With cybersecurity experts saying "the internet’s on fire", the federal government is warning all organizations to be on guard against a “critical internet vulnerability” that could be exploited by organized crime. A number of government departments took some services offline over the weekend to assess the threat posed by software used by an estimated two-thirds of web servers worldwide. [node:read-more:link]
The websites of seven Ukrainian government ministries and other services were rendered temporarily unavailable today by what the foreign ministry says was a huge cyberattack. A ministry official said that while it was too early to assign blame, “there is a long record of Russian cyber assaults against Ukraine.” The hackers said in Ukrainian, Russian and Polish that Ukrainians should “be afraid expect the worst.” [node:read-more:link]
Opposition MPs on the House of Commons standing committee on information, privacy and ethics wants Health Minister Yves Duclos and Dr. Theresa Tam, the chief public health officer, to justify the Public Health Agency of Canada’s collection of data from millions of mobile phones to understand travel patterns during the coronavirus. The MPs fear that customers’ privacy could be compromised even though the PHAC is seeking anonymized data. [node:read-more:link]
A Moscow court fined California-based Google the equivalent of US$98.4 million today over the company’s failure to delete locally-banned content. The penalty, based on Google’s revenues, is part of a campaign against large western technology companies, including demands that Russians’ personal data be stored on domestic servers. [node:read-more:link]
Citing national security and foreign policy concerns, the U.S. has added a dozen more Chinese companies to its restricted trade list as well as Japanese, Pakistani and Singaporean companies and the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology. Eight of the Chinese companies allegedly assisted the military's quantum computing efforts and acquired or tried “to acquire U.S. origin-items in support of military applications.” [node:read-more:link]
China Mobile International, a state entity which provides services in Canada in partnership with Telus, is seeking a Federal Court order to stay a federal order to divest its stake in a Canadian subsidiary. The government informed the company last January of a review on security grounds, saying the business could be leveraged by China for foreign interference. After hearing arguments from both sides, FC Chief Justice Paul Crampton said Nov. 24 that he hoped to rule “sooner rather than later.” [node:read-more:link]
An Ontario government employee in Ottawa and a Quebec resident have been criminally charged in connection with a security breach of Ontario’s COVID-19 immunization booking system. The arrests followed several complaints about text messages which sought money from persons trying to book vaccinations. [node:read-more:link]
Former Australian PM Malcolm Turnbull, whose government banned Huawei Technologies from providing equipment for his country’s 5G wireless networks, is urging Canada to follow suit on grounds of national security. “You’re not dealing with a government . . . that pays too much attention to the rule of law,” he said Nov. 21 during a visit to Halifax. The question his government faced was whether it wanted to put its interests “in the hands of a company that absolutely would have to act at the direction of the Chinese government?” [node:read-more:link]
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in late September that a decision on Huawei Technologies’ participation in Canada’s fifth-generation mobile networks could be expected “within the coming weeks.” That a decision could be imminent has prompted security experts to reiterate that the Chinese telecom giant will be excluded on grounds of national security, already the case in its Five Eyes partners: Australia, Britain, New Zealand and the U.S. [node:read-more:link]
Microsoft reports that Nobelium, the Russian-based agency behind last year's SolarWinds cyberattack, has targeted hundreds more companies and organizations. The latest wave this summer targetted “resellers and other technology service providers” of cloud data storage services. [node:read-more:link]
Canada remains under pressure from the U.S. to ban Huawei 5G technology over concerns that it could be used to compromise communications security. Having reviewed the situation for three years, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Sept. 28 that a decision is forthcoming in the “coming weeks.” [node:read-more:link]
A program designed to facilitate online tracking of child abuse has been unveiled by Apple Inc. It would check imagery on a country-by-country basis, subject to local laws but with built-in safeguards to prevent governments from using it for other purposes. [node:read-more:link]
The art of deception and misdirection, particularly in the cyber domain, is being widely practiced and diligently perfected by others. The dangers of social media deception are real, but are we countering? [node:read-more:link]
Zoom Video Communications has agreed to pay $85 million and bolster its security practices to settle a class-action lawsuit claiming it violated users' privacy rights by sharing personal data with several social media companies. Subscribers would be eligible for refunds after a judge signs off on the deal. [node:read-more:link]
A new Android-based malware uses screen recording to log in and steal sensitive information from devices. Dubbed “Vultur” by Dutch security researchers, the malware was disguised as a protective app distributed through Google. [node:read-more:link]
