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US, UK and New Zealand of targeting sensitive information with cyber hacking attacks The United States and the United Kingdom have imposed sanctions on individuals and groups accused of participating in a large-scale cyber espionage campaign. The operation, allegedly orchestrated by China’s Ministry of State Security, targeted politicians, journalists, and critics of Beijing. The scope of the cyber attacks was revealed this week, with New Zealand also attributing a separate hacking incident to Chinese-backed cyber actors. Who is Behind the Cyber Attacks? The cyber attacks have been attributed to a hacking group known as Advanced Persistent Threat 31 (APT 31), also referred to as Zirconium, Violet Typhoon, Judgment Panda, and Altaire. This group operates under the Ministry of State Security in Wuhan, China. APT 31 is notorious for high-profile attacks, including a 2020 campaign that targeted campaign staff working for Joe Biden, as well as the 2021 hack of Microsoft Exchange servers, w...

  There were long lines at Barcelona airport, as passengers waited to be checked in manually A widespread IT failure has caused significant disruptions worldwide, impacting air travel, banking, healthcare services, and more. Passengers faced lengthy delays and cancellations, as many airlines struggled with manual check-ins due to the outage, which left computers displaying blue error screens. Cybersecurity firm Crowd Strike has confirmed that a recent update to its antivirus software, designed to protect Microsoft Windows devices from cyberattacks, caused the problem. Microsoft has since announced it is taking "mitigation actions" to address the lingering effects of the outage. Here’s what we know so far: What Caused the Outage? The cause of the outage is still being fully investigated. CrowdStrike, known for its antivirus software, revealed that the issue is specific to Windows PCs and was triggered by a defect in a recent software update. CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz conf...

  High-Tech Crimes When people think of high-tech crime s, they often picture hackers behind computer screens, infiltrating systems from dark rooms. However, technology can enable many types of crime beyond the digital realm. From genetic cloning to market manipulation, these high-tech crimes illustrate the vast potential for technology to be used in illicit ways. Here are ten notable examples of high-tech crimes that did not involve traditional hacking. Cloning a Giant Sheep Arthur "Jack" Schubarth, an 81-year-old businessman from Montana, was sentenced to six months in federal prison in 2024 for illegally importing a Marco Polo sheep with the aim of cloning it. Schubarth planned to create an even larger hybrid breed to sell to game reserves. Despite his legal team's defense, the U.S. authorities did not look kindly on his attempt to manipulate genetics, leading to his conviction and prison sentence. Crypto Mining at Work In 2021, Christopher Naples, an IT supervisor wit...

  U.S. officials urge Americans U.S. officials are advising Americans to use encrypted messaging apps following an unprecedented cyberattack on major telecommunications companies, including AT&T, Verizon, and Lumen Technologies. This breach, dubbed Salt Typhoon by Microsoft, is one of the largest intelligence compromises in U.S. history, with hackers believed to be linked to China. The attack remains ongoing, and officials have refrained from providing a timeline for when the nation’s telecom systems will be fully secure. The Chinese Embassy in Washington has denied involvement, stating that China opposes all forms of cyberattacks. However, the U.S. government has expressed concerns over China’s cyberespionage activities. On a news call, two senior U.S. cybersecurity officials, including Jeff Greene from the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), recommended encrypted communication tools to protect sensitive information from foreign hackers. Greene emphasized ...

  computer chip production machine. Semiconductor The head of the US-China Business Council , Craig Allen, has urged that US companies and other multinational firms must engage with China's rapidly growing and "wickedly competitive" tech companies to stay globally competitive. Speaking ahead of his departure from the non-profit industry association, Allen highlighted the challenges that multinational firms face as the US and China continue to tighten trade restrictions and limit technological engagement. According to Allen, Chinese firms, especially private companies, are becoming increasingly competitive as they adapt to slower domestic growth and market oversupply. His warning follows recent export restrictions announced by the Biden administration, including new measures targeting semiconductor development technologies. Allen emphasized that US export controls and China’s countermeasures were pushing Chinese companies to seek new partnerships, often with other Chinese ...

  advanced semiconductor  The US government is preparing to implement new export control rules aimed at limiting Chinese companies' access to advanced artificial intelligence (AI) chips sourced from third-party countries. Sources familiar with the matter stated that the new regulations, expected to be announced before the end of this month, will focus on controlling the global distribution of powerful graphics processing units (GPUs), which are critical for training AI models. The measure seeks to close loopholes in existing rules, particularly in light of growing concerns over China's efforts to circumvent US sanctions by acquiring restricted chips through intermediary nations. This move represents a significant escalation from earlier chip-related sanctions introduced in December 2024, when the US added 140 Chinese semiconductor firms to a trade blacklist and imposed a ban on the sale of high-bandwidth memory chips to China. The new regulations aim to prevent Chinese compan...

  Chinese surveillance tech Zhejiang Dahua Technology , a prominent Chinese video surveillance equipment manufacturer, has announced the termination or exit from five projects it had undertaken with local governments in Xinjiang, according to a stock exchange filing made on Monday. These projects, awarded between 2016 and 2017, have been either canceled early or are still in progress, the company confirmed. Dahua plans to cease operations on these projects and handle asset disposal and debt resolution. The move follows a similar decision earlier this month by rival Chinese surveillance giant Hikvision, which also pulled out of contracts with five local governments in Xinjiang. Both companies refrained from offering specific reasons for their withdrawals. Dahua's exit comes after the company, along with several others, was blacklisted by the U.S. in 2019 for alleged involvement in surveillance operations linked to human rights abuses against Uyghur Muslims and other minority groups ...

  Phoebe Zhang in Shenzhen A Chinese cybersecurity agency has accused the United States of orchestrating cyberattacks to steal business secrets from a research centre and a data company, amid a backdrop of heightened tensions between the two nations over cyber espionage. The National Computer Network Emergency Response Technical Team/Coordination Centre (CNCERT), a non-governmental body that monitors cybersecurity threats in China, made the allegations in a statement released on Wednesday. The statement, widely covered by state media, claims that American intelligence agencies have been behind the attacks. According to CNCERT, since August, a research unit focused on advanced material design has been targeted by cyberattacks originating from the US. The attackers reportedly exploited vulnerabilities in an electronic document security system to infiltrate the company’s server. They then deployed a Trojan horse virus via a software update service, which spread to over 270 devic...

N Korea hackers stole $1.3bn of crypto North Korean hacker s have stolen more than $1.3 billion worth of cryptocurrencies in 2024, accounting for over half of the total $2.2 billion in digital assets stolen this year, according to a new report by Chainalysis. This marks a significant increase compared to last year’s thefts, more than doubling the amount taken by North Korean-affiliated hackers. The study suggests that some of these thefts are linked to cybercriminals posing as remote IT workers, infiltrating cryptocurrency and technology companies. This rise in stolen crypto comes as Bitcoin’s price has more than doubled this year, spurred by speculation around the more crypto-friendly stance of incoming U.S. President Donald Trump compared to his predecessor, Joe Biden. While the total amount of crypto stolen in 2024 increased by 21% from 2023, it remained lower than levels seen in 2021 and 2022. The report stresses the need for the crypto industry to address a growing and complex thr...

  The logo of NSO Group A US judge delivered a significant legal victory for WhatsApp on Friday, ruling that NSO Group Technologies , the Israeli maker of the infamous Pegasus spyware, violated US hacking laws and WhatsApp's terms of service in a 2019 cyberattack. The lawsuit, filed by Meta, WhatsApp's parent company, accused NSO Group of infecting and surveilling the phones of 1,400 individuals over a two-week period in May 2019. These individuals included journalists, human rights activists, political dissidents, and diplomats. In her ruling, Judge Phyllis Hamilton stated that NSO Group had violated both state and federal US hacking laws, specifically the US Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. The case will now proceed to a jury trial in March 2025 to determine the damages owed to WhatsApp. WhatsApp praised the decision, with a spokesperson saying, “After five years of litigation, we’re grateful for today’s decision. NSO can no longer avoid accountability for their unlawful attacks...