Digital Divide: Cyber Alerts Worldwide - January 31, 2017

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Policy

their legislation today could be yours tomorrow

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South Africa’s new Cybercrimes and Cybersecurity Bill is on its way to Parliament; Michalsons law firm is amongst those concerned: “The Cybercrimes and Cybersecurity Bill gives the South African Police and the State Security Agency extensive powers to investigate, search, access, and seize just about anything.” 

 



Draft regulations look to further crackdown on internet freedom in China: “Any overseas connections that are not approved will be blocked. Once the communication is cut off, it is the equivalent of a wall; there will be no holes for VPN to drill through,” reported the Hong Kong Internet Society. 

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Research and Initiatives

making your world a more cybersecure place

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United States-based encrypted email service Lavabit was relaunched last week, offering three levels of security: Trustful, Cautious and Paranoid. In 2013, when faced with a government request for access to Edward Snowden’s account, Lavabit shut down rather than compromise its users’ security. 

 


Indian companies such as Innefu have begun to shift from using human intelligence to using artificial intelligence to analyze data. “Cyber warfare isn’t a movie, it’s happening right now…We lost out on the industrial revolution, we lost out on the defence revolution – let’s not lose out in the cyber revolution,” argued Innefu’s Tarun Wig. 

 



The Canadian Institute for Cybersecurity, a partnership between the University of New Brunswick and IBM, opened last week. The institute will serve as a center for research and to develop cybersecurity professionals. 

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Cyberattacks

the threats we all face

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Indian horse racing website, Racingpulse.in, was recently hacked with the Dharma Ransomware Trojan in an attack that seized all of the website’s files. Website editor Sharan Kumar plans to move the website’s servers, currently located in the United States, elsewhere. 

A December power outage in Ukraine has been determined to be a cyber attack. Hackers worked undetected in power supplier Ukregergo’s IT network for six months before launching an attack considered to be one of the first to affect civilian access to heat and light. 

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Looking Back

a new glimpse at past alerts

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United States-based WhatsApp has denied the security vulnerability reported by Tobias Boelter, but Steffen Tor Jensen of the European-Bahraini Organisation for Human Rights disagrees: “WhatsApp can effectively continue flipping the security keys when devices are offline and re-sending the message, without letting users know of the change [until] after it has been made, providing an extremely insecure platform.” 

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All images credit of BOLDG/Shutterstock.com.

Want more emerging economy cyber alerts? Read on!

• Digital Divide: Emerging Economy Cyber Alerts - January 23, 2017
• Digital Divide: Emerging Economy Cyber Alerts - January 16, 2017
• Digital Divide: Emerging Economy Cyber Alerts - January 9, 2017
   

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SumTips: 4 Countries Concerned with Cybersecurity in 2017

As 2017 begins to take shape, one thing is clear: this year will not be the year of the massive, unexpected data breach. Rather, it very well could be the year of accepting cybersecurity weaknesses and looking to enact much-needed protective measures. In just the past week, four countries worldwide have highlighted areas in need of cyber attention:

• Australia: Intelligence officials fear Australian political party leaders will be the next victims of cyberespionage. Cyber Security Minister Dan Tehan acknowledged, “The use of cyber to maliciously influence the democratic process is a recent development in statecraft and we need the proper protections in place in Australia to prevent it happening here.”

• Canada: increased opposition to pipelines has only heightened the Canadian Security Intelligence Service’s warning to domestic energy companies about the risk of cyber espionage and attacks. “You should expect your networks to be hit if you are involved in any significant financial interactions with certain foreign states,” stated a CSIS briefing.

• India: A turn to digital payments has brought scrutiny to India’s lack of cybersecurity: “While India does have an early warning system and a national computer emergency response team, there is no clear national incident management structure for responding to cyber-security incidents,” reported the Software Alliance (BSA).

• United Kingdom: a shortage of cybersecurity experts has the potential to put businesses in the UK at cyber risk. Reported Mariano Mamertino, “Sadly the supply of skilled workers isn’t keeping up with employer demand, and Britain’s cyber security skills gap, already the second worst in the world, is getting worse. The problem is fast approaching crisis point, and British businesses will inevitably be put at risk if they can’t find the expertise they need to mitigate the threat.”

Know your risks, surf secure and stay Rando!

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Image credit of BOLDG/Shutterstock.com.

Want more SumTips? Read on!

• SumTips: Davos' 2017 Guide to Business Cybersecurity
• SumTips: 7 Ways to #StandWithStreep
• SumTips: 11 Countries Where Journalism Still Threatens Personal Safety

Want SumTips sent to your inbox? Sign up for our weekly newsletter ("Security Tips and News" at bottom of page). 

SumRando Cybersecurity is a Mauritius-based VPN, Web Proxy and Secure Messenger provider. Surf secure and stay Rando!

Bell Media Faces Pushback for Accusing Canadians of ‘Stealing’ U.S. Netflix

Netflix is currently available in areas shown in red and will soon be available in areas shown in orange. Content offered varies from country to country.

Mary Ann Turcke, president of Canada’s Bell Media, recently sought to enlist ordinary people in the fight against using VPNs to access Netflix, but has achieved just the opposite.

Speaking at the Canadian Telecom Summit on June 3, Turcke related a tale of her 15-year-old daughter using a VPN to access U.S. Netflix, which offers more content than the Canadian version.

Her disappointment in anyone who acts as her daughter did was clear: “It has to become socially unacceptable to admit to another human being that you are VPNing into U.S. Netflix. Like throwing garbage out of your car window, you just don’t do it. We have to get engaged and tell people they’re stealing.”

Her comments have certainly gotten people engaged, but the majority of them are simply saying that Turcke is wrong.

Within a day, the Toronto Star reported a social media backlash against Turcke that included comments explaining the average Canadian’s mindset: he feels deserving of Netflix content reserved for US users and is willing to enlist a VPN to pay for what would otherwise be inaccessible.

Dr. Michael Geist, the University of Ottawa’s Canada Research Chair in Internet and E-commerce Law, chimed in to challenge Turcke’s understanding of the law. Users who access Netflix with a VPN may have breached the company’s terms, conditions, and geographic restrictions, but they have not committed theft or any other punishable crime, according to Geist. 25% of Canadian Netflix users have accessed the service with a VPN for this very reason: the only entities that have the power to crack down on VPN usage—Netflix and its content providers—don’t want to. They are willing to turn a blind eye because a paying customer is a paying customer. Furthermore, Netflix is aware its current model doesn't meet customer demand and consequently is working towards global licensing of its content by 2016.

Geist went on to acknowledge that a VPN is much more than a means to watch It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia: “Bell’s emphasis on VPNs also fails to acknowledge that the technology has multiple uses. Privacy protection is among the most important uses, since VPNs allow users to conduct secure communications away from the prying eyes of widespread government surveillance. Bell’s comments may leave some Internet users thinking that VPNs are “socially unacceptable” when precisely the opposite is true.”

When it comes to social acceptability, Turcke has a lot to learn. Feeling threatened by a competitor's success does not give Bell Media the right to attack individuals who are willing to embrace what modern technology has made possible.