Tag:technology

1
New US / Aus cross-border data access regime
2
The AFP and FBI developed ANoM app secretly distributed among criminals used to make over 800 criminal arrests worldwide
3
Australia’s international cyber strategy pivots towards critical technology in neighboring countries
4
Privacy Professionals download COVIDSafe App
5
Forgotten Issues: What Business Continuity Planning in the COVID-19 Era Isn’t Contemplating
6
Not So Zoomy: Use of Videoconferencing Technology “Zoom” on the Rise, but Privacy and Data Security Inadequacies suggest Users should Tread Carefully
7
A JEDI Uses the Force for Knowledge and Defense: The Pentagon awards US$10billion JEDI cloud deal to Microsoft
8
Riding in cars with hackers
9
Hyp3r-misappropriation of data gets Instagram’s attention, but is enough being done?
10
Technology mightier than the Sword: US Military’s Secret Cyber Strike stifles Iranian Forces

New US / Aus cross-border data access regime

By Cameron AbbottWarwick Andersen and Jacqueline Patishman

The Telecommunications Legislations Amendment (International Orders) Bill 2020 has just cleared both houses of parliament. The new bill establishes a reciprocal cross-border data access regime between the United States and Australia which will allow for cross-border communications between foreign governments for national security and law enforcement purposes.

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The AFP and FBI developed ANoM app secretly distributed among criminals used to make over 800 criminal arrests worldwide

By Cameron AbbottWarwick Andersen and Jacqueline Patishman

[Editor: It has been a busy week for all Cyberwatchers, and our blog has been running hot.  This however is our favourite.]

For at least the last three years the Australian Federal Police and the United Stated Federal Bureau of Investigation have been working together to run ‘Operation Ironside’ using an app called ANoM. The app has allowed law enforcement to easily monitor criminal communications and to make over 800 criminal arrests so far.

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Australia’s international cyber strategy pivots towards critical technology in neighboring countries

By Cameron Abbott, Michelle Aggromito, Jacqueline Patishman and Emily Gamaroff

In a bid to maintain stability in the Indo-Pacific region, Australia has pledged $37.5 million to bolster the security and development of critical technology in neighboring countries as part of its updated International Cyber Engagement Strategy. The funding aims to promote the resilience of critical technologies in Southeast Asia and to support Australia’s Pacific neighbours by improving online safety, counter misinformation and to fight cybercrime.

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Privacy Professionals download COVIDSafe App

By Cameron Abbott, Warwick Andersen, Rob Pulham, Michelle Aggromito and Allison Wallace

A number of legal professionals, with significant experience in the field of privacy law, have signed an open letter to encourage individuals to download the Commonwealth Government’s COVIDSafe App.

Among the privacy lawyers are members of K&L Gates own Australian privacy team (and the authors of this blog post) Cameron Abbott, Rob Pulham, Warwick Andersen, Michelle Aggromito and Allison Wallace.

The open letter is signed by members in their personal capacity, and signals that people who care about privacy a lot can still think that supporting the health and economic objectives of the App is more important at this time.

As at the date of this post, more than 5 million people have downloaded the App, with more needed to reach the Commonwealth Government’s target of 40% of the Australian population.

Forgotten Issues: What Business Continuity Planning in the COVID-19 Era Isn’t Contemplating

By Cameron Abbott, Warwick Andersen, and Max Evans

As the world grinds to a halt following the dispersion of COVID-19 and businesses around the globe experience a significant downturn, more and more businesses are turning towards their Business Continuity Plan (BCP) in order to mitigate the potential impacts of this worldwide emergency on business sustainability. However, a key aspect of BCP’s is that they encapsulate the full scale of collateral issues that may arise from such an emergency.

From a technology perspective, BCP’s need to consider access. This issue is twofold: being access to premises in which businesses operate in order to correct system defects and system outages, as well as access to external premises that provide technology services such as data storage or data security services.

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Not So Zoomy: Use of Videoconferencing Technology “Zoom” on the Rise, but Privacy and Data Security Inadequacies suggest Users should Tread Carefully

By Cameron Abbott, Warwick Andersen, Rob Pulham and Max Evans

As the world grinds to a halt following the perpetuation of COVID-19, more and more businesses have turned to remote work arrangements. This has led to a sharp rise in the use of videoconferencing technology Zoom. However, as the Australian Financial Review notes, flawed data security and privacy practices mean that the use of Zoom could be disastrous for corporate and personal privacy.

Concerns surrounding the use of Zoom arose earlier this year, with critical security vulnerabilities enabling hackers to predict Meeting ID’s and therefore join active meetings, and also allowing any website to forcibly join a user to a Zoom call with their video camera activated and without the user’s permission. Whilst a number of these errors were patched up, as the article notes, Zoom refused to disable the ability for hackers to forcibly join to a call anyone visiting a malicious site, raising security red flags and undermining public confidence in Zoom’s attitude towards data security. A strange response given that part of its attraction had been a perceived stronger approach to security.

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A JEDI Uses the Force for Knowledge and Defense: The Pentagon awards US$10billion JEDI cloud deal to Microsoft

By Cameron Abbott and Tan Xin Ya

In October, the US Department of Defence (DoD) awarded the Joint Enterprise Defence Infrastructure (JEDI) contract to Microsoft to overhaul its IT infrastructure – a huge show of confidence in infrastructure as a service (IaaS).

The DoD’s award of the 10-year, $10 billion JEDI contract to Microsoft is an endorsement of the secure nature of Azure, Microsoft’s cloud computing service. Under this deal, Microsoft’s task is to create a globally responsive network and monitor ongoing issues such as bugs and breaches. Part of the deal involves moving sensitive data, including classified mission operations, to Microsoft Azure. The system must be fortified with robust cyber security and encryption as Microsoft bears the important responsibility for the defence of the US.

The DoD’s decision to move to the cloud is a clear signal that IaaS has come of age, considering when such a security sensitive operation is able to use the service.

Riding in cars with hackers

By Cameron Abbott, Michelle Aggromito and Alyssia Totham

Ransom-based hacking techniques have primarily been limited to the intangible. We live in a world where unauthorised access to email accounts, bank accounts, and computer systems that may otherwise be private is no longer uncommon.

In some situations, hackers demand a lump sum in return for reinstating control of the accounts and systems to its owners and managers, and otherwise refusing to pay this ransom can likely leave our information and data at the mercy of hackers.

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Hyp3r-misappropriation of data gets Instagram’s attention, but is enough being done?

By Cameron Abbott, Michelle Aggromito and Alyssia Totham

Until recently, a security vulnerability in the social media platform Instagram, allowed Hyp3r to illicitly harvest millions of Instagram users’ data and track their locations.

In a similar manner to the Cambridge Analytica scandal that plagued Facebook following the 2016 US presidential election, this latest example of Hyp3r’s mass data collection was discovered through a journalistic investigation and was not uncovered by the social media platform.

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Technology mightier than the Sword: US Military’s Secret Cyber Strike stifles Iranian Forces

By Cameron Abbott and Max Evans

Everyone knows the saying “the Pen is mightier than the sword”. The famous saying has been used for centuries to describe the ultimate power of words and communication over forms of violence. However, the rapid implementation and use of technology as a “combat” method doubts whether this saying is correct in a modern technological era, and begs the question as to whether technology is in fact mightier than the sword!

This dilemma is highlighted through the recent cyberstrike conducted by the United States. According to a Report by the Washington Post, in June of this year the Cyber Command of the US Military utilised a technology cyberstrike to target a significant Iranian database in the Persian Gulf. The relevant database was alleged to have been used by the IRGC, Iran’s elite paramilitary force, to damage oil takers and shipping traffic in the Persian Gulf. According to the Pentagon, the operation was in the works for weeks after Iran’s alleged attacks on two US tankers in the Gulf of Oman earlier in June, and following an attack by Iranian forces on an unmanned U.S. Surveillance drone hours earlier, the cyber-strike was immediately given the go-ahead.

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