China

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Zoom’s Encryption is Linked to Chinese Servers

Andrew Orr ·

Researchers found that Zoom uses its own encryption scheme, sometimes using keys issued by China.

Some of the key management systems — 5 out of 73, in a Citizen Lab scan — seem to be located in China, with the rest in the United States. Interestingly, the Chinese servers are at least sometimes used for Zoom chats that have no nexus in China. The two Citizen Lab researchers, Bill Marczak and John Scott-Railton, live in the United States and Canada. During a test call between the two, the shared meeting encryption key “was sent to one of the participants over TLS from a Zoom server apparently located in Beijing,” according to the report.

I don’t have further commentary on Zoom, other than asking, “How will this end?”

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TikTok Censors Posts by People it Deems Ugly or Poor

Andrew Orr ·

Chinese app TikTok told its moderators to censor posts from users deemed too ugly, poor, or disabled.

…according to internal documents obtained by The Intercept. These same documents show moderators were also told to censor political speech in TikTok livestreams, punishing those who harmed “national honor” or broadcast streams about “state organs such as police” with bans from the platform.

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Chinese Military Charged With Equifax Data Breach

Andrew Orr ·

Four Chinese military hackers have been charged with breaking into Equifax’s network and stealing the data of tens of millions of Americans.

The accused hackers exploited a software vulnerability to gain access to Equifax’s computers, obtaining log-in credentials that they used to navigate databases and review records. The indictment also details efforts the hackers took to cover their tracks, including wiping log files on a daily basis and routing traffic through dozens of servers in nearly 20 countries.

Reminder that Equifax executives did insider trading based on the breach. They are criminals.

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FBI Investigates Over 1,000 Cases of Chinese IP Theft

Andrew Orr ·

At the China Initiative Conference, government officials from the FBI and DoJ spent four hours talking about theft of U.S. intellectual property by China.

“The threat from China is real, it’s persistent, it’s well-orchestrated, it’s well-resourced, and it’s not going away anytime soon,” John Demers, Assistant Attorney General for National Security, opened the conference.

“This one to me really stands out as the greatest long-term threat to our nation’s information and intellectual property, and to our economic vitality,” said FBI Director Christopher Wray.

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This VPN App Sent User Data to China

Andrew Orr ·

According to a report of VPN apps for 2019, downloads of these apps has increased 54%. But people need to be careful which VPN app they use. The most popular app called VPN – Super Unlimited sent user data to China. But it’s privacy policy made no secret of this.

We regularly collect and use information that could identify an individual, in particular about your purchase or use of our products, services, mobile and software applications and websites… We use various technologies to determine [your] location, including IP addresses, GPS, and other sensors.

The VPN apps I wrote about are all safe (or at least I personally believe them to be safe).

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#BoycottApple Trends on Twitter After Company's Recent Moves

Andrew Orr ·

The hashtag #BoycottApple is trending on Twitter after Apple removed the HKMap and Quartz apps from the App Store at the behest of China.

Just after Apple removed the apps, #BoycottApple has been trending on all the social media platforms with users voicing their discontent with Apple’s move. Unfortunately, this isn’t the first time Apple has been under fire for pulling something like this. Back in 2017, the company pulled The New York Times app from the App Store stating that the Chinese government had requested the app’s removal because it was “in violation of local regulations.”

Phil Schiller: “Courage.”