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How Elon Musk’s satellite internet is coming to Ukraine’s defense
FROM THE MEDIA: SpaceX launches satellites, Starlink distributes dishes to help embattled Ukrainians. In a move as rogue-ishly provocative as his moonshot, Elon Musk is inserting himself into the drama of international conflict by bolstering Ukraine’s internet connection to the outside world. On Wednesday, his trucks delivered a second shipment of satellite-based Starlink internet terminals to a battered Ukraine, responding to a plea from the nation’s vice prime minister. His initial shipment arrived on Feb. 28, only four days after Russian forces launched an assault on the nation. His system beams data from space – and so, unlike land-based networks, it is less vulnerable to attack or authoritarian control. Those aspects seem to be angering Russian officials. “This is the West that we should never trust,” responded Dmitry Rogozin, director-general of Russia’s space agency, on a state television channel translated by Katya Pavlushchenko on Twitter. “When Russia implements its highest national interests on the territory of Ukraine, Elon Musk appears with his Starlink which was previously declared as purely civilian.”
READ THE STORY: The Mercury News
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Corporations and Big Tech Find Ways to Help Ukraine
FROM THE MEDIA: For many Ukrainians, staying online has been daunting as Russia attacks telecoms and power supplies, but some people, like Oleg Kutkov, a software and communications engineer, are testing out a new way to stay connected. In a FaceTime interview with VOA Mandarin from Kyiv, Kutkov held up the components of the two-part terminal needed to connect via Starlink, an internet constellation of some 2,000 satellites operated by billionaire Elon Musk's private firm SpaceX, one of a growing number of enterprises supporting Ukraine. The Starlink dish and modem setup is easy to use, according to Kutkov, who is in his mid-30s. "You just place the receptor outside, power on, wait a few minutes, and then you can go online without any additional tuning," he told VOA Mandarin on Monday. Kutkov said, "Our government is communicating with citizens using social (media) channels, and we are getting all the information from them on the internet. Not from TV or radio, but the internet. So [having connectivity] is very important."
READ THE STORY: VOANEWS
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War censorship exposes Putin's leaky internet controls
FROM THE MEDIA: The Kremlin's raft of online censorship measures has exposed serious shortcomings in its efforts to make Russia’s internet a powerful tool of surveillance and social control akin to China's so-called Great Firewall. Long before waging war on Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin was working to make Russia's internet a powerful tool of surveillance and social control akin to China's so-called Great Firewall. So when Western tech companies began cutting ties with Russia following its invasion, Russian investigative journalist Andrei Soldatov was alarmed. He'd spent years exposing Russian censorship and feared that well-intentioned efforts to aid Ukraine would instead help Putin isolate Russians from the free flow of information, aiding the Kremlin's propaganda war. “Look, guys the only space the Russians have to talk about Ukraine. and what is going on in Russia. is Facebook,” Soldatov, now exiled in London. wrote on Facebook in the war's first week. “You cannot just, like, kill our access.”
READ THE STORY: ABCNEWS
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Tesla, Elon Musk Bring Power to Ukraine; Defy Russia, Putin
FROM THE MEDIA: Elon Musk has taken a bold stand when it comes to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Tesla (TSLA) - Get Tesla Inc Report CEO Elon Musk sometimes appears to vacillate between mad genius, impish prankster, and Batman villain. He's a talk first, think about the consequences later Twitter (TWTR) - Get Twitter, Inc. Report presence who has never hesitated to troll people or post things designed to provoke President Joe Biden, the SEC, or anyone else. Musk's motives may be hard to understand -- sometimes it seems like he has a plan and sometimes it seems like he just wants attention -- but he has made his feelings about Russia's invasion of Ukraine very clear. The outspoken CEO has not only used his social media platform to speak out on behalf of the people of Ukraine, he has also supported them in more tangible ways. Musk has sent multiple shipments on Starlink internet stations to help Ukrainians stay in touch with the world. He has also quietly sent some Tesla Powerwalls to Ukraine to help the war-torn country.
READ THE STORY: The Street
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Russia takes Putin’s war into space
FROM THE MEDIA: Vladimir Putin’s war is spreading to space: Dmitry Rogozin, the head of Russia’s space agency Roscosmos, is threatening to strand NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei aboard the International Space Station. The threat to maroon the American — scheduled to touch down in Kazakhstan next month with two Russian cosmonauts aboard a Russian spacecraft — came after President Biden imposed sanctions over Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. Rogozin, a close Putin ally, has also refused to launch a UK satellite company’s payloads, stopped supplying Russian-built rocket engines to US customers and even threatened to cut ties to NASA and disconnect the Russian section from the ISS. Even in the Cold War, peaceful international cooperation was the sacred rule for civilian space programs. Count this as at least one way Putin is worse than than the USSR. Getting Vande Hei will likely be a job for Elon Musk, whose Space X gives NASA an alternative to the Russian spacecraft it formerly relied on exclusively to ferry US astronauts to and from ISS.
READ THE STORY: NYPOST
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China's cyberspace regulator drafts new rules to protect minors
FROM THE MEDIA: Companies engaged in online gaming, livestreaming, audio and video in China should set up a "youth mode" to protect minors, according to draft regulations issued on Monday by the Cyberspace Administration of China. The major platforms should regularly conduct assessments on cyber protection for minors in order to provide a "clean" online environment for them, CAC said, adding that the platforms should also cap daily spending amount for minor users. China's major video streaming platforms Tencent Video (0700.HK) and iQIYI (IQ.O), as well as ByteDance-owned short video platform Douyin have already launched a "youth mode" for minors. Authorities in China have long worried about addiction to gaming and the internet among its young people. Last year, China introduced new rules that limit the amount of time under-18s can spend on video games to three hours a week, a move it said was necessary to combat gaming addiction.
READ THE STORY: Reuters
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China: attacks from US IP addresses hit us, moved on to Russia and Ukraine
FROM THE MEDIA: China's Cyberspace Administration has claimed that "since late February" it has observed continuous attacks on the Chinese internet and local computers by actors who used the resources they co-opted to target Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine. The allegation, the title of which translates as "My country's internet suffers from overseas cyber attacks," was posted last Friday and include a list of IP addresses that the Administration (CAC) claims as the source or target of the attacks. "After analysis, these attack addresses are mainly from the United States. There are more than ten attack addresses from New York State alone, and the peak attack traffic reaches 36Gbit/sec," the CAC asserts. "87 per cent of the attack targets are Russia, and a small number of attack addresses are from Germany, the Netherlands and other countries." The Register has indulged in a spot of WHOIS action and can confirm that the IP addresses indeed appear to be owned or tended by US-based carriers or colocation companies.
READ THE STORY: The Register
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Australia's electricity grid increasingly vulnerable to hackers via solar panels, smart devices
FROM THE MEDIA: The widespread adoption of rooftop solar panels and smart appliances is increasing the risks of cyber attacks on Australia's electricity grid. Russia's invasion of Ukraine has heightened fears Moscow could take the war into cyberspace as it seeks to retaliate against the West over massive and unprecedented economic sanctions. Two of Australia's top cyber security advisors said the electricity networks of Russia's adversaries would be firmly in sight as part of any attack and Australia was not immune. Their comments came amid warnings that Australia's embrace of rooftop solar and technologies that communicate with the grid through the internet could make the country more vulnerable to hackers. One of Australia's leading energy regulators acknowledged the need for electricity networks to boost spending on cyber security to help safeguard the grid. Alastair MacGibbon, the chief strategy officer at consultancy CyberCX and a former cyber security advisor to the federal government, said the risks were growing as the electricity system became more complex.
READ THE STORY: ABC
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‘For the first time in history anyone can join a war’: Volunteers join Russia-Ukraine cyber fight
FROM THE MEDIA: Cyber warfare related to the Ukraine-Russia conflict is surging as digital volunteers from around the world enter the fight. The number of cyberattacks being waged by — and on behalf of — both countries since the outbreak of the war is “staggering,” according to the research arm of Check Point Software Technologies. “For the first time in history anyone can join a war,” said Lotem Finkelstein, head of threat intelligence at Check Point Software. “We’re seeing the entire cyber community involved, where many groups and individuals have taken a side, either Russia or Ukraine.” “It’s a lot of cyber chaos,” he said. In the first three days following the invasion, online attacks against Ukrainian military and governmental sectors increased by 196%, according to Check Point Research (CPR). They also modestly increased against Russian (4%) and Ukrainian (0.2%) organizations, according to the data, while simultaneously falling in most other parts of the world.
READ THE STORY: CNBC
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Supply chain decoupling from Russia, China will lead to disruptive innovations: Taiwan analyst
FROM THE MEDIA: As the international sanctions against Russia expand, a senior market analyst said the West's economic decoupling from Russia, and possible action against China due to its pro-Kremlin lean, will shape a new technological landscape. The world's supply chains will continue to shift away from China and become more resilient in the long term, said Ray Yang, consulting director (楊瑞臨) of the Hsinchu-based Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI). Yang recalled that Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014 set off alarm bells for traders of the most-used semiconductor materials and chemicals, which resulted in them beginning to source the materials elsewhere. However, they still rely on certain raw materials from Russia and Ukraine. The conflict today is serving as a catalyst for a faster shift, Yang observed. World suppliers are speeding up transition and innovation to cut reliance on the materials from the latest conflict zone, such as by seeking new mine grounds or developing new manufacturing skills.
READ THE STORY: Taiwan News
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Foxconn Halts Production As Shenzhen Goes Into Lockdown
FROM THE MEDIA: Foxconn and other manufacturers are suspending operations in the Chinese tech hub of Shenzhen after authorities announced a partial lockdown due to a rise in COVID-19 cases. Businesses providing non-essential services have been ordered to close and everyone in the city of 17 million will be tested for COVID-19 following the reporting of 60 new infections on Sunday. Foxconn is the world’s biggest contract manufacturer of electronics, and the most important supplier to companies including Apple and Samsung. Many Chinese tech giants like Huawei, Tencent, and Oppo are headquartered in Shenzhen, which is situated near the border with Hong Kong. Foxconn says it’s stopping production at its Longhua and Guanlan factories until further notice, Nikkei reports; the Shenzhen base is Foxconn’s second largest in the country. China continues to take a strict approach to limiting the spread of COVID-19. It has reported a total of 4,636 deaths and 115,466 confirmed cases since the beginning of the pandemic. Shanghai, the most populous city in the country and home to major chipmaker SMIC, is also enacting new restrictions from today; buses to other provinces will be suspended and a negative PCR test will be required for anyone attempting to leave or enter the city. 64 new COVID-19 cases were reported in Shanghai on Sunday.
READ THE STORY: Verve Times
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Items of interest
Taiwan rounds up 60 Chinese tech workers on suspicion of poaching tech and people(Article)
FROM THE MEDIA: Taiwan's Ministry of Justice has tasked its Investigation Bureau to conduct a series of raids around the island and hauled in 60 Chinese nationals suspected of lifting trade secrets or poaching talent from China-owned firms. The raids took place on Wednesday March 9, with over 100 investigators dispatched to 14 locations in four Taiwanese cities. Some of the companies searched include Advanced Manufacturing EDA Co., Bouson International, Vimicro, Beijing Yinxing Technology, VeriSilicon, Analogix Semiconductor, Key Technology, and GLC Semiconductor. Additionally, the investigators swept eight illegal companies or research and development centres for offenses like creating fake foreign-funded companies. The Bureau said the efforts circumvent Taiwan's laws, with assistance of local entities or transfers to companies in other regions. Specifically, the firms allegedly disguised and concealed the identity of source funds, maliciously poaching and stealing secrets to gain an economic advantage for China.
READ THE STORY: The Register
China Imposes Lockdown In Shenzhen Till March 20(Video)
FROM THE MEDIA: China has placed about 17 million residents under lockdown, as virus cases doubled nationwide to nearly 3,400 and anxiety mounted over the resilience of its ‘zero-Covid’ approach in the face of the worst outbreak in two years. The southern tech hub of Shenzhen – home to about 13 million people – told all residents to stay at home as it struggles to eradicate an Omicron flare-up linked to the neighboring virus-ravaged city of Hong Kong.
Ukrainian Drone hobbyists join efforts against Russia(Video)
FROM THE MEDIA: In better times, Ukrainian drone enthusiasts flew their gadgets into the sky to photograph weddings, fertilize soybean fields or race other drones for fun. In better times, Ukrainian drone enthusiasts flew their gadgets into the sky to photograph weddings, fertilize soybean fields or race other drones for fun. Now some are risking their lives by forming a volunteer drone force to help their country repel the Russian invasion.
About this Product
These open source products are reviewed from analysts at InfoDom Securities and provide possible context about current media trends in regard to the realm of cyber security. The stories selected cover a broad array of cyber threats and are intended to aid readers in framing key publicly discussed threats and overall situational awareness. InfoDom Securities does not specifically endorse any third-party claims made in their original material or related links on their sites, and the opinions expressed by third parties are theirs alone. Contact InfoDom Securities at dominanceinformation@gmail.com