Security News
Criminals tried to exploit Hong Kong residents' COVID-related anxiety, according to new security data released yesterday by the Special Administrative Region's secretary for innovation and technology Alfred Sit. Liao cited data that the Hong Kong Hospital Authority was subjected to 50 million cyberattacks last year, up from 20 million in 2015, with the HA also copping five ransomware attacks last year.
Asian nations in which governments are keen on citizen surveillance struggle to develop ethical hackers, as prospective workers fear their activities may be misunderstood, according to security specialist Mika Devonshire. Devonshire spent much of 2019 and 2020 in Hong Kong, working as a digital forensics and incident response specialist at Blackpanda and serving as assistant faculty at Hong Kong University.
Facebook has decided to halt its efforts to build a trans-Pacific undersea cable that would have connected California and Hong Kong, due to tensions between the United States and China. "Due to ongoing concerns from the US government about direct communication links between the United States and Hong Kong, we have decided to withdraw our FCC application," a Facebook spokesperson told AFP on Wednesday, referring to the Federal Communications Commission.
A Chinese threat actor was observed earlier this month targeting victims in India and Hong Kong with a new variant of the MgBot malware, Malwarebytes reports. The next day, the template would drop the MgBot loader, and Malwarebytes' security researchers observed it leveraging the Application Management service in Windows for the execution and injection of the final payload. Several days later, the same payload was being delivered via an archive containing a document featuring a statement that British Prime Minister Boris Johnson made about Hong Kong.
An emerging threat actor out of China has been traced to a new hacking campaign aimed at government agencies in India and residents of Hong Kong intending to steal sensitive information, cybersecurity firm Malwarebytes revealed in the latest report shared with The Hacker News. The attacks were observed during the first week of July, coinciding the passage of controversial security law in Hong Kong and India's ban of 59 China-made apps over privacy concerns, weeks after a violent skirmish along the Indo-China border.
An emerging threat actor out of China has been traced to a new hacking campaign aimed at government agencies in India and residents of Hong Kong intending to steal sensitive information, cybersecurity firm Malwarebytes revealed in the latest report shared with The Hacker News. The attacks were observed during the first week of July, coinciding the passage of controversial security law in Hong Kong and India's ban of 59 China-made apps over privacy concerns, weeks after a violent skirmish along the Indo-China border.
Social media businesses are making moves to block Hong Kong authorities from accessing their user data, days after Beijing imposed a new national security law on the territory. Google and Twitter also said that they had paused all data and information requests from Hong Kong authorities when the national security law went into effect last week.
Facebook, WhatsApp and Telegram will deny law enforcement requests for user data in Hong Kong as they assess the impact of a new national security law enacted last week. Facebook and its messaging app WhatsApp said in separate statements Monday that they would freeze the review of government requests for user data in Hong Kong, "Pending further assessment of the National Security Law, including formal human rights due diligence and consultations with international human rights experts."
Chinese state security agencies will also operate in Hong Kong for the first time, and the local police force will be able to intercept communications and spy on suspects, with the approval of Hong Kong's chief executive. The legislation will apply not just within inside Hong Kong but overseas too, meaning foreign nationals who speak against Beijing could be prosecuted upon entering Hong Kong or mainland China.
A recently observed campaign is attempting to infect the iPhones of users in Hong Kong with an iOS backdoor that allows attackers to take over devices, Trend Micro reports. The attack involved the use of malicious links posted on forums popular in Hong Kong, which led users to real news sites where a hidden iframe would load and run malware.