1.) Australia is all set to implement a new law which allows mobile manufacturers and telecom carriers to provide a backdoor into mobile phones used in the region. Thus, the new law- The Telecommunications and Other Legislation Amendment (Assistance and Access) act of 2018 which came into force in Dec’18 stands as a biggest threat to mobile security by allowing the police and the law enforcement to create an interception in to the encrypted communication made by a citizen, if in case the individual poses as a threat to national security.
The issue is too controversial and might erupt a debate among those concerned about their data privacy soon in Australia. But with the government adamant on what it is doing, it might debar the strong opposition emerging among the populace within no time.
After the mass shooting in San Bernardino in 2016, the US government tried to impose a similar law by making phone manufacturers like Apple to offer a backdoor to their investigations. However, the companies and carriers showed immense reluctance in following the law which made the white house think over its privileges again.
Now, if Australia asks Apple (for instance) to build backdoors for iPhones sold in its region, then the authorities in other countries might also force the company to devise tools to assist in their investigations.
2.) In the second news related to cybersecurity and which is topping the charts on Google, researchers from mobile security provider Lookout have discovered a malware campaign run by a state-funded actor while testing their surveillance tools on WhatsApp messages.
The targeted phone turned out to be one that is being run by a state-funded actor who was in regular interaction with commercial hacking companies in order to implement a malware campaign.
LookOut researchers haven’t revealed the country behind the malware as they fear that the exposure could backfire at them in finding more facts about the malware and the brains behind its circulation.
Andrew Blaich and Michael Flossman were the guys who discovered the upcoming malware campaign and disclosed it to the world at the Shmoocon Security Conference on January 19th, 2019.
3.) The third Cybersecurity news which is trending on Google is related to 2019 National Intelligence Strategy which is meant to guide the national intelligence agency of US for the next 4 years. The newly formulated strategy stresses more surveillance to mitigate cyber threats in time. It also recommends the usage of AI and quantum computing in projects related to intelligence agencies as they tend to offer both quantitative and qualitative analysis to forecast threats.
“As a developed country we must become more responsive, construct and influence partnerships as well as apply the most sophisticated technologies to curb cyber threats”, said Dan Coats, the Director of National Intelligence.
Curtis Dukes, the former Director of the Information Assurance Directorate at the National Security Agency said that new strategy clearly outlines how intelligence leaders believe that cyber threats from adversaries should be dealt on top priority with regards to terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
