Archive for June, 2018

Quantum Computing Will Scramble Cyber Warfare, Hayden Says

From: The Wall Street Journal | The Morning Download

By Steve Rosenbush

Good morning, CIOs. Retired Air Force General Michael Hayden, a former director of the NSA and CIA, says the development of hyper-powerful quantum computing technology will remake the dynamic of cyber warfare. For companies that daily face attacks by nation-state actors, that is a sobering message. He sat down with Jennifer Strong of WSJ Podcasts to talk about the future of cyber warfare (more on that below), and likened quantum to previous revolutions in battlefield technology. Highlights:

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New federal cyber strategy skirts questions of security vs. privacy

From: CBC News | Analysis

Strategy called vague, ‘disappointing’

Murray Brewster · CBC News

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The strategy warns of the need for better encryption to safeguard data — particularly against the lightning advances of quantum computing.

But it also places an extraordinary emphasis on increased national security and combating an explosion in cyber crime, which often stymies authorities by exploiting some of the best encryption available.

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Vietnam’s new cyber security law draws concern for restricting free speech

From: TechCrunch

Jon Russell

Big tech firms including Google,  Facebook and Twitter have expressed major concern after Vietnam’s government passed a law that promises to introduce tighter restrictions on free speech online.

The new regulation passed this week strengthens the government’s position on censoring the internet, drawing Amnesty International to decry that it leaves “no safe place for people to speak freely” in Vietnam. Asia Internet Coalition (AIC) — a group that represents Facebook, Google, Twitter, LinkedIn, Line and others — furthered cautioned that it would harm the development of the country’s digital economy.

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Revisions to Thai Cybersecurity Bill Revealed

From: Lexology

Dhiraphol SuwanprateepPattaraphan PaiboonKritiyanee Buranatrevedhya and Chanaporn Anurukwongkul | Baker McKenzie

After the Cybersecurity Bill (Bill) was approved “in principle” by the Cabinet in 2015, the Bill was revised by the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society (MDES) and presented for public hearing in March 2018. The Bill provides criteria for maintaining national security, military security, domestic peace, and economic security in the cyber environment, establishes the National Cybersecurity Committee (NCSC) to deal with cyber attacks in Thailand, and prescribes penalties for non-compliance.

The National Cyber Security Centre takes a co-ordinated approach

From: Government Europa

At March 2018’s SCTX event, held in London, UK, Government Europaheard Hans de Vries, Head of the National Cyber Security Centre, the Netherlands, talk about the cyber threat to government agencies.

Following publication of 2018’s National Strategic Assessment (NSA) of Serious and Organised Crime by the National Crime Agency (NCA), the scale of cyber-crime in the UK is still reported to be rising, both in terms of scale and complexity. However, under-reporting of data breaches means that such assessments are unable to provide an accurate image as to the true scale of the problem.

How Japan’s New Cybersecurity Strategy Will Bring the Country Up to Par With the Rest of the World

From: Council on Foreign Relations

Corporate data shows that Japanese companies lag behind their U.S. and European counterparts when it comes to cybersecurity. The government’s new cybersecurity strategy aims to change that. 

Mihoko Matsubara is an adjunct fellow at the Pacific Forum

Japan’s government recently launched an outline of its next cybersecurity strategy (in Japanese). The document is meant to both signal Japan’s cybersecurity priorities and solicit feedback from industry and civil society prior to the strategy’s release this summer. The government has updated its strategy every few years since the first one was released in 2013. The new strategy aims to improve the cybersecurity of Japanese critical infrastructure and encourage Japanese business to pursue cybersecurity best practices, both of which will help Japan’s economic growth and innovation.