China's Guangzhou authorities issue bounty for hacker suspects linked to Taiwan
BEIJING, June 5 (Reuters) - The public security bureau in the Chinese city of Guangzhou has put up a bounty for more than 20 people it suspects carried out cyber attacks in China, the official news agency Xinhua said on Thursday.
The authorities said the hackers were linked to the Taiwan government.
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Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Revealed: Gloating message sent by hackers 'from China' to M&S boss after devastating cyber-attack on British retailer
Hackers who crippled Marks & Spencer during a devastating cyber-attack sent the retailer's boss an abusive email gloating about what they had done. Shameless digital fraudsters from the DragonForce hacking group reportedly sent the message to M&S chief executive, Stuart Machin using an employee email account. The email, sent in broken English on April 23, appears to confirm for the first time that M&S was hacked by the notorious ransomware group - something the retailer has so far refused to acknowledge. 'We have marched the ways from China all the way to the UK and have mercilessly raped your company and encrypted all the servers,' the hackers wrote, the BBC reported. 'The dragon wants to speak to you so please head over to [our darknet website].' A darknet link shared in the email connected to a portal for DragonForce victims to negotiate a ransom fee. The crime syndicate added: 'Let's get the party started. Message us, we will make this fast and easy for us.' The cyber hack over the Easter break has been hugely damaging for British high street staple, M&S, costing an estimated £300million. Six months on from the digital blitz, and the retailer is still unable to take online orders. The hack has cause mayhem for Marks & Spencer meaning it was unable to process online orders. The retailer later warned some customers' personal details had been stolen According to the BBC, the extortion email was sent to Mr Machin and seven other top executives. The blackmail message reportedly included a racist term. It was reportedly ended with an image of a fire-breathing dragon. As well as boasting about installing ransomware to cripple M&S's IT systems, the hackers said they had also stolen the private data of millions of customers. M&S informed customers three weeks later that contact details and dates of births from some shoppers had been snatched by a suspected cyber cartel. And the retailer also admitted other personal details had also been pilfered by digital crooks, including customers' order histories. However, bosses at the chain have insisted no data relating to shoppers' payment or card details, or account passwords, had been taken. It's unclear exactly how many shoppers have been affected by the major data breach. However, the group had 9.4 million active online customers in the year to March 30, according to its last full-year results. DragonForce's bragging email was apparently sent using the account of an employee from IT company Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), which has provided IT services to M&S for over a decade. What is DragonForce? DragonForce reportedly offers cyber-criminal partners various services on their darknet site in exchange for a 20 per cent cut of any ransoms collected. It's thought the group operates globally, with hackers operating out of China. Researchers also believe the group also has links to Russia. DragonForce Malaysia - thought to be an offshoot of the main group - is thought to be made up of pro-Palestine 'hacktivists'. They have reportedly been behind several campaigns targeting government agencies and organisations across the Middle East and Asia, filling a void left by hacking collective, Anonymous. Speculation has been mounting that hacking collective, Scattered Spider, may also have been involved in the recent spate of retail cyber attacks. The group, thought to be made up of young English-speaking hackers from the West, might be one of DragonForce's affiliates. The Indian IT worker had an M&S email address, but is a paid TCS employee and based in London. It is believed that he was among the victims hacked during the devastating digital blitzkrieg that has ravaged M&S online systems. The IT company has previously said it is investigating whether it was a gateway for the cyberattack. It has since told the BBC the email was not sent from its system and has nothing to do with the breach. M&S has declined to comment on the latest revelations in the hacking crisis. As well as claiming responsibility for the M&S hack, DragonForce also says it is behind the ongoing cyber-attack against the Co-op. The two hacks took place in April and have wrought chaos for both retailers. Empty shelves in some stores were reported by customers of both businesses, while M&S fears disruption to its services will continue into next month. However, experts believe it could take 'months' for M&S to fully recover from the hack, which wiped a staggering £1billion off the retailer's market value in the weeks after the mayhem. Matt Hull, head of threat intelligence at global cyber security company NCC Group, said the M&S meltdown could potentially have massive ramifications for shoppers. Warning of the impact, Mr Hull told MailOnline: 'The data breach at M&S is a stark reminder that no organisation is completely immune from cyber threats, and that all forms of customer data requires stringent protection.' He added cyber crooks could seek to use the data they have allegedly obtained to launch a fresh wave of attack on countless unsuspecting victims. 'Despite the absence of financial data or passwords, threat actors could potentially use the stolen information to launch targeted social engineering attacks,' he warned. It is unclear who the actual hackers involved in the DragonForce's alleged cyber assault actually are. The incident is being probed digital experts from Britain's own 'FBI', the National Crime Agency. DragonForce reportedly offers cyber-criminal partners various services on their darknet site in exchange for a 20 per cent cut of any ransoms collected. It's believed the group operates worldwide, with connections to countries across Asia, with some operating in China. Researchers believe the group has links to Russia. DragonForce Malaysia - thought to be an offshoot of the main group - is thought to be made up of pro-Palestine 'hacktivists'. They have reportedly been behind several campaigns targeting government agencies and organisations across the Middle East and Asia, filling a void left by hacking collective, Anonymous. Speculation has been mounting that hacking collective, Scattered Spider, may also have been involved in the recent spate of retail cyber attacks. The group, thought to be made up of young English-speaking hackers from the West, might be one of DragonForce's affiliates. Members are known to include teenagers and young adults from the UK and US. A spokeswoman for M&S told MailOnline: 'We cannot comment on details of or speculation on the cyber incident, and we have been advised not to.'
The Independent
2 hours ago
- The Independent
M&S hackers sent abuse and ransom demand directly to chief executive
The Marks & Spencer hackers reportedly sent an abusive email to the retailer's boss, gloating about the hack and demanding ransom payment. M&S CEO Stuart Machin was sent an email on 23 April from a hacker group called DragonForce, using the email account of an employee, which confirms that the British high street retailer was targeted by a ransomware group, something they have refused to acknowledge. The email, seen and reported on by the BBC, says: 'We have marched the ways from China all the way to the UK and have mercilessly raped your company and encrypted all the servers "The dragon wants to speak to you so please head over to [our darknet website]." A darknet link shared in the email connected to a portal for DragonForce victims to negotiate a ransom fee. The criminal organisation said: 'let's get the party started. Message us, we will make this fast and easy for us.' They ended the email with an image of a dragon breathing fire, according to the BBC. The blackmail message reportedly included a racist term and was sent to Mr Machin and several other executives. As well as bragging about installing ransomware across the M&S IT system to render it useless, the hackers said they have stolen the private data of millions of customers. Three weeks later, M&S informed their customers that their data may have been stolen. The email was apparently sent using the account of an employee from IT company Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), which has provided IT services to M&S for over a decade. The IT worker had an M&S email address, but is a paid TCS employee. It is believed that he himself was hacked in the attack. The IT company has previously said it is investigating whether it was a gateway for the cyberattack and since told the BBC the email was not sent from its system and has nothing to do with the breach. M&S told The Independent: 'We cannot comment on details of or speculation on the cyber incident, and we have been advised not to.' DragonForce is the second hacking group to be linked to the M&S cyberattack; the Scattered Spider network, a group of young hackers across the UK and US, was also connected to the incident. Marks & Spencer has predicted that the cyberattack will disrupt its operations into July and will take an estimated £300 million hit to profits this year.
Reuters
3 hours ago
- Reuters
Hong Kong activist Joshua Wong faces second charge under national security law
HONG KONG, June 6 (Reuters) - Hong Kong authorities once again arrested prominent activist Joshua Wong on Friday and charged him with conspiracy to collude with a foreign country under a Beijing-imposed national security law. Wong, 28, was originally set to be released in January 2027 from a 56-month jail sentence he is serving under the same law for conspiracy to commit subversion after he participated in an unofficial primary election. Taken to the West Kowloon magistrates' courts, Wong faced a new charge of conspiracy to collude with a foreign country or with external elements to endanger national security. The former student pro-democracy activist, who wore a blue shirt and appeared noticeably thinner than before, replied, "Understand," when the clerk read out the charge and details of the offence. Wong did not apply for bail, and the case was adjourned to August 8. Before returning to custody, he waved, shrugged, and shook his head in the direction of the public gallery. In a statement, Hong Kong's national security police said they had arrested a 28-year-old man on suspicion of the offence, as well as for "dealing with property known or believed to represent proceeds of an indictable offence". A charge sheet seen by Reuters accuses Wong of having conspired with exiled activist Nathan Law and others to ask foreign countries, institutions, organizations, or individuals outside China to impose sanctions or blockades. Such actions against Hong Kong or China, along with other hostile activities targeting them, took place in 2020, between July 1 and November 23, it added. The National Security Law, which punishes offences such as acts of subversion, collusion with foreign forces, and terrorism, with terms of up to life in jail, was imposed by Beijing on the former British colony in 2020. The Chinese and Hong Kong governments say the law is necessary to restore stability following anti-government protests in 2019. But some Western governments have criticised it as being used to suppress free speech and dissent.
