News About Cyber Warfare

Washington (AFP) July 30, 2025 – US Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll on Wednesday directed West Point to rescind an offer for a former cybersecurity agency chief to hold a prestigious position at the elite military academy. The announcement came a day after far-right conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer took aim at the hiring of Jen Easterly, a former US Army officer and West Point graduate who served as director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) during president Joe Biden’s administration. “The United States Military Academy terminates the gratuitous service agreement with Ms. Jen Easterly. She will no longer serve as the Robert F. McDermott Distinguished Chair in the Department of Social Sciences,” Driscoll wrote in a memo he posted on X. The memo requested an “immediate top-down review” of the academy’s hiring practices and also directed it to “immediately pause non-governmental and outside groups from selecting employees,” without indicating if that had happened in Easterly’s case. The document did not specify why her job offer was being rescinded. But chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell responded to Driscoll’s post on X with one saying that “we’re not turning cadets into censorship activists. We’re turning them into warriors & leaders” — an apparent reference to allegations from some conservatives that CISA engaged in censorship on behalf of Biden’s administration. On Tuesday, Loomer — known for claiming that the 9/11 terrorist attacks were an inside job — described the hiring at the Defense Department as “horrendous” and asked why Easterly had been offered a job. “Why are Biden holdovers who worked to silence Trump supporters under Biden getting elevated to high level jobs under the Trump admin?” she wrote. Though she holds no official position, Loomer wields significant power, and is reported to have successfully pushed for the dismissal of several senior US security officials she deemed disloyal to the president. While serving as chief of CISA — the agency charged with ensuring the security of US elections — Easterly said that claims of widespread fraud in the 2020 vote were false, rejecting assertions by Trump and his allies. “We do have some portion of the American public that does not believe in the legitimacy of the 2020 election — despite all of the extensive evidence,” she said in 2022. Easterly also later stated there was no evidence that malicious actors “changed, deleted or altered votes or had any material impact on the outcome” of elections in 2018, 2020 or 2022.

Hong Kong (AFP) July 31, 2025 – A former Macau pro-democracy lawmaker became the first person to be arrested under the city’s national security law, with authorities alleging on Thursday that he had ties to foreign groups endangering China. The Chinese casino hub, which has its own legal system largely based on Portuguese law, enacted national security legislation in 2009 and widened its powers in 2023. Macau’s judicial police said a 68-year-old local man surnamed Au was arrested and handed over to public prosecutors on suspicion of “establishing connections… outside Macau to commit acts endangering national security”. Local media identified the man as Au Kam-san, a primary school teacher who became one of Macau’s longest-serving pro-democracy legislators before deciding not to seek re-election in 2021. The man allegedly provided “a large amount of false and seditious information to an anti-China group” for public exhibitions online and abroad since 2022, and “stirred up hatred” against the Macau and Beijing governments. He is also accused of spreading false information to various groups, which allegedly disrupted the city’s 2024 leadership election and caused foreign countries to take hostile action against Macau, police said in a statement, without naming the groups. A stalwart of Macau’s tiny opposition camp, Au spent years campaigning on issues such as social welfare, corruption and electoral reform. Online news platform All About Macau reported that judicial police took away the ex-lawmaker and his wife Virginia Cheang on Wednesday. Cheang told the outlet outside the public prosecution office on Thursday that she was listed as a witness and that she did not know why her husband was detained. AFP was unable to reach Au for comment. – Chill on dissent – The former Portuguese colony reverted to Chinese rule in 1999 via a “One Country, Two Systems” framework that promised a high degree of autonomy and rights protections. For years it was regarded by Beijing as a poster child in contrast with neighbouring Hong Kong, which often saw boisterous protests. The high-water mark of Macau activism came in 2014 when some 200,000 people rallied to oppose granting perks to retired government officials, an event that Au helped to organise. One pro-establishment Macau lawmaker told a newspaper in 2020 that the city was threat-free, as shown by the fact that the “national security law had never been used… in 11 years”. But when Beijing cracked down on Hong Kong after months of huge and sometimes violent pro-democracy protests in 2019, similar curbs were extended to Macau. The casino hub expanded the scope of national security laws in May 2023, which officials said was meant to step up prevention of foreign interference. Former top judge Sam Hou-fai became Macau’s leader in December after a one-horse race. City officials this month disqualified 12 candidates from the legislative elections set for September, saying they did not uphold Macau’s mini-constitution or pledge allegiance to the city. The dozen hopefuls include sitting lawmaker Ron Lam, who said last week that the grounds for barring him were “ridiculous”.

Washington (AFP) July 30, 2025 – TikTok on Wednesday rolled out a crowd-sourced debunking system in the United States, becoming the latest tech platform to adopt a community-driven approach to combating online misinformation. Footnotes, a feature that the popular video-sharing app began testing in April, allows vetted users to suggest written context for content that might be wrong or misleading — similar to Community Notes on Meta and X. “Footnotes draws on the collective knowledge of the TikTok community by allowing people to add relevant information to content,” Adam Presser, the platform’s head of operations and trust and safety, said in a blog post. “Starting today, US users in the Footnotes pilot program can start to write and rate footnotes on short videos, and our US community will begin to see the ones rated as helpful — and rate them, too,” he added. TikTok said nearly 80,000 US-based users, who have maintained an account for at least six months, have qualified as Footnotes contributors. The video-sharing app has some 170 million US users. TikTok said the feature will augment the platform’s existing integrity measures such as labeling content that cannot be verified and partnering with fact-checking organizations, such as AFP, to assess the accuracy of posts on the platform. The crowd-sourced verification system was popularized by Elon Musk’s platform X, but researchers have repeatedly questioned its effectiveness in combating falsehoods. Earlier this month, a study found more than 90 percent of X’s Community Notes are never published, highlighting major limits in efficacy. The Digital Democracy Institute of the Americas (DDIA) study analyzed the entire public dataset of 1.76 million notes published by X between January 2021 and March 2025. TikTok cautioned it may take some time for a footnote to become public, as contributors get started and become more familiar with the feature. “The more footnotes get written and rated on different topics, the smarter and more effective the system becomes,” Presser said. Tech platforms increasingly view the community-driven model as an alternative to professional fact-checking. Earlier this year, Meta ended its third-party fact-checking program in the United States, with chief executive Mark Zuckerberg saying it had led to “too much censorship.” The decision was widely seen as an attempt to appease President Donald Trump, whose conservative base has long complained that fact-checking on tech platforms serves to curtail free speech and censor right-wing content. Professional fact-checkers vehemently reject the claim. As an alternative, Zuckerberg said Meta’s platforms, Facebook and Instagram, would use “Community Notes.” Studies have shown Community Notes can work to dispel some falsehoods, like vaccine misinformation, but researchers have long cautioned that it works best for topics where there is broad consensus. Some researchers have also cautioned that Community Notes users can be motivated to target political opponents by partisan beliefs.

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Aug 01, 2025 – Satellites play a critical role in daily life, supporting everything from navigation and agriculture to communications and national defense. However, many orbiting assets remain vulnerable to cyber threats due to inadequate protection. To address this growing risk, Deloitte has developed and deployed Silent Shield, a space-based system designed to detect anomalies and cyber intrusions and provide near real-time alerts to operators. “Silent Shield can be a critical tool for organizations seeking to understand and manage the risks to their missions, strengthen their cyber resiliency and protect against evolving cyber threats,” said Brett Loubert, who leads Deloitte’s U.S. Space practice. He explained that the system continuously analyzes data to identify abnormal patterns that could compromise satellite performance and disrupt essential services. Silent Shield was integrated into a dedicated satellite, Deloitte-1, launched from Vandenberg Space Force Base in March 2025. Following its deployment, Deloitte engineers ran multiple simulations to validate the platform’s responsiveness to various cyberattack scenarios. These tests demonstrated the system’s ability to flag threats promptly and accurately. “Space services and operations depend on the reliability and resiliency of the cyber domain,” added Ryan Roberts, a Deloitte cyber leader. “As the number of on-orbit assets we depend on grows from 10,000 satellites today to 100,000 by 2030, gaining near real-time insights into the cyber risks is paramount.” Deloitte has supported cyber operations for over a decade across defense, intelligence, and private industry. Silent Shield represents the company’s latest step in merging cyber expertise with space technologies to strengthen mission assurance and operational resilience.

San Francisco, United States (AFP) Aug 1, 2025 – Palantir, the powerful data and AI company with deep ties to US national security bodies, has won a multi-billion-dollar contract to run US Army software and data. The agreement, announced Thursday, consolidates multiple contracts into a single enterprise deal that allows the military to buy Palantir’s products over the next decade to a value of up to $10 billion. “By streamlining our procurement processes and leveraging enterprise-level discounts, we are not only enhancing our operational effectiveness but also maximizing our buying power,” said Army chief information officer Leo Garciga. Palantir, an American data analysis and artificial intelligence company, has a reach that spans the global economy, with banks, hospitals, the US government, and the Israeli military among its ever-expanding client roster. “We want and need this country to be the strongest, most important country in the world,” Alex Karp, Palantir’s CEO, recently declared at a client conference in Palo Alto, California. Palantir was founded in 2003 by Peter Thiel — Silicon Valley’s preeminent conservative with long-standing ties to the Trump administration — Karp, and others with CIA backing. In the first quarter, the company received $373 million from the US government, a 45 percent jump from the previous year. This spring, federal immigration authorities (ICE) awarded the company a $30 million contract to develop a new platform for tracking deportations and visa overstays.

Dresden, Germany (AFP) Aug 5, 2025 – A German court will on Tuesday launch the trial of two suspected spies for China, one of whom worked as an assistant to the far-right lawmaker Maximilian Krah. The German national, partially identified as Jian G., allegedly worked for Chinese intelligence from 2002, including while he was an aide to the Alternative for Germany (AfD) MEP Krah between 2019 and 2024. Jian G. is accused by prosecutors in Dresden of using that position to pass on information about debates and decisions at the European Parliament, as well as some documents deemed highly sensitive. He is also suspected of being the handler for a second alleged operative, Chinese national Yaqi X., who is accused of spying on elements of the German arms industry. Jian G. is also suspected of gathering intelligence on leading AfD politicians and spying on Chinese dissidents in Germany. This included posing as an opponent of the Chinese government on social media in order to gain contacts in the opposition scene. The second defendant, Yaqi X., worked at a company which provided Leipzig airport with logistics services and is accused of helping Jian G. access information on flights and passengers. The information she passed on focused on flights transporting defence equipment and “people with links to a German arms company”. According to German media reports, she particularly targeted arms giant Rheinmetall, which is involved in making Leopard tanks and which uses Leipzig airport for cargo flights. – AfD ‘power struggle’ – Both defendants have been in detention since they were arrested last year. The trial could be particularly embarrassing for the AfD if it leads to the information Jian G. collected on the party becoming public. According to news weekly Der Spiegel, investigators have seized records that Jian G. kept of conversations with Krah and other AfD politicians in which they discussed the private life of party co-leader Alice Weidel and alleged power struggles with her colleague Tino Chrupalla. Krah denied to the magazine ever having discussed such matters with Jian G. Krah was the AfD’s top candidate in last year’s European elections, but was excluded from its delegation after comments in which he minimised the crimes of the Nazis’ notorious SS. However, he was welcomed back into the AfD fold for this year’s German general election and now sits as one of the party’s MPs in the Bundestag. The trial is expected to last until the end of September and Krah himself has been called to appear as a witness. Krah is also being investigated by prosecutors in Dresden on suspicion of money laundering and corruption during his time as a member of the European Parliament. According to Der Spiegel, between 2019 and 2023 he received more than 50,000 euros ($57,900) in payments from firms linked to Jian G. Krah denies all wrongdoing and says the accusations against him are “politically motivated”. Australian police charge Chinese national with ‘foreign interference’Sydney (AFP) Aug 4, 2025 – Australian police said Monday they had charged a Chinese national with “reckless foreign interference”, accusing the woman of spying on local Buddhists for Beijing. Assistant police commissioner Stephen Nutt said the unnamed woman had been covertly gathering information on the Guan Yin Citta Buddhist association in Australia’s capital, Canberra. Nutt said she was working under the command of China’s Public Security Bureau, the country’s main domestic law enforcement body. “We allege the activity was to support the intelligence objectives of China’s Public Security Bureau,” said Nutt, from the special investigations division of the Australian Federal Police. “It is a crime carried out by, or on behalf of, a foreign principle involving covert or deceptive conduct.” The woman — who cannot be named for legal reasons — is an Australian permanent resident. She was arrested and charged with “reckless foreign interference” after police raided a number of houses in Canberra over the weekend. “During the searches, a number of items, including electronic devices, were seized and will undergo forensic examination,” police said in a statement. Reckless foreign interference carries a maximum of 15 years in prison. China’s sprawling security apparatus has long been accused of infiltrating community organisations as a way to keep tabs on expats and dissidents. But it is rare that a major trading partner such as Australia so bluntly links Beijing to a covert influence plot. “At a time of permanent regional contest, offenders will attempt to spy on individuals, groups and institutions in Australia,” said Nutt. – ‘Appalling assault’ – Australian police have foiled a series of foreign interference plots in recent years, but these have typically targeted migrant communities. Nutt said this case was unusual in that it also appeared to be targeting Australian citizens. “This is the first time the AFP has charged a person with foreign interference that allegedly involves targeting members of the Australian community,” he said. Police started investigating the woman in March 2025 after receiving a tipoff from the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, Australia’s top counter-espionage agency. Australia’s spy chief Mike Burgess last week warned of the mounting domestic security threat posed by foreign actors such as China. “Foreign interference of the kind alleged is an appalling assault on Australian values, freedoms and sovereignty,” Burgess said on Monday. “Anyone who thinks it is acceptable to monitor, intimidate and potentially repatriate members of our diaspora communities should never underestimate our capabilities and resolve.”

Dresden, Germany (AFP) Aug 5, 2025 – Two suspected spies for China, including a former aide to far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) lawmaker Maximilian Krah, went on trial in the eastern city of Dresden on Tuesday. Jian Guo, a German national, allegedly worked for Chinese intelligence from 2002, including while working in the Brussels office of Krah when he was an MEP between 2019 and 2024. Guo, who denies the charges, is accused of passing on to Beijing more than 500 documents, some deemed highly sensitive, as well as information about decisions and debates at the European Parliament. Guo, 44, is also accused of being the handler for a second alleged operative, a Chinese national identified as Yaqi X, 39, who is accused of spying on German defence companies. Prosecutor Stephan Morweiser told reporters that the case was “without precedent” in terms of Chinese spying activity in Germany. He said it was “particularly serious” as it shed light on “the extensive espionage interests that China has in relation to political, military and economic matters in Germany and the EU”. Guo is also suspected of gathering intelligence on leading AfD politicians and spying on Chinese dissidents in Germany. He allegedly posed as a critic of the Chinese government on social media to gain contacts among its opponents. Yaqi X. worked at a firm that provided the Leipzig airport with logistics services, and is accused of helping Guo access information on flights and passengers. The information she passed on focused on flights transporting defence equipment and “people with links to a German arms company”. German media reports say she particularly targeted arms giant Rheinmetall, which is involved in making Leopard tanks and uses Leipzig airport for cargo flights. According to the charge sheet, the information Yaqi X. gave to Guo “disclosed information about the Bundeswehr’s capabilities, the movements of military personnel and Germany’s aims in foreign and security policy”. Morweiser said that, if found guilty, Guo faces up to 10 years jail while Yaqi X. could be imprisoned for up to five years. – AfD ‘power struggle’ – Both defendants have been in detention since they were arrested last year. Guo’s lawyer denied the charges, saying his client “did not exchange or pass on any concrete information related to intelligence”. He said the timing of Guo’s arrest could have been “political” as it came in the run-up to European Parliament elections in which Krah was the AfD’s top candidate. But Guo’s lawyer acknowledged that “it can’t be ruled out that some of (Guo’s) interlocutors belong to intelligence agencies”. Yaqi X.’s lawyer said her client met Guo on a popular Chinese app and had a short romantic relationship with him. She said Yaqi X. did not know that Guo was a spy, but became suspicious when he asked for details on military movements at the airport. The trial could further embarrass the AfD if it leads to the information Guo allegedly collected on the anti-immigration party becoming public. According to news weekly Der Spiegel, investigators have seized records Guo kept of conversations with Krah and other AfD politicians about the private life of party co-leader Alice Weidel and an alleged power struggle with her colleague Tino Chrupalla. Krah denied to the magazine ever having discussed such matters with Guo. Krah was initially the AfD’s top candidate for European elections but was excluded from the party’s delegation after causing furor with comments that minimised the crimes of the Nazis’ notorious SS. However, he was welcomed back into the AfD fold for this year’s German election and now sits as one of its MPs in parliament. The trial is expected to last until late September and Krah himself has been called to appear as a witness. Krah is also being investigated by prosecutors in Dresden on suspicion of money laundering and corruption during his time as an MEP. Krah has denied any wrongdoing and said the accusations against him are “politically motivated”. jsk/fz/js RHEINMETALL

Berlin (AFP) Aug 7, 2025 – Germany’s highest court found in a ruling published Thursday that police and other security services could use telecommunications spy software only to investigate very serious crimes. Investigators have long used secretly installed surveillance software on phones and computers to monitor suspects’ encrypted messaging services and other communications. The Constitutional Court has now found that this is allowed only in cases where a conviction would lead to jail sentences of more than three years. The judges said such surveillance represents a serious privacy intrusion and must therefore be limited to particularly serious crimes. However, current rules will continue until the law is changed, the ruling said. The court pointed to the “extraordinary reach” of telecoms surveillance in an age where all kinds of individual actions and interpersonal communications can be tracked digitally. The data privacy group Digitalcourage had launched the case, supported by journalists and lawyers. The group had urged more sweeping restrictions but nonetheless welcomed the ruling and vowed that “anyone who attacks our freedom must expect resistance”. The German Journalists’ Association voiced disappointment, saying the court had “clearly prioritised criminal prosecution over informant protection”. “This makes it more difficult for us journalists to protect our sources,” it said. The German police union welcomed the decision to allow the continued use of the software in major cases. “In times of terrorist threats, investigative authorities need effective tools for threat prevention and prosecution,” said its chairman Rainer Wendt. “With its ruling, the Federal Constitutional Court ensures that the rule of law can protect the population from the dangers of terrorism while simultaneously safeguarding their fundamental rights.”

San Francisco, United States (AFP) Aug 8, 2025 – Instagram users are warning about a new location sharing feature, fearing that the hugely popular app could be putting people in danger by revealing their whereabouts without their knowledge. The Meta-owned image sharing platform added an option on Wednesday which shares locations using an Instagram map, similar to a feature rival Snapchat has offered since 2017. Some users have since been shocked to discover that their location was being shared, viral posts have shown. “Mine was turned on and my home address was showing for all of my followers to see,” Instagram user Lindsey Bell wrote in reply to a warning posted by “Bachelor” reality television personality Kelley Flanagan to her 300,000 TikTok followers. “Turned it off immediately once I knew but had me feeling absolutely sick about it.” In a TikTok video, Flanagan called Instagram’s new location sharing feature “dangerous” and gave step-by-step instructions on how to make sure it is turned off. Instagram chief Adam Mosseri fired off a post on Meta-owned Threads stressing that Instagram location sharing is off by default, meaning users need to opt in for it to be active. “Quick Friend Map clarification, your location will only be shared if you decide to share it, and if you do, it can only be shared with a limited group of people you choose,” Mosseri wrote. “To start, location sharing is completely off.” The feature was added as a way for friends to better connect with one another, sharing posts from “cool spots,” Instagram said in a blog post. Users can be selective regarding who they share locations with, and can turn it off whenever they wish, according to Instagram. Wariness regarding whether Instagram is watching out for user privacy comes just a week after a federal jury in San Francisco sided with women who accused Meta of exploiting health data gathered by the Flo app, which tracks menstruation and efforts to get pregnant. A jury concluded that Meta used women’s sensitive health data to better target money-making ads, according to law firm Labaton Keller Sucharow, which represented the plaintiffs. Evidence at trial showed Meta was aware it was getting confidential health data from the third-party app, and that some employees appeared to mock the nature of the information, the law firm contended. “This case was about more than just data — it was about dignity, trust, and accountability,” lead attorney Carol Villegas said in a blog post. Damages in the suit have yet to be determined. gc/dl Meta GROUPE FLO

San Francisco, United States (AFP) Aug 14, 2025 – Apple on Thursday rejected Elon Musk’s claim that its digital App Store favors OpenAI’s ChatGPT over his company’s Grok and other rival AI assistants. Musk has accused Apple of giving unfair preference to ChatGPT on its App Store and threatened legal action, triggering a fiery exchange with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman this week. “The App Store is designed to be fair and free of bias,” Apple said in reply to an AFP inquiry. “We feature thousands of apps through charts, algorithmic recommendations, and curated lists selected by experts using objective criteria.” Apple added that its goal at the App Store is to offer “safe discovery” for users and opportunities for developers to get their creations noticed. But earlier this week, Musk said Apple was “behaving in a manner that makes it impossible for any AI company besides OpenAI to reach #1 in the App Store, which is an unequivocal antitrust violation,” without providing evidence to back his claim. “xAI will take immediate legal action,” he said on his social media network X, referring to his own artificial intelligence company, which is responsible for Grok. X users responded by pointing out that China’s DeepSeek AI hit the top spot in the App Store early this year, and Perplexity AI recently ranked number one in the App Store in India. DeepSeek and Perplexity compete with OpenAI and Musk’s startup xAI. Altman called Musk’s accusation “remarkable” in a response on X, charging that Musk himself is said to “manipulate X to benefit himself and his own companies and harm his competitors and people he doesn’t like.” Musk called Altman a “liar” in the heated exchange. OpenAI and xAI recently released new versions of ChatGPT and Grok. App Store rankings listed ChatGPT as the top free app for iPhones on Thursday, with Grok in seventh place. Factors going into App Store rankings include user engagement, reviews and the number of downloads. Grok was temporarily suspended on Monday in the latest controversy surrounding the chatbot. No official explanation was provided for the suspension, which followed multiple accusations of misinformation including the bot’s misidentification of war-related images — such as a false claim that an AFP photo of a starving child in Gaza was taken in Yemen years earlier. Last month, Grok triggered an online storm after inserting antisemitic comments into answers without prompting. In a statement on Grok’s X account later that month, the company apologized “for the horrific behavior that many experienced.” A US judge has cleared the way for a trial to consider OpenAI legal claims accusing Musk — a co-founder of the company — of waging a “relentless campaign” to damage the organization after it achieved success following his departure. The litigation is another round in a bitter feud between the generative AI start-up and the world’s richest person. Musk founded xAI in 2023 to compete with OpenAI and the other major AI players. gc/sst Apple