Cybersec news headlines in Q4 2021
• October, November & December of 2021
• Technology and startup news headlines
• Quick reference for time-poor readers
• One-click access to each article
The fourth quarter 2021 collection is drawn from
Startup News Asia’s daily updates.
October 2021 | November 2021 | December 2021
October 2021 headlines
pwc: Cybersecurity – are you asking the right questions? (pdf)
- ICYMI: UK’s Action Fraud centre for fraud and cyber crime finds £146M lost to crypto fraud since the start of 2021, near 30% more than reported lost in entirety of 2020
- “2020 was a standout year for industrial data extortion. More companies have been affected by cyberattacks in recent months than in the last 15 years combined.”
- Maritime cybersecurity: “No global supply chain is independent of the maritime transportation sector, and most, in fact, are existentially dependent.”
- ICYMI: In August, Microsoft foiled huge DDOS attack on Azure, driven by 70,000 bots spread across Malaysia, Vietnam, Taiwan, Japan, and China, as well as the US
- “…vast majority of the world’s semiconductor companies have glaring security gaps which may have already been exploited by threat actors, according to a new study from BlueVoyant…”
- ICYMI: Microsoft launches Microsoft Security Program for Nonprofits comprising AccountGuard Program, free security assessments, and free training for admins and end-users
2021 State of Privacy and Security Awareness Report
- Singapore: Monetary Authority to launch data sharing platform, COSMIC, in bid to fight money laundering, sharing data with 6 of region’s largest financial institutions
- Singapore: ASEAN-Singapore Cybersecurity Centre of Excellence opens, aiming to help ASEAN member states develop cybersecurity capabilities
- Philippines: A brief interview intro to the Cybersecurity Bureau’s Genalyn Macalinao, Policy Lead creating cybersec plans for the country’s government
- Download: ‘Securing The Digital Economy – Reinventing the Internet for Trust’ from Accenture (pdf)
- Singapore Cybersecurity Strategy 2021 available to download, outlining 3 strategic pillars and 2 ‘foundational enabler’ statements
- Australian Cyber Week 2021 runs from October 25 to 29
Australia’s Offensive Cyber Capabilities (pdf)
- China’s Hikvision camera products found to have issue that ‘permits an attacker to gain full control of the device’, giving the cameras ‘the highest level of critical vulnerability’
- Australia: Gov’t unveils Ransomware Action Plan, in part mandating reporting of incidents and updating legislation to prevent payments
- China’s ZTE Corp partners YesWeHack bug bounty platform to draw in 30K security researchers in bid to further secure ZTE products and discover vulnerabilities
- Women in Cyber: A brief interview intro to COL Vicky Wang, Commander of Singapore’s Cyber Defence Group
- ICYMI: Microsoft, Intel and Goldman Sachs partner for Supply Chain Security work group, focusing on standards in hardware supply chains in bid to pre-empt cyber threats
- Cybersecurity: Australian Federal Police may be set to introduce a ‘more aggressive’ cyber division with legislation passed granting extensive new powers
Accenture: 2021 Cyber Threat Intelligence Report (pdf)
- China: Washington revokes US licence of China Telcom, citing national security concerns, with the firm to cease services in the US within 60 days
- Australia: Introductory webinar for the new Questacon Cyber Ready Program set for tomorrow, October 29th, aiming to improve cybersecurity skills, awareness and job readiness
- Women in Cyber: An interview intro to South Australia’s Paula Oliver, manager of the AustCyber South Australia Node
- Asia’s tech news, issue 092: Indonesian MSME accelerator, India’s EV energy-tech, BollyCoin NFTs, ASEAN cybersec centre…
- 2022 Global Digital Trust Insights available now from pwc, a survey of 3602 business, tech and security execs looking at broad corporate cyber-readiness
ASEAN Cyber Security Threat Assessment 2021 (pdf)
November 2021 headlines
Global Cybersecurity Outlook 2022 / World Economic Forum (pdf)
- ICYMI: Papua New Guinea finance department payment system hit by ransomware in October, with attackers demanding Bitcoin in payment
- Download: October 2021 Global Ransomware Report from BlackFog, a one-page snapshot of key trends
- Surveillance Technology at the Fair: Proliferation of Cyber Capabilities in International Arms Markets’ available to read online or download, via The Atlantic Council
- New Zealand: A brief intro to the 18 Information Security Association awards finalists, working in cyber-related risk insurance, educational games and more
- Australia: NSW Gov’t to establish IDSupport NSW, providing a one-stop shop for victims of identity theft, replacing documents and providing support and counselling
pwc: 2022 Global Cyber Trust Insights (pdf)
- Global Cybercrime Report: Which Countries Are Most At Risk?
- “Vietnam’s draft Decree on Personal Data Protection will force businesses to receive state approval if they want to process sensitive data or transfer data overseas…”
- “The blockchain accounting tech that powers cryptocurrencies could be vulnerable to sophisticated attacks and forged transactions if quantum computing matures faster than efforts to future-proof digital money”
- India: Bihar State Election Commission trials Staqu AI startup’s video analytics with optical character recognition to analyse CCTV feeds at counting booths during local elections
- ICYMI: Facebook to shut down decade-old facial recognition system, deleting the face-scan data of more than one billion users
- ICYMI: Papua New Guinea finance department payment system hit by ransomware in October, with attackers demanding Bitcoin in payment
Trend Micro: Security predictions for 2022 (pdf)
- ICYMI: Kazakhstan gains access to Facebook’s internal content-reporting system, allowing the Kazakh gov’t to remove content it deems ‘harmful’
- Singapore’s Horangi cloud-focused cybersecurity firm partners Huawei Cloud for security solutions for organisations across 10 countries in Asia Pacific
- China’s Binance Smart Chain invests in Project Galaxy, blockchain platform focusing on verified credentials to prevent false identities and qualifications in education and employment
KPMG: Cyber security considerations for 2022 (pdf)
December 2021 headlines
Sharp Power Research Portal / Recognizing patterns of authoritarian influence
- Nation-states and the cyber realm: “The fear is that without accepted norms in cyber-space – something most experts believe is a pipe dream – kinetic escalation is inevitable.”
- ICYMI: US and UK send cyberwarfare teams to Ukraine amid concerns over likelihood of Russian cyberattacks on electrical grid, banking system and critical infrastructure
- “In the era of cyber operations, from influence campaigns to the destruction of critical civilian infrastructure, are international laws governing self-defence and armed conflict sufficient?”
- “In the era of cyber operations, from influence campaigns to the destruction of critical civilian infrastructure, are international laws governing self-defence and armed conflict sufficient?”
- New Zealand: Onwardly cybersecurity startup raises NZ$1M focusing on cybersec self-assessment and compliance for small businesses
UN cybercrime debate enters a new phase (pdf)
- Philippines: SlashNext cybersecurity firm secures $26M with focus on prevention of phishing, the top – and multi-billion-dollar – threat to organizations and consumers
- ICYMI: A look at 5G-focused Sempre, aiming for a more secure, smarter alternative to traditional cell towers, adding edge computing and making cell towers more resilient to attacks
- “…57% of all attacks on retail websites in 2021 were by bots, compared to 33% for all other industries…1/3 of log-in attempts on retail eCommerce sites are account takeover attempts…”
- Nation-states and the cyber realm: “The fear is that without accepted norms in cyber-space – something most experts believe is a pipe dream – kinetic escalation is inevitable.”
KPMG: 2022 Cyber Security Considerations (pdf)
- Philippines: Dep’t of Info and Comms Tech and Huawei Philippines complete Emerging Technologies Workshop series for 700 government employees
- Australia: Gov’t Digital Transformation Agency has been trialling digital ID age verification for online alcohol purchases, with tech potentially later applied to gambling, gaming and more
- Australia: NSW government earmarks $8.9M to work on personalised digital wallet to allow citizens to prove identity and share decentralised, verifiable credentials
- Asia’s tech news, issue 123: Australia’s proposed trolling laws, Dragons of Asia advertising/marketing awards, tiny guest houses land funding, SenseTime IPO uncertainty, Sempre’s secure cell tower tech…
World Economic Forum: Global Cybersecurity Outlook 2022 (pdf)
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