The social network, which is under fire for enabling manipulation of its platform in the 2016 election, said the new policy would require any messages for candidates or public issues to include the label “political ad” with the name of the person or entity paying for it.

Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg said the change will mean “we will hire thousands of more people” to get the new system in place ahead of US midterm elections in November.

“We’re starting this in the US and expanding to the rest of the world in the coming months,” Zuckerberg said on his Facebook page.

“These steps by themselves won’t stop all people trying to game the system. But they will make it a lot harder for anyone to do what the Russians did during the 2016 election and use fake accounts and pages to run ads.”

A separate Facebook statement said the changes would help improve transparency and accountability of the network around political campaigns.

“We believe that when you visit a page or see an ad on Facebook, it should be clear who it’s coming from,” the statement said.

To get authorized by Facebook, “advertisers will need to confirm their identity and location,” the statement said.

“Advertisers will be prohibited from running political ads — electoral or issue-based — until they are authorized.”

Facebook made the announcement as Zuckerberg prepared to appear before Congress next week to answer questions about the harvesting of personal data on 87 million users by Cambridge Analytica, a British political consultancy working for Donald Trump’s presidential campaign.

The move also comes amid concerns that Russian-sponsored entities delivered Facebook ads designed to create discord and confusion ahead of the election and that firms like Cambridge Analytica created messages based on psychographic profiles gleaned from the platform to influence voters.

Sandberg’s apology

Separately, Facebook chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg offered fresh apologies to users for failing to do enough on privacy and data protection.

“We know that we did not do enough to protect people’s data,” Sandberg told National Public Radio. “I’m really sorry for that. Mark is really sorry for that, and what we’re doing now is taking really firm action.”

Sandberg said Facebook first became aware in 2015 that Cambridge Analytica had obtained user data from a researcher who put up a poll on the social network.

“When we received word that this researcher gave the data to Cambridge Analytica, they assured us it was deleted,” she said.

“We did not follow up and confirm, and that’s on us — and particularly once they were active in the election, we should have done that.”

Sandberg was asked by NBC television’s “Today Show” if other cases of user data misuse could be expected.

“We’re doing an investigation, we’re going to do audits and yes, we think it’s possible, that’s why we’re doing the audit,” she said.

Sandberg said Facebook also should have been more proactive in dealing with Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.

“That was something we should have caught, we should have known about,” she told NPR. “We didn’t. Now we’ve learned.”

The firestorm over the improper data shared has sparked calls for investigations on both sides of the Atlantic.

In Brussels, a European Union spokesman said Facebook confirmed that up to 2.7 million people in the EU may have been affected by the personal data scandal.

“We will study the letter (from Facebook) in more detail, but it is already clear that this will need further follow-up discussions with Facebook,” spokesman Christopher Wigand said.

The free instant messaging application, which lets people exchange messages, photos and videos in groups of up to 5,000 people, has attracted more than 200 million users since its launch in 2013.

Telegram is especially popular among political activists of all stripes, but has also been used by jihadists.

In September 2017 the FSB security service demanded encryption keys, Durov said, prompting a formal complaint when the request was rejected.

Durov wrote last year that the FSB’s demands are “technically impossible to carry out” and violate the Russian Constitution which entitles citizens to privacy of correspondence.

Roskomnadzor’s request is the latest move in a dispute between Telegram and the Russian authorities as Moscow pushes to increase surveillance of internet activities.

Last June, the watchdog threatened to ban the app for failing to provide registration documents. Although Telegram later registered, it stopped short of agreeing to its data storage demands.

Companies on the register must provide the FSB with information on user interactions.

From this year they must also store all the data of Russian users inside the country, according to controversial anti-terror legislation passed in 2016 which was decried by internet companies and the opposition.

The National Center of Incident Readiness and Strategy for Cybersecurity on Tuesday warned all ministries and agencies that the official email addresses of about 2,000 central government employees had been leaked. This development underscored the government’s need to guard against cyber-attacks.

Each year, the Defense Ministry and Self-Defense Forces, which play a key role in national defense, face more than 1 million “attacks,” including those involving spam mail. Attacks utilizing targeted emails containing data-stealing viruses are particularly common, and there have been cases in which emails were sent from false accounts using the names of high-ranking government officials such as Shotaro Yachi, secretary general of the National Security Secretariat.

In the spring of last year, about 20 people in charge of countering cyber-attacks for the Joint Staff Office and Ground, Maritime and Air Self-Defense Forces worked on computers in the basement of the Defense Ministry in Ichigaya, Tokyo.

The cyberdefense staff handled such questions as “I opened a targeted email. What should I do?” and “Something happened with my computer. Where I should look and check the records?”  This was their first training session, in which they competed to quickly and accurately respond to questions created by a private company, with the aim of enhancing the nation’s ability to handle targeted mails and other cyberincidents.

About 110 members of the Cyber Defense Group monitor information and communications networks, but their operations focus on defense. The group was set up in 2014.

A senior Defense Ministry official said, “The group’s training is mostly basic.” The Cyber Defense Group will see its headcount increase to about 150 by the end of this fiscal year, but they still face a personnel shortage.

According to the ministry, about 7,000 people work for North Korea’s cyber unit, while about 1,000 work for Russia’s. The Chinese unit, which handles space, cyberspace and electronic warfare, is said to have about 130,000 staff members.

According to U.S. information security firm FireEye, Inc., Russia, North Korea and China possess advanced cyber capabilities that threaten Japan’s defense.

In a cyber-attack, the attacker delivers new types of malware and other malicious materials, which forces the receiver to hastily analyze the problem and deploy countermeasures. This dynamic overwhelmingly favors the attacker.

North Korea is said to use cyber-attacks as a means of obtaining foreign currency. Cyber-attacks have also been used in live combat situations. When Russia annexed Crimea in southern Ukraine in 2014, it is believed to have utilized cyber and electronic warfare to disrupt Ukrainian operations.

The SDF possesses a degree of knowledge and ability in cyber-offensives. However, due to its defense-oriented posture, it has yet to obtain full offensive capabilities.

Whether Japan moves to acquire cyber-offensive capabilities will likely be a focus in the National Defense Program Guidelines to be devised by the end of this year and the Medium Term Defense Program. The guidelines represent a basic defense policy for a roughly 10-year period.

The Japanese government is also accelerating development of space-related measures along with its cyber-offensive measures.

In addition to information-gathering, satellites are used for such purposes as communications, the Global Positioning System and ballistic missile warning systems for unit operations.

A senior Defense Ministry official said, “If the nation falls into a situation in which a satellite cannot be used, it will fatally impair the operations of the SDF and U.S. military.”

China and Russia are also developing “killer satellites” that attack satellites, and antisatellite weapons that obstruct satellite functions using radio waves. In January 2007, China successfully conducted a test to destroy a satellite with a ballistic missile. However, the Japanese government does not possess the ability to attack satellites and instead prioritizes defensive measures.

In fiscal 2023, the government plans to launch a surveillance system to detect suspicious satellites and other devices in space. This project aims to enable Japanese satellites to avert suspicious satellites and space debris. Should its satellite be destroyed, the government is also considering launching an alternative satellite, and is studying a plan to establish a specialized space unit, though work on this has only just begun.

Modern warfare is expected to include cyber-attacks on command centers, electronic jamming and the destruction of satellites, among other maneuvers.

On March 20, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s Research Commission on National Security drew up a “multidimensional defense concept” in the outline of its proposals for the new National Defense Program Guidelines. This concept also calls for the GSDF, MSDF and ASDF to work closely in the realms of space and cyberspace.

The nation needs to strengthen its ability to respond to a new battlefield.

Whether its pushing down turrets in Riot Games’ League of Legends or gunning down members of an enemy team in Blizzard’s Overwatch, eSports are capturing the hearts of fans across Southeast Asia.

Once considered a weekend hobby for bored teenagers, the thriving competitive video game industry now has 148 million players and will be worth US$905.6 million in 2018, The Straits Times reported, citing ESport research group Newzoo.

The new medium is even beginning to give its traditional cousins a run for their money, with 33 million viewers tuning in to the 2017 League of Legends World Cup, compared to just 20.4 million who watched the NBA finals.

The industry has experienced a whopping 38 per cent year-on-year growth – and according to a December 2016 article in Newzoo, the fastest growing region of all was Southeast Asia.

The region had 9.5 million Esports Enthusiasts in 2016, and this number was expected to double by next year.

The surge in interest in eSports – and its economic potential – have not gone unnoticed.

Gamers will be joining traditional athletes at the 2020 Asian Games in Hangzhou, China and may even be included in the 2024 Olympics in Paris, according to The Straits Times.

In Thailand, plans are underway to open an eSports arena in Bangkok and set up an eSports Academy in June where players can be trained, The Nation reported.

“The Thailand eSports Arena will be a digital-sport battlefield for everyone,” said Jirayod Theppipit, founder and chief executive of Infofed, the company building the arena.

“In 2022, eSports will be a part of the Asian Games. Opening the Thailand eSports Arena will pave way for Thai eSports athletes to take part in such regional and global tournaments,” he said, according to The Nation.

Singapore gaming and e-commerce start-up Garena, now known as Sea, has risen to become the country’s first billion-dollar tech start-up and was recently listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Popular online game League of Legends is among the games offered by the platform.

The island nation will also be hosting the inaugural Asean eSports competition at the Singapore Sports Hub in August this year.

Players themselves also stand to make a killing. For example, top League of Legends player Lee Sang Hyeok, better known as Faker, has raked in over a million dollars in earnings from tournaments, according to Esports Earnings.

Despite the earnings of top gamers, some believe eSports has a long way to go before it gains widespread acceptance and public appeal. The Nation notes that most Thais still feel ambiguous about electronic gaming, though eSports have been official recognised as a form of sport by the Sports Authority of Thailand.

Lester Hio makes a similar observation in his commentary for The Straits Times, suggesting that competitive gamers are still viewed with suspicion in success-oriented Singapore, where many are unwilling to acknowledge eSports as a viable career choice.

Though he notes that a new team, Chaos Theory, offers its players employment contracts, salaries and other perks that often come with a job such as medical benefits and even Central Provident Fund contributions, he asserts that infrastructural support alone will not be enough to change public perceptions.

The key, he suggests, is a complete image overhaul, with players viewing themselves as entertainment figures as well as gamers and behaving in a more professional manner.

“Being a professional gamer is not to sit around and play games all day long – it’s also to work on bettering themselves and the image of the eSports industry that they are helping to grow,” Hio finishes.

The social networking giant said Wednesday the data of up to 87 million people worldwide — including more than 300,000 Australian users — were shared with Cambridge Analytica.

Facebook has been under fire over its handling of users’ personal information after reports the British firm harvested the huge amounts of data as part of its work on Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.

“The investigation will consider whether Facebook has breached the Privacy Act,” acting Privacy Commissioner Angelene Falk said in a statement.

“Given the global nature of this matter, the OAIC (Office of the Australian Information Commissioner) will confer with regulatory authorities internationally.”

Falk said under Australian law, all organisations had to take “reasonable steps” to ensure personal information was being held securely and that customers were notified about the collection and handling of their data.

The bulk of data shared with Cambridge Analytica is from the United States at 81.6 percent, with Australia ranked 10th after countries including the Philippines, Indonesia and India, according to Facebook, which has pledged to give people a clearer picture of how it manages personal information.

Chief executive Mark Zuckerberg is due to testify before the US Congress next week, in what is expected to be multiple congressional hearings over the scandal.

The tech behemoth is also facing probes over the data breach from US consumer protection agency the Federal Trade Commission and from a joint New York-Massachusetts investigation.

The European Union has given Facebook until next week to answer questions over the harvested data, while the London offices of Cambridge Analytica have been searched by Britain’s Information Commissioner.

grk/mp/kaf

Zuckerberg told reporters on a conference call that he accepted responsibility for the hijacking of private user data and other abuses, but when asked if he remained the best person to lead Facebook, he answered “Yes.”

“I think life is about learning from the mistakes and figuring out how to move forward,” he said.

“When you’re building something like Facebook which is unprecedented in the world, there are things that you’re going to mess up. What I think people should hold us accountable for is if we are learning from our mistakes.”

Facebook’s estimate was far higher than news reports suggesting 50 million users may have been affected in the privacy scandal which has roiled the company and sparked questions for the entire internet sector on data protection.

Zuckerberg told reporters on a conference call he accepted responsibility for the failure to protect user data but maintained that he was still the best person to lead the network of two billion users.

“I think life is about learning from the mistakes and figuring out how to move forward,” he said in response to a question on his ability to lead the company.

“When you’re building something like Facebook which is unprecedented in the world, there are things that you’re going to mess up… What I think people should hold us accountable for is if we are learning from our mistakes.”

Zuckerberg said 87 million was a high estimate of those affected by the breach, based on the maximum number of connections to users who downloaded an academic researcher’s quiz that scooped up personal profiles.

“I’m quite confident it will not be more than 87 million, it could well be less,” he said.

To remedy the problem, Zuckerberg said Facebook must “rethink our relationship with people across everything we do” and that it will take a number of years to regain user trust.

The new estimate came as Facebook unveiled clearer terms of service to enable users to better understand data sharing, and as a congressional panel said Zuckerberg would appear next week to address privacy issues.

Facebook has been scrambling for weeks in the face of the disclosures on hijacking of private data by the consulting group working for Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign.

The British firm responded to the Facebook announcement by repeating its claim that it did not use data from the social network in the 2016 election.

“Cambridge Analytica did not use GSR (Global Science Research) Facebook data or any derivatives of this data in the US presidential election,” the company said in a tweet. “Cambridge Analytica licensed data from GSR for 30 million individuals, not 87 million.”

Zuckerberg on the Hill

Facebook’s chief technology officer Mike Schroepfer meanwhile said new privacy tools for users of the huge social network would be in place by next Monday.

“People will also be able to remove apps that they no longer want. As part of this process we will also tell people if their information may have been improperly shared with Cambridge Analytica,” he said in a statement.

Schroepfer’s post was the first to cite the figure of 87 million while noting that most of those affected were in the United States.

Facebook also said its new terms of service would provide clearer information on how data is collected and shared without giving the social network additional rights.

Earlier Wednesday, the House of Representatives’ Energy and Commerce Committee announced what appeared to be the first congressional appearance by Zuckerberg since the scandal broke.

The April 11 hearing will “be an important opportunity to shed light on critical consumer data privacy issues and help all Americans better understand what happens to their personal information online,” said the committee’s Republican chairman Greg Walden and ranking Democrat Frank Pallone in a statement.

The Facebook co-founder is also invited to other hearings amid a broad probe on both sides of the Atlantic.

Deleting Russian ‘trolls’

Zuckerberg told the conference call he was committed to ensuring that Facebook and its partners do a better job of protecting user data, and that it must take a more serious approach after years of being “idealistic” about how the platform is used.

“We didn’t take a broad enough view on what our responsibility is, and that was a huge mistake. It was my mistake.”

He said that while “there are billions of people who love the service,” there is also a potential for abuse and manipulation.

“It’s not enough just to give people a voice,” he said. “We have to make sure people don’t use that voice to hurt people or spread disinformation.”

Late Tuesday, Facebook said it deleted dozens of accounts linked to a Russian-sponsored internet unit which has been accused of spreading propaganda and other divisive content in the United States and elsewhere.

The social networking giant said it revoked the accounts of 70 Facebook and 65 Instagram accounts, and removed 138 Facebook pages controlled by the Russia-based Internet Research Agency (IRA).

The agency has been called a “troll farm” due to its deceptive post aimed at sowing discord and propagating misinformation.

The unit “has repeatedly used complex networks of inauthentic accounts to deceive and manipulate people who use Facebook, including before, during and after the 2016 US presidential elections,” said a statement Facebook chief security officer Alex Stamos.

Among its top findings, the new research study, Cybersecurity: Perceptions & Practices, found that less than half of all organizations were able to detect a major cybersecurity incident within one hour. Even more concerning, less than one-third said that even if they detected a major incident, they would be unable to contain it within an hour, the firm said in a press statement.

The study, conducted by Widmeyer, which surveyed 751 IT decision makers from the U.S., U.K. and Asia/Pacific, also revealed that a majority of organizations are only moderately confident in their ability to protect their companies against hackers.

“Cyber threats continue to grow in volume and intensity. Seemingly every month, another massive security breach dominates the headlines,” said Joanne Wong, Senior Regional Director for Asia Pacific & Japan at LogRhythm. “To combat these threats, organizations need to carefully plan their budgets and strategies, while developing effective programs that tackle specific threats and keep them one step ahead of cyberattackers.”

Many companies are focused on growing their security maturity, and team size is an important indicator. The survey revealed that, on average, companies employ 12 cybersecurity professionals in their organization. However, more than half of the respondents said that they employ 10 or fewer professionals on their teams.

Special threat detection programs are another indicator of security maturity. This study found that most decision makers—more than 70 percent of respondents—have programs in place to detect specific threats, such as ransomware, insider or employee threats, and denial of service attacks. The vast majority of IT decision makers—95 percent—also use security software to prevent and react to threats. And more than a quarter deploy at least 10 security software solutions to manage security threats.

When it comes to confidence levels, about half of security decision makers believe that a determined hacker can still breach their organization. In fact, over one-third reported that their company has experienced a breach in the past year—ranging from 29 percent in the United States to 39 percent in the Asia-Pacific region.

When specifically asked about level of confidence, these decision makers revealed that they have only moderately positive confidence in their cybersecurity measures and abilities—suggesting an attitude that is more hopeful than truly confident.

Similarly, most IT executives—over 60 percent—are only somewhat confident that their security software can detect all major breaches. Likewise, they are only moderately confident that they can protect their companies from hackers.

In addition, the level of confidence in one’s security is also swayed by other variables, such as the implementation of programs that target specific types of threats. For instance, decision makers who did not report having programs to protect against threats such as ransomware, insider threats, and service denial attacks are less confident in their security programs. Unsurprisingly, that same segment reported slower rates of detection, response, and containment.

There are many factors that enable a security team to quickly detect and respond to an incident, including technology, process, programs, and people. When it comes to technology, a strong majority (nearly 80 percent) of IT executives said that a platform for security management, analysis, and response is beneficial—though only about a third rate such a platform as very beneficial. This response may reinforce the notion that true security confidence cannot be created with technology alone.

When asked to consider how their organization is operating from a Threat Lifecycle Management perspective—as an approach that includes discovery, qualification, neutralization and recovery from cyberattacks—IT executives were not overly optimistic. About a third of all respondents reported that they need help at virtually all stages in the TLM framework, especially detecting, investigating, neutralizing, and recovering from cyberthreats.

Security organizations need adequate funding to effectively fight cybercrime. However, the study found that the percentage of resources allocated to cybersecurity from the overall IT budget is often on the low side. Overall, one-third of executives allocate 10 percent or less of their IT budget to security. Regionally, the U.S. had the lowest rate, and Asia-Pacific the highest.

When asked about their comfort level with security funding, 57% of IT executives indicated they are moderately comfortable with their companies’ level of security funding; however, nearly a quarter said they are not comfortable. From a regional perspective, executives in the United States were less likely to think the level of their security funding is appropriate.

Designed by ZBHA Group, a Chinese enterprise engaged in modern security services, the app embraces 16 types of overseas security services for Chinese in the United States, Australia, Cambodia, Israel and New Zealand.

The app, which is available for both Apple and Android phones, involves various functions. Students can reserve regular safety training and professional assistance at an airport, such as baggage claim, check in and pick up or drop off services, especially for those going abroad for the first time who are not familiar with foreign environments.

During students study abroad, the app can provide them with travel guidance and emergency assistance, and be equipped with GPS monitoring by the company to guarantee their safety.

Other services, like guidance at hospitals, luggage storage and legal consultations, also are available as needed.

While the app is free, the services provided are not.

“We hope Chinese students and their parents can enjoy their lives when studying or traveling in foreign countries and return safely to home in China,” said Kong Xianming, chief executive of ZBHA.

For years, China has been the largest source of international students in English-speaking countries, including the United States, Britain, Canada and Australia.

According to the Ministry of Education, the number of Chinese studying abroad in 2017 was over 608,000, an increase of 11.74 percent year-on-year.

As the number of students grows, safety has become a major concern.

In 2016, Chinese embassies and consulates handled more than 100,000 reports from students abroad who felt their security was threatened, almost triple that of the 36,800 in 2015, according to the 2017 Report on the Development of Chinese Students Studying Abroad.

Grim situations also occur, such as befell Zhang Yingying, 26, a visiting scholar from China at the University of Illinois, who was reported missing in June and is believed to have been abducted.

Such concerns include not only personal safety, but also psychological crisis and property security, said Han Xiaogang, Secretary General of China-US Association for Advanced Cultural Exchange.

“Assistance is vital, considering the sudden changes in their studies and living environments,” Han said.

Kuching International Airport (KIA) is going cashless now!

KIA collaborates with Malaysia Airports to launch Cashless in KIA digital platform. Kuching International Airport is the first airport in Malaysia to offer cashless service.

Customers only required to download vcash e-wallet app from DIGI onto their smartphones then they can use the cashless service in retail outlets at KIA.

Malaysia Airport Holdings Bhd (MAHB) Managing Director Mohd Badlisham Ghazali said in his speech that with KIA launching the cashless service, it made KIA the first airport in the country to have cashless service.

He said as more international flights are landing at KIA, the company also realised the importance of online connectivity and decided to implement cashless service in KIA.

“We are very excited. The far-sighted Chief Minister of Sarawak launched the Sarawak Digital Economy Strategy handbook for 2018-2022 to drive the state into digital economy era. This is in line with the transformation that MAHB intends to embark on.”

MAHB works with Digi. Through the vcash e-wallent app, Sarawakians, local and foreign tourists are offered cashless facility.

The collaboration plan also covers high speed wireless network at KIA where air passengers are offered high speed internet network.