Supporters of an open internet were relieved last month when an American candidate defeated a Russian rival to lead the International Telecommunications Union, a significant global standards organization responsible for cross-border communications. But in the meantime, we looked at how vulnerable critical undersea cables are and how fragile the global internet infrastructure is.
Researchers have found evidence that the US's new legal environment for access to abortion is encouraging a culture of community surveillance, a trait of authoritarian states where people are encouraged to report potential wrongdoing. Additionally, there is an increase in surveillance in soccer stadiums all over the world. For the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, eight stadiums will be used, and more than 15,000 cameras will be installed there to monitor spectators and perform biometric scanning.
Rust, a more secure "memory safe" programming language, is gaining traction in the tech sector, raising the prospect of the eventual prevention and eradication of a wide range of widespread vulnerabilities. We've compiled a list of the most critical vulnerabilities that you can—and should!—patch right away in the interim.
There is still more. We highlight the news each week that we didn't cover in-depth ourselves. To read the complete stories, click on the headlines below. and be careful out there. It is now clear that Chinese TikTok employees have access to the data of European users. This week, the company disclosed its intention to update its privacy policy to explicitly include China as one of the nations where employees may access data from users in the European Union, including location information that users choose to share. The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) of the EU is being investigated by Ireland's Data Protection Commission, which has been looking into TikTok's data-transfer policies for a year.
The investigation is a part of heightened scrutiny by Western governments of the video-sharing service, which some US officials have described as posing a threat to national security because of the frequent close ties between Chinese corporations and Beijing's leadership. According to TikTok's announcement, the privacy policy update is intended to "include greater transparency into how we share user information outside of Europe and how we collect user location information." TikTok is owned by China-based ByteDance. The new regulation becomes effective on December 2.
Liz Truss is struggling right now. The Mail on Sunday revealed shortly after her historically brief tenure as UK prime minister that Russian agents had hacked her personal cell phone while she was the country's foreign minister. These Russian agents allegedly had access through the breach to communications between Truss and representatives of other nations, including communications pertaining to Ukraine. The Mail further asserts that Simon Case, the cabinet secretary, and former prime minister Boris Johnson covered up the breach. Officials from the Labor Party are requesting a "urgent investigation" into their Conservative adversaries despite the fact that the breach has not been confirmed.
Labor Party shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper stated last weekend that "there are immensely important national security issues raised by an attack like this by a hostile state, which will have been taken extremely seriously by our intelligence and security agencies." The reasons and methods for the current leak or release of this information raise serious security concerns that need to be looked into right away.
This week, a different business venture of Jack Dorsey is coming under new scrutiny. An investigation by Forbes claims that the Cash app is promoting sex trafficking both domestically and internationally. The investigation discovered widespread use of the Cash App in sex trafficking and other crimes, as evidenced by police reports, "hundreds of court filings," and statements made by former Cash App employees. Block Inc., led by Dorsey, owns the business, which asserts that it "does not tolerate illegal activity on Cash App" and has personnel dedicated to collaborating with law enforcement.
According to Forbes, Block "hasn't provided any tips, ever," despite the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children reporting that competing payment platforms like PayPal regularly tip the organization about possible child abuse made possible by their services.
This week, the US Treasury Department reported that ransomware payments totaling nearly $1.2 billion were processed through US financial institutions in 2021, a 200 percent increase from 2020. The report was released concurrently with a global summit at the White House on ransomware, a type of malware that allows attackers to encrypt a target's files and hold them hostage until the victim pays.
In a statement, Himamauli Das, the acting director of the Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, noted that ransomware, including attacks carried out by parties with ties to Russia, "remains a serious threat." Last month, an American candidate won the presidency of the International Telecommunications Union, a significant global standards body in charge of international communications, to the relief of proponents of an open internet. The American candidate defeated a Russian challenger. But in the interim, we examined the fragility of the global internet infrastructure and the vulnerability of vital undersea cables.
Researchers have discovered proof that the United States' new legal framework for abortion access is fostering a culture of community surveillance, a characteristic of authoritarian states where people are encouraged to report potential wrongdoing. In addition, security has been stepped up in soccer stadiums all over the world. More than 15,000 cameras will be placed throughout the eight stadiums for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. Last month, an American candidate won the presidency of the International Telecommunications Union, a significant global standards body in charge of international communications, to the relief of proponents of an open internet. The American candidate defeated a Russian challenger. But in the interim, we examined the fragility of the global internet infrastructure and the vulnerability of vital undersea cables.
Researchers have discovered proof that the United States' new legal framework for abortion access is fostering a culture of community surveillance, a characteristic of authoritarian states where people are encouraged to report potential wrongdoing. In addition, security has been stepped up in soccer stadiums all over the world. More than 15,000 cameras will be placed throughout the eight stadiums for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. a significant risk to our economic and national security. The number does not account for the costs and other financial repercussions associated with a ransomware attack outside of the payment itself, which is painful enough even with the $1.2 billion in payments.