CYBERSECURITY
“The World Economic Forum (WEF) released a report about blockchain cybersecurity on April 5. The report points out that most data breaches do not result from the level of skill of the hackers, but instead happen because appropriate security measures often are not implemented. The WEF further claims that while attackers do compromise blockchains themselves, they much more often try to exploit or compromise their deployment…” https://cointelegraph.com/news/world-economic-forum-releases-report-about-blockchain-cybersecurity
“US Department of Homeland Security and FBI officials are warning industry about what they say are new Trojan malware variants that North Korean-government-backed hackers have deployed as part of their global operations..” https://www.cyberscoop.com/north-korea-malware-lazarus-group-dhs/
“A hacker group has breached several FBI-affiliated websites and uploaded their contents to the web, including dozens of files containing the personal information of thousands of federal agents and law enforcement officers, TechCrunch has learned..” https://techcrunch.com/2019/04/12/police-data-hack/
“The Saudi National Cybersecurity Authority signed in Riyadh on Friday a memorandum of intent with the World Economic Forum (WEF), reported the Saudi Press Agency. The agreement will focus on exploring opportunities for cooperation, in order to bolster cybersecurity, build cyberspace, identify potential cooperation opportunities in related projects and initiatives and to protect against cyber threats…” https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/1676461/saudi-national-cybersecurity-authority-inks-cooperation-deal-world-economic
DATA GOVERNANCE
“The United States and the European Union (EU) should make greater efforts to cooperate in developing policies and solutions to challenges posed by technology and the digital world – particularly around data privacy and censorship – according to European Commissioner for Justice, Consumers, and Gender Equality”. https://www.meritalk.com/articles/ec-commissioner-urges-more-eu-u-s-work-on-data-privacy-policy/
“The European Union’s data protection supervisor said on Monday it is investigating whether products provided by software giant Microsoft to EU institutions comply with its new data protection rules.”
https://www.voanews.com/a/european-data-supervisor-investigates-microsoft-software-used-by-eu/4866558.html
CYBER GEOPOLITICS
“U.S. submarine cable company SubCom said on Thursday it would lay an internet link from Australia to Hong Kong through Papua New Guinea, deepening its involvement in a region where China’s Huawei Technologies Co Ltd has sought to expand..” https://www.reuters.com/article/us-australia-china-cable/u-s-firms-plan-for-australia-china-internet-cable-leaves-huawei-trailing-idUSKCN1RM0JL
“Russian lawmakers on Thursday voted on draft legislation to defend against foreign internet interference that critics say could disrupt Russia’s Internet and be used as a tool on censorship. The government said that the bill, which will enable Russia’s internet service to be blocked from the rest of the world, is all in the name of improving cyber-security…” https://data-economy.com/russian-government-passes-controversial-internet-restricting-bill/
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
“According to Zion Market Research, the global artificial intelligence in military market was valued at approximately USD 4,800 million in 2018 and is expected to generate around USD 16,300 million by 2026, at a CAGR of around 14.5% between 2019 and 2026…” https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2019/04/11/1802447/0/en/Global-Artificial-Intelligence-in-Military-Market-Will-Reach-USD-16-300-Million-By-2026-Zion-Market-Research.html
NET NEUTRALITY
“The House Commerce Committee yesterday approved the “Save the Internet Act” in a 30-22 party-line vote, potentially setting up a vote of the full House next week. The bill is short and simple—it would fully reinstate the rules implemented by the Federal Communications Commission under then-Chairman Tom Wheeler in 2015, reversing the repeal led by FCC Chairman Ajit Pai in 2017..”
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2019/04/house-democrats-refuse-to-weaken-net-neutrality-bill-defeat-gop-amendments/
CONTENT POLICY
“Facebook says it’s rolling out a wide range of updates aimed at combating the spread of false and harmful information on the social media site. The updates will limit the visibility of links found to be significantly more prominent on Facebook than across the web as a whole. Facebook is calling this a “click-gap” signal.” https://www.cbsnews.com/news/facebook-to-combat-false-and-harmful-info-with-new-features/?ftag=CNM-00-10aab7e&linkId=65945577
DIGITAL STANDARDS
“The United States of America has proposed to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) adoption of the ATSC 3.0 digital broadcast standard for use by all countries in the world. The proposal is the first major step in the evaluation process for worldwide acceptance of the standard.”
https://www.apnews.com/Business%20Wire/c1156c46423d4eff9229a44393192338
Internet Governance updates 