Geek-Guy.com

Category: Asia Pacific

US charges 12 Chinese hackers in major government-backed espionage campaign

US authorities have announced criminal charges against 12 Chinese nationals allegedly involved in a long-running cyber-espionage campaign tied to China’s government. The Justice Department (DOJ) and the FBI also announced the seizure of internet domains linked to the Silk Typhoon hacking group, which is accused of breaching US government agencies and high-profile organizations. “These malicious…

US indicts 12 Chinese nationals for vast espionage attack spree

The Justice Department on Wednesday indicted 12 Chinese nationals for their alleged involvement in an extensive nation-state-backed espionage campaign that included a spree of attacks on U.S. federal and state agencies, including the late 2024 attack targeting the Treasury Department.  Officials accused the Chinese individuals, including two officers of China’s Ministry of Public Security, eight…

Former top NSA cyber official: Probationary firings ‘devastating’ to cyber, national security

The NSA’s former top cybersecurity official told Congress on Wednesday that the Trump administration’s attempts to mass fire probationary federal employees will be “devastating” for U.S. cybersecurity operations. In testimony to the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, Rob Joyce, the former NSA cybersecurity director who retired from government service last year, warned…

China-Linked Silk Typhoon Expands Cyber Attacks to IT Supply Chains for Initial Access

The China-lined threat actor behind the zero-day exploitation of security flaws in Microsoft Exchange servers in January 2021 has shifted its tactics to target the information technology (IT) supply chain as a means to obtain initial access to corporate networks. That’s according to new findings from the Microsoft Threat Intelligence team, which said the Silk…

So werden PV-Anlagen digital angegriffen und geschützt

Unternehmen setzen vermehrt auf Solaranlagen mit Batteriespeichern, um hohe Energiekosten und Netzstabilitätsrisiken zu minimieren. Diese Systeme sind allerdings oft nicht gehärtet und damit ein immer beliebteres Ziel bei Cyberkriminellen. Quality Stock Arts Steigen die Energiepreise, werden kostenintensive Projekte wie Rechenzentren für Künstliche Intelligenz (KI) ebenfalls teurer. Große Unternehmen suchen deshalb verstärkt nach Möglichkeiten, ihren Energiehaushalt…

Chinese cyber espionage growing across all industry sectors

Security researchers are warning of a significant global rise in Chinese cyberespionage activity against organizations in every industry. Over the course of 2024, researchers from security firm CrowdStrike observed a 150% average increase in intrusions by Chinese threat actors worldwide, with some sectors experiencing two- to three-fold surges. Researchers at the firm also identified seven…

Congress eyes bigger cyber role for NTIA amid telecom attacks

As Salt Typhoon and other hacking groups continue targeting U.S. telecoms, a bipartisan bill that cleared a key House panel Tuesday aims to formalize a more cyber-focused role for the federal agency focused on those wireless networks. The National Telecommunications and Information Administration Organization Act would establish an Office of Policy Development and Cybersecurity within…

House passes bill requiring federal contractors to have vulnerability disclosure policies

A bill that would close a loophole in federal cybersecurity standards by requiring government contractors to abide by vulnerability disclosure policies moved one step closer to law Monday after sailing through the House. The passage of the Federal Contractor Cybersecurity Vulnerability Reduction Act in the House came a month after Reps. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., and…

Didi reportedly seeking funds for self-driving unit at $5B valuation

Chinese ride-hail firm Didi is on the hunt for fresh funds for its autonomous vehicle technology unit that could value it at $5 billion, according to Bloomberg News. Investor interest in self-driving cars is high in China on the backs of IPOs from WeRide and Pony AI, which have a market capitalization of $4.7 billion…

Hacker legen Schweizer Industriekonzern Adval Tech lahm

Der Schweizer Industriekonzern Adval Tech musste seine IT-Systeme wegen eines Cyberangriffs herunterfahren. Parilov – Shutterstock.com Nach eigenen Angaben wurden die IT-Systeme der Adval Tech Gruppe am 2. März 2025 von Cyberkriminellen angegriffen. „Sämtliche IT-Systeme wurden daraufhin gemäß Notfallkonzept umgehend kontrolliert heruntergefahren“, erklärt das Schweizer Unternehmen in einer offiziellen Mitteilung. Infolgedessen könne es an diversen Standorten…

Why cyber attackers are targeting your solar energy systems — and how to stop them

High energy costs and concerns over the stability and capacity of electric grids are leading businesses to evaluate and implement their own onsite energy generation systems. These onsite systems, referred to as distributed energy resources (DERs), are most commonly solar panel arrays, often paired with batteries to store energy for later use. DERs are usually…

CFPB nominee signals openness to continuing data-broker work

President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the consumer-focused federal agency that Elon Musk wants to “delete” and that Republican lawmakers have railed against since its creation indicated to senators Thursday that he could continue some data-focused work started by his Democratic predecessor. In his nomination hearing to lead the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Jonathan McKernan…

It’s not just Salt Typhoon: All China-backed attack groups are showcasing specialized offensive skills

Cyberattacks carried out by China-backed nation-state actors surged last year, showcasing technical advancements and specialized targeting in a broader escalation of the country’s ability to infiltrate global critical infrastructure, CrowdStrike said in an annual threat report released Thursday. “After decades of investment into China’s offensive capabilities, they’re now on par with other world powers,” Adam…

Karen Evans steps into a leading federal cyber position: executive assistant director for cybersecurity at CISA

Federal IT and cyber government veteran Karen Evans is the new executive assistant director for cybersecurity at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. It’s one of the most prominent cyber jobs in the federal government, previously held by Jeff Greene and Eric Goldstein. A description of the post on the CISA website says that the…

Nomagic picks up $44M for its AI-powered robotic arms

Regions like the U.S. and Europe have been doubling down on rebuilding their industrial muscle, after decades of closing down factories and outsourcing the work to countries like China. To that end, a fast-growing Polish startup called Nomagic, which builds robots — specifically robotic arms — for logistics operations, is announcing $44 million in funding,…

Apple’s Developer service comes to China’s WeChat

As part of its efforts to further invest in the Chinese market, Apple announced this week that it’s bringing its Apple Developer service to China’s WeChat app. The service includes news, announcements, and other upcoming activities for members of the developer community, which have typically been offered via Apple’s website and its own Developer app.…

Dragos: Surge of new hacking groups enter ICS space as states collaborate with private actors

Cyberattacks against industrial organizations surged in 2024 as a glut of new threat actors increasingly targeted operational technology (OT) and industrial control systems (ICS), according to cybersecurity firm Dragos. According to a report released Tuesday, attacks on industrial organizations soared by 87% last year, while the number of ransomware groups impacting the OT/ICS space jumped…

DOGE’s US worker purge has created a spike in insider risk

We talk a good deal about insider risk, how it evolves from threats within an organization, and how to get ahead of its escalation by being proactive and dealing with situations as they arise, well before they become a threat or reality. Whatever you may think of the cost-cutting measures introduced by US President Donald…

OpenAI rolls out its AI agent, Operator, in several countries

OpenAI said on Friday that it is rolling out Operator, its so-called AI agent that can perform tasks on behalf of users, for ChatGPT Pro subscribers in Australia, Brazil, Canada, India, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, the U.K., and more countries. OpenAI said Operator will be available in most places where ChatGPT is available, apart from…

Salt Typhoon telecom breach remarkable for its ‘indiscriminate’ targeting, FBI official says

One of the most notable elements of the monumental hack of major telecommunications companies is just how “indiscriminate” it was in its pursuit of data, a top FBI official said Wednesday. The FBI has been investigating the breach, which it has blamed on Chinese government hackers commonly known as Salt Typhoon. “What we found particularly…

Mehrheit der Deutschen fürchtet sich vor Cyberangriffen

Viele Deutsche fürchten sich vor gezielten Cyberangriffen, die von Staaten ausgehen. Andrea Danti – Shutterstock.com Eine deutliche Mehrheit der Menschen in Deutschland hat Angst vor Cyberangriffen oder gar einem Cyberkrieg. Bei einer repräsentativen Umfrage des Digitalverbandes Bitkom sagten 61 Prozent, dass sie Cyberangriffe durch Staaten befürchten, mit denen Infrastruktur, öffentliche Einrichtungen oder Unternehmen gezielt gestört,…

How Phished Data Turns into Apple & Google Wallets

Carding — the underground business of stealing, selling and swiping stolen payment card data — has long been the dominion of Russia-based hackers. Happily, the broad deployment of more secure chip-based payment cards in the United States has weakened the carding market. But a flurry of innovation from cybercrime groups in China is breathing new…

Winnti APT41 Targets Japanese Firms in RevivalStone Cyber Espionage Campaign

The China-linked threat actor known as Winnti has been attributed to a new campaign dubbed RevivalStone that targeted Japanese companies in the manufacturing, materials, and energy sectors in March 2024. The activity, detailed by Japanese cybersecurity company LAC, overlaps with a threat cluster tracked by Trend Micro as Earth Freybug, which has been assessed to…

Nico Lange: „Cybersicherheit ist eine Frage der Verteidigung“

Munich Security Conference Live Studio powered by APCO in Munich, Germany on February 15, 2025. (Photo by Christopher Pike / christopherpike.com) APCO. Welches sind laut dem Münchner Sicherheitsindex die größten Risiken für Europa im Jahr 2025? Nun, ich denke, das größte Risiko besteht in der sogenannten Multipolarisierung. Europa wird Schwierigkeiten haben, sein Geschäftsmodell fortzuführen, das…

McDonald’s ‘China triumph’: Harnessing Tencent Cloud’s partnership in digital transformation and consumer engagement

Enhancing McDonald’s China digital ordering system to efficiently manage both regular peak times and promotional surges COMPANY NEWS: Tencent Cloud, the cloud business of global technology company Tencent, has been a trusted partner of McDonald’s China since 2017 – a partnership that has helped McDonald’s China bolster its operational efficiency and be at the leading…

DeepSeek founder Liang Wenfeng is reportedly set to meet with China’s Xi Jinping

Chinese AI startup DeepSeek founder Liang Wenfeng is reportedly set to meet with China’s top politicians, including Chinese leader Xi Jinping, during a summit that Alibaba founder Jack Ma is also expected to attend. The summit, which could happen as soon as next week, may be intended as a signal by China’s Communist Party that…

Unusual attack linked to Chinese APT group combines espionage and ransomware

In an intriguing development, researchers have observed a ransomware actor using tools previously associated with China-based cyberespionage efforts. While mixing espionage and ransomware activities is common for North Korean APTs, it’s unusual for Chinese groups. “The most likely scenario is that an actor, possibly one individual, was attempting to make some money on the side…

Alibaba confirms Apple deal bringing AI features to iPhones in China

Alibaba on Thursday confirmed recent reports of a partnership with Apple that’s set to bring AI features to iPhones sold in China. The deal is an important one for Apple, as iPhone sales have dropped precipitously in the world’s largest smartphone market. The handset experienced an 11% year-over-year drop in China, according to Apple’s most…

DeepSeek erfasst Tastatureingabemuster

Selbst Tastatureingaben in der DeepSeek App können womöglich mitgelesen werden, bevor sie abgeschickt werden. Mojahid Mottakin – shutterstock.com Behörden und Cybersicherheitsfachleute haben gravierende Sicherheitsbedenken gegen die chinesische KI DeepSeek. Dabei geht es um mehrere Punkte: die offenkundig sehr weitreichende Speicherung von Nutzerdaten, die mögliche Manipulierbarkeit der Anwendung für kriminelle Zwecke und die Frage, inwieweit der…

U.S. adversaries increasingly turning to cybercriminals and their malware for help

Governments of the United States’ chief adversaries in cyberspace, especially Russia, have increasingly been relying on cybercriminals and their tools to advance their goals, according to a Google report published Tuesday. There’s long been overlap between government and criminal cyber operators, but governments are now enjoying the benefits of collaboration and borrowing more — both…

Apple reportedly partners with Alibaba after rejecting DeepSeek for China AI launch

According to a report published Tuesday by The Information, Apple is partnering Alibaba to bring its Apple Intelligence platform to China. The deal is said to arrive after the iPhone maker reportedly explored – but ultimately rejected – a potential partnership with uber-buzzy AI startup, DeepSeek, as well as with Bytedance. Apple initially selected Baidu…

CISA election, disinformation officials placed on administrative leave, sources say

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency placed several members of its election security group on administrative leave last week, multiple sources familiar with the situation told CyberScoop. According to one source, the moves happened Thursday and Friday of last week and were targeted at employees focused on CISA’s mis-, dis- and malinformation teams. The moves…

Yahoo Finance: U.S. Lawmakers Push to Ban China’s DeepSeek AI Over Security Risks – Feroot Security Analysis

Washington, D.C. – U.S. lawmakers announced a bill to ban DeepSeek, the Chinese AI chatbot app, from government devices following a security analysis by Feroot Security that revealed alarming privacy and national security risks. The research suggests that DeepSeek collects user data, including digital fingerprints, login credentials, and behavioral information, potentially sending it to servers…

Ford goes protectionist as EV losses top $5B

Ford CEO Jim Farley has a question about President Donald Trump’s threatened tariffs on imports from Mexico, Canada, and China: Why stop there? Farley said in a conference call Wednesday that Trump’s selective approach “doesn’t make sense.” “Why are we having this conversation while Hyundai-Kia is importing 600,000 units in the U.S. with no incremental…

Fake Google Chrome Sites Distribute ValleyRAT Malware via DLL Hijacking

Bogus websites advertising Google Chrome have been used to distribute malicious installers for a remote access trojan called ValleyRAT. The malware, first detected in 2023, is attributed to a threat actor tracked as Silver Fox, with prior attack campaigns primarily targeting Chinese-speaking regions like Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Mainland China. “This actor has increasingly targeted…

MacOS Ferret operators add a deceptive bite to their malware family

The macOS Ferret family, variants of malware used by North Korean APTs for cyber espionage, has received a new member as samples of a detection-resistant variant, Flexible-Ferret, appear in the wild. The discovery of the samples was made by SentinelOne researchers who noted the variant’s capability to evade the recent XProtect signature update that Apple…

New trojan hijacks Linux and IoT devices

There’s a new trojan on the block, one that specifically targets network appliances and internet of things (IoT) devices running the open-source Linux operating system. FortiGuard Labs has identified a new malware kit, dubbed “ELF/Sshdinjector.A!tr“, that has the ability to infect and remotely control systems, establish root privilege, maintain malware presence, exfiltrate data such as…

China may probe Intel for antitrust: report

Amid China’s retaliation to recently-announced U.S. tariffs, Intel may find itself in the hot seat with China’s regulators. China is apparently considering an antitrust probe into semiconductor giant Intel, according to reporting from the Financial Times. This would be in addition to the set of tariffs against the U.S. that China announced on Monday. Per…

China hits back at Trump tariffs with Google antitrust investigation

China said Tuesday it has launched an antitrust investigation into Google, part of a swift retaliation after the U.S. President Donald Trump imposed a 10% tariff on Chinese goods. The probe by China’s State Administration for Market Regulation will examine alleged monopolistic practices by the U.S. tech giant, which has had its search and internet…

Bill requiring federal contractors to have vulnerability disclosure policies gets House redo

Bipartisan legislation to close a loophole in federal cybersecurity standards by requiring vulnerability disclosure policies for government contractors is getting another shot at passage  in this Congress. The Federal Contractor Cybersecurity Vulnerability Reduction Act, a bicameral, bipartisan bill that stalled out last year in the Senate, was reintroduced Friday in the House by Reps. Nancy…

DeepSeek AI Disrupts Industry with Low-Cost, High-Performance Model

The American AI market was recently rattled by the emergence of a Chinese competitor that’s cost-efficient and matches the performance of OpenAI’s o1 model on several math and reasoning metrics.  The new AI model, created by Hangzhou-based startup DeepSeek, has supposedly surpassed Meta as the leading purveyor of open-source AI tools. The company’s R1 model…

Apple Intelligence will support more languages from April

Apple’s AI suite, Apple Intelligence, will soon be available in French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Japanese, Korean, and simplified Chinese, along with localized English versions for India and Singapore. During the company’s Q4 2024 quarterly results call on Thursday, CEO Tim Cook said that the company will roll out support for these additional languages in…

Infrastructure Laundering: Blending in with the Cloud

Image: Shutterstock, ArtHead. In an effort to blend in and make their malicious traffic tougher to block, hosting firms catering to cybercriminals in China and Russia increasingly are funneling their operations through major U.S. cloud providers. Research published this week on one such outfit — a sprawling network tied to Chinese organized crime gangs and…

Google: Over 57 Nation-State Threat Groups Using AI for Cyber Operations

Over 57 distinct threat actors with ties to China, Iran, North Korea, and Russia have been observed using artificial intelligence (AI) technology powered by Google to further enable their malicious cyber and information operations. “Threat actors are experimenting with Gemini to enable their operations, finding productivity gains but not yet developing novel capabilities,” Google Threat

American CISOs should prepare now for the coming connected-vehicle tech bans

In a groundbreaking shift in automotive supply chain regulation, the White House announced a new rule issued by the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) a week before the end of the Biden administration that will ban in-vehicle connectivity system (VCS) hardware and software from China (including Hong Kong) or Russia from US…

What DeepSeek, China, and Trump mean for Apple ahead of its Q1 earnings

These days, nothing is certain about the tech market or the world at large. Even NVIDIA’s seemingly bulletproof stock took a hammering on Monday, enduring a $589 billion market cap decline after China-based DeepSeek raised questions for investors about more efficient AI models. But Apple’s stock has remained steady ahead of its first quarter earnings…

DeepSeek: The Silent AI Takeover That Could Cripple Markets and Fuel China’s Cyberwarfare

David Jemmett, CEO & Founder of CISO Global Unlike Western AI systems governed by privacy laws and ethical considerations, DeepSeek operates under a regime notorious for state-sponsored hacking, surveillance, and cyber espionage. With AI-driven automation at its disposal, China can rapidly scale its cyberattacks, embedding malware, manipulating financial markets, and eroding trust in global AI…

National security risks in routers, modems targeted in bipartisan Senate bill

The national security risks posed by routers, modems and similar devices produced by U.S. adversaries would be the subject of a new federal study under a bipartisan Senate bill introduced Monday. The Removing Our Unsecure Technologies to Ensure Reliability and Security (ROUTERS) Act from Sens. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., and Ben Ray Luján, D-N.M., is aimed…

OpenAI launches ChatGPT plan for U.S. government agencies

In a week dominated by headlines about China’s growing AI competitiveness, OpenAI has launched ChatGPT Gov. The new version of the AI-powered chatbot platform is designed to provide U.S. government agencies an additional way to access the tech. ChatGPT Gov includes many of the capabilities found in OpenAI’s corporate-focused tier, ChatGPT Enterprise. Using the platform, agencies…

DeepSeek AI angegriffen?

Neue Benutzer können sich derzeit nicht registrieren, um DeepSeeks virales KI-Modell R1 auszutesten. Laut dem chinesischen Startup ist eine Cyberattacke der Grund. Shutterstock / Robert Way DeepSeek AI hat sich über Nacht zur neuen Generative-AI-Sensation entwickelt. Der Hype um das chinesische Startup und sein quelloffenes KI-Modell R1 wirft für Unternehmen nicht nur einige wichtige Fragen…

Zepto shifts domicile to India as local listings gain appeal

Quick commerce startup Zepto has completed its shift of domicile from Singapore to India, joining a growing wave of Indian startups moving their headquarters back home ahead of public listings. The transition marks the fastest domicile shift to India by a foreign-headquartered startup, according to Zepto’s chief financial officer Ramesh Bafna. The Indian authorities recently…

DeepSeek AI claims services are facing ‘large-scale malicious attacks’ 

DeepSeek, the Chinese startup whose open-source large language model is causing panic among U.S. tech and AI companies this week, said it is having difficulty registering new users due to “large-scale malicious attacks” on its services. On Monday, the company’s website posted a banner note stating that it was temporarily pausing new registrations to deal…

DeepSeek ‘punctures’ tech spending plans, and what analysts are saying

Chinese AI firm DeepSeek has emerged as a potential challenger to U.S. AI leaders, demonstrating breakthrough models that claim to offer performance comparable to leading chatbots at a fraction of the cost. The company’s mobile app, released in early January, has also topped iPhone charts across major markets including the U.S., UK, and China. Founded…

BreachForums founder to be resentenced after court vacates previous punishment

A U.S. appeals court has vacated the initial sentence given to Conor Brian Fitzpatrick, who pleaded guilty in 2023 for charges related to his work as founder of the notorious BreachForums website. The appeal, filed by the U.S. government, signals that a new sentence could be much more harsh than the one initially issued last…

Trump administration disbands DHS board investigating Salt Typhoon hacks

The administration of US President Donald Trump has dismissed all members of its Cyber Safety Review Board (CSRB), including those investigating the China-linked hacking group Salt Typhoon. Other groups affected by a general clear-out include the AI Safety and Security Board and the National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee. Cybersecurity experts have expressed concern about the…

WordPress Appliance - Powered by TurnKey Linux