The Official Chinese 🇨🇳 Espionage & Cold War Thread
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Chinese state-owned fishing company is cover for spy activities, report claims
MAY 20, 2021 BY JOSEPH FITSANAKIS LEAVE A COMMENT
Paracel Islands
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A CHINESE STATE-OWNED fisheries enterprise is in reality a front for military-related intelligence activities in the South China Sea, according to a new investigative report. The report was produced by Radio Free Asia (RFA), which is operated by the United States Agency for Global Media —an arm of the United States government. Entitled “Unmasking China’s Maritime Militia”, the report focuses on the Sansha City Fisheries Development Co., which is based on the island of Hainan, China’s southernmost province.
Established in February of 2015, Sansha City Fisheries Development Co. is a municipal state-owned enterprise that carries out industrial-scale fishing operations in the South China Sea. However, having analyzed official Chinese government data, including corporate records and third-party bidding contracts, RFA claims that “the company’s ships are engaged in more than just fishing”. In reality, the fishing company operates as an undercover arm of a shadowy force known as the Sansha City maritime militia, according to RFA.
The Sansha City maritime militia is believed to be headquartered at Woody Island (also known as Yongxing Island), the largest of the Paracel Islands in the South China Sea. It was allegedly established in 2013, with the goal of protecting China’s maritime claims in a region where Beijing is competing for influence against Malaysia, Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam, among other regional actors. Today the maritime militia is said to consist of over 100 vessels and nearly 2,000 militiamen and women.
According to RFA, Sansha City Fisheries Development is known to prioritize hiring veterans of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army. Moreover, a number of service contracts signed between the state-owned fishing company and third party providers appear to include “state secrets protection” clauses, which typically refer to classified programs for the Chinese military or intelligence services. In recent years, at least two of the company’s ships were used to test classified information systems and command and communications systems, which “transformed [them into] mobile communications and surveillance platform capable of transmitting intelligence back to the authorities on land”, according to RFA.
It should be noted that the Chinese government disputes these allegations. The RFA report quotes part of a statement by the Chinese embassy in the Philippines, which claims that “[t]here is no Chinese Maritime Militia as alleged”.
► Author: Joseph Fitsanakis | Date: 20 May 2021 | Permalink
MAY 20, 2021 BY JOSEPH FITSANAKIS LEAVE A COMMENT
Paracel Islands
" data-medium-file="https://intelligencenews.files.wordpress.com/2021/05/first-post-h-4.jpg?w=300" data-large-file="https://intelligencenews.files.wordpress.com/2021/05/first-post-h-4.jpg?w=629" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-19770" src="https://intelligencenews.files.wordpress.com/2021/05/first-post-h-4.jpg?w=630" alt="Paracel Islands" srcset="https://intelligencenews.files.wordpress.com/2021/05/first-post-h-4.jpg 629w, https://intelligencenews.files.wordpress.com/2021/05/first-post-h-4.jpg?w=128 128w, https://intelligencenews.files.wordpress.com/2021/05/first-post-h-4.jpg?w=300 300w" sizes="(max-width: 630px) 100vw, 630px" style="-x-ignore: 1">
A CHINESE STATE-OWNED fisheries enterprise is in reality a front for military-related intelligence activities in the South China Sea, according to a new investigative report. The report was produced by Radio Free Asia (RFA), which is operated by the United States Agency for Global Media —an arm of the United States government. Entitled “Unmasking China’s Maritime Militia”, the report focuses on the Sansha City Fisheries Development Co., which is based on the island of Hainan, China’s southernmost province.
Established in February of 2015, Sansha City Fisheries Development Co. is a municipal state-owned enterprise that carries out industrial-scale fishing operations in the South China Sea. However, having analyzed official Chinese government data, including corporate records and third-party bidding contracts, RFA claims that “the company’s ships are engaged in more than just fishing”. In reality, the fishing company operates as an undercover arm of a shadowy force known as the Sansha City maritime militia, according to RFA.
The Sansha City maritime militia is believed to be headquartered at Woody Island (also known as Yongxing Island), the largest of the Paracel Islands in the South China Sea. It was allegedly established in 2013, with the goal of protecting China’s maritime claims in a region where Beijing is competing for influence against Malaysia, Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam, among other regional actors. Today the maritime militia is said to consist of over 100 vessels and nearly 2,000 militiamen and women.
According to RFA, Sansha City Fisheries Development is known to prioritize hiring veterans of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army. Moreover, a number of service contracts signed between the state-owned fishing company and third party providers appear to include “state secrets protection” clauses, which typically refer to classified programs for the Chinese military or intelligence services. In recent years, at least two of the company’s ships were used to test classified information systems and command and communications systems, which “transformed [them into] mobile communications and surveillance platform
It should be noted that the Chinese government disputes these allegations. The RFA report quotes part of a statement by the Chinese embassy in the Philippines, which claims that “[t]here is no Chinese Maritime Militia as alleged”.
► Author: Joseph Fitsanakis | Date: 20 May 2021 | Permalink
Germany arrests suspected double agent accused of spying for China
Germany arrests suspected double agent accused of spying for China
Political scientist alleged to have spied for both German and Chinese secret services.
The suspect was arrested on Monday, on the basis of charges filed in May | Image via iStock
MUNICH — German authorities arrested a former spy for Germany’s secret service on suspicions that he conducted “intelligence agent activities” for China, the federal prosecutor’s office said Tuesday.
According to a press release from the prosecutor’s office, the man — named only as Klaus L. — allegedly supplied the Chinese secret service with information for almost a decade, starting in 2010.
At the same time, however, he was an informant for the German Federal Intelligence Service (BND). German public broadcaster ARD reported that the man, now 75, provided the BND with information for 50 years, leading a “double life.”
Publicly, he was a political scientist, working for the Hanns Seidel Foundation — a political research foundation closely associated with the Christian Social Union (CSU), the Bavarian sister party of Angela Merkel’s conservatives — from the 1980s until retirement. He has also run a think tank since 2001.
The suspect was arrested on Monday, on the basis of charges filed in May, the prosecutor’s office said.
As part of his work, he traveled abroad frequently, for example for guest lectures, across “the former Soviet Union and later Russia, the Balkans, South Africa and South Asia,” ARD reported, adding that the BND would be involved in meetings his think tank held with foreign guests. The Hanns Seidel Foundation told the broadcaster it had been unaware of the man’s BND activities.
In 2010, according to the prosecutor’s office, he traveled to Shanghai for a lecture and was approached “by members of a Chinese intelligence service in order to win him over for cooperation.”
“Subsequently, until November 2019, the defendant regularly provided information to the Chinese intelligence service in the run-up to or after state visits or multinational conferences, as well as on current affairs,” the prosecutor’s office’s statement continued.
According to ARD, the suspect — whose home was searched in November 2019 — did not deny that he had spied for China, but insisted that he had told the BND about his contacts to the Chinese, at least initially.
Germany arrests suspected double agent accused of spying for China
Political scientist alleged to have spied for both German and Chinese secret services.
The suspect was arrested on Monday, on the basis of charges filed in May | Image via iStock
MUNICH — German authorities arrested a former spy for Germany’s secret service on suspicions that he conducted “intelligence agent activities” for China, the federal prosecutor’s office said Tuesday.
According to a press release from the prosecutor’s office, the man — named only as Klaus L. — allegedly supplied the Chinese secret service with information for almost a decade, starting in 2010.
At the same time, however, he was an informant for the German Federal Intelligence Service (BND). German public broadcaster ARD reported that the man, now 75, provided the BND with information for 50 years, leading a “double life.”
Publicly, he was a political scientist, working for the Hanns Seidel Foundation — a political research foundation closely associated with the Christian Social Union (CSU), the Bavarian sister party of Angela Merkel’s conservatives — from the 1980s until retirement. He has also run a think tank since 2001.
The suspect was arrested on Monday, on the basis of charges filed in May, the prosecutor’s office said.
As part of his work, he traveled abroad frequently, for example for guest lectures, across “the former Soviet Union and later Russia, the Balkans, South Africa and South Asia,” ARD reported, adding that the BND would be involved in meetings his think tank held with foreign guests. The Hanns Seidel Foundation told the broadcaster it had been unaware of the man’s BND activities.
In 2010, according to the prosecutor’s office, he traveled to Shanghai for a lecture and was approached “by members of a Chinese intelligence service in order to win him over for cooperation.”
“Subsequently, until November 2019, the defendant regularly provided information to the Chinese intelligence service in the run-up to or after state visits or multinational conferences, as well as on current affairs,” the prosecutor’s office’s statement continued.
According to ARD, the suspect — whose home was searched in November 2019 — did not deny that he had spied for China, but insisted that he had told the BND about his contacts to the Chinese, at least initially.
Chinese state-linked cyber actor allegedly behind attack on global airline industry
Chinese state-linked cyber actor allegedly behind attack on global airline industry
Joseph FitsanakisMarch 19, 2021
June 11, 2021 1 Comment
Air India
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A GROUP OF COMPUTER hackers with close links to the Chinese state are allegedly behind a wide-scale attack on the global airline industry, which includes espionage, as well as financial motives, according to a new report. If confirmed, the attack would constitute a global campaign against a single industry that is unprecedented in size, according to experts.
The most recent victim of this series of worldwide attacks is Air India, India’s government-owned flagship air carrier. In May of this year, the company was targeted by what officials described as “a highly sophisticated attack” that had begun over two months earlier. It was indeed in early February that the hackers had begun to collect information about Air India and trying to infiltrate its networks through a combination of methods, including spear-phishing. The resulting compromise affected the data of some 4.5 million of Air India’s passengers. Stolen information included passengers’ credit card details, as well as passport information, such as names and dates of birth.
But in a new report issued on Thursday, the Singapore-based cybersecurity firm Group-IB said that the methodology used by the perpetrators of the Air India attack resembled those used to hack other airline carriers around the world. Other victims have included Singapore Airlines, Malaysia Airlines, Finnair, as well as SITA, a Swiss-based provider of information technology services to airline operators in over 200 countries and territories around the world.
What is more, the Group-IB report claims “with moderate confidence” that the attacks on the global airline industry are being perpetrated by APT41. Also known as BARIUM, APT41 is a highly prolific group of computer hackers that is widely believed to be connected with the Chinese government. Since first appearing on the scene in 2006, APT41 has amassed a list of victims that include firms from almost every imaginable industry, including manufacturing, telecommunications, transportation, healthcare and defense. Some of its strikes are clearly financially motivated and include ransomware attacks. Others are espionage-related and point to the information needs of a nation-state —allegedly China.
In 2020, the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation added five members of APT41 to its “Most Wanted” list. The accompanying press statement accusing the five men of conducting “supply chain attacks to gain unauthorized access to networks throughout the world”, and attacking a host of companies on nearly every continent, including the Americas.
► Author: Joseph Fitsanakis | Date: 11 June 2021 | Permalink
Chinese state-linked cyber actor allegedly behind attack on global airline industry
Joseph FitsanakisMarch 19, 2021
June 11, 2021 1 Comment
Air India
" data-medium-file="https://intelligencenews.files.wordpress.com/2021/06/first-post-h-3.jpg?w=300" data-large-file="https://intelligencenews.files.wordpress.com/2021/06/first-post-h-3.jpg?w=629" src="https://intelligencenews.files.wordpress.com/2021/06/first-post-h-3.jpg?w=630" alt="Air India" srcset="https://intelligencenews.files.wordpress.com/2021/06/first-post-h-3.jpg 629w, https://intelligencenews.files.wordpress.com/2021/06/first-post-h-3.jpg?w=128 128w, https://intelligencenews.files.wordpress.com/2021/06/first-post-h-3.jpg?w=300 300w" sizes="(max-width: 630px) 100vw, 630px" data-reader-unique-id="8" style="-x-ignore: 1">
A GROUP OF COMPUTER hackers with close links to the Chinese state are allegedly behind a wide-scale attack on the global airline industry, which includes espionage, as well as financial motives, according to a new report. If confirmed, the attack would constitute a global campaign against a single industry that is unprecedented in size, according to experts.
The most recent victim of this series of worldwide attacks is Air India, India’s government-owned flagship air carrier. In May of this year, the company was targeted by what officials described as “a highly sophisticated attack” that had begun over two months earlier. It was indeed in early February that the hackers had begun to collect information about Air India and trying to infiltrate its networks through a combination of methods, including spear-phishing. The resulting compromise affected the data of some 4.5 million of Air India’s passengers. Stolen information included passengers’ credit card details, as well as passport information, such as names and dates of birth.
But in a new report issued on Thursday, the Singapore-based cybersecurity firm Group-IB said that the methodology used by the perpetrators of the Air India attack resembled those used to hack other airline carriers around the world. Other victims have included Singapore Airlines, Malaysia Airlines, Finnair, as well as SITA, a Swiss-based provider of information technology services to airline operators in over 200 countries and territories around the world.
What is more, the Group-IB report claims “with moderate confidence” that the attacks on the global airline industry are being perpetrated by APT41. Also known as BARIUM, APT41 is a highly prolific group of computer hackers that is widely believed to be connected with the Chinese government. Since first appearing on the scene in 2006, APT41 has amassed a list of victims that include firms from almost every imaginable industry, including manufacturing, telecommunications, transportation, healthcare and defense. Some of its strikes are clearly financially motivated and include ransomware attacks. Others are espionage-related and point to the information needs of a nation-state —allegedly China.
In 2020, the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation added five members of APT41 to its “Most Wanted” list. The accompanying press statement accusing the five men of conducting “supply chain attacks to gain unauthorized access to networks throughout the world”, and attacking a host of companies on nearly every continent, including the Americas.
► Author: Joseph Fitsanakis | Date: 11 June 2021 | Permalink