The Guardian reports that the UK’s online safety bill has a new amendment stating that articles in breach of an online platform’s terms and conditions cannot be taken down until the publisher has been notified and has received the verdict of any appeal to the platform. The aim of the amendment, which is aimed at tech giants like Facebook and Twitter, is to ensure that content cannot be suddenly banned from a platform without arbitration – as occurred last year, when YouTube banned the digital station TalkRadio from its platform without warning for violating its content guidelines.
The changes were made in response to worries that the original bill’s provisions for removing harmful content gave tech firms too much leeway. Culture secretary Nadine Dorries stated, “We’ve seen tech firms arbitrarily remove legitimate journalism with a complete lack of transparency and this could seriously impact public discourse. These extra protections will stop that from happening.” The bill still maintains that illegal content like terrorism or child abuse can be removed without appeal. The bill is scheduled to return to parliament next week before being implemented next year.
The US Treasury Department yesterday issued a fact sheet on its framework for addressing the cryptocurrency market. The document emphasizes the need to collaborate with international partners to develop standards for digital payment architectures, while also ensuring that “America’s core democratic values are respected.” Objectives include ensuring the safety of the global financial system and its interoperability, and also making it harder to use cryptocurrency for illicit transactions. To facilitate international cooperation, the fact sheet calls for the US “to promote the adoption and implementation of international standards through bilateral and regional engagements.” CoinDesk explains that the document is the Treasury’s first response to President Biden’s recent executive order regarding the regulation of cryptocurrency.
This week the US Office of Government Ethics (OGE) issued a legal advisory notice declaring that federal employees are not allowed to work on policies that impact their cryptocurrency holdings. As CoinDesk explains, the advisory is aimed at the de minimis exemption, which allows the owner of a security of an amount below a certain threshold to work on policy related to that security. The OGE stated that this exemption doesn’t apply to cryptocurrency, even if the holdings in question “constitute securities for purposes of the federal or state securities laws,” and the advisory affects all employees at the White House and federal agencies, including the Federal Reserve and Treasury Department. One exception remains, and it concerns mutual funds: staffers who have invested no more than $50,000 in a mutual fund with exposure to the crypto sector will still be permitted to contribute to crypto-related policies.
As US election officials prepare for the upcoming midterm elections, state officials gathered in the US state of Louisiana for the National Association of Secretaries of State conference, StateScoop reports. Speaking at the conference yesterday, Director of the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) Jen Easterly noted that while ransomware and foreign-backed actors from Russia, China, and North Korea remain “very dynamic and complex cyber threats,” state election officials must also focus on preventing insider threats from employees working in election administration offices. Easterly stated, “If we focus too intently on one set of threats, we are very likely to miss those coming from another direction. Insider threats can do malicious things. They can also pose malicious physical threats.”
Law enforcement officials in states like Michigan and Colorado are currently investigating cases in which election workers gave unauthorized parties access to vote-tabulation devices, servers, and other technology assets containing sensitive voter data. WPLG adds that CISA has been conducting site visits and reviews of security procedures, and other physical assessments for state and local election officials. Kim Wyman, who leads CISA’s election-security efforts, said such data should be treated the way a bank might handle its money: “Be aware of your chain of custody and internal controls. Much like a bank protects money, you never want to have a situation where staff gets in proximity of ballots by themselves.” Recommendations include placing voting-related technology under constant video surveillance or protecting the facilities holding such assets with key-card access.
Chinese Premier stresses data security after breach affected 1bn residents (Business Standard) Rattled at the alleged data leak of nearly 1 billion residents, China premier Li Keqiang has stressed data security, calling on government bodies to 'defend information security', the media reported on Friday.
Tech platforms face UK ban on blocking news providers before appeal (the Guardian) Change to online safety bill will stop sites such as YouTube barring content instantly, following TalkRadio debacle
US Treasury Develops 'Framework' for International Crypto Regulation (CoinDesk) The document is the first publication from the department to stem from President Biden's executive order on digital assets.
Ethics Watchdog Bars US Government Employees From Writing Crypto Policy if Invested (CoinDesk) A new legal advisory from the Office of Government Ethics bars federal workers who own crypto from working on policies that could influence the value of their digital assets.
Election officials face security challenges before midterms (WPLG) Election officials have a long list of challenges as they prepare for the upcoming midterms.
Insider threats a growing concern for election security efforts (StateScoop) Recent breaches of election equipment represent insider threats "in ways we haven’t seen before," said CISA's top election-security official.
Lawmakers amplify calls for federal agencies to increase data privacy after Dobbs decision (Cybersecurity Dive) Seventy-two Democratic members of Congress want the FTC to use its full power to guard patients from data brokers collecting and selling data that could be used to prosecute pregnancy-related crimes.
Cybersecurity for Government Contractors (Bloomberg Government) Learn how the Biden administration cybersecurity CMMC requirements and other cybersecurity requirements for government contractors will change federal business.
China's cyberspace regulator says data export review rules effective Sept. 1 (Reuters) China's cyberspace regulator on Thursday said that rules requiring data exports to undergo security reviews would be effective from Sept. 1, the first time it has given a start date for a new regulatory framework that will affect hundreds, if not thousands, of Chinese companies.
Spanish judge okays probe into Israeli NSO group over Catalan phone tapping (Times of Israel) Catalan separatist party claims more than 60 phones belonging to independence supporters bugged using Pegasus phone hacking software during independence bid in 2017
Irish Facebook Decision Adds Pressure to Reach Transatlantic Data Deal (Wall Street Journal) European Union privacy regulators are reviewing an order that would to block Facebook from sending European user data to the U.S.
'Win before firing a shot:' Top Marine explains why the service is focused on information warfare (Breaking Defense) Gen. David Berger says the past four months of war in Ukraine has been a "fantastic case study" in information warfare.
Maryland National Guard cyber operators hone their skills during exercise (175th Wing) During a recent election, bad actors accessed the public facing website that was tracking Presidential election results and changed the results the public was seeing in real-time, which skewed in
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