Latest news with #ChristopherWray
Mint
2 days ago
- Politics
- Mint
Chinese hackers are getting bigger, better and stealthier
China's power is growing rapidly every year. From warships to missiles, the country is churning out hardware at an extraordinary rate. In the unseen, online world, it is making similar leaps. On March 4th America's Justice Department charged eight Chinese nationals with large-scale hacking of government agencies, news outlets and dissidents in America and around the world, on behalf of i-Soon, a Chinese company, at the direction of the Chinese government. It also indicted two officials who it said 'directed the hacks". These instances are the tip of a vast iceberg. Over the past decade China's hacking programme has grown rapidly, to the point that in 2023 Christopher Wray, then the fbi director, noted it was larger than that of every other major nation combined. China's growing heft and sophistication have yielded success in three main areas. The first is political espionage, linked primarily to the Ministry of State Security (mss), China's foreign-intelligence service. Last year it emerged that one group of Chinese hackers, dubbed Salt Typhoon, had breached at least nine American phone companies, giving them access to the calls and messages of important officials. Ciaran Martin, who led Britain's cyber-defence agency from 2016 to 2020, compares it to the revelations in 2013 by Edward Snowden, a government contractor, that American spy agencies were conducting cyber-espionage on a huge scale. China was 'gaining vast access to the nation's communications via a strategic spying operation of breathtaking audacity," he says. A second is in domains of little espionage value: hacking that lays the groundwork for sabotage in moments of crisis or war. These efforts are led by the People's Liberation Army (pla), China's armed forces. In 2023 it became apparent that a pla-linked hacking group known as Volt Typhoon had, over several years, burrowed into an extraordinary range of American critical infrastructure, from ports to factories to water-treatment plants, across the continental United States and in strategic American territories such as Guam. All of that builds on a third type of hacking: the industrial-scale theft of intellectual property. In 2013 Mandiant, a cyber-threat intelligence firm, which is now part of Google, made waves when it exposed 'apt1", the label for a group of hackers linked to the pla. apt1 was not focused on stealing political secrets or turning off power grids but on stealing blueprints, manufacturing processes and business plans from American firms. A year later America's government took the then unprecedented step of indicting five pla hackers for this activity. Keith Alexander, a former head of the National Security Agency (nsa), America's signals-intelligence service, described this as 'the greatest transfer of wealth in history". That period ended with a partial truce. In 2015 Barack Obama, then America's president, and Xi Jinping, his Chinese counterpart, announced a 'common understanding". Neither country would conduct cyber-espionage to steal intellectual property. The agreement worked. Shortly afterwards commercial espionage of this sort fell dramatically, if temporarily. But that was simply the start of the new era of political espionage and sabotage. All of these areas have been affected by three big shifts within China's hacking programmes. One is who is doing the hacking. In 2015-16, shortly after being shocked by the Snowden revelations, China reshuffled its cyber forces. The pla was forced to retrench, focusing on military intelligence and reconnaissance—like Volt Typhoon—and its activity declined. The mss took over political-intelligence gathering—like Salt Typhoon—which it conducted with gusto, and commercial espionage, which continued on a smaller scale. 'Nowadays," writes Tom Uren, author of 'Risky Business", a cyber newsletter, 'the mss is the big kahuna." Quieten down, lads Second, Chinese hacking got better. About 20 years ago, when cyber-security firms began tracking the threat, Chinese hackers were 'very, very loud", says John Hultquist of Mandiant, 'incredibly willing to set off alarms, incredibly willing to be caught". A European official concurs. Even five years ago, she says, 'Chinese cyber operators were not considered very sophisticated." That has now changed. 'The speed at which they improve always seems to come as a surprise to Westerners, even though it really shouldn't," says the official. 'If China wants to accelerate in an area, then they will, and they have very smart people." That points to a third shift. Chinese cyber operations now draw increasingly on a large and flourishing private-sector ecosystem which has become a talent pipeline, enabler and force multiplier for Chinese cyber operations around the world. Consider the mss-linked Tianfu Cup in the south-western city of Chengdu (which has emerged as a hub for this kind of activity). It is one of many 'capture the flag" (ctf) competitions in which tech-savvy youngsters compete to show off their hacking prowess by finding and exploiting vulnerabilities in software. China has hosted about 130 of these sorts of events since 2004, most of them after 2014, and many backed by government ministries, according to data collected by Dakota Cary, a consultant at SentinelOne, a cyber-security company, and Eugenio Benincasa of the Centre for Security Studies at eth Zurich. These events can draw huge crowds. The Wangding Cup is organised by the Ministry of Public Security (mps), which runs the country's police force and gathers domestic intelligence. The cup is known as the 'cyber-security Olympics" and can attract 30,000 people, note Mr Cary and Mr Benincasa. The tournaments are scouting grounds for Chinese spooks. As with elite sports, a handful of star hackers tend to drive a team's success. A decade ago Chinese hackers were allowed to travel to contests abroad; that is now restricted. The vulnerabilities they discover—weaknesses in code that can be used to gain access—'are siphoned straight into the state apparatus", says a person familiar with the process. In 2021 the government punished Alibaba Cloud, a tech firm, for divulging a vulnerability without first telling the state. Talent contests are just the start. Last year, documents belonging to i-Soon were leaked on the internet. They showed that the firm was functioning as a private signals-intelligence agency whose targets spanned 23 countries: Nepal's presidential palace, road-mapping data from Taiwan, South Korean telephone logs, Indian immigration systems and Thailand's intelligence service. i-Soon is one of many such firms in Chengdu. The firms are not unstoppable ninjas—the leaked files show evidence of internal arguments, disorganisation and failure—but they add to China's cyber heft. Even where mss hackers do the hacking themselves, they often rely on this corporate hinterland for the tools and infrastructure to enable their attacks. When Chinese hackers first started, they used to come, undisguised, 'right out of Shanghai networks", says Mr Hultquist. Today they make use of operational-relay-box (orb) networks, built and maintained by private firms, which use compromised devices around the world, such as home internet routers, to disguise the origin of attacks. The increasing scale, sophistication and aggression of Chinese hacking are 'by far the most significant shift in the cyber-threat landscape in well over a decade", notes Mr Martin. Volt and Salt Typhoon, on their own, 'are strategic compromises of the West on a scale hitherto unseen by any other cyber power", he warns. It is not yet an all-out cyberwar. 'What separates China from their peers like Russia, North Korea and Iran", says Mr Hultquist, is that those states routinely cross the line from espionage to disruption, from spying and reconnaissance to outright sabotage. China has 'never pulled the trigger", he says. Even in American infrastructure networks, China has stopped short of inserting destructive code. 'We can see them doing the reconnaissance. We can see them getting into place. They're not showing us the weapon."
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- General
- Daily Mail
Kash Patel claims January 6th revelations will 'surprise' Americans
FBI Director Kash Patel (pictured) has teased that the bureau's upcoming findings into whether informants were at the scene of the January 6 Capitol riots will 'surprise and shock' the American public. The FBI director sat down in an exclusive interview with Fox News' chief political anchor Bret Baier that aired on the network's Special Report Wednesday, when he discussed the agency's investigation into the riots. 'People have had questions about January 6th, whether or not there were FBI sources - not agents, sources - on the ground during January 6. And I told you I would get you the definitive answer to that,' Patel said. 'And we have, and we are in the process again of working with our partners to divulge that information - and it's coming,' he vowed. He also noted that the answer about the FBI's involvement in the Capitol riot may 'surprise and shock people because of what past FBI leaders have said about it.' Former FBI Director Christopher Wray had previously dodged questions from Congress about the agency's role in the Capitol riots. But a damning report released by Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz (pictured) last year found that the FBI had more than two dozen confidential human sources in the crowd outside the Capitol - and three were assigned by the bureau to be at the protest. Of those three, one illegally entered the Capitol building, and the other two entered the restricted area around the Capitol. The report also noted that none of the confidential sources were authorized to enter the Capitol or break the law or 'encourage others to commit illegal acts.' But, it claimed there was one confidential human source who was in contact with the leadership of far-right groups such as the Oath Keepers, and were aware of plans discussed by the Proud Boys to prevent Congress from certifying the results of the 2020 presidential election. Confidential human sources work with the FBI to offer information and insights about the inner workings of organizations threatening the country, such as criminal, terrorist and espionage networks. According to the DOJ, these informants can be cashed out for the information they pass along to the feds. When news of the report spread in December, Vice President JD Vance pointed out that none of those confidential human sources who entered the Capitol have been prosecuted. 'For those keeping score at home, this was labeled a dangerous conspiracy theory months ago,' he noted. Now, however, Patel says the report - entitled the FBI's Handling of its Confidential Human Sources and Intelligence Collection Efforts in the Lead Up to the Jan 6, 2021 Electoral Certification - is 'definitely a piece of the truth.' The FBI director was sworn in promising to increase transparency at the federal law enforcement agency, which he had previously accused of covering up its own crimes as he derided the agency as 'one of the most cunning and powerful arms of the Deep State.' Part of that goal, Patel told Baier Wednesday, was to give Americans the answers they 'deserve.' In that vein, he noted that there are also 'answers coming' in other investigations - including the pipe bombs placed outside of the Democratic National Committee and Republican National Committee just one day before the Capitol riot. The FBI has previously released video of the alleged suspect from 2021. The latest video release, from January 2 of this year, shows grainy security camera video of the masked, hoodie-wearing suspect, who is difficult to identify. Meanwhile, House Republicans released an 80-page report cataloguing 'serious, and largely overlooked, security failure on January 6' i ncluding the 'delayed' discovery of the bombs close to the two party headquarters buildings and the 'chaotic response' once they were found. Patel's number two at the bureau, Dan Bongino (pictured), has since claimed the bomb scare was an 'inside job.' 'I can say with almost absolute certainty from a whistleblower who was there who strongly believes it was a government contractor who planted those bombs to set up a fake assassination plot on Kamala Harris to basically generate sympathy, to shut down people from questioning the vote on January 6,' Bongino said in a September episode of his podcast. He then went on to reference questions raised by Republican Rep. Thomas Massie, ticking through questions on his hand while recording the episode. 'Videos are disappearing. Nobody seems to want to know who it is. Why would the FBI not want to know who it is? Because if they put out a video showing you who it is and someone recognizes them, this whole thing's going to blow wide open,' he claimed. 'I'm telling you they are going to come out and say those pipe bombs are just a training exercise when they weren't,' Bongino continued. 'I can't trust anyone. I can't trust anybody any more,' he said, calling the pipe bomb attack 'the biggest political scandal of our time.' 'It is a story nobody wants to talk about, which is weird, because if the insurrection they claim is true, why wouldn't Kamala Harris want to talk about nearly being killed by a pipe bomb during the insurrection?' Bongino wondered. 'Why does she not want to talk about this? Because my story is true. Those pipe bombs were put there as Plan A if the Republicans on certification day in front of an entire national media audience on the House floor ... objected and started talking about the problems in the election,' he said. In addition to the two investigations related to the Capitol riots, Patel said the public will soon also have answers about the cocaine found in the White House during the Biden administration. It was discovered just two days after recovering drug addict Hunter Biden had left with his father and family for their July 4th holiday weekend. A Secret Service investigation into the drugs was closed in less than two weeks due to a 'lack of evidence' as security footage was not able to determine the owner. 'Without physical evidence, the investigation will not be able to single out a person of interest from the hundreds of individuals who passed through the vestibule where the cocaine was discovered,' it said in a statement. The Biden family was away from Washington at the time of the discovery of the cocaine took place - and have repeatedly denied the drugs came from any of their family members. New information will also be released about the FBI's investigation into the alleged connections between Trump and Russia following the 2016 election, Patel said as exclusively revealed that a contractor allegedly made false claims to Congress about the origins of the probe. Nellie Ohr was first accused of falsely testifying to Congress in a newly declassified FBI document from 2019. It claims she falsely testified that she did not have any knowledge of the investigation into Trump's connections with Russia, and that she lied when she denied sharing her research on Russia with individuals outside of her company. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley now says she 'showed contempt for congressional oversight and the American people.'
Daily Mail
3 days ago
- General
- Daily Mail
FBI director Kash Patel warns bombshell Jan 6 finding will 'surprise and shock' Americans
FBI Director Kash Patel has teased that the bureau's upcoming findings into whether informants were at the scene of the January 6 Capitol riots will 'surprise and shock' the American public. The FBI director sat down in an exclusive interview with Fox News ' chief political anchor Bret Baier that aired on the network's Special Report Wednesday, when he discussed the agency's investigation into the riots. 'People have had questions about January 6th, whether or not there were FBI sources - not agents, sources - on the ground during January 6. And I told you I would get you the definitive answer to that,' Patel said. 'And we have, and we are in the process again of working with our partners to divulge that information - and it's coming,' he vowed. He also noted that the answer about the FBI's involvement in the Capitol riot may 'surprise and shock people because of what past FBI leaders have said about it.' Former FBI Director Christopher Wray had previously dodged questions from Congress about the agency's role in the Capitol riots. But a damning report released by Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz last year found that the FBI had more than two dozen confidential human sources in the crowd outside the Capitol - and three were assigned by the bureau to be at the protest. Of those three, one illegally entered the Capitol building, and the other two entered the restricted area around the Capitol. He told Fox News' Bret Baier on Wednesday that information about the bureau's role in the Capitol riots is forthcoming The report also noted that none of the confidential sources were authorized to enter the Capitol or break the law or 'encourage others to commit illegal acts.' But, it claimed there was one confidential human source who was in contact with the leadership of far-right groups such as the Oath Keepers, and were aware of plans discussed by the Proud Boys to prevent Congress from certifying the results of the 2020 presidential election. Confidential human sources work with the FBI to offer information and insights about the inner workings of organizations threatening the country, such as criminal, terrorist and espionage networks. According to the DOJ, these informants can be cashed out for the information they pass along to the feds. When news of the report spread in December, Vice President JD Vance pointed out that none of those confidential human sources who entered the Capitol have been prosecuted. 'For those keeping score at home, this was labeled a dangerous conspiracy theory months ago,' he noted. Now, however, Patel says the report - entitled the FBI's Handling of its Confidential Human Sources and Intelligence Collection Efforts in the Lead Up to the Jan 6, 2021 Electoral Certification - is 'definitely a piece of the truth.' The FBI director was sworn in promising to increase transparency at the federal law enforcement agency, which he had previously accused of covering up its own crimes as he derided the agency as 'one of the most cunning and powerful arms of the Deep State.' Part of that goal, Patel told Baier Wednesday, was to give Americans the answers they 'deserve.' In that vein, he noted that there are also 'answers coming' in other investigations - including the pipe bombs placed outside of the Democratic National Committee and Republican National Committee just one day before the Capitol riot. The FBI has previously released video of the alleged suspect from 2021. The latest video release, from January 2 of this year, shows grainy security camera video of the masked, hoodie-wearing suspect, who is difficult to identify. Meanwhile, House Republicans released an 80-page report cataloguing 'serious, and largely overlooked, security failure on January 6' i ncluding the 'delayed' discovery of the bombs close to the two party headquarters buildings and the 'chaotic response' once they were found. Patel's number two at the bureau, Dan Bongino, has since claimed the bomb scare was an 'inside job.' 'I can say with almost absolute certainty from a whistleblower who was there who strongly believes it was a government contractor who planted those bombs to set up a fake assassination plot on Kamala Harris to basically generate sympathy, to shut down people from questioning the vote on January 6,' Bongino said in a September episode of his podcast. He then went on to reference questions raised by Republican Rep. Thomas Massie, ticking through questions on his hand while recording the episode. 'Videos are disappearing. Nobody seems to want to know who it is. Why would the FBI not want to know who it is? Because if they put out a video showing you who it is and someone recognizes them, this whole thing's going to blow wide open,' he claimed. 'I'm telling you they are going to come out and say those pipe bombs are just a training exercise when they weren't,' Bongino continued. 'I can't trust anyone. I can't trust anybody any more,' he said, calling the pipe bomb attack 'the biggest political scandal of our time.' 'It is a story nobody wants to talk about, which is weird, because if the insurrection they claim is true, why wouldn't Kamala Harris want to talk about nearly being killed by a pipe bomb during the insurrection?' Bongino wondered. 'Why does she not want to talk about this? Because my story is true. Those pipe bombs were put there as Plan A if the Republicans on certification day in front of an entire national media audience on the House floor ... objected and started talking about the problems in the election,' he said. In addition to the two investigations related to the Capitol riots, Patel said the public will soon also have answers about the cocaine found in the White House during the Biden administration. It was discovered just two days after recovering drug addict Hunter Biden had left with his father and family for their July 4th holiday weekend. A Secret Service investigation into the drugs was closed in less than two weeks due to a 'lack of evidence' as security footage was not able to determine the owner. 'Without physical evidence, the investigation will not be able to single out a person of interest from the hundreds of individuals who passed through the vestibule where the cocaine was discovered,' it said in a statement. The Biden family was away from Washington at the time of the discovery of the cocaine took place - and have repeatedly denied the drugs came from any of their family members. New information will also be released about the FBI's investigation into the alleged connections between Trump and Russia following the 2016 election, Patel said as exclusively revealed that a contractor allegedly made false claims to Congress about the origins of the probe. Nellie Ohr was first accused of falsely testifying to Congress in a newly declassified FBI document from 2019. It claims she falsely testified that she did not have any knowledge of the investigation into Trump's connections with Russia, and that she lied when she denied sharing her research on Russia with individuals outside of her company. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley now says she 'showed contempt for congressional oversight and the American people.'
Fox News
3 days ago
- Health
- Fox News
FBI examining COVID-19 origin 'cover-up' amid new strain emergence: Bongino
Print Close By Jasmine Baehr Published May 28, 2025 FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino stated Wednesday evening that the bureau is examining issues related to the origin of COVID-19, though he did not confirm the existence of a formal investigation into a cover-up. Bongino made the remarks in a post on X amid growing media attention on a newly identified COVID-19 strain. "As we read and process reports of a new COVID strain emerging, I want you to know that we are actively investigating, in multiple field offices, the cover-up of the origin of the COVID virus, along with associated matters requiring our attention," Bongino wrote. "The American people deserve answers." FBI DEPUTY DIRECTOR BONGINO: ILLEGAL ALIEN CRIMINALS AND CHILD PREDATORS ARE NEXT IN ONGOING CRACKDOWN He did not identify specific individuals or entities under scrutiny. The FBI has not issued an official news release on the matter, and the scope of the review remains unclear. The FBI did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment. Bongino's comment represents one of the most direct public statements by a senior FBI official regarding the agency's continued interest in the pandemic's origin and the surrounding circumstances. In 2023, then-FBI Director Christopher Wray said the agency assessed with moderate confidence that COVID-19 most likely originated from a lab incident in Wuhan, China. Chinese authorities have consistently denied such claims, calling them politically motivated and unsubstantiated. FBI DEPUTY DIRECTOR DAN BONGINO: JAMES COMEY 'BROUGHT SHAME TO THE FBI AGAIN' WITH '86 47' POST Bongino's post follows the detection of a new COVID-19 variant, provisionally identified by researchers as NB.1.8.1, which has appeared in several U.S. states. Federal health authorities have not designated it as a variant of concern. The House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic has continued its inquiry into whether early public health messaging downplayed the lab leak theory for diplomatic or political reasons. Dr. Anthony Fauci, a former White House health advisor, has repeatedly denied any effort to conceal information, calling those allegations "entirely false." DOJ INVESTIGATING ANDREW CUOMO FOR ALLEGEDLY LYING ABOUT COVID DECISIONS, SOURCE CONFIRMS CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Bongino has increasingly used social media to communicate bureau updates directly to the public. A former NYPD officer and Secret Service agent, Bongino was appointed deputy director earlier this year by FBI Director Kash Patel. Print Close URL
Yahoo
15-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
China given access to UK patients' health data
Chinese researchers will be granted access to NHS data despite MI5 fears that Beijing's regime could acquire sensitive information, an investigation has found. UK Biobank, a research hub, is preparing to transfer data from half a million GP records to its central database where it will be available for use by universities, scientific institutes and private companies. The medical information has been donated by volunteers, who have agreed for data from their GP records to be added to the database. Health officials have now audited processes for sharing data internationally – including assessment of applications from China. A spokesman from UK Biobank told The Guardian that China had passed the audit, meaning researchers from the country can apply to access the records. The newspaper's analysis found that one in five successful applications for access to medical data already held by UK Biobank has come from China. MI5 has previously warned that Chinese organisations and individuals granted access to UK data could be ordered by Chinese intelligence agencies to carry out work on their behalf. In a joint address in July 2022, Ken McCallum, MI5's director general, and Christopher Wray, the then FBI director, raised concerns about Chinese entities attempting to acquire sensitive information and technology from Western institutions, warning of businesses and individuals being 'forced by law' to co-operate with the Chinese Communist Party. For the past year, UK health officials had been assessing whether extra safeguards were needed for patient records when added to the genomes, tissue samples and questionnaire responses in the database. Personal details such as names and dates of birth are stripped from the database before it is shared, but some experts say it is possible for some individuals to be identified. Luke de Pulford, executive director of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, said: 'UK data transfer rules are totally inadequate. Zettabytes of personal data are routinely transferred to China, and it's all totally legal. 'Beijing's regulations make enforcing data rights in Xi's party-state impossible, and vulnerable to requisition by the Chinese authorities. We should close the loophole that allows UK citizens to be exposed to this.' A government spokesman said 'Security and privacy considerations are always taken into account when UK health data is used to drive forward our understanding of diseases and advance scientific research.' Health data was 'only shared with legitimate researchers', he added. Of the 1,375 successful applications for access to UK Biobank data, 265 came from China, second only to the US, according to a Guardian analysis of its published records. A unit of Chinese genetics company BGI is among those given approval to access the data. The US has blacklisted BGI subsidiaries. In 2023, Joe Biden's government justified the restrictions, saying it had information indicating that BGI units' 'collection and analysis of genetic data poses a significant risk of contributing to monitoring and surveillance by the government of China, which has been utilised in the repression of ethnic minorities in China'. It also claimed 'the actions of these entities concerning the collection and analysis of genetic data present a significant risk of diversion to China's military programs'. But a BGI representative said these were 'unsubstantiated allegations', adding: 'We have never undertaken genetic surveillance of anybody. BGI does not engage in unethical practices and does not provide gene technology for surveillance. BGI does not condone and would never be involved in any human rights abuses.' The company dismissed claims the military could access data, saying its research 'is undertaken for civilian and scientific purposes only'. A UK Biobank representative said it was 'continually in dialogue' with MI5 and other state agencies about the use of its data, including by BGI. Chinese researchers have used UK Biobank data to research air pollution and biological markers to predict dementia. In October, Wes Streeting, the health secretary, gave instructions to press ahead with the transfer of patient records for consenting volunteers to UK Biobank and other research hubs, despite objections from some GPs and privacy campaigners. In December, Michael Chapman, a senior NHS England official, said 'access will only be for countries approved by NHS England', adding that approval would be based on 'security considerations' and countries' data protection. NHS England said: 'Any approval of access to personal data from overseas territories requires data recipients to comply with their responsibilities' under UK data law 'and is kept under review if circumstances change'. Intelligence sources raised concerns that health data can be useful in espionage if anonymisation can be broken. Experts say it may be possible to match public information about an individual's medical treatment with anonymised patient records to identify who they refer to. Edward You, then a top US intelligence officer specialising in new technologies, said in 2021. 'Once they have access to your genetic data, it's not something you can change like a pin code.' A spokesman for UK Biobank said it had 'no evidence of anyone being identified'. Prof Sir Rory Collins, UK Biobank's chief executive, said: 'All our volunteers have given explicit consent for researchers to study their de-identified health data, and many have emphasised the importance of their GP data being analysed.' After China adopted legislation in 2017 to enforce cooperation with the regime's spies, MI5 warned custodians of British personal data that the national intelligence law 'may affect the level of control you have over your information and assets as you engage with Chinese individuals and organisations, especially if you work in an area that is of interest to the Chinese state'. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
