#MadeinChina #Surveillance
Lithuania says throw away Chinese phones due to #censorship concerns

Source: Reuters #Sept21;
National Communications Commision of Taiwan #Jan6

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#MadeinChina #Surveillance
Lithuania says throw away Chinese phones due to #censorship concerns

[Editor's note: The National Communications Commision of #Taiwan has confirmed the same result of Chinese censorship in China-made mobile phones in the findings released on January 6, 2022. Taiwan conducted a similar investigation after Lithuania published their report on September 21, 2021 as below]

#Lithuania's #DefenseMinistry recommended that consumers avoid buying Chinese mobile phones and advised people to throw away the ones they have now after a government report found the devices had built-in censorship capabilities.

Flagship phones sold in Europe by China's smartphone giant Xiaomi Corp (1810.HK)have a built-in ability to detect and censor terms such as "Free Tibet", "Long live Taiwan independence" or "democracy movement", Lithuania's state-run cybersecurity body said on Tuesday.

The capability in Xiaomi's Mi 10T 5G phone software had been turned off for the "European Union region", but can be turned on remotely at any time, the Defence Ministry's National Cyber Security Centre said in the report.

"Our recommendation is to not buy new Chinese phones, and to get rid of those already purchased as fast as reasonably possible," Defence Deputy Minister Margiris Abukevicius told reporters in introducing the report.

Lithuania says throw away Chinese phones due to censorship concerns.

Read the full article:
https://www.reuters.com/business/media-telecom/lithuania-says-throw-away-chinese-phones-due-censorship-concerns-2021-09-21/

#Cybersecurity #Censorship #Xiaomi

Source: Reuters #Sept21;
National Communications Commision of Taiwan #Jan6

The Report of National Communications Commision (#NCC) of Taiwan in Chinese:
https://www.ncc.gov.tw/chinese/news_detail.aspx

#MassSurveillance #CCP
Security scanners across Europe tied to China govt, military

//At some of the world’s most sensitive spots, authorities have installed security screening devices made by a single Chinese company with deep ties to China’s military and the highest levels of the ruling Communist Party.

The World Economic Forum in Davos. Europe’s largest ports. Airports from Amsterdam to Athens. NATO’s borders with Russia. All depend on equipment manufactured by Nuctech, which has quickly become the world’s leading company, by revenue, for cargo and vehicle scanners.

Nuctech’s critics allege the Chinese government has effectively subsidized the company so it can undercut competitors and give Beijing potential sway over critical infrastructure in the West as China seeks to establish itself as a global technology superpower.

“The data being processed by these devices is very sensitive. It’s personal data, military data, cargo data. It might be trade secrets at stake. You want to make sure it’s in right hands,” said Bart Groothuis, director of cybersecurity at the Dutch Ministry of Defense before becoming a member of the European Parliament. “You’re dependent on a foreign actor which is a geopolitical adversary and strategic rival.”//

Read the full article:
https://apnews.com/article/technology-business-china-russia-europe-120b7dedacd8d545bf4521a1948bc31e

Source: Associated Press #Jan20

#SecurityBreach #Scanner #Europe #MadeinChina

#FactWire: #Sinovac limits Hong Kong’s protection against infection from #Omicron, analysis suggests

//Analysis conducted by FactWire suggests that only 16.5 per cent of Hong Kong’s population is currently protected against infection from the Omicron variant of Covid-19, when factors such as the percentage of vaccinated residents, the type of vaccine received, and waning antibody levels are taken into consideration.

This is due to the limited effectiveness of the Chinese-made CoronaVac vaccine, commonly known as Sinovac – one of the two options available in Hong Kong – against infection from the Omicron variant. Almost half of those receiving their first or third jabs in February opted for Sinovac, which may prevent severe illness but not infection.

...three doses of Sinovac may only be 36 per cent effective, falling drastically to 19 per cent after three months, and standing at a mere 8 per cent after six months.

Had BioNTech been the only vaccine offered in Hong Kong since the beginning of its vaccination programme, a protection rate of 56.93 per cent would have been achieved by the end of April, and would have reached 77.4 per cent at the end of October.//

Read the full article:
https://hongkongfp.com/2022/02/26/factwire-sinovac-limits-hong-kongs-protection-against-infection-from-omicron-analysis-suggests/

Source: FactWire; Hong Kong Free Press #Feb26

#Covid19 #Pandemic #MadeinChina #ChineseVaccine

#CarrieLam Condemns Local Newspaper for "preventing" government's works

In a press conference on March 15, 2022, Hong Kong's chief executive Carrie Lam accused the local newspaper #MingPao of disseminating "misleading" information and "wrong message".

This 'wrong message', according to Carrie Lam, concerned the made-in-China vaccine Sinovac.

Lam claimed that the news report published by the said newspaper in relation to #Covid19 deaths and #Sinovac "prevent the government from doing what should have been done."

Source: Ming Pao; InMedia #Mar25
https://bit.ly/3JHeKyi

#Regime #PressFreedom #Mingpao #CovidDeath #Pandemic #MadeinChina

Chinese #Drones Company #DJI denies accusations of leaking Ukrainian Military Secrets

#MediaMarkt, a German electronic retailer, removed all DJI products from their shelves last week, after sources confirmed that the Chinese drone manufacturer has been leaking Ukrainian Military secrets and locations to Russia.

DJI has responded on Twitter earlier this week, denying any breach of data.

Pulling all the DJI products from over 800 stores across 12 EU countries and Turkey, MediaMarkt only stated that immediate action was needed due to their responsibilities as a corporate, without any further explanation to the cause of the pull. However, in a response to an enquiry from the internet, the company claimed that DJI has been leaking the GPS data of Ukrainian army to Russia, and that they would follow up with situation as it develops.

Source: Unwire.hk #Mar31

https://unwire.hk/2022/03/31/dji-rejects-claim-that-it-leaks-data-to-russia-on-ukrainian-military-positions/life-tech/drone/

#MadeInChina #RussianInvasion #Ukraine

A #US Federal Communications commissioner pushes #Apple and #Google to remove #TikTok from their app stores

In a letter to the companies released on Tuesday, Jine 29, 2022, #BrendanCarr, a Republican commissioner, said he believed that “TikTok’s pattern of conduct and misrepresentations regarding the unfettered access that persons in Beijing have to sensitive U.S. user data” violated Apple’s and Google’s standards and that TikTok should be taken out of the app stores...

The Biden administration has considered other measures to keep American data away from China but has not publicly pushed TikTok to cut ties with its Chinese owner.

TikTok has maintained that it is taking steps to keep employees in China from gaining access to its data. Shortly before a recent news report revealed it was struggling to do so, it said it was routing all data from its U.S. users through servers controlled by Oracle.//

Read more:
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/29/technology/apple-google-tiktok.html

Source: New York Times #Jun29

#CyberSecurity #DataSecurity #App #MadeinChina

#MadeinChina
China's WPS Office Software Accused of #Censorship and Lockup Users' Files

Source: The Liberty Times #Jul12

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#MadeinChina
China's WPS Office Software Accused of #Censorship and Lockup Users' Files

#WPSOffice, a Microsoft Office-like software released by China's company #Kingsoft, has recently been exposed for allegedly censoring content and locking users' files for sensitive words, prompting criticism.

Users have reported that WPS Office actively detects the contents of documents stored on computer drives and in the cloud. A file will be locked whenever sensitive words are found, which would be released only if the user files official complaints to the developer. The software locked a novel of more than 1 million words in one case. The author said the pieces have never been shared with anyone, questioning whether the WPS official had been peeking it without permission.

The official response from WPS was that the file contained illegal links, which is why it was banned, stressing that the user's privacy always comes first.

However, the WPS statement seems to make matters worse, and the general public is not at all convinced, with some questioning, " How do you know the document has an illegal link? Only if you peek at it!"

Source: The Liberty Times #Jul12

https://3c.ltn.com.tw/news/50087

#China #ChineseSoftware #PrivacyBreach

FBI investigation determined Chinese-made #Huawei equipment could disrupt US nuclear arsenal communications

//In 2017, the Chinese government was offering to spend $100 million to build an ornate Chinese garden at the #NationalArboretum in Washington DC. Complete with temples, pavilions and a 70-foot white pagoda, the project thrilled local officials, who hoped it would attract thousands of tourists every year.      

But when US counterintelligence officials began digging into the details, they found numerous red flags. The pagoda, they noted, would have been strategically placed on one of the highest points in #WashingtonDC, just two miles from the #USCapitol, a perfect spot for signals intelligence collection, multiple sources familiar with the episode told CNN.  

Also alarming was that Chinese officials wanted to build the pagoda with materials shipped to the US in diplomatic pouches, which #USCustoms officials are barred from examining, the sources said...

Among the most alarming things the #FBI uncovered pertains to Chinese-made Huawei equipment atop cell towers near US military bases in the rural Midwest. According to multiple sources familiar with the matter, the FBI determined the equipment was capable of capturing and disrupting highly restricted Defense Department communications, including those used by US Strategic Command, which oversees the country's nuclear weapons....//

Read the full article:
https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/23/politics/fbi-investigation-huawei-china-defense-department-communications-nuclear/index.html

Source: CNN #Jul23

#CNNExclusive
#ChinaThreat #MadeinChina #Security #Espionage #ChineseGarden

#MadeinChina
Chinese rocket falls to Earth, NASA says Beijing did not share information

Source: Malaysia Now #Jul30

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#MadeinChina
Chinese rocket falls to Earth, NASA says Beijing did not share information

//A Chinese rocket fell back to Earth on Saturday [July 31, 2022] over the Indian Ocean but Nasa said Beijing had not shared the "specific trajectory information" needed to know where possible debris might fall.

US Space Command saidthe Long March 5B rocket re-entered over the Indian Ocean at approximately 12.45pm EDT Saturday (1645 GMT, July 31, 2022), but referred questions about "reentry’s technical aspects such as potential debris dispersal impact location" to China.

"All spacefaring nations should follow established best practices and do their part to share this type of information in advance to allow reliable predictions of potential debris impact risk," NASA administrator Bill Nelson said. "Doing so is critical to the responsible use of space and to ensure the safety of people here on Earth."//

Read more:
https://www.malaysianow.com/out-there-now/2022/07/31/chinese-rocket-falls-to-earth-nasa-says-beijing-did-not-share-information

Source: Malaysia Now #Jul30

#NASA #Space #Earth #ChineseRocket #LongMarch #Wenchang #Damage #InternationalSecurity #Malaysia

#Surveillance
Portable charger in China Turned into Eavesdropping Device and GPS Locator

In China, a portable charger can become an eavesdropping device and a GPS locator. Acoording to Chinese media, with the installation of SIM card, such portable charger can eavesdrop a long distance away and locate the user accurately.

These devices come in various colours and models, but most have the functionality of "remote monitoring recording" and "precise positioning".

They cost from RMB300 to RMB600 and can be bought on some online platforms.

In China, a journalist from #Banyuetan (#半月談) successfully modifies a portable charger from a store with RMB300. He downloads a "#GPS365" app onto his phone. After logging in with the username and password given by the seller, the screen shows the device location, tracking record, contact list, messages etc.

The journalist puts "location" in trial and finds out that the activity tracking of the user can be seen clearly with the portable charger. Even places like underground and car parks can still be accurately shown on the system.

The staff told the journalist that the charger could record sound from the surroundings and automatically send the recording to the phone once the environment noise exceeds 50dB with "Sound Control Convo (#聲控語聊到)" installed in the app. The portable charger can also pick up phone calls automatically.

Source: RFA #Jul27
https://www.facebook.com/454004001340790/posts

#GPS #SoundControl #Tracking #Taobao #Privacy #Security #PrecisePositioning #MadeinChina