china (70)

12404151693?profile=RESIZE_400xBritain’s democracy is under threat from Chinese cyber-attacks, this reported as Parliament was informed on 25 March of this warning after the hacking of voter details and the targeting of several China hawks in Parliament has occurred.  The UK’s Deputy Prime Minister, briefed MPs on the cyberthreat from China and is expected to announce reprisals against those believed to be involved, according to government insiders.  He pointed the finger at China over an alleged hacking that hit British vote

12404230869?profile=RESIZE_400xLeaders of South Florida’s Port Everglades and Port Miami have met with US Coast Guard officials to review cybersecurity programs aimed at reducing the possibility that giant Chinese-made cranes operating at the region’s ports and others in the US pose a national security threat. 

In late February, the Biden administration announced it planned to invest billions in the US manufacture of ship-to-shore cranes that transfer millions of tons of cargo annually at major American seaports.  The action

12402260857?profile=RESIZE_400xThe US House of Representatives has passed legislation that could lead to a nationwide ban on the popular video-sharing app TikTok, reigniting debates around data privacy, national security, and the limits of government oversight.  The bipartisan bill, named the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, requires the Chinese company ByteDance to divest its ownership of TikTok.  If it fails to do so, the app would be prohibited from operating in the United States, an

12399706096?profile=RESIZE_400xThe top US intelligence agency has revamped its election security team ahead of the 2024 presidential election, a contest multiple national security leaders have warned could be targeted by foreign adversaries using fast-moving attacks.  Jessica Brandt, who previously held a variety of prominent research roles at Washington think tanks, was appointed the first full-fledged director of the Foreign Malign Influence Center in late 2023.

The hub, part of the Office of the Director of National Intell

12390146467?profile=RESIZE_400xIt is no longer theoretical; the world's major powers are working with large language models to enhance offensive cyber operations.  Advanced persistent threats (APTs) aligned with China, Iran, North Korea, and Russia use large language models (LLMs) to enhance their operations.  New blog posts from OpenAI and Microsoft reveal that five prominent threat actors have used OpenAI software for research, fraud, and other malicious purposes.  After identifying them, OpenAI shuttered all their accounts

12385770266?profile=RESIZE_400xMaria Reznikova and her associates at Maria Concetto Winery are into gadgets.  Their Calistoga tasting room features “levitating” wine bottle holders, spinning top-like decanters, small drones, a 3D wine bottle hologram sign, a karaoke machine and a replica of a 1922 Model T Ford parked out front.  But the most notable is RobinoVino, their wine serving robot sommelier.  Working with an engineering friend, Reznikova commissioned RobinoVino, described as “the world’s first” such robot sommelier. M

12375354497?profile=RESIZE_400xHackers from the People's Republic of China spent up to five years in US networks as part of a cyber operation that targeted US critical infrastructure, law enforcement and international agencies said earlier this week.  "The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), National Security Agency (NSA), and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) assess that People's Republic of China (PRC) state sponsored cyber actors are seeking to preposition themselves on IT networks for disruptive o

12374731694?profile=RESIZE_400xAuthor Mercy Kuo often engages subject-matter experts, policy practitioners, and strategic thinkers across the globe for their diverse insights into US Asia policy.   This article highlights a conversation with Christopher R. O’Dea, adjunct fellow at Hudson Institute and author of the forthcoming book “Ships of State: China’s New Maritime Empire,” is the 400th in “The Trans-Pacific View Insight Series.”

How are China’s shipping companies serving the Chinese state?  Beijing’s state-owned shipping

12373112889?profile=RESIZE_400xFollowing fears that Ford’s electric vehicle supply chain may represent a national security issue, concerned legislators are doubling down by outlining the path battery components are required to take vehicles to get here.  Last week, US Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI) and Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) accused Ford of having plans that required contracting technology and software firms with close ties to both the Chinese and North Korean governments.  Rep. Gallagher heads up the House Select Committe

12369431501?profile=RESIZE_400xThe US FBI and US Department of Justice (DOJ) have used a court order to address vulnerabilities in thousands of internet-connected devices that are at the center of a Chinese hacking campaign.  The campaign is targeting sensitive US critical infrastructure, two US officials and a third source familiar with the matter reported to media.

The move is part of a broader, government-wide effort to blunt the impact of a persistent Chinese hacking effort that US officials fear could hinder any US milit

12368649054?profile=RESIZE_400xA Chinese cyber espionage group targeting organizations and individuals in China and Japan has remained under the radar for roughly five years, cybersecurity firm ESET https://www.eset.com reports.  Researchers have tracked it as Blackwood and active since at least 2018, the Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) actor has been using Adversary-in-the-Middle (AitM) attacks to deploy a sophisticated implant via the update mechanisms of legitimate software such as Sogou Pinyin, Tencent QQ, and WPS Office

12309104701?profile=RESIZE_400xThe UK’s Sellafield nuclear facility has denied reports that its IT networks have been attacked by cyber groups linked to Russia and China.  The Guardian said an investigation into the nuclear site in Cumbria found security breaches, dating back to 2015, which it says were not reported to regulators for “several years.”

The year-long investigation, named ‘Nuclear Leaks,’ said sleeper malware which can be used to spy on or attack systems had been embedded in the networks and could still be there.

12306209278?profile=RESIZE_400xOur friends at SentinelLabs report that Hack-for-Hire threat actors go by many names, such as surveillance-for-hire, mercenaries, private-sector-offensive-actors (PSOAs), and nonstate offensive threat actors.  Such groups represent an exciting challenge for security researchers and network defenders. They should be considered a severe threat to all organizations, worthy of proactive tracking in ongoing intrusions and analysis of historical cases to understand their significant impacts.  Many pub

12283097494?profile=RESIZE_400xAindrea Campbell knows more than most about high-tech production.  In her previous role, she was senior director of iPad operations at Apple, helping to run the sophisticated assembly lines in China that produce tens of millions of tablet computers each year.  As chief operating officer of Agility Robotics, Campbell will oversee the production of pioneering products in the US.  In September, the company announced that its 70,000 sq ft RoboFab, the “world’s first factory” for building humanlike r

12254122652?profile=RESIZE_400xA previously unknown government-backed hacking group is targeting organizations in the manufacturing, IT, and biomedical sectors across Taiwan, Vietnam, the US and an unnamed Pacific island, according to new research from Symantec.

Researchers are tracking the group under the name “Grayling” and said in a report released earlier this week that it is using custom-made malware as well as publicly available tools to attack its targets.  The attacks, which began in February and continued through May

12253859258?profile=RESIZE_400xRed Sky Alliance has long presented evident of China’s modern-day Silk Road initiatives.  Much of the Chinese targets were in Africa; many tying in cyber as the linkage.  Below is a good exposé by Sentinel Labs.  In the evolving cyber threat landscape, it’s always important to constantly challenge our biases.  There are large pockets of important threat activity occurring in regions around the world less commonly addressed in Western threat research.  While much attention has rightfully been dra

12238997683?profile=RESIZE_400xCybersecurity agencies from Japan and the US have warned of attacks mounted by a state-backed hacking group from China to stealthily tamper with branch routers and use them as jumping-off points to access the networks of various companies in the two countries.  The attacks have been tied to a malicious cyber actor dubbed BlackTech by the US National Security Agency (NSA), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), Japan National Police Agency

12224657682?profile=RESIZE_400xHackers attacked the national power grid of an unspecified Asian country earlier this year using malware typically deployed by personnel connected to China’s government, researchers said last week.  Cybersecurity company Symantec declined to attribute the incident to China but pointed to a group it tracks as RedFly.  The group compromised the network for as long as six months, stealing credentials and targeting multiple computers, the researchers said.

The malware, known as ShadowPad, also has b

12224759087?profile=RESIZE_400xRecently, British authorities have arrested a man who reportedly spied for China in their government offices in London, resulting in new fears on how Beijing gathers intelligence today.  The incident follows allegations earlier this year that China flew a surveillance balloon over the United States, causing diplomatic problems.  And the USA failed to shoot down the rogue balloon until it had completely covered the country unmolested.

Here are some of the ways China has worked to spy on the weste

12217926867?profile=RESIZE_400xThe US intelligence community is warning the domestic space industry of the growing risk of espionage and satellite attacks from China, Russia, and other adversaries.  In coordination with the FBI, the National Counterintelligence and Security Center (NCSC), and the Air Force Office of Special Investigations, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence released a warning about the growing threat of foreign intelligence entities (FIEs) as they continue to launch cyberattacks to gain acces