Information Policy

China coup rumours leads to arrests, closing of websites

China is closing a dozen websites, penalizing two popular social media sites and detaining six people for circulating rumours of a coup that rattled Beijing in the midst of its worst high-level political crisis in years.

The extensive clampdown, announced late Friday by state media, underscores the authoritarian government's anxieties over a public that is wired to the Internet and eager to discuss political events despite censorship and threats of punishment.

A Xinhua News Agency report said Beijing police questioned and admonished an unspecified number of Internet users and detained six people not further identified. Aside from the 16 websites shut down, two Twitter-like services run by Sina Corporation and Tencent Holdings, which each have more than 300 million users, said they would disable their comment functions for three days in a necessary "concerted cleanup."

Users of the services — the most unfettered media in China — received a notice when they tried to post comments explaining the suspension was due to the many "rumours and such illegal, harmful information." Original postings are still allowed, and some used them to castigate the government.

"Every time you murder free speech, we all take note of your reaction. Your gradual loss of public credibility is the result of such messes," Wang Gongquan, a private equity executive, wrote on his Sina microblog account, which has 1.3 million followers.

Populist Chongqing leader fired two weeks ago

Both the coup rumours and the crackdown show how the firing two weeks ago of Bo Xilai, the populist leader of the mega-city of Chongqing, has brought leadership struggles out of the usually closed confines of elite Communist Party politics and into the public.

Yet to be fully explained, Bo's dismissal came after a top aide fled temporarily to a U.S. consulate, apparently to seek asylum and in violation of party rules. It also came as the senior leadership gears up for a handover of power to a younger generation leaders in the fall, always an a period of intense bargaining.

Politically minded Chinese saw the removal of Bo, considered a contender for a top job only months ago, as a sign of divisive infighting. Speculation about Bo's fate and that of others ricocheted across microblogs and spiraled into talk of troop movements and gunshots around the leadership's Zhongnanhai compound in central Beijing on March 19.

The Internet sites and people punished fabricated and disseminated rumours that "military vehicles are entering Beijing, something is going wrong in Beijing" and similar posts, Xinhua said, citing the State Internet Information Office, an interagency body charged with policing the Internet.

Twitter-like microblogs a challenge for Beijing

Over the past week, President Hu Jintao and other senior leaders have tried to project an image of unity and reassert control over the public message. Censors have furiously blocked and unblocked a range of terms to quell errant microblog chatter; "coup" remained a banned search term Saturday.

"Internet rumours and lies packaged as 'facts' will turn conjecture into 'reality,' stir up trouble online and disturb people's minds," the party's flagship newspaper People's Daily said in a commentary accompanying the announcement of the clampdown. "If allowed to run amok, they will seriously disrupt social order, affect social stability and harm social integrity."

The Twitter-like microblogs, with their huge user numbers and rapid-fire postings, have proved a challenge for Beijing and its Internet monitors. Social media played a role in forcing the government to disclose more information after a crash on the showcase high-speed rail network last summer and to provide more information on the thick air pollution in Beijing and other cities.

A new rule requiring social media users to register accounts under their real names and identity card numbers by the middle of March failed to deter the rumours over Bo or a coup.

Following the detentions, shutdowns and other penalties, Pan Shiyi, a celebrity real estate developer and prolific microblog poster with 9 million followers, questioned Saturday whether the tactics were "the right medicine" to deal with rumours. Pan had not directly posted about a coup but had noted the heavy-handed censorship. To dispel rumours about himself, he said: "I'm not among the six."

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2012/03/31/china-arrests-online-coup-rumour.html

Bahrain International e-Government Forum 2012 to Launch on 8th April

Manama, March 31. (BNA) -- The countdown has begun for the launch of the fifth Bahrain International eGovernment Forum 2012 which will be held from 8th to 11th April, 2012 under the patronage of His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Mubarak Al Khalifa, Deputy Prime Minister, Chairman of the Supreme Committee for Information and Communication Technology.
The Forum is organized by the eGovernment Authority in cooperation with the Bahrain Society of Engineers, Bahrain Internet Society, and the Project Management Institute (Arabian Gulf Chapter).

During the opening ceremony the winners of the eGovernment Excellence Award 2012, shall be announced whereby they will be awarded by His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Mubarak Al Khalifa during the forum ceremony. The Bahrain IT Expo 2012 will also be opened by H.H to reveal the latest advancements in information and communication technology.

More than 22 renowned speakers of specialists in the field of eGovernence and ICT are taking part in the Forum to convey their experience and share knowledge. The speakers are from leading countries in egovernment based on the Readiness report of the United Nations including (South Korea, the United Kingdom, Estonia, Japan, Belgium, Turkey, Poland, the Netherlands, the United States of America, Germany, Colombia), in addition to the participation of international organizations such as the United Nations, the United Nations Development Programme UNDP, and the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers ICANN.

Apart from the forum lectures the workshop events commence on 9th, April with a specialized workshop titled (The Cyber Law & Public Private Partnership) addressing the current information and communication technology laws. Another workshop will also be held in the same day titled (Social Media Hands-on) organized by the Social Networking Club in Bahrain to review the social networking practical skills with the participation of a large number of specialists and officials of e-government. The registeration is open for those wishing to attend.
On the 10th, April a workshop will be held by the Bahrain Internet Society in eContent Management (eContent Management) that will address the latest innovations and methods to develop the econtent in the region.

A workshop in security Digital Forensics Investigations" will be held on 11th, April by the Bahrain Information Technolgy Society to reveal the most security vulnerabilities and violations that may occur from the use of media, information and communication technology as well as methods of securing privacy in light of future innovations.

The organizing Committee of the Forum announced that the door for registration is still open to public and private sectors and individuals who wish to attend and participate to register through the official website of the Bahrain International eGovernment Forum on: www.egovforum.bh.The Bahrain IT Expo doors will be open to the public on the 9th , 11th and 12th April at the Ritz-Carlton hotel


Details on the forum :
The sessions of the Forum shall commence with (eGovernment), which will be moderated by Mr. Richard Kerby Regional Advisor of the United Nations - Department of Economic and Social Affairs. Mr. Talal Abu-Ghazalah, Chairman and CEO of Talal Abu-Ghazalah Group will present the first paper of the Forum on the mechanism of providing better citizens services through the eGovernemnt. Mr. Deoksoo Park Director of Office of Information Strategy MOPAS will talk about the experience of egovernment in Korea. Mr. Matt Poelmans Director of CitizenVision will review the citizen centered eGovernment in the Netherlands. Mr. Hannes Astok, a Senior eGovernment Expert eGovernance Academy will reveal the journey of the Estonia’s eGovernment journey and challenges ahead. Mr. Bill Mgage Advisory Technology Consultant will talk about the United Kingdom’s ICT strategy and delivery of eGovernment services.


International experts from the United Nations will participate in discussing a topic on (Mobility), Mr. Raul Zambrano Global Lead ICT for Development and eGovernance UNDP will talk about the mobile technologies and empowerment, focusing on how to enhance the human development participation and innovation. Mr. Ralph Simon, CEO of Mobilium Global will present a paper on new technologies and future steps in the field of mobile eservices. Mr. Kei Shimada Director of Business Development Future Communications Department at Dentsu will review the Japanese experience in the field of smart thinking. Dr. Julia Glidden Managing Director of 21c Consultancy will talk about the concept of (Internet of Things) and (Open Data) as a gateway to the Smart Cities. Papers will be followed by interactive panel discussion during which discussions will revolve around the working papers at hand.

On the first day of the Forum, the papers will be concluded with a session on (Social Networking) which will be moderated by Professor Peter Bruck, where Mr. Jeff Chertack Managing Director of Ogilvy, will speak on social media as a citizen engagement platform. Mr. Stephane Niango Executive Partner of Gartner Executive Programs will talk about the social media and the technology trends, followed by a panel discussion ending the first day of the Forum.

During the second day of the Forum on April 11th, 2012, the speakers will talk about (eParticipation), the sessions will be moderated Dr. Julia Glidden. Mr. Chris Rourke, Managing Director and Founder of User Vision in United Kingdom, will reveal the experience of creating eGovernment success through usable, citizen-centered services design across channels. Dr. Jeongwoon Yoon Executive Director at the National Information Society Agency in Korea will talk about the strategic approach towards smart society. Dr. Theresa Pardo, Director, Center for Technology in Government Associate Research Professor, Public Administration and Policy at the Albanian University in New York, will talk about creating public value through citizen engagement. Mr. Alex Felsenberg Director Consulting at Babiel will discuss the participation in the political process through listening, collecting, channeling, and reacting. The Founder and CEO of the Turkish egovernment's portal, Mr. R. Erdem Erkul will talk about the experience of eParticipation in Turkey, to be followed by a panel discussion between speakers and participants.

During the second day of the Forum the speakers will also address (eInnovations and Open Data) through various papers presented by a group of experts in the field of innovations and the IT industry. Dr. Gregory G. Curtin, Co-Founder and Managing Director of Civic Resource Group will talk about open data for FAST Government. Mr. Stefan Gehrke, Founding and Managing Director of the Open Data will unveil the experience of open data networks in Germany, while Ms. Minsun Jeong Deputy Director of Office of the Government Organization MOPAS, will address the experience of einnovations in Korea. Mr. Baher Esmat from the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), will tackle the experience of the company in innovation, and Mr. Alex Butler, CEO of KindredHQ.com will show the experience of innovation in the government in terms of the importance of innovative thinking. Finally, Dr. Tomasz Janowski Head of UN University IIST Center for Electronic Governance & Senior Research will talk about the eGovernance for sustainable development, and working papers will be followed by an interactive panel discussion between the audience and speakers.

http://www.bna.bh/portal/en/news/501511

Beijing Arrests 1,000 in Internet Crime Crackdown

Beijing police on Saturday said they have arrested 1,065 suspects and deleted more than 208,000 "harmful" online messages as part of an intensive nationwide crackdown on Internet-related crimes conducted since mid-February.

The operators of more than 3,117 websites have received related warnings, a spokesman from the city police's cybersecurity department said Saturday, adding that 70 Internet companies that defied the warnings have received administrative punishments, including forced closures.

The spokesman said the campaign, dubbed "Spring Breeze," mainly targets the dissemination of information related to smuggling firearms, drugs and toxic chemicals, as well as the sale of human organs, the counterfeiting certificates and invoices and trade in personal information.

The crackdown is meant to address prominent public complaints about Internet-related crimes, the spokesman said, adding that reports about Internet-related crimes have gone down 50 percent since the campaign was launched on Feb. 14.

The spokesman urged Internet users to actively oppose the spread of harmful information.

China has stepped up its efforts to "cleanse" cyberspace over the past few weeks. Beijing police on Friday announced the detention of six people for allegedly fabricating and spreading rumors on the Internet, as well as punishment for websites and social media that carried the rumors.

Sixteen websites were subsequently forced to close, and the country's two largest microblog operators -- Sina Weibo and Tencent -- have suspended commenting functions on their sites from March 31 to April 3.

A Tencent statement said the move was made to prevent illicit information from spreading through microblog posts.

http://english.cri.cn/6909/2012/03/31/1461s690502.htm

Two-Thirds Worldwide Say Media Are Free in Their Countries

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- A median of nearly two-thirds of adults (65%) across 133 countries and areas Gallup surveyed in 2011 say the media in their countries have a lot of freedom, essentially unchanged from the median of 67% found in 2010. These views still vary worldwide, ranging from a low of 23% in Belarus to a high of 97% in Finland.

'Anonymous' Hacking Group Threatens The Internet

by Tom Gjelten

The mysterious group of hackers who go by the name "Anonymous" have threatened to take down the Internet on Saturday. Or not.

The confusion comes from the very nature of the group, which is amorphous and has no identifiable leadership. Several weeks ago, a group identifying itself as Anonymous announced "Operation Global Blackout," the effect of which would be to bring Web surfing to a halt.

Cybersecurity experts doubt the operation would have more than a limited effect, given the layers of protection built into the Internet architecture.

The Anonymous group itself, meanwhile, appeared divided over the plan. A Twitter account normally associated with Anonymous included several statements on Friday denying any effort to shut down the Internet.

"For the billionth time: #Anonymous will not shut down the Internet on 31 March," said one.

"What is this #OperationGlobalBlackout nonsense?" said another. "Stop asking us about it!"

The contradictions highlighted the difficulty of assessing whether a hacking threat should be attributed to Anonymous or to hackers merely posing as Anonymous

"They [may] declare that they're part of this group and then say that they are going to do something serious to the Internet or act out in some other way," said Richard Bejtlich, chief security officer at Mandiant, a computer security firm. "That's what's difficult about being a group that doesn't have any real membership or named leadership."

Looking For Suspicious Activity

Despite the uncertainty around Anonymous' intentions, cybersecurity experts were on the lookout Friday for suspicious hacking activity.

"I take them seriously all the time," said Bejtlich. "They are motivated, and they have skills."

In his past year, hacktivism is on the map in a big way. We see a different threat, a different adversary, and a broader range of attack techniques.

- Bryan Sartin, co-author of a Verizon report on computer hacking

Bejtlich and others were doubtful, however, that any hacktivist group would have much success disrupting Internet operations.

The plan announced by the Anonymous group was to go after the Domain Name System (DNS) that serves as the Internet backbone.

Internet websites are identified by numerical addresses, not names, so when a user types in a website name, the computer has to query a domain name server to find the corresponding Internet address number.

If Anonymous could overload the domain name servers with queries via a Distributed Denial of Service — DDoS — attack, the servers might not be able to respond correctly.

Cybersecurity experts say the number and dispersion of domain name servers would make it virtually impossible for hackers to take down the entire Internet, though they could not rule out the hackers' having a limited impact.

"If they were able to gather a lot of digital firepower and direct a lot of bogus traffic at one part of the DNS infrastructure, [they] could have an effect," said Bejtlich.

Hacktivists Become More Ambitious

Respect for the Anonymous hacking capability has grown significantly in recent months. Once known primarily for largely symbolic actions, such as temporarily taking down the CIA public website, the Anonymous hackers have moved on to more ambitious activity.

In December, the group announced it had managed to gain access to the computer files at Stratfor, a private intelligence firm, stealing credit card data and private emails. It was one of the final intrusions of a banner year for hacktivism.

A recently released study of data breaches by Verizon, the telecommunications company, reported that Anonymous and other hacktivist groups in 2011 accounted for 58 percent of all compromised records reported to investigators that year, a big increase over earlier years.

"In this past year, hacktivism is on the map in a big way," said Bryan Sartin, one of the co-authors of Verizon's Data Breach Investigations Report. "We see a different threat, a different adversary, and a broader range of attack techniques."

Cyber-intrusions by hacktivist groups are easy to distinguish, Sartin said, because the perpetrators, unlike most cybercriminals, are not motivated by a simple desire for financial gain.

"In a hacktivist attack, there are literally hundreds of ways you can hurt the victim," he said, "and in the end that's what hacktivism is about. It's about damaging a brand, it's about retaliation, it's about the public perception that an entity has been hacked. Hacktivism is the place where you see the most complexity, the most innovation and the most ingenuity on the part of the perpetrators."

http://www.npr.org/2012/03/30/149712036/anonymous-hacking-group-threatens-the-internet