Burma's Military Seizes Power Then Clamps Down on Internet
On 2 February, the Burmese military launched a coup against the popularly elected government led by the National League for Democracy. The Burmese military, or Tatmadaw in Bamar, had relinquished power to an elected government in 2011. NLD leader and Nobel Laureate, Aung San Suu Kyi, was excluded in the 2011 election, but the NLD has won every successive election, including the most recent in November. The military alleges massive voter fraud in the most recent election as a justification for the coup.
Following the coup, the military restricted internet access, but restrictions have not reduced opposition to the Tatmadaw’s takeover. Burma’s internet was essentially undeveloped before 2011 and played a minimal role in previous mass movements. The internet’s absence probably helped protesters, because the military government could not use the internet to collect information on the opposition.
Although Tatmadaw has returned to power, it does not seem they have learned much about managing the internet. A sophisticated military junta would have established minimal domestic online surveillance, and exploit that information for domestic control. Banning internet access is unlikely to help suppress opposition as much as the Tatmadaw may hope. If the NLD has allowed its non-internet based communications to atrophy counter-coup efforts may not be able to mobilize sufficiently to overcome the Tatmadaw’s power.
China Also Exploited SolarWinds
Reports indicate that Chinese hackers also exploited SolarWinds’ vulnerabilities. Investigators have not yet officially identified responsible parties, but most reliable accounts indicate that Russian hackers were behind the initial attack. Furthermore, investigations reveal that up to 1/3rd of all victims were not using SolarWinds software.
Chinese and Russian hackers could be cooperating or they could have independently found vulnerabilities. Reporting so far indicates the different threat actors used different vectors, which might imply they are not working together. Given the number of Russian and Chinese hacking groups, it would be unsurprising to see two groups independently attacking the same target. Chinese and Russian groups don’t even cooperate amongst themselves, so international cooperation seems unlikely.
India Demands Twitter Censor Protestors
India has turned to online pressure to try to quell mass protests by farmers. India demanded Twitter block several accounts associated with the protests including respected media outlets. Twitter came under attack for the move and reversed the ban, but the Indian government is pressuring Twitter to cooperate.
Governments demanding social media censor opposition is a completely predictable outcome of social media companies’ behavior. Less than two weeks ago I argued social media companies’ reactions to the DC insurrection were inviting other governments to demand censorship. An intellectually coherent distinction exists between what happened in DC on January 6th and what’s happening in India, but until social media companies make that distinction, this will continue to be a problem.
Noteworthy
Indonesia and China Face Off Over Increasing Maritime Intrusions by Wright
Would Real Identities Make Social Media Safer? by Malwarebytes Labs
No, You Are Not Addicted to Your Digital Device by Anderson and Wood
Malvertising: Made in China by Dangu
David Benson is a Professor of Strategy and National Security focusing on cyberstrategy and international relations. You can reach him at dbenson@osiriscodex.com.
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