Newly-formed international alliances vow to improve cybersecurity, in moves China sees as affront

The Quad and AUKUS both this month signaled a commitment to digital defenses.

A coalition of four nations — Australia, India, Japan and the U.S. — has committed to promoting cybersecurity standards and practices as one of their chief goals, in one of several recent moves from countries widely viewed as a counter to China in cyberspace and elsewhere.

The group, which calls itself the Quad, held its first in-person gathering on Friday. when President Joe Biden hosted Prime Minister Scott Morrison of Australia, Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India and Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga of Japan at the White House.

“Today, we begin new cooperation in cyberspace and pledge to work together to combat cyber threats, promote resilience and secure our critical infrastructure,” the group said in a joint statement.

The group will hold more meetings between its leaders and collaborate with industry on improving in areas like the development of secure software, and building up cybersecurity workforces, according to a fact sheet.

While the Quad leaders didn’t name China specifically, instead speaking of the need for stability in the Indo-Pacific region, Beijing clearly considers the group an affront.

“A closed, exclusive clique targeting other countries runs counter to the trend of the times and the aspirations of regional countries,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said Friday. “It will find no support and is doomed to fail.”

The Quad meeting came after the earlier September announcement of the creation of AUKUS, a trilateral security agreement between Australia, the U.K. and the U.S.

Like the Quad, AUKUS is focused on more than just cybersecurity, but Biden said on Sept. 14 that cyber would be a point of emphasis. That group, too, is seen as a response to China, and likewise has angered Beijing.

Also Monday, Japan named China, North Korea and Russia as cyber threats for the first time in a draft three-year cybersecurity strategy.

Government

• FBI officials say AI is bolstering adversaries, emphasizing need to focus on cyber basics, patching

• CIA’s Michael Ellis says cyber intelligence is changing how the agency operates

• The G7 tells industry to hurry up and prep for post-quantum encryption

• Jail time for Maine child in 764 marks turning point in federal law enforcement

Technology

• FCC proposes public scorecard to rate telecoms on anti-robocall efforts

• Pegasus, NoviSpy variant spyware found on devices of Serbian activists

• Wyden seeks upgraded NSA security guidance on commercial VPN use

• The Collective Cyber Defense letter wrote your next vendor questionnaire

Threats

• Microsoft discloses two actively exploited zero-days among 974 vulnerabilities

• Russian national extradited to US for alleged involvement in bank-account takeover scheme

• Attackers exploit zero-days in consistently besieged SonicWall product

• Dogged Russia-based botnet dismantled after 23-year run

Policy

• Whistleblower says USPS deploying new, ‘untested’ IT systems governing mail-in ballots

• ‘Watershed 250’ test program in Texas looks to private sector for water cybersecurity help

• Former sexual abuse victims say Grok used their images, videos to train deepfake capabilities

• Cyber threats nudge Trump to sign executive order on foreign equipment in U.S. energy infrastructure