spying
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Former Twitter worker convicted of helping Saudi Arabia spy on dissidents
A former Twitter staffer has been convicted for helping Saudi Arabia spy on dissidents.
Tesla takes to Chinese social media to ease local spying fears
Tesla is using its Chinese social media page to assuage local spying fears after its cars were banned from the country's military facilities and select state-owned companies.
China reportedly bans Tesla cars from military facilities over spying fears
China's military has reportedly banned Tesla cars from its facilities over fears the cameras could be used for spying.
Home security technician admits hacking customers' security cameras
A former ADT security company employee has admitted to breaking into the cameras he installed in users’ homes in the Dallas area to watch their private moments. Telesforo Aviles has pleaded guilty to computer fraud and now faces up to five years in federal prison. According to the Department of Justice, Aviles has admitted that he would take note of the homes of women he deemed attractive to log into their accounts and view feed from their cameras for sexual gratification.
Iranian hackers' Android malware spies on dissidents by stealing 2FA codes
An Iranian hacking group made Android malware that appears built to spy on regime critics by stealing their two-factor codes.
UK may cut Huawei out of 5G networks this year
The UK is reportedly planning to cut Huawei out of its 5G networks in 2020 -- not as part of a gradual phase-out as expected.
FCC says Huawei and ZTE are national security threats
The FCC has officially declared Huawei and ZTE as national security threats, barring carriers from using fund money on the Chinese technology.
US pushes Europe to reject Chinese baggage screening tech over spying fears
The US is pressuring Europe to kick out a Chinese tech company, Nuctech, making screening systems for airports.
A Chinese hacking group is reportedly targeting governments across Asia
A Chinese hacking group has been conducting “ongoing” espionage operations on foreign governments across Asia, according to security firm Check Point. Called Naikon, it has reportedly attacked governments in Australia, Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, Myanmar and Brunei, targeting foreign affairs, science and technology ministries.
Saudi Arabia may be spying on its citizens via US mobile networks
Data shared by a whistleblower suggests Saudi Arabia may be using a weakness in mobile telecom networks to track its citizens in the US, The Guardian reports. The data shows that over a four-month period, Saudi Arabia's three biggest mobile phone companies sent 2.3 million requests for Provider Subscriber Information (PSI). Normally, that data is used to help foreign operators register roaming charges, but the high volume of requests could also give the Saudi telecoms enough info to track users within hundreds of meters of accuracy.
Iran's coronavirus 'diagnosis' app looks more like a surveillance tool
Iran is known to have one of the more serious coronavirus infection rates at the moment, but the country's government appears to be exploiting that for the sake of political control. Vice has learned that a government-endorsed app, AC19, poses as a tool to help diagnose the presence of the virus (a bogus claim by itself) but also asks for real-time location data -- clearly not necessary for telling someone whether or not they should go to the hospital. Moreover, the location permission request pop-up is in English -- and about 40 percent of Android users in Iran have phones with an OS old enough that they won't get that pop-up at all.
NYT: $100 million US phone surveillance program produced two unique leads
After 2015, the USA Freedom Act replaced NSA mass surveillance of American's call metadata that had been enacted under the Patriot Act and Section 215. While it didn't go so far as to completely reform the system as groups like the EFF and ACLU hoped, it changed things by having phone companies collect the data, under limits of how long it could be stored, with queries performed by agencies with a judge's permission. Even the new rules have had problems, with phone companies storing more data than was legally allowed causing the NSA to wipe all data collected in 2018. Also, even more limited queries could end up touching millions of records. Now the New York Times reports on a just-declassified study by the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board from last year that looked into the program and found that it had only ever generated two unique leads during the time it was operating. That's out of 15 reports total, but 13 had information the FBI was able to get through other methods, At a cost of over $100 million to operate the setup, this almost complete lack of production reveals more about why the NSA had stopped using it. Sections of the Patriot Act were set to expire in 2019, but despite reported recommendations by the NSA to shut things down, they were extended as part of a funding bill. Now they're up for review again by March 15th, and despite proposed bipartisan legislation intended to replace the program, AG William Barr is again pushing for an extension.
Google pulls alleged UAE spying app ToTok from the Play Store, again
From TikTok to FaceApp, it can be hard to tell when an app has nefarious intentions hidden behind its useful or buzzworthy features. The same goes for ToTok. The New York Times reported in December that the app is being used by the government of the United Arab Emirates to spy on its users. In response, Google removed ToTok from its Play Store while it investigated. (Apple removed it from the App Store as well.) An updated version of the app reappeared on the Play Store in early January, but it was removed again on February 14th, according to 9to5Google.
Recommended Reading: The CIA-owned company that helped it spy on the world
The intelligence coup of the century Greg Miller, The Washington Post This in-depth report tells the story of Crypto AG, a Switzerland-based company that achieved success for its code-making machines during World War II. The company eventually became a popular manufacturer of encryption machines for countries around the world in the decades that followed. Governments trusted that communications between diplomats, military and spies were being kept secret. What those nations didn't know was that Crypto AG as actually owned by the CIA -- originally in partnership with West German intelligence. What's more, the access allowed the two countries to to rig the tech so they could easily crack any code.
Interior Department grounds Chinese-made drones
The reports were true: the Interior Department is grounding much of its drone fleet. It's issuing an order that bans flights for drones either made in China or with Chinese parts out of fear they could be used for spying purposes. That effectively grounds the entire fleet in principle. There will be exceptions for training as well as emergency situations like wildfire tracking and search and rescue, but day-to-day operations won't be feasible without drones made elsewhere.
The UK won't block Huawei tech from its 5G networks despite US pressure
The UK has confirmed that "high risk" vendors such as Huawei will be allowed to help build the country's 5G network, but not "core" parts of it. The decision follows months of speculation and consultation regarding the inclusion of Huawei in the development of 5G and gigabit-capable networks, due to concerns that the Chinese company could leverage its involvement to spy on UK targets.
Bipartisan bill would scale back key section of the Patriot Act
Oregon Senator Ron Wyden has introduced new legislation that would attempt to reform Section 215 of the Patriot Act definitively. Democratic and Republican lawmakers in both the House and Senate have co-sponsored Wyden's Safeguarding Americans' Private Records Act.
US may permanently ground civilian drone program over China fears
The US Interior Department's decision to halt a civilian drone program might not be so temporary. Financial Times sources claim the department plans to permanently end use of nearly 1,000 drones after determining there was too high a risk of the Chinese government using them for spying purposes. While there reportedly isn't a final policy, Interior Secretary David Bernhardt would once more limit uses to emergency situations like firefighting.
How home assistants ruined us, an explanation
Our situation became clear when my friend ran through Trader Joe's screaming "ALEXA WHAT TIME IS IT?" This wasn't a cringey mockumentary comedy segment. It's the way we live now. I'm certain San Francisco's sea of terrified Postmates and Prime delivery runners parted for her, trampling an Instacart personal shopper already wallowing in the misfortune of crawling along the baked goods aisle, feeling blindly under tortillas for lost earbuds. Everyone wondering if they should yell at Google or Siri to call 911. Several cameras are trained on everyone, of course, to memorialize and broadcast these special moments forever.
Huawei denies receiving billions in financial aid from Chinese government
Huawei may not be as much of a self-made success story as founder Ren Zhengfei has consistently made the company out to be. According to The Wall Street Journal, the Chinese government has granted as much as $75 billion worth of financial assistance to Huawei, allowing the company to spend more freely than it would have otherwise been able to.
