thursday said it has entered into an agreement with Kacific Broadband Satellites Group (Kacific) for providing global internet and cyber security services. Tata Communications will provide global internet and cyber security services for Kacific’s Ka-band satellite network. Kacific1 is a High Throughput Satellite (HTS) that will use 56 high-power Ka-band beams to deliver affordable, high-speed broadband to telecommunications companies, internet service providers and governments in South East Asia and the Pacific.
NATO and Australia discuss cyber defence cooperation
On the 29th November The Head of the Emerging Security Challenges Division’s Cyber Defense Section, Christian Liflander, Allies and Australia’s Cyber Ambassador, Dr. Tobias Feakin, exchanged views on the evolving cyber threat landscape and ways of responding to it during a Cyber Defence Committee meeting taking place at NATO Headquarters. Allies recognized the essential role Australia plays in supporting a norms based, predictable and secure cyberspace. During his briefing, Ambassador Feakin elaborated on Australia’s approach to protecting critical technology , its approach to calling out malicious cyber behavior by states as well as capacity building initiatives in the region.
In brief: What’s on at CyberCrime Con 2019 Singapore
On the 29th November 2019, CyberCrime Con 2019 was organised in Singapore. The event’s creators, Group-IB, are cybersecurity experts themselves and they’ve pooled their in-depth knowledge with leading speakers from INTERPOL, Palo Alto Networks, and the Cybersecurity Agency of Singapore, amongst other leaders in the field. The event was divided into two streams: The Strategic Stream & The Technical Stream. In the strategic stream the topics of discussion were on Cybercrime globally, Online Fraud, Role of Law-Enforcement and Cyber Resilience Strategy. The technical stream was more focused on case-studies, artificial intelligence and the use of technology.
Cyber bullying, star suicides: The dark side of South Korea’s K-pop world
The apparent suicide of a second K-pop artist in a month has cast renewed focus in South Korea on vicious personal attacks and cyber bullying of vulnerable young stars, and how it mostly goes unpunished. The police consider cyber violence a serious crime and have an active program educating the public how not to fall prey to online attacks, or to become the perpetrator. Member of parliament Park Sun-sook, a former presidential spokeswoman who first addressed the issue of online attacks in 1998, wants to make it possible for anyone to ask web portals to take down malicious or blatantly false comments.
Africa, Israel and the Middle East
Are retailers geared to face the cyber risk of #BlackFriday?
South Africa is still new to the Black Friday concept, where retailers offer massive discounts on goods and services over the last weekend of November. Expanding into online business models exposes retailers to a host of inherent cyber risks, especially in the context of South Africa having the third highest number of cybercrime victims worldwide, losing around R2.2bn a year in cyber-attacks, according to the South African Banking Risk Information Centre (SABRIC). With online shopping gaining significant traction in South Africa, more consumers are avoiding the crushing queues and shopping madness that comes with Black Friday and opting to do their shopping online, from the comfort of their home. Point-of-sale and ERP systems used in-store to process purchases are equally at risk of a major cyber take-down that could leave retailers unable to process any transactions.
Nigeria: Firms Partner to Enhance Cyber Security
Nigerian cyber security company, Platview Technologies has unveiled its partnership agreement with a United States-registered security company, LinkShadow, to upscale cyber security in Nigeria. The cyber security firm stated that the newly signed partnership between the two organisations would ensure online activities for individuals and corporates are hazard free and secured from various online threats.
Nigeria loses N250b to cyber attacks
The Senate urged the Federal Government of Nigeria to increase budgetary allocation to the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to enhance the nation’s digital economy and cyber security. It also mandated its Committee on ICT and Cybercrime to re-establish engagement with stakeholders in order to ensure a comprehensive and broad-based approach to addressing Nigeria’s digital technology and cyber security crises. The Senate directed the committee to embark on strategic engagements with Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) with a view to ascertaining their ICT shortfalls, cyber security constraints, data management challenges and possible remediation measures.
Israel’s Rafael develops cutting-edge cyber defenses for critical infrastructure
Rafael Advanced Defense Systems has won major cyber defense contracts totaling tens of millions of dollars in Israel and abroad. The company has become a significant cyber player over the past seven years. Clients now include Israel Railways, the Bank of Israel’s National Credit Registry and Israel’s Computer Emergency Response Team center, known as CERT — a civilian center that deals with cyber challenges — in Beersheba. Israel’s rail network is considered critical infrastructure, and Rafael has constructed a Cyber Security Operations Center (CSOS) for Israel Railways to help the organization deal with the more than 10 million monthly cyberattack attempts aimed at gathering critical intelligence and other forms of hacking against the train’s subsystems. Rafael also built defenses for Argentina’s Defense Ministry and military ahead of preparations for the G20 summit held last year in that country.
Japanese Insurer Sompo Partners With Israeli Private Hospital Chain Assuta on Cybersecurity
Japanese insurance company Sompo Holdings Inc., through its subsidiary Sompo Risk Management Inc., has signed an agreement with Israeli private hospital chain Assuta Medical Centers and Tel Aviv-headquartered medical cybersecurity startup Medigate Tech Ltd. to collaborate on developing methodologies for cybersecurity consultation services for hospitals. The collaboration will cover cyber threat assessment for hospitals, the formation of organizational information security policies, providing tools for cyber executives, and increasing awareness.
Leonardo: Middle East Could Take Lead In Cyber Defense
In 2012, the oil company Saudi Aramco suffered a cyber attack that destroyed data and rendered more than 30,000 computers useless. The attack was widely attributed to the Iranian government. Yet countries and companies in the region are not necessarily facing greater challenges than their contemporaries elsewhere in the world, according to at least one company active in cyber security programs in the region.
Europe
EU cyber watchdog launches auto cybersecurity assessment
The European Union Agency for Cybersecurity — ENISA, published on 25 November its new report “Good practices for security of Smart Cars“, targeting car manufacturers, car components suppliers, and policy makers. The report aims to promote cybersecurity for connected and automated cars, or smart cars, by identifying the emerging threats and the potential security measures to mitigate them. It also provides a mapping of existing standardisation to foster harmonisation.
EU unveils new cooperation projects in training, cyber operations, naval warfare
The European Union has unveiled the latest batch of protects under its flagship defence-cooperation scheme, boosting the area of training, cyber cooperations and naval warfare. Currently, there are 47 projects in place under the Permanent Structure Cooperation (PESCO). 13 new projects related to efforts to counter cyber threats were added. EU Cyber Academia and Innovation Hub was envisioned to enhance creation of the innovative web of knowledge for cyber defence and cybersecurity education and training. Another scheme called the Cyber and Information Domain Coordination Centre(CIDCC) to create multinational military elements. The Integrated European Joint Training and simulation Centre (EUROSIM) will integrate tactical training and simulation sites in Europe into a “real-time, networked, connected system.” European Union Network of Diving Centres (EUNDC), will coordinate and enhance the operation of EU diving centres in order to better support defense missions, while the European Patrol Corvette (EPC) will design and develop a prototype for a new class of military ship.
United States, Canada & Mexico
U.S. Cyber Officials Give Holiday Shopping Advice for Consumers
U.S. national-security officials are urging consumers to make smart cybersecurity choices while shopping over the holidays, such as sticking to reputable retailers and changing default passwords on internet-connected toys. The Department of Homeland Security launched a public-awareness campaign Tuesday to share security tips for online shoppers about protecting their financial and personal information.
With U.S. cyber policy, clear lanes still hard to come by
The elevation of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and maturation of U.S. Cyber Command have clarified “big picture” responsibilities for the U.S. government’s digital security mission, but there’s still some confusion when it comes to interacting with the private sector. In the latest sign that the U.S. government still has work to do clearly outlining roles and responsibilities on cyber policy, an FBI official said elements of the government are still having ongoing “conversations” about how best to counter threats to businesses and critical infrastructure. Perhaps nowhere is confusion more apparent than in determining who has responsibility for protecting the private sector. The FBI and DHS can both claim to be the lead agency for companies to contact in the event they’re hit by a cyber attack. Neither would be strictly wrong: DHS might take the lead on incident response duties while FBI would handle any subsequent criminal investigations.
US and Taiwan hold first joint cyber-war exercise
Taiwan’s Cyber Security Agency quotes that the government network receives 30 million attacks a month and half of these are suspected to come from China. In order to estimate the significant risk, the Cyber Offensive and Defensive Exercises(CODE) were officially launched in partnership with United States. This test marks the “new frontier” in cyber cooperation between Washington and Taipei. The Code drills are based on Cyber Storm exercises. This announcement reflects the deepening of US-Taiwan security co-operation and dovetails other efforts under way between the United States and Japan to strengthen cyber-security co-operation.
USA — Iran: Cyber war part of hybrid war
Tensions are runing high again after a lull of several weeks in an open propaganda battle and a psychological war between the United States and its allies, on the one hand, and the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI), on the other.Apparently, the current situation could hardly be described as a lull as Washington, with a dogged consistency, kept reporting about new sanctions against Iran, flavoring the reports with anti-Iranian rhetoric. In Tehran, there appeared an array of anti-American and anti-Israeli sentiments calling for a fight against the enemy. However, passions still fell short of reaching the degree of a “hot” war which was reported in the summer and early autumn.
Latin America
Protecting LatAm businesses navigating today’s perilous digital seas
In Latin America, other risks top the table — largely related to governance and social instability — but awareness of the threat posed by cybercriminals is growing. Insurer Chubb has witnessed an increase in enquiries in the region, not just from within the financial services sector — which experienced several high-profile incidents over the past few years — but increasingly from other industries. According to regional experts from cybersecurity firm Kaspersky, 2020 will see a resurgence in attacks such as targeted ransomware and those focused on supply chains.
