A planned British visit by an Australian parliamentary committee reportedly has been canceled due to differences over Huawei’s role in Britain's 5G network but Britain says the change in plans is because Westminster has yet to establish a counterpart committee. Australia has banned the Chinese company outright and is said to be disappointed by its intelligence partner's decision to allow Huawei limited access. [node:read-more:link]
Christopher Krebs, director of the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, is receptive to concerns that widespread use of Social Security numbers leaves millions of Americans vulnerable to data theft. He suggested during a cybersecurity conference that there are more secure alternatives to the nine-digit identifier. A study five years indicated then that up to 80 per cent of registrants had already been hacked. [node:read-more:link]
A reported 40 per cent of Android device users worldwide are said to be vulnerable to hacking because they are no longer protected by security updates though the Google operating system. Devices from a range of original equipment manufacturers were assessed and the main conclusion was that older models were generally more at risk. [node:read-more:link]
A formal framework for safeguarding 5G telecommunications in the U.S. has been released by the administration. Its seven-page policy document sets out President Donald Trump’s “vision for America to lead the development, deployment, and management of secure and reliable 5G communications infrastructure worldwide, arm-in-arm with closest partners and allies.” [node:read-more:link]
Proposed reforms of federal law governing private sector privacy, ostensibly to give Canadians more control over how companies handle their personal information online, have received a failing grade from Privacy Commissioner Daniel Therrien. He says that the current draft “would be a step back overall because the provisions meant to give individuals more control give them less.” [node:read-more:link]
Concerns about the security of Zoom, the popular videoconferencing app, has prompted the U.S. Department of Defense to declare it off-limits to personnel for any official use. The FBI recently reported that the app had seen an increase in uninvited participants. [node:read-more:link]
The head of the British parliament’s defence committee wants clarification of reports that Republicans in the Senate want a ban on deployment of military aircraft to countries which open their telecom networks to Chinese technologies. Tobias Ellwood has warned his Secretary of State for Defence, Ben Wallace, that “even the airing of such disagreements between us and our closest security ally is unhelpful in a time when global stability is at the lowest it has been for a generation.” [node:read-more:link]
A military intelligence team collected information from individual Canadians’ social media accounts in Ontario, ostensibly to help the Canadian Armed Forces personnel deployed temporarily to long-term care facilities as a COVID-19 response. However, critics, including from within the CAF, are reportedly concerned that the now suspended data-mining was unethical and borderline illegal. [node:read-more:link]
Babel Street, a data analytics company headquartered in Reston, Va., says major Chinese technology and manufacturing concerns not only have links with their government but also help to expand China’s influence into other countries’ manufacturing sectors. Moreover, it says, China and Russia coordinate their investments to avoid conflict. [node:read-more:link]
As the U.S. Navy shifted increasingly to remote work for many personnel early in the COVID-19 pandemic, its chief information says there was a jump in malicious cyber activity. Aaron Weis says it began with basic phishing activity but ramped up to spoofing and outright attacks from ostensibly “trustworthy” sources even after the U.S. deployed countermeasures. [node:read-more:link]
As the U.S. Navy shifted increasingly to remote work for many personnel early in the COVID-19 pandemic, its chief information says there was a jump in malicious cyber activity. Aaron Weis says it began with basic phishing activity but ramped up to spoofing and outright attacks from ostensibly “trustworthy” sources even after the U.S. deployed countermeasures. [node:read-more:link]
Microsoft has again been awarded the U.S. Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure cloud computing contract – but the journey may not be over yet. The latest decision by the Department of Defense follows a 10-month legal battle challenge by Amazon after Microsoft was awarded the original contract. Amazon could continue an outstanding protest before the Court of Federal Claims. [node:read-more:link]
Israel’s military has disclosed that it has foiled a move by Palestinian Hamas militants to hack into Israeli troops’ smartphones. It uncovered the plot several months ago but let it continue under surveillance until they shut it down. Dozens of troops were targeted by Hamas agents posing as young women, enabling them to download malware. [node:read-more:link]
The U.S. has identified four Chinese military officers it has charged with overseeing a massive 2017 cyber attack on Equifax which resulted in the theft of personal data on more than 147 Americans and some foreign nationals listed in the credit-rating agency’s files. The whereabouts of the four suspects is unknown and China denies the allegations. [node:read-more:link]
The U.S. Department of Defense has been blocked by a federal judge from going ahead with a $10-billion contract with Microsoft Corp. to provide cloud-based data storage. The injunction remains in effect until “further notice from the court” due to a legal challenge by Amazon, which argues that the DoD made numerous errors in awarding the contract. It also says President Donald Trump exerted undue influence through his frequent criticism of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. [node:read-more:link]
