Taiwan will 'not provoke confrontation' with China, vice president says
'We do not seek conflict. We will not provoke confrontation,' said Bi-khim Hsiao, adding that her government has urged Beijing to communicate 'with parity and respect.'
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Axios
12 minutes ago
- Axios
Beijing's hackers are playing the long game
Chinese hackers are targeting more sensitive U.S. targets than ever — not to smash and grab, but to bide their time. Why it matters: Beijing is investing in stealthy, persistent access to U.S. systems — quietly building up its abilities to disrupt everything from federal agencies to water utilities in the event of escalation with Washington. Even the most routine spying campaign could leave China with backdoors to destruction for years to come. Driving the news: At least three China-based hacking groups exploited vulnerable SharePoint servers in the last month, according to Microsoft. Researchers at Eye Security, which first discovered the SharePoint flaws, estimates that more than 400 systems were compromised as part of the SharePoint attacks. In this case, hackers also stole machine keys. That means the attackers can regain access whenever they want — even after the system is patched — unless admins take rare manual steps to rotate keys. The big picture: China's state-linked hackers have been growing in sophistication over the last few years as they focus more on targeting technology and software providers with hundreds of customers, often including government agencies. By the numbers: More than 330 cyberattacks last year were linked to China, double the total from 2023, according to CrowdStrike data shared with the Washington Post. Those numbers continued to climb in early 2025, according to CrowdStrike. Between the lines: At least three major Chinese government teams have been targeting U.S. networks in recent years. Volt Typhoon has focused on breaking into endpoint detection tools to burrow deep into U.S. critical infrastructure, including pipelines, railways, ports and water utilities. Their goal is to maintain persistent access and be prepared to launch destructive attacks in the event of contingencies such as a war over Taiwan, experts say. Salt Typhoon, known for its compromises of global telecom networks, has focused on traditional espionage and spying. This group tapped cell phones belonging to President Trump, Vice President Vance and other top government officials. The FBI believes that threat is now "largely contained." Silk Typhoon — which has been linked to a recent breach of the U.S. Treasury Department and is known for the global 2021 Microsoft Exchange hacks — has been ramping up its work in recent months. The group uses previously undetected vulnerabilities, known as zero-days, to break into networks. Zoom in: Researchers at cybersecurity firm SentinelOne have uncovered more than 10 patents tied to Silk Typhoon's work — a rarity among nation-state hackers. The patents — detailed in a report published Thursday — suggest the group was at one point developing new offensive tools, including to encrypt endpoint data recovery, conduct phone and router forensics and decrypt hard drives. The researchers also found that Silk Typhoon has links to at least three private sector companies. The intrigue: Beijing's growing reliance on private contractors adds another layer of complexity — shielding state involvement while expanding capability. A DOJ indictment released last month details how the Shanghai State Security Bureau directed employees at tech companies to hack into computers across U.S. universities and businesses to steal information. A trove of leaked documents stolen from private Chinese contractor I-Soon early last year also highlighted how hired hackers targeted several U.S. government agencies, major newspapers and research universities. State of play: China's growing cyber prowess comes as the Trump administration has diminished resources for its own cyber defenses. At least a third of the workforce at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency has left through voluntary buyouts, early retirements or layoffs. The Trump administration also wants to cut its budget. Yes, but: The administration is expected to invest heavily in its own offensive cyber powers — with $1 billion from the "One Big Beautiful Bill" heading to the Pentagon for just that purpose.
Yahoo
19 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Judge blocks Trump rapid-fire deportations for immigrants with parole status
A federal judge has blocked the Trump administration from rapidly deporting hundreds of thousands of immigrants who had previously been paroled into the United States to flee violence and oppression in their home countries. U.S. District Judge Jia Cobb said in a ruling Friday that the Department of Homeland Security's tactics — rapid-fire deportation proceedings with little to no chance to lodge challenges — amounted to changing the rules in the middle of the game for people previously welcomed into the country on a temporary basis. Cobb barred foreigners with immigration parole, typically a short-term status that allows foreigners to live and work in the U.S. legally, from being subjected to a controversial maneuver the administration has adopted in recent months: dismissing immigrants' pending proceedings in immigration court — only to immediately arrest them outside the courtroom and put them into a sped-up deportation process known as expedited removal. 'In a world of bad options, they played by the rules,' Cobb, a Biden appointee, wrote. 'Now, the Government has not only closed off those pathways for new arrivals but changed the game for parolees already here.' That new tactic arrived amid pressure within the Trump administration to ramp up arrests in support of President Donald Trump's mass deportation agenda, a detail Cobb cited in her ruling. But she said the basis for the expansion of 'expedited removal' and for targeting those previously granted parole exceeded the administration's legal authority and was arbitrary. The White House has put intense pressure on Immigration and Customs Enforcement to increase arrest numbers, with the aim of 3,000 a day. Trump officials view the immigration courts as one of the biggest roadblocks in reaching its goal of 1 million annual deportations and have used the immigration court arrests to increase its numbers. Immigration attorneys have scrambled to adapt to the tactic in recent months, preparing their clients for the possibility of being detained at ICE check-ins and immigration courts. The arrests have spurred fear in immigrant communities across the country, with attorneys warning of a chilling effect among immigrants who have long followed the rules. 'This case's underlying question, then, asks whether parolees who escaped oppression will have the chance to plead their case within a system of rules. Or, alternatively, will they be summarily removed from a country that — as they are swept up at checkpoints and outside courtrooms, often by plainclothes officers without explanation or charges, may look to them more and more like the countries from which they tried to escape?' It's unclear how many immigrants are impacted by Cobb's ruling. She estimated the number as 'hundreds of thousands,' but statistics compiled by Republican lawmakers and immigration opponents suggest the figure could be 1 million or more. "Judge Cobb is flagrantly ignoring the United States Supreme Court which upheld expedited removals of illegal aliens by a 7-2 majority," DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said. "This ruling is lawless and won't stand." As illegal crossings at the border with Mexico mushroomed into a political crisis during the Biden administration, officials increasingly turned to immigration parole as a means to limit chaotic scenes at the border by allowing immigrants from Central America to enter the U.S. legally. A report presented at a House hearing in April by a group favoring greater restrictions on immigration, the Center for Immigration Studies, estimated that the Biden administration granted immigration parole to 2.8 million people. However, only some of those people would be impacted by the judge's ruling Friday since federal law bars the use of expedited removal against immigrants who have been living in the U.S. for more than two years. The new ruling specifically blocks three Trump administration directives: a Jan. 23 memo authorizing the use of 'expedited removal' as broadly as possible; a Feb. 18 Immigration and Customs Enforcement directive authorizing expedited removal for 'paroled arriving aliens'; and a March 25 notice canceling parole status for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans. Solve the daily Crossword
Washington Post
43 minutes ago
- Washington Post
Putting maximum pressure on Russia requires secondary sanctions on oil
President Donald Trump called Russia's bluff on Friday. In response to nuclear saber-rattling from a close ally of Vladimir Putin, Trump announced he will deploy two nuclear submarines to the region. The president's previously conciliatory posture toward the Kremlin gives such counterpunches real credibility: Mess around, find out. After Putin strung him along for months as he sought an end to fighting in Ukraine, Trump took steps this past week against India that Presidents Joe Biden and Barack Obama were reluctant to take, for fear of escalation and economic fallout, in the face of Russian revanchism. They already show signs of working. The president now has an opportunity to press his advantage by doing the same with China.
