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In May, the Trump administration seized a 250-ton, $3 million Chinese high-voltage transformer that was on its way to Colorado. The manufacturer of the high-voltage 500,000-pound transformer was Chinese company JiangSu HuaPeng Transformer Co., Ltd., or JSHP, which shipped the transformer from Shanghai to the Port of Houston in August 2019. JSHP’s North American representative Jim Cai told Motherboard his company planned to spend a couple of hundred thousand dollars to transport the high-grade steel using a particular kind of railroad car to WAPA’s Ault substation in Colorado, where JSHP would then install it. Like all electric substations, the Ault...

The annual conference is hosted by Great Wall Club (GWC), a group comprised of executives from Chinese companies such as Tencent and their Silicon Valley counterparts. This collaboration, however, poses a national security threat and runs the risk of intellectual property theft and espionage per the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Tencent, for example, has been characterized by the U.S. State Department as a “tool of the Chinese government” with “no meaningful ability to tell the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) ‘no’ if officials decide to ask for their assistance,”and is among the bevy of Chinese companies banned or on track...

U.S. national security advisor Robert O’Brien recently sought to shut down debate about whether China tech giant Huawei installs “backdoors” in its gear. “We have evidence,” O’Brien announced on February 11, 2020, that wireless networks around the world have been compromised with access points that Beijing mandates. Well known are the concerns this raises for sensitive public and private sector data. Less understood is just how comprehensive Beijing’s strategy is—and how extensive its reach. WE SAY BACKDOORS, BEIJING SAYS RESERVED INTERFACES The CPC is using internal government directives to mandate that Peoples Republic of China (PRC) manufacturers of information and...

The Trump administration on Wednesday imposed new visa restrictions on employees of Chinese state-controlled tech firms, including tech giant Huawei, which the United States accuses of serving as a spy tool for the communist regime. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced the restrictions would impact employees of Chinese technology firms that "provide material support to regimes engaging in human rights abuses globally." The measure will prevent certain employees of the company from traveling to the United States. "Telecommunications companies around the world should consider themselves on notice: If they are doing business with Huawei, they are doing business with human...

Evina, a French cybersecurity firm, disclosed this news in recent weeks, with its report that a single threat group developed the batch of apps that were made to look like everything from wallpaper and flashlight apps to mobile games. However, all the apps had the same goal, as Evina explains in its report of the fraud. “When an application is launched on your phone, the malware queries the application name,” the company explains. “If it is a Facebook application, the malware will launch a browser that loads Facebook at the same time. The browser is displayed in the foreground which...

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Hackers are trying to infect organizations throughout the world with a popular strain of malware by sending emails that appear to be from an Egyptian oil company. In research published Tuesday, Romanian antivirus company BitDefender noted a surge in attempted phishing attacks that try to trick users into downloading malware by masquerading as Enppi, an oil company owned by the Egyptian government. The malware, known as Agent Tesla, is a spyware tool which enables hackers to monitor keystrokes, steal data about file downloads and collect username and password credentials from internet browsers, among other capabilities. The number of attacks spiked...

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration has temporarily shelved a proposed rule change that would further restrict American sales to Huawei, the Chinese telecom giant, after some officials in the Defense Department and other agencies argued that the measure, which was intended to protect national security, could actually undermine it, according to people familiar with the matter. The rule change, which multiple government agencies were reviewing, would close a loophole that allowed technology companies like Intel and Micron to continue shipping chips, software and other products to Huawei despite a ban that prevented the Chinese company from buying some American products....

A French academic, Valerie Niquet, a senior research fellow at the Foundation for Strategic Research, is being sued by Huawei France. The Chinese telecom giant has accused Niquet of libel, and, as @HuaweiFactsFR explained in a tweet on November 23 (in French): “In March 2019, #Huawei has filed three lawsuits for libel against a private individual. The complaints are against the authors of the arguments broadcast, and not the media that broadcast them. Huawei respects their independence and press freedom.” In a photographed statement in the same tweet, Huawei further explains that “The suits are only against the affirmations that...

The Chinese Ambassador to Denmark threatened high-level officials in the Faroe Islands, warning the Communist country would cancel a free trade agreement if the islands refused to sign a contract with the controversial Chinese telecom company Huawei. An audio recording in the Faroe Islands, a small territory of the Kingdom of Denmark north of Britain’s Shetland Islands, reveals that Mr Feng Tie, the Chinese ambassador to Denmark, is shown to have tied growing exports of salmon to China from the archipelago to the local telecoms operator Føroya Tele agreeing to let Huawei build the 5G network. Mr Feng said that...

Please use the sharing tools found via the share button at the top or side of articles. Copying articles to share with others is a breach of FT.com T&Cs and Copyright Policy. Email licensing@ft.com to buy additional rights. Subscribers may share up to 10 or 20 articles per month using the gift article service. More information can be found at https://www.ft.com/tour. https://www.ft.com/content/5bef8972-405a-11ea-bdb5-169ba7be433d Boris Johnson is expected to approve a restricted role for Huawei in Britain’s 5G network on Tuesday, with ministers looking to impose a new cap on the market share the Chinese telecoms company can take in the UK....

While public discussions of U.S.-China relations focus overwhelmingly on tariffs, threats tied to cyberespionage also are getting increased attention from commentators and government officials. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC), for example, is tackling problems associated with Chinese firm Huawei, particularly its equipment’s use in next generation (5G) communications networks. Security concerns, however, go well beyond Huawei and beyond 5G. Any process that incorporates computer chips as well as any process that occurs at the direction of an electronically transmitted instruction is potentially vulnerable to cyber-espionage and cyber-warfare. In the internet age, this covers virtually everything that relies on communication or...

In her lawsuit refiled on January 10, Attkisson relied on a whistleblower who was actually involved in hacking her computers. He identified some of the other government officials complicit in the very disturbing spying on her. (Skip) The refiled suit meticulously describes the nightmarish facts of how her computers and home were electronically and physically invaded as if she were a real “enemy of the people” and the government was playing Mission Impossible. Forensic details were derived from numerous investigations, leaving the conclusions unquestionable. The spying was conducted using government proprietary spyware and a mysterious United States Postal Service Internet...

A refusal to grant a third waiver to Huawei, the world's largest telecom networking equipment manufacturer and second-largest smartphone maker, would be the right move for the United States. After all, why should President Trump allow our companies to help Beijing steal the world's data and remotely control devices connected to the internet? On Tuesday, China's Communist Party will celebrate the 70th anniversary of its coming to power. This is not a happy time for the communists, however, as their economy, the primary basis of their legitimacy, is crumbling. In addition, the thought of licensing technology from Huawei is...

Apple has finally revealed the newest designs in its iPhone lineup. The firm unveiled the iPhone 11 at the Steve Jobs Theater in Cupertino on Tuesday, showing off a handset with a 6.1-inch display that will come in six colors: purple, white, yellow, green, black, and Product Red. Apple also showed off its new premium model, the iPhone 11 Pro, which will come with either a 5.8-inch or 6.5-inch display. The stainless steel device boasts three cameras and will be available in four colors, including the new Midnight Green, all with a matte textured finish.

Researchers say suspected nation-state hackers infected Apple iPhones with spyware over two years in what security experts on Friday called an alarming security failure for a company whose calling card is privacy. A mere visit to one of a small number of tainted websites could infect an iPhone with an implant capable of sending the smartphone owner's text messages, email, photos and real-time location data to the cyberspies behind the operation. "This is definitely the most serious iPhone hacking incident that's ever been brought to public attention, both because of the indiscriminate targeting and the amount of data compromised by...

If you heard the reverberation of a few thousand heads exploding last week, it was the sound of information security professionals reacting to US Attorney General Barr saying that Big Tech "can and must" put backdoors into encryption. In his speech for a cybersecurity conference at Fordham University, Barr warned tech companies that time was running out for them to develop ways for the government to break encryption. FBI Director Christopher Wray agreed with him. At this week's big meeting of the "Five Eyes" countries, Barr was in attendance. His demands that internet companies break safe security standards of encryption...

This month's Security-only update package for Windows 7 includes an unexpected compatibility/telemetry component that has some skeptical users up in arms. As expected, Windows Update dropped off several packages of security and reliability fixes for Windows 7 earlier this week, part of the normal Patch Tuesday delivery cycle for every version of Windows. But some hawk-eyed observers noted a surprise in one of those Windows 7 packages. Under Microsoft's rules, what it calls "Security-only updates" are supposed to include, well, only security updates, not quality fixes or diagnostic tools. Nearly three years ago, Microsoft split its monthly update packages for...

The spyware, developed by Israeli cyber intelligence company, used infected phone calls to take over the functions of operating systems WhatsApp is encouraging users to update to the latest version of the app after discovering a vulnerability that allowed spyware to be injected into a user’s phone through the app’s phone call function.The spyware was developed by the Israeli cyber intelligence company NSO Group, according to the Financial Times, which first reported the vulnerability.Attackers could transmit the malicious code to a target’s device by calling the user and infecting the call whether or not the recipient answered the call. Logs of the...

It was a crowded primary field and Tony Evers, running for governor, was eager to win the support of officials gathered at a Wisconsin state Democratic Party meeting, so the candidate did all the usual things: He read the room, he shook hands, he networked. Then he put an electronic fence around everyone there. The digital fence enabled Evers’ team to push ads onto the iPhones and Androids of all those attending the meeting. Not only that, but because the technology pulled the unique identification numbers off the phones, a data broker could also use the digital signatures to follow...