UK cyber-boss slams China's bug-hoarding laws

ASIA IN BRIEF The interim CEO of the UK's National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) has criticized China's approach to bug reporting.

In a (paywalled) interview with Japan's Nikkei, NCSC COO and interim CEO Felicity Oswald was asked for her assessment of China's cyber capabilities and potential risks, in the wake of the leak of personal data at the UK's Ministry of Defence.

After first pointing out that UK authorities have not attributed that incident to a Chinese actor, Oswald said "Chinese actors' approach in cyberspace over the last 18 months should worry us all."

She mentioned activities of the Beijing-backed Volt Typhoon gang's attacks as "an extremely worrying escalation of Chinese intent."

"For the UK, there are other worrying indicators of the Chinese approach on cyber though," she added. "We're particularly concerned about the Chinese approach to vulnerabilities under the national security legislation. So anyone in China who finds a vulnerability in software has to report that first to the government. For us, that goes against long-held processes and procedures in the cyber security community where, when you find a vulnerability, they are shared by default for common good."

– Simon Sharwood

AWS shoots down rumors of trouble in China

Amazon Web Services (AWS) China issued a statement last Thursday addressing and denying rumors that the business was in trouble, reported local media.

The cloud giant insisted it has "good growth momentum" in the country – so good that it is "actively recruiting all kinds of talents to meet the growing business needs."

"We will continue to rationally optimize resource allocation based on business development and needs," an AWS spokesperson wrote.

The statement follows an article on Chinese media casting fears of layoffs by alleging AWS faced stiff competition from competitors and was overstaffed.

Japanese scientists spot supernova from the year 1181

Japanese scientists think they've spotted the remnants of a supernova that took place in the year 1181.

The event is known to history: as the University of Tokyo explained, contemporary observers noticed an object as bright as Saturn for around half a year. Using computer modeling and observations, Scientists now believe the incident was the result of two white dwarf stars colliding – an event that usually annihilates both.

In this case, the boffins observed what appears to be the formation of a new white dwarf as matter from the two previous stars coalesces.

– Simon Sharwood

Indian telecoms manufacturing gathers pace

India's government last week reported that its production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme – a program that encourages tech manufacturers to conduct more activities in the country in exchange for rebates once their output accelerates – is going quite well.

So well that three years after it began, total sales of telecom equipment manufacturing by PLI companies exceeded INR 50,000 crore ($60 million). Sales of telecom and networking products by PLI beneficiary companies in FY 2023–24 increased by 370 percent compared to the base year of FY 2019–20.

"By encouraging local production, the PLI scheme has significantly reduced the country's reliance on imported telecom equipment, resulting in import substitution of 60 percent and India has become almost self–reliant in antennae, Gigabit Passive Optical Network and Customer Premises Equipment)," claimed the nation's Ministry of Communications.

A decade after collapsing, crypto exchange Mt Gox repays some investors China warns citizens to stop posting info about spy satellites on social media SoftBank boss says 'artificial superintelligence' could be three years away Japan's space junk cleaner hunts down major target

Singapore stymies Uber-analog Grab buying taxis

The Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore (CCCS) last week described rideshare upstart Grab's planned takeover of Trans-cab as a "detriment to drivers and passengers."

CCCS noted that the acquisition "comes at a time when rival ride-hail platforms are facing driver supply shortages."

The Commission said its decision was not a hard "no" but rather an invitation for the parties to address its concerns within ten working days.

Australia orders review of its govt tech

Australia's Department of Home Affairs issued a series of three directives instructing government entities to review their technology estates.

One directive [PDF] requires the entities to identify indicators of foreign ownership, control or influence related to procurement and maintenance of technology assets.

Another [PDF] requires government bodies "to identify and actively manage the risks associated with vulnerable technologies they manage, including those they manage for other entities," and the third [PDF] requires the sharing of cyber threat information through intelligence sharing platforms.

APAC Dealbook

Recent alliances and deals spotted by The Register across the region last week include:

Samsung's foundry business signed its first deal to make 2 nanometer chips, for Japanese AI company Preferred Networks. Korea's SK Telecom and Singapore's Singtel partnered in an effort to build next generation networks that the pair bill as paving the way for 6G. Infosys announced it inked a five-year deal with European security solution provider Sector Alarm to migrate its Microsoft Dynamics ERP onto the cloud. Volt, the electric vehicle (EV) unit of Singapore-based MNC Keppel, was selected to provide an EV fast charging hub in Singapore it has deemed "the largest deployment of public ultrafast chargers at a single site in Southeast Asia."

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