All posts tagged: spying

Four People, Including Two Chinese Nationals, Arrested in France on Suspicion of Spying

Four People, Including Two Chinese Nationals, Arrested in France on Suspicion of Spying

Published by Sam Flores

PARIS, Feb 4 (Reuters) – Four people, including two Chinese ‌nationals, ​have been arrested in France on ‌suspicion of spying for China and were brought before an investigative ​judge, the Paris public prosecutor’s office said on Wednesday. The cybercrime division of the Paris public prosecutor’s office ‍has opened a judicial investigation ​into the affair, the prosecutor’s office said in a statement.  This followed the discovery that two ​Chinese nationals ⁠had entered French territory with the aim of capturing satellite data from the Starlink network and data from entities of vital importance, particularly military entities, in order to transmit it to their country of origin, namely China, it added. Four people were brought before the investigating judge, with ‌two of them being remanded in custody, it added. The case is the latest in ​a series ‌of incidents involving allegations ‍of Chinese spying ⁠in Europe. Tensions between Beijing and Western powers over espionage have risen in recent years as Western intelligence agencies increasingly sound the alarm on alleged Chinese state-backed hacking activity. China has consistently denied the …

Starmer’s staff cannot be ruled out of China Downing Street spying | UK | News

Starmer’s staff cannot be ruled out of China Downing Street spying | UK | News

Published by Sam Flores

China hacked the mobile phones of senior officials in Downing Street for several years, The Telegraph has reported. The spying operation is understood to have compromised senior members of the government, exposing their private communications to Beijing. State-sponsored hackers are known to have targeted the phones of some of the closest aides to Boris Johnson, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak between 2021 and 2024. Breach went ‘right into the heart of Downing Street’ It is unclear whether the hack included the mobile phones of the prime ministers themselves, but one source with knowledge of the breach said it went “right into the heart of Downing Street.” Intelligence sources in the US indicated that the Chinese espionage operation, known as Salt Typhoon, was ongoing, raising the possibility that Sir Keir Starmer and his senior staff may also have been exposed. MI5 issued an “espionage alert” to Parliament in November about the threat of spying from the Chinese state. Sir Keir departs for China this week – the first visit by a British prime minister since Baroness …

Inside Keir Starmer’s massive China reset – POLITICO

Inside Keir Starmer’s massive China reset – POLITICO

Published by Sam Flores

These are likely to include joint work on medical, health and life sciences, cooperation on climate science, and work to highlight Mandarin language schemes, the people said.  Officials are also working on the mutual recognition of professional qualifications and visa-free travel for short stays, while firms have been pushing for more expansive banking and insurance licences for British companies operating in China. The U.K. is meanwhile likely to try to persuade Beijing to lower import tariffs on Scotch whisky, which doubled in February 2025. A former U.K. official who was involved in Britain’s last prime ministerial visit to China, by Theresa May in 2018, predicted all deals will already be “either 100 or 99 percent agreed, in the system, and No. 10 will already have a firm number in its head that it can announce.” Threading the needle Yet all five people agreed there is unlikely to be a deal on heavy energy infrastructure, including wind turbine technology, that could leave Britain vulnerable to China. The U.K. has still not decided whether to let Ming …

The Rippling/Deel corporate spying scandal may have taken another wild turn

The Rippling/Deel corporate spying scandal may have taken another wild turn

Published by skeptic

The Department of Justice has reportedly opened a criminal investigation into HR and payroll startup Deel over allegations that it hired a corporate spy to leak information on its biggest rival, Rippling, reports The Wall Street Journal. In an emailed statement to TechCrunch, Deel says that it is “not aware of any investigation. We will always cooperate with the relevant authorities and provide any necessary information in response to valid inquiries.” Deel’s statement then makes its own allegations against Rippling. It points to its own lawsuit that alleges its rival has been on a “smear campaign,” claiming it’s beating the competitor in the market, and adding, “the truth will win in court.” Rippling declined comment. This is arguably the biggest drama between two HR startups ever. To recap, Rippling sued Deel in May, and revised the suit in June, alleging that its rival planted a corporate spy. The Rippling employee was caught in a sting operation and confessed to being a paid spy for Deel in an Irish court via a sworn written statement that …

I turned off these 5 smart TV settings and it stopped spying on me

I turned off these 5 smart TV settings and it stopped spying on me

Published by skeptic

You probably don’t realize it yet, but the sleek smart TV sitting in your living room has become a surveillance device masquerading as entertainment. And the worst part? Most of us unknowingly enabled it during setup. However, just like there are default settings you can turn off to improve your TV, there are settings you can disable to stop your TV from spying on you. Disable Automatic Content Recognition (ACR) This setting tracks what you watch, not what you search Credit: Shimul Sood / MakeUseOf The biggest privacy invasion on your TV isn’t some mysterious backdoor; it’s a technology called Automatic Content Recognition, or ACR, and it’s enabled by default on nearly every smart TV. Think of ACR as a constant observer—it analyzes the audio and visual information streaming to your TV, takes fingerprints of that content, and matches it against a massive database of known media. What makes this particularly invasive is that ACR doesn’t just watch what you’re streaming. It captures everything displayed on your screen, including content from connected devices such as your …

UK approves China plan for mega embassy in London despite spy fears

UK approves China plan for mega embassy in London despite spy fears

Published by Sam Flores

LONDON: Britain’s government gave approval on Tuesday (Jan 20) for China to build its largest embassy in Europe in London, hoping to improve ties with Beijing despite British and US politicians’ warnings that it could be used as a base for spying. China’s plans to build a new embassy on the site of the two-century-old Royal Mint Court near the Tower of London have stalled for three years over opposition from local residents, lawmakers and Hong Kong pro-democracy campaigners in Britain. The decision was announced before an expected visit to China by Prime Minister Keir Starmer this month, the first by a British leader since 2018. Some British and Chinese officials said the trip was dependent on the embassy being approved. Despite security concerns, Britain’s intelligence agencies, which were involved in the approval process, said any threat could be mitigated. “National security is our first duty,” a government spokesperson said in a statement. But the years-long process might not quite have reached its end. Local residents said they would seek a legal challenge, saying the …

The Download: spying on the spies, and promising climate tech

The Download: spying on the spies, and promising climate tech

Published by skeptic

This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology. Meet the man hunting the spies in your smartphone In April 2025, Ronald Deibert left all electronic devices at home in Toronto and boarded a plane. When he landed in Illinois, he bought a new laptop and iPhone. He wanted to reduce the risk of having his personal devices confiscated, because he knew his work made him a prime target for surveillance. “I’m traveling under the assumption that I am being watched, right down to exactly where I am at any moment,” Deibert says.  Deibert directs the Citizen Lab, a research center he founded in 2001 to serve as “counterintelligence for civil society.” Housed at the University of Toronto, it’s one of the few institutions that investigate cyberthreats exclusively in the public interest, and in doing so, it has exposed some of the most egregious digital abuses of the past two decades. For many years, Deibert and his colleagues have held up the …

6 “innocent” Windows settings that are actually spying on you (and how to stop them)

6 “innocent” Windows settings that are actually spying on you (and how to stop them)

Published by skeptic

Windows does a great job of looking user-friendly and helpful. You would notice that almost every setting that involves your data is wrapped in innocent and friendly language, like personalization and improving your experience. Once you’ve clicked Yes during the setup, your PC quietly keeps more tabs than you would ever want to share. I don’t mean to say that there’s a hidden plot or wild conspiracy going against us. It’s just that a lot of data-collecting features are enabled by default on Windows, some of which are buried in such a way that you would rarely revisit them. I’ve disabled six Windows settings that looked innocent but behave like silent background observers. Activity Tracking Windows memory of you no attribution required — screenshot by Fahad Khawaja Windows can keep a history of apps you use, files you open, websites you browse, and other general activity over time. It can store this data locally or send it to Microsoft servers if you’ve enabled the syncing feature. Activity tracking helps you pick up where you’ve left …

How to Protect Your iPhone or Android Device From Spyware

How to Protect Your iPhone or Android Device From Spyware

Published by skeptic

Infection usually starts through malicious links and fake apps, but it is also taking place via “more subtle methods,” says Richard LaTulip, a field CISO at security company Recorded Future, which collaborated with Google’s threat intelligence team on the Predator spyware findings. LaTulip cites the example of recent research on malicious browser extensions affecting millions of users that shows “how seemingly harmless tools can become surveillance devices.” These techniques, often developed by nation-state adversaries linked to governments, indicate a trend toward “more covert, persistent, and device-level compromises,” he says. A Bigger Problem Over the past few years, spyware has become a growing issue. Governments and the companies that make the malware say the surveillance tools are used to target only criminals and terrorists, or for national security purposes. “But the truth is that human rights activists, journalists, and many others across the world have been unlawfully targeted with spyware,” Rebecca White, Amnesty International’s researcher on targeted surveillance, tells WIRED. “In this way, spyware can be used as a tool of repression—to silence people speaking truth …

Europe ramps up security of satellites – POLITICO

Europe ramps up security of satellites – POLITICO

Published by Sam Flores

For years, satellite infrastructure was treated by policymakers as a technical utility rather than a strategic asset. That changed in 2022, when a cyberattack on the Viasat satellite network coincided with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.   Satellites have since become popular targets for interference, espionage and disruption. The European Commission in June warned that space was becoming “more contested,” flagging increasing cyberattacks and attempts at electronic interference targeting satellites and ground stations. Germany and the United Kingdom warned earlier this year of the growing threat posed by Russian and Chinese space satellites, which are regularly spotted spying on their satellites.  EU governments are now racing to boost their resilience and reduce reliance on foreign technology, both through regulations like the new Space Act and investments in critical infrastructure. The threat is crystal clear in Greenland, Laurynas Mačiulis, the chief executive officer of Astrolight, said. “The problem today is that around 80 percent of all the [space data] traffic is downlinked to a single location in Svalbard, which is an island shared between different countries, including Russia,” …