TikTok, China & the New Data Battleground | EMP Threat | What Happened to Malaysia’s Missing Airplane, and more

But one detail in particular stood out to me when the complaint was unsealed. “On or about July 1, 2017,” the complaint reads, “a member of the Conspiracy … contact[ed] the Facebook accounts for three real US organizations to inquire about collaborating with these groups on an anti-President Trump ‘flash mob’ at the White House, which was already being organized by the groups for July 4, 2017.”
According to Mueller’s complaint, the Internet Research Agency spent $80 to buy ads on Facebook to promote the event. The story of that July 4 flash mob in 2017 is a timely warning of just how vulnerable we continue to be to sophisticated foreign machinations as we head into another campaign cycle.

China Has a Plan to Crush the Tibetan Diaspora (Gordon G. Chang. National Interest)
Beijing’s communists demand obedience. They are able to control Tibetans inside their borders today. Tomorrow, with a selection of the next Dalai Lama, they will go after the Tibetans in Dharamshala and elsewhere.

Should Ex-CIA Spies Be Hacking for Enemy States? (David Reaboi, Newsweek)
America’s cyber-warfare capabilities are second to none. Since 9/11, we have spent lavishly on the intelligence infrastructure that enables us to intrude into nearly anyone’s electronic communications, all over the world. While civil libertarians have long warned, correctly, against government surveillance abuses, the military and intelligence communities have nevertheless trained and cultivated thousands of very capable hackers.
But what happens when these hackers leave government service and wage cyber-war in the private sector, on behalf of well-heeled clients? What happens when these frightening powers are put in the service of enemy states that are sponsors of terrorism and extremism—and then target American citizens?
Americans may soon find out.

COVID Multiplying Risks to Critical Infrastructure (Paul F. Roberts, Forbes)
COVID has enhanced countries’ reliance on the Internet and digital technologies, as governments and businesses have become “virtual” by necessity. But that has only highlighted the lack of coordination and cooperation between nations and critical industries, exposing the fragility of the global system and the need for greater resilience.

TikTok, China and the New Data Battleground (Andrew Hutchinson, Social Media Today)
Last week, India took the extraordinary step of banning 59 apps of Chinese origin, including the wildly popular TikTok, as tensions continue to flare between India and China over the disputed Line of Actual Control in Ladakh.
India’s decision to sever potential links to the Chinese Government, via Chinese-originated apps, highlights the rising concerns around data gathering, and how such can be used by foreign governments. And that could become a critical point of debate, as more questions are raised as to how much data is available, and what, potentially, that could mean if it were to be used against us.