Chinese intelligence and spying (catch all)

[davidbfpo]

Unable to find a previous post on this case, anyway the DoJ statement starts with:

Today, a federal jury convicted Kevin Patrick Mallory, 61, a former Central Intelligence Agency case officer of Leesburg, Virginia, on espionage charges related to his transmission of classified documents to an agent of the People’s Republic of China.

Link:https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/jury-...icer-espionage

Reading between the lines it appears Mr Mallory retained classified documents after leaving government service, which ended his security clearance, in October 2012. In March and April 2017 he traveled to Shanghai to offer his services. I use 'appears' as he was also a contractor.

More details:https://www.lawfareblog.com/accused-...ory-goes-trial

[davidbfpo]

A puzzling explanation of how China's agencies intervened to advance economic interests when a multinational tried to assert itself over selling iron ore.
A "taster":

In the summer of 2012, MI5 Director-General Jonathan Evans gave a rare public lecture in London’s financial district to warn about the “astonishing” level of state-sponsored online spying. One attack, he said, had cost a British company an estimated £800 million ($1.3 billion) in lost revenue, “not just through intellectual property loss but also from commercial disadvantage in contractual negotiations.”Evans didn’t identify the company or the attacker, but in 2015 the journalist Gordon Corera reported in his book Intercept that the spy chief had been talking about Rio Tinto and China.

Link:https://www.bloomberg.com/news/featu...llar-advantage

[AdamG]

Yanjun Xu, a senior officer with China’s Ministry of State Security, is accused of seeking to steal trade secrets from leading defence aviation firms, top Justice Department officials said

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/poli...and-extradited

[AdamG]

China is aggressively seeking to dominate the Internet of Things and plans to use access to billions of networked electronic devices for intelligence-gathering, sabotage, and business purposes, according to a forthcoming congressional report.

China for nearly a decade has been investing heavily in the emerging technology on the Internet of Things (IoT) and has made outpacing similar U.S. efforts one of the ruling Communist Party of China's highest strategic goals.

https://freebeacon.com/national-secu...ying-business/

A major concern outlined in the report is China's efforts to uncover vulnerabilities in IoT systems that can be used by Beijing for strategic objectives in both peacetime and war, the report said.

"Aside from industrial control systems, unauthorized access to health care devices could kill patients and exploitation of smart car vulnerabilities could kill drivers and pedestrians alike, among other examples of possible misuse of data and devices that could have dire consequences," the report warns.

"The future destructive potential of unauthorized access to IoT devices appears potentially limitless."

The IoT is an ill-defined term for a global information and communication infrastructure. It is made up of linked devices ranging from biomedical devices for monitoring patients to self-driving cars to critical infrastructure.

The universe of IoT devices includes billions of electronic systems such as, video cameras, smart phones and smart watches, and industrial control systems used in electric grids.

Chinese IoT objectives include building "smart cities" that monitor public utilities, flows of people and traffic, underground pipelines, and air and water quality, the report said.

Other Chinese IoT plans include advanced remote industrial controls; medical IoTs; smart homes equipped with remote controls for appliances and security systems; and smart cars linking vehicle sensors to drivers, roads, cloud services, and other electronic devices.

[AdamG]

WASHINGTON — Federal authorities charged two Chinese intelligence officers and a team of hackers Tuesday with stealing U.S. and French airplane technology over a five-year period.

The intelligence officers, Zha Rong and Chai Meng, worked for the Jiangsu Province Ministry of State Security in Nanjing, a local foreign intelligence arm of China's Ministry of State Security.

From January 2010 to May 2015, according to the indictment, the officers and their hackers stole technology for a turbofan jet engine used in U.S. and European commercial airliners. The engine was being developed through a partnership between a French company with an office in Jiangsu Province and a U.S. company.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/china/f...nology-n926396

[davidbfpo]

A BBC News special by Gordon Corera; which I note opens with:

The US has launched a crackdown on Chinese attempts to steal secrets. American officials say the Chinese state is boosting its own companies. But in the UK there's no equivalent crackdown.

Link:https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/resources...r_Chinas_spies

A reasonable overview. I would argue that if the UK has been some poor in responding to Russian activity, why would we treat differently?

[AdamG]

Currently under house arrest and awaiting extradition to the US, she will face charges that her company violated US sanctions by doing business with Iran and committed bank fraud by disguising the payments it received in return.

But to say that she is the CFO of Huawei doesn’t begin to explain her importance — or China’s reaction.

It turns out that “Princess” Meng, as she is called, is Communist royalty. Her grandfather was a close comrade of Chairman Mao during the Chinese Civil War, who went on to become vice governor of China’s largest province.

She is also the daughter of Huawei’s Founder and Chairman, Ren Zhengfei. Daddy is grooming her to succeed him when he retires.

In other words, Meng is the heiress apparent of China’s largest and most advanced hi-tech company, and one which plays a key role in China’s grand strategy of global domination.

Huawei is a leader in 5G technology and, earlier this year, surpassed Apple to become the second largest smartphone maker in the world behind Samsung.

But Huawei is much more than an innocent manufacturer of smartphones.

It is a spy agency of the Chinese Communist Party.

How do we know?

Because the party has repeatedly said so.

https://www.foxnews.com/tech/how-arr...omination-plot