Cybersecurity, datasec
& Cybercrime
Startup News Asia’s tech news updates
go out on a wide range of platforms and timeframes
– find your preferred channel here.
Disinfo Docket: Research and reporting on influence operations
- European Parliament website struck by ‘sophisticated’ cyberattack moments after members voted to declare Russia a state sponsor of terrorism
- Interpol seized $130M from cyber-criminals in global ‘HAECHI-III’ operation to crack down on cyber-enabled financial crimes and money laundering
- Cybersecurity & EVs: “If somebody can get into the systems that run public charging infrastructure, then there is potential to inject some sort of malware into the vehicle…”
“Earlier this year, a teenage hacker was able to hack into more than 25 Teslas at once through the automaker’s open-source activity logging tool.”
- Download: Microsoft Digital Defense Report 2022, looking at 5 critical focus areas across nation-state threats, devices and beyond
- UK’s Nat’l Cyber Security Centre launches program to continually scan every internet-connected device hosted in the United Kingdom for vulnerabilities, aiming to identify serious cyber-threats
- At the recent Singapore International Cyber Week 2022, women leaders in cyber discussed the challenges and triumphs of women in the industry, and what they are doing to bridge the gender gap
- Download: Microsoft Digital Defense Report 2022, looking at 5 critical focus areas across nation-state threats, devices and beyond
- Office of the Vanuatu Gov’t CIO confirms Broadband Network compromised in cyber-attack, impacting email, VOIP services and more
“A statement from the [Vanuatu] OGCIO relayed that as a result all the online services such as email, network shares, VoIP services and other government online services offered by the government are currently down. This has paralysed all government ministries and department.”
- Australia: The Smith Family charity becomes the latest cyber-attack victim with near 80K donor details potentially exposed
- State-level hacking: “…defenders will have to contend with masses of nameless civil servants, each specializing in any one particular skillset, managed by a bureaucracy that has matured over the last decade.”
- Australia: “…newly identified information confirms the high-profile hacks of Medibank and Optus represent just a fraction of the confidential Australian records recently stolen by cyber criminals…”
- Australia: New security number to be introduced for all Victorian driver licences after recent cyber-attacks, with near 1 million to be reissued
- Singapore: Digital and Intelligence Service now formally inaugurated, providing a 4th military branch alongside army, air force and navy, unifying cyber and command, control, comm’s, computers and intelligence
“First announced in March, the city-state’s Digital and Intelligence Service (DIS) — a fourth military branch alongside the army, air force and navy — was formally inaugurated Friday in a ceremony presided over by President Halimah Yacob.”
- Japan formally joins NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence, following on from 2021 participation in NATO Locked Shields large-scale cyber-attack war-gaming exercise
- Japan: A podcast-based discussion and analysis of the country’s approaches to cybersecurity, looking at Japan’s cyber capabilities and their impact on national security
- Cyberattack on ALMA observatory in Chile raises concerns about security of space tech, compromising a constellation of 66 radio telescopes worth near $1.4BN
- Australia: Following spate of cyber-attacks, Cyber Security Minister flags a range of reforms to protect personal data, including making it illegal to pay ransoms demanded by hackers
“A day after calling online hackers “scumbags” while announcing a new cyber task force, Ms O’Neil said there were compelling reasons to make it illegal for companies to try to buy their way out of trouble.”
- European Parliament website struck by ‘sophisticated’ cyberattack moments after members voted to declare Russia a state sponsor of terrorism
- UK gov’t departments advised not to connect China-made camera equipment to core networks, and to consider removal ahead of scheduled replacement time frames; and including from non-sensitive locations
- Interpol seized $130M from cyber-criminals in global ‘HAECHI-III’ operation to crack down on cyber-enabled financial crimes and money laundering
“In order to clear themselves of this suspicion, the victims were compelled to transfer their assets/money to a trust account through bank transfers, crypto wallets, gift card codes, or voucher codes,” the Indian Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) disclosed last month.
- China: Huawei’s woes set to grow as Ireland mulls ban on telcos in Ireland using Huawei equipment in their infrastructure networks over concerns networks could be accessed by the Chinese state as a result
- China: Microsoft raises concerns of state-backed hackers using new vulnerability disclosure requirements for military purposes including exploiting zero-day issues before reporting them
- The Guardian on TikTok: “Harvesting data is the norm for social media apps, but the question that many have is where it goes and who has access to it…”
- UK’s Nat’l Cyber Security Centre launches program to continually scan every internet-connected device hosted in the United Kingdom for vulnerabilities, aiming to identify serious cyber-threats
Critical Minerals: Global supply chains and Indo-Pacific geopolitics
Asia’s tech news headlines
Startup News Asia’s other editions go out on a range of platforms and channels, and across a range of timeframes, including:
- Asia’s tech news, daily on Twitter
- SNA, daily on Facebook
- Asia’s tech news, daily on LinkedIn
- Startup News Asia mobile app (daily)
- Weekly Substack email newsletter
- Weekly LinkedIn email newsletter
- Weekly Revue email newsletter
- Weekly on Medium
- Monthly online round-ups
- Quarterly collections online
- Tech news updates on Instagram
We also have updates going out – tech news videos on YouTube, and quarterly tech news reports in hardcopy – on a much less frequent schedule.
