Security News
The USA's policy of decoupling its technology industries from China lacks a strategy, a theory of success, and an understanding of how to achieve its ill-defined goals, according to a new paper by Jon Bateman from the thinktank Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. "The United States cannot afford simply to muddle through technological decoupling, one of the most consequential global trends of the early twenty-first century," wrote Bateman, a former senior intelligence analyst, policy adviser and speechwriter at the US Department of Defense, in the document, titled "US China Technological 'Decoupling', a Strategy and Policy Framework."
The China-linked Hafnium cyber-gang is using a strain of malware to maintain a persistent presence in compromised Windows systems by creating hidden tasks that maintain backdoor access even after reboots. Researchers within Microsoft's Detection and Response Team and Threat Intelligence Center spotted the software nasty, dubbed Tarrask, creating undesirable scheduled tasks via Windows Task Scheduler, which is typically used by IT administrators to automate such chores as updating programs, tidying up file systems, and starting certain applications.
Trouble is brewing over moves by Taiwan to prevent China from gaining access to its chip technology, as the island nation proposes tougher laws to deter the leaking of trade secrets outside the country. China has reportedly hit back after Taiwanese Premier Su Tseng-chang called this week for a speedier introduction of legislation designed to protect the local semiconductor industry from what it sees as Chinese industrial espionage.
China has been accused of conducting a long-term cyber attack on India's power grid, and has been implicated in cyber attacks against targets in Ukraine. Cybersecurity firm Insikt Group found network intrusions at seven Indian State Load Dispatch Centers that conduct real-time operations for grid control and electricity dispatch, according to a report released Wednesday.
The Threat Hunter Team team is attributing the attacks to Cicada, also known as APT10 - a group that has been operating for more than a decade and that intelligence agencies in the US have linked to China's Ministry of State Security. The researchers are pointing at Cicada because a custom loader and custom malware that have been used exclusively by the group were found in victims' networks.
The director of UK intelligence agency Government Communications Headquarters, Sir Jeremy Fleming, has warned that China is trying to introduce "Undemocratic values as the default for vast swathes of future tech and the standards that govern it." China believes Russia will support its digital markets and technology plans.
A China-based threat group is likely running a month-long campaign using a variant of the Korplug malware and targeting European diplomats, internet service providers and research institutions via phishing lures that refer to Russia's invasion of Ukraine and COVID-19 travel restrictions. The ongoing campaign was first seen in August 2021 and is being tied to Mustang Panda - a Chinese APT unit also known as TA416, RedDelta and PKPLUG - due to similar code and common tactics, techniques and procedures used by the group in the past, according to researchers with the cybersecurity firm ESET. Mustang Panda is known for targeting governmental entities and non-governmental organizations, with most of its victims being in East and Southeast Asia.
The United Stations Federal Communications Commission has labelled Kaspersky, China Mobile, and China Telecom as threats to national security. Kaspersky is the first non-Chinese company to be added to the FCC's list, but the agency did not tie its decision to Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine.
China's internet regulator, the Cyberspace Administration of China, has taken unusually strong action against a social network that has long been considered a thorn in the side of the nation's elites. In the years since its 2005 founding, the site has become known for attracting users who express opinions that China's government may well find displeasing.
China claims it has obtained a sample of malware used by the NSA to steal files, monitor and redirect network traffic, and remotely control computers to spy on foreign targets. The NSA apparently used NOPEN to take over "a large number" of computers around the world, and the theft of data from this equipment has caused "Inestimable losses," the tabloid reported.