hacklink hack forum hacklink film izle hacklink marsbahisizmir escortsahabetpornJojobet

News

Tag: Chinese

  • DeepSeek has rattled the AI industry. Here’s a quick look at other Chinese AI models

    DeepSeek has rattled the AI industry. Here’s a quick look at other Chinese AI models

    HONG KONG — The Chinese artificial intelligence firm DeepSeek has rattled markets with claims that its latest AI model, R1, performs on a par with those of OpenAI, despite using less advanced computer chips and consuming less energy.

    DeepSeek’s emergence has raised concerns that China may have overtaken the U.S. in the artificial intelligence race despite restrictions on its access to the most advanced chips. It’s just one of many Chinese companies working on AI, with a goal of making China the world leader in the field by 2030 and besting the U.S. in their battle for technological supremacy.

    Like the U.S., China is investing billions into artificial intelligence. Last week, it created a 60 billion yuan ($8.2 billion) AI investment fund, days after the U.S. imposed fresh chip export restrictions.

    Beijing has also invested heavily in the semiconductor industry to build its capacity to make advanced computer chips, working to overcome limits on its access to those of industry leaders. Companies are offering talent programs and subsidies, and there are plans to open AI academies and introduce AI education into primary and secondary school curriculums.

    China has established regulations governing AI, addressing safety, privacy and ethics. Its ruling Communist Party also controls the kinds of topics the AI models can tackle: DeepSeek shapes its responses to fit those limits.

    Here’s an overview of some other leading AI models in China.

    Alibaba Cloud’s Qwen-2.5-1M is the e-commerce giant’s open-source AI series. It contains large language models that can easily handle extremely long questions, and engage in longer and deeper conversations. Its ability to understand complex tasks such as reasoning, dialogues and comprehending code is improving.

    Like its rivals, Alibaba Cloud has a chatbot released for public use called Qwen – also known as Tongyi Qianwen in China. Alibaba Cloud’s suite of AI models, such as the Qwen2.5 series, has mostly been deployed for developers and business customers such as automakers, banks, video game makers and retailers as part of product development and shaping customer experiences.

    Ernie Bot, developed by Baidu, China’s dominant search engine, was the first AI chatbot made publicly available in China. Baidu said it released the model publicly to be able to collect massive real-world human feedback to build its capacity.

    Ernie Bot 4.0 had more than 300 million users as of June 2024. Similar to OpenAI’s ChatGPT, users of Ernie Bot are able to ask it questions and have it generate images based on text prompts.

    Doubao 1.5 Pro is an AI model released by TikTok’s parent company ByteDance last week. Doubao is currently one of the most popular AI chatbots in China, with 60 million monthly active users.

    ByteDance says the Doubao 1.5 Pro is better than ChatGPT-4o at retaining knowledge, coding, reasoning, and Chinese language processing. According to ByteDance, the model is also cost-efficient and requires lower hardware costs compared to other large language models because Doubao uses a highly-optimized architecture that balances performance with reduced computational demands.

    Moonshot AI is a Beijing-based startup valued at over $3 billion after its latest fundraising round. It says its recently released Kimi k1.5 matches or outperforms the OpenAI o1 model, which is designed to spend more time thinking before it responds and can solve harder and more complex problems. Moonshot claims that Kimi outperforms OpenAI o1 in mathematics, coding, and ability to comprehend both text and visual inputs such as photos and video.

    Source link

  • Upstart Chinese AI company DeepSeek’s founder started out as a low-key hedge fund entrepreneur

    Upstart Chinese AI company DeepSeek’s founder started out as a low-key hedge fund entrepreneur

    BANGKOK — The 40-year-old founder of China’s DeepSeek, an AI startup that has startled markets with its capacity to compete with industry leaders like OpenAI, kept a low profile as he built up a hedge fund and then refined its quantitative models to branch into artificial intelligence.

    Liang Wenfeng, who founded DeepSeek in 2023, was born in southern China’s Guangdong and studied in eastern China’s Zhejiang province, home to e-commerce giant Alibaba and other tech firms, according to Chinese media reports.

    The hedge fund he set up in 2015, High-Flyer Quantitative Investment Management, developed models for computerized stock trading and began using machine-learning techniques to refine those strategies.

    Like many Chinese quantitative traders, High-Flyer was hit by losses when regulators cracked down on such trading in the past year. However, it reportedly manages $8 billion in assets, ample resources for funding DeepSeek’s AI research.

    It also has abundant computing power for AI, since High-Flyer had by 2022 amassed a cluster of 10,000 of California-based Nvidia’s high-performance A100 graphics processor chips that are used to build and run AI systems, according to a post that summer on Chinese social media platform WeChat. The U.S. soon after restricted sales of those chips to China.

    “Thing is, we are sure now that we want to do this, can do this, and are capable of doing this, so we’re among the best-suited candidates to tackle it at this moment,” Liang told Waves, a tech media outlet, in 2023.

    “Currently, neither tech giants nor startups have an unassailable lead. With OpenAI paving the way, everyone is working with published papers and open-source code,” it quoted him as saying.

    Liang said he spends his days reading papers, writing code, and participating in group discussions, like other researchers.

    DeepSeek is exploring what intelligence means, he said.

    “People may think there’s some hidden business logic behind this, but it’s mainly driven by curiosity,” Liang said.

    When DeepSeek was asked, “Who is Liang Wenfeng?” its first answer was to name a different Chinese entrepreneur with the same name, at least as spelled in English letters.

    When asked: “Where is Liang Wenfeng from and where did he go to university?” it said that as of October 2023, the most recent knowledge cutoff for DeepSeek’s R1 AI model, “there is no publicly available information about Liang Wenfeng’s background, including his place of origin or educational history.”

    “If you are referring to the founder of DeepSeek, details about his personal life or academic background have not been disclosed publicly. For more information about DeepSeek, you can visit its official website,” it said.

    Liang’s focused approach fits in with his determination to push AI learning forward. After decades of relying on innovation from the West, he says China should be making its own contributions.

    “What we see is that Chinese AI can’t be in the position of following forever. We often say that there is a gap of one or two years between Chinese AI and the United States, but the real gap is the difference between originality and imitation,” he said in another Waves interview in November. “If this doesn’t change, China will always be only a follower — so some exploration is inescapable.”

    ___

    Associated Press writer Ken Moritsugu in Beijing contributed to this report.

    Source link

  • A 9th telecoms firm has been hit by a massive Chinese espionage campaign, the White House says

    A 9th telecoms firm has been hit by a massive Chinese espionage campaign, the White House says

    WASHINGTON — A ninth U.S. telecoms firm has been confirmed to have been hacked as part of a sprawling Chinese espionage campaign that gave officials in Beijing access to private texts and phone conversations of an unknown number of Americans, a top White House official said Friday.

    Biden administration officials said this month that at least eight telecommunications companies, as well as dozens of nations, had been affected by the Chinese hacking blitz known as Salt Typhoon.

    But deputy national security adviser Anne Neuberger told reporters Friday that a ninth victim had been identified after the administration released guidance to companies about how to hunt for Chinese culprits in their networks.

    The update from Neuberger is the latest development in a massive hacking operation that has alarmed national security officials, exposed cybersecurity vulnerabilities in the private sector and laid bare China’s hacking sophistication.

    The hackers compromised the networks of telecommunications companies to obtain customer call records and gain access to the private communications of what officials have said is a a limited number of individuals. Though the FBI has not publicly identified any of the victims, officials believe senior U.S. government officials and prominent political figures are among those whose whose communications were accessed.

    Neuberger said Friday that officials did not yet have a precise sense how many Americans overall were affected by Salt Typhoon, in part because the Chinese were careful about their techniques, but that a “large number” were in the Washington-Virginia area.

    Officials believe the goal of the hackers was to identify who owned the phones and, if they were “government targets of interest,” spy on their texts and phone calls, she said.

    The FBI said most of the people targeted by the hackers are “primarily involved in government or political activity.”

    Neuberger said the episode highlighted the need for required cybersecurity practices in the telecommunications industry, something the Federal Communications Commission is to take up at a meeting next month. In addition, she said, the government was planning additional actions in coming weeks in response to the hacking campaign, though she did not say what they were.

    “We know that voluntary cyber security practices are inadequate to protect against China, Russia and Iran hacking of our critical infrastructure,” she said.

    The Chinese government has denied responsibility for the hacking.

    Source link

  • US hikes tariffs on imports of Chinese solar wafers, polysilicon and tungsten products

    US hikes tariffs on imports of Chinese solar wafers, polysilicon and tungsten products

    BANGKOK — The Biden administration plans to raise tariffs on solar wafers, polysilicon and some tungsten products from China to protect U.S. clean energy businesses.

    The notice from the U.S. Trade Representative’s office said tariffs on Chinese-made solar wafers and polysilicon will rise to 50% and duties on certain tungsten products will increase to 25%, effective on Jan. 1, following a review of Chinese trade practices.

    “The tariff increases announced today will further blunt the harmful policies and practices by the People’s Republic of China,” USTR Katharine Tai said in a statement. “These actions will complement the domestic investments made under the Biden-Harris Administration to promote a clean energy economy, while increasing the resilience of critical supply chains.”

    Last week, Washington tightened restrictions on Chinese access to advanced semiconductor technology. Beijing responded by banning exports to the U.S. of certain critical minerals needed to make computer chips, such as gallium, germanium and antimony. It also stepped up its controls on graphite exports to the U.S.

    China provides a very large share of most of those materials and the United States has been working to secure alternative sources in Africa and other parts of the world.

    Tungsten is another strategically vital metal whose production is dominated by China. The U.S. does not produce it. It’s used to make armaments and is also used in x-ray tubes and light bulb filaments, among other industrial applications.

    After Beijing announced its ban on exporting gallium and the other materials to the United States, analysts said tungsten was another likely area where China might strike back.

    Trade frictions have been escalating ahead of the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump, who has voewed to impose 60% tariffs on Chinese goods, among other threats. President Joe Biden has said Trump’s promise of broad tariffs on foreign imports would be a mistake.

    His administration has kept in place tariffs that Trump imposed during his first term in office, in some cases raising them further, but says it has a more targetted approach.

    The investigation that led the USTR to raise the tariffs on solar panels concluded with a report in May that has prompted increases in tariffs on a range of products including electric vehicles, syringes and needles, medical gloves and facemasks, semiconductors and steel and aluminum products, among others.

    Source link

  • FBI tells telecom firms to boost security following wide-ranging Chinese hacking campaign

    FBI tells telecom firms to boost security following wide-ranging Chinese hacking campaign

    WASHINGTON — Federal authorities on Tuesday urged telecommunication companies to boost network security following a sprawling Chinese hacking campaign that gave officials in Beijing access to private texts and phone conversations of an unknown number of Americans.

    The guidance issued by the FBI and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency is intended to help root out the hackers and prevent similar cyberespionage in the future. Officials who briefed reporters on the recommendations said the U.S. still doesn’t know the true scope of China’s attack or the extent to which Chinese hackers still have access to U.S. networks.

    In one sign of the global reach of China’s hacking efforts, the government’s warning was issued jointly with security agencies in New Zealand, Australia and Canada, members of the Five Eyes intelligence alliance, which also includes the U.S. and Britain.

    Dubbed Salt Typhoon by analysts, the wide-ranging cyberespionage campaign emerged earlier this year after hackers sought to penetrate the networks of multiple telecommunications companies.

    The hackers used their access to telecom networks to target the metadata of a large number of customers, including information on the dates, times and recipients of calls and texts.

    The hackers succeeded in retrieving the actual audio files of calls and content from texts from a much smaller number of victims. The FBI has contacted victims in this group, many of whom work in government or politics, but officials said it is up to telecom companies to notify customers included in the first, larger group.

    Despite months of investigation, the true scale of China’s operation, including the total number of victims or whether the hackers still have some access to information, is currently unknown.

    The FBI has said some of the information targeted by the hackers relates to U.S. law enforcement investigations and court orders, suggesting the hackers may have been trying to access programs subject to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA. The law grants American spy agencies sweeping powers to surveil the communications of people suspected of being agents of a foreign power.

    But on Tuesday, officials said they think the hackers were more broadly motivated, hoping to burrow deeply into the nation’s telecommunications systems to gain wide access to Americans’ information.

    The suggestions for telecom companies released Tuesday are largely technical in nature, urging encryption, centralization and consistent monitoring to deter cyber intrusions. If implemented, the security precautions could help disrupt the Salt Typhoon operation and make it harder for China or any other nation to mount a similar attack in the future, said Jeff Greene, CISA’s executive assistant director for cybersecurity and one of the officials who briefed reporters Tuesday.

    “We don’t have any illusion that once we kick off these actors they’re not going to come back,” Greene said.

    Several recent high-profile hacking incidents have been linked to China and what officials say is Beijing’s effort to steal technical and government secrets while also gaining access to critical infrastructure such as the electrical grid.

    In September, the FBI announced that it had disrupted a vast Chinese hacking operation that involved the installation of malicious software on more than 200,000 consumer devices, including cameras, video recorders and home and office routers. The devices were then used to create a massive network of infected computers, or botnet, that could then be used to carry out other cyber crimes.

    In October, officials said hackers linked to China targeted the phones of then-presidential candidate Donald Trump and his running mate, Sen. JD Vance, along with people associated with Democratic candidate Vice President Kamala Harris.

    China has rejected accusations from U.S. officials that it engages in cyberespionage directed against Americans. A message left with China’s embassy in Washington was not immediately returned Tuesday.

    Source link

  • US expands list of Chinese technology companies under export controls

    US expands list of Chinese technology companies under export controls

    BANGKOK — The U.S. Commerce Department has expanded the list of Chinese technology companies subject to export controls to include many that make equipment used to make computer chips, chipmaking tools and software.

    The 140 companies newly included in the so-called “entity list” are nearly all based in China. But some are Chinese-owned businesses in Japan, South Korea and Singapore.

    The revised rules were posted Monday on the website of the U.S. Federal Register for publication later this week. They also limit exports of high-bandwidth memory chips to China. Such chips are needed to process massive amounts of data in advanced applications such as artificial intelligence.

    China’s Commerce Ministry protested and said it would act to protect its “rights and interests,” without giving any details.

    “This is a typical act of economic coercion and non-market practice,” the ministry said in a statement.

    Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said the move was intended to impair China’s ability to use advanced technologies that “pose a risk to our national security.”

    The addition of the companies to the “entity list” means that export licenses will likely be denied for any U.S. company trying to do business with them.

    Washington has been gradually expanding the number of companies affected by such export controls, as the administration of President Joe Biden has encouraged an expansion of investments in and manufacturing of semiconductors in the U.S.

    “The purpose of these Entity List actions is to stop PRC (Chinese) companies from leveraging U.S. technology to indigenously produce advanced semiconductors,” Matthew S. Axelrod, the assistant secretary for export enforcement, said in a statement. “By adding key semiconductor fabrication facilities, equipment manufacturers, and investment companies to the Entity List, we are directly impeding the PRC’s military modernization, WMD (weapons of mass destruction) programs, and ability to repress human rights.”

    China has accused the U.S. of pursuing “technology hegemony,” as Washington steps up pressure on Chinese tech giant Huawei and other Chinese manufacturers of advanced technology by blocking access to American suppliers.

    It particularly objects to what it calls “long-arm jurisdiction” moves such as the U.S. decision to extend export controls to companies to apply to chip-making equipment makers in South Korea, Taiwan and Singapore if they use any U.S. technology that might be sold to China.

    Pressure from Washington has spurred China to step up its efforts to develop its own advanced computer chips and other technologies, providing billions in subsidies and investments for the industry. Chinese manufacturers have made quick progress even though they remain years behind in some areas.

    Shares in Japanese computer chip makers and makers of related equipment surged Tuesday, with testing equipment maker Advantest surging 4.6%, Tokyo Electron gaining 4.6% and Applied Materials up 4.9%. Disco Corp., another chipmaker, jumped 6.9%, while the Tokyo benchmark Nikkei 225 stock index gained 2.3%.

    Meanwhile, China’s Naura Technology Group, whose companies were included in the new list, fell 3% and Piotech Inc., another chipmaker, lost 5.3%.

    Source link

  • Chinese, Brazilian youths forge closer ties through football-Xinhua

    BEIJING, China, Nov. 23 (Xinhua) — Pan Cuicui, a girl from Rongjiang County, southwest China’s Guizhou Province, made her first visit to Brazil. She was excited and nervous when she found herself in a heaven for football enthusiasts.

    Recently, Pan, along with five other representatives from Rongjiang-the cradle of China’s Village Super League, organized a youth football team to Brazil and initiated a trip for football exchanges and communication.

    The Guizhou Village Super League, also known as “Cun Chao”, was initiated in Rongjiang in 2023 and quickly became a hit in China and globally, making this small county with a population of 385,000 well-known far and wide.

    In Rio de Janeiro, Pan met with groups of young people and children playing football in the streets, on the beaches or in the forests.

    On November 16, all the team members were invited to watch a Brazil Brasileriao women’s Serie A1 league match, and appeared on the field as ball boys and girls for CR Flamengo.

    “I was very excited to meet with Brazilian female football players. They are very tall and full of smiles, showing their confidence and pride in their eyes,” said Pan.

    “I really want to invite Brazilian players to Guizhou and play football with us,” she added.

    As the venue of the 2014 World Cup final, the Maracana Stadium could accommodate about 80,000 spectators, witnessing the brilliance of football and the fanatic fans in Brazil.

    Xu Xiangyang, another representative of Pan’s team at just 10 years old, has visited many cities including Shenzhen in the name of football. Xu has also been to France for competitions and even played along with former Brazil international Kaka.

    “Brazilian kids are very friendly. We all love football and get along very well. Although we speak different languages, we communicate very well,” Xu said.

    The enthusiasm of the Chinese kids got a positive response from the Brazilian counterparts.

    Laura from Brazil, who played a friendly with the Chinese kids, said that she was very grateful to join such an event, and she hopes there will be more opportunities for such exchanges in the future.

    Yang Xianze, a teacher accompanying the Chinese team, hopes that this event can sow the seeds of football in the kids and help them to build their own dreams and goals to fight for.

    While the Village Super League is on its trip to the world, it also welcomes guests to Rongjiang.

    In May 2024, Kaka visited the Village Super League in Rongjiang County and watched a match featuring students from elementary schools in the county.

    Despite being on a workday, the stadium was full of spectators cheering and welcoming Kaka as he entered the stadium.

    “I thought the love for the game was really important, and I saw those girls love the game. For me, it’s a great experience to come to China and be an ambassador to inspire the young generation to play football and help them achieve their dreams,” Kaka said.

    Xu Bo, head of the Rongjiang County government, said that football exchanges help promote social and economic development of the county and people-to-people exchanges.

    “The Village Super League is just like a door which enables people around the world to see the vitality of Rongjiang and rural China, enhance mutual exchanges and understanding, and build a community with a shared future,” Xu added.

    Zhou Qingjie, director of the sports international exchange research center of China Foreign Affairs University, said that sports builds a bridge between China and Brazil and even Latin American countries, and plays a unique role in enhancing political mutual trust and deepening friendship among countries. ■

    Source link

  • Meet Zhang Weiwei: Lifestyle, Career & Other Details About Chinese LPGA Sensation Revealed

    Meet Zhang Weiwei: Lifestyle, Career & Other Details About Chinese LPGA Sensation Revealed

    Zhang Weiwei has been a pro golfer for 2 years now. Since making her debut in 2022, WeiWei has featured in 40 LPGA events and made 12 cuts. The 27-year-old has already shown glimpses of brilliance during the 2022 AmazingCre Portland Classic where the scored -14 to finish in the top 10 of the table. She has had 6 top-25 career finishes and is slowly finding her place in the LPGA Tour.

    While the world has yet to see what Weiwei can offer, she has achieved a lot more success in the local circuit. Let’s learn more about Zhang Weiwei to understand her journey into LPGA.

    Zhang Weiwei’s life beyond the LPGA Tour

    ADVERTISEMENT

    Article continues below this ad

    Zhang Weiwei was born in Hubei, China on March 15, 1997. She was only 9 when her dad introduced her to golf. After years of training, she moved to Hainan to play in the CLPGA Tour in 2010. She was only 13 when she played in her first CLPGA tournament, the SBR Grand Hill Challenge. She finished at T30 in the event with 8 birdies throughout the 3 rounds. Weiwei won her first CLPGA event in 2017. In the Zhuhai Hengqin Phoenix Tree Building Challenge with the lowest score of 3-under par 72. She also shot one of her favorite strokes in her career during one of these tournaments. She hit a hole-in-one in June 2017 and shared a video of the same on her Instagram. She also turned pro in 2017 at the age of 20.

    By 2020, Zhang Weiwei had won 5 CLPGA tournaments. She also participated in the Final Qualifying game of the Crail Golfing Society. Weiwei topped the leaderboard in the event to book her a place in the AIG Women’s Open. It’s a prestigious tournament that has previously been won by LPGA pros like Rose Zhang and Atthaya Thitikul.

    ADVERTISEMENT

    Article continues below this ad

    Weiwei also joined the Epson Tour in 2020. From 2020-25, she made 28 cuts and finished in the top 10 8 times. Her best performance came at the Prasco Charity Championship where she finished at T2 in 2021.

    That’s all we have about her professional career so far. But there is a lot more to Zhang Weiwei than just golf. Let’s explore the life of Weiwei off the course.

    Life away from the clubs

    ADVERTISEMENT

    Article continues below this ad

    As per all the information available about Zhang Weiwei, she enjoys singing, watching movies, and playing video games. One of her Instagram posts features the late Christina Grimmie with the caption, “Once my favorite cover sister, I can’t even hear your song now… May there be no shooting in heaven…” It seems that the singer was one of Weiwei’s favorites when she was young.

    There are also a few pictures of beautiful landscapes shared by the pro. It seems that she also has an eye for photography. Besides that, her social media is filled with her golf exploits which include her holding scoreboards, posing beside other golfers, and hitting beautiful strokes on courses. This is all that we could find about Zhang Weiwei’s life.



    Source link

  • Meet Zhang Weiwei: Lifestyle, Career & Other Details About Chinese LPGA Sensation Revealed

    Meet Zhang Weiwei: Lifestyle, Career & Other Details About Chinese LPGA Sensation Revealed

    Zhang Weiwei has been a pro golfer for 2 years now. Since making her debut in 2022, WeiWei has featured in 40 LPGA events and made 12 cuts. The 27-year-old has already shown glimpses of brilliance during the 2022 AmazingCre Portland Classic where the scored -14 to finish in the top 10 of the table. She has had 6 top-25 career finishes and is slowly finding her place in the LPGA Tour.

    While the world has yet to see what Weiwei can offer, she has achieved a lot more success in the local circuit. Let’s learn more about Zhang Weiwei to understand her journey into LPGA.

    Zhang Weiwei’s life beyond the LPGA Tour

    ADVERTISEMENT

    Article continues below this ad

    Zhang Weiwei was born in Hubei, China on March 15, 1997. She was only 9 when her dad introduced her to golf. After years of training, she moved to Hainan to play in the CLPGA Tour in 2010. She was only 13 when she played in her first CLPGA tournament, the SBR Grand Hill Challenge. She finished at T30 in the event with 8 birdies throughout the 3 rounds. Weiwei won her first CLPGA event in 2017. In the Zhuhai Hengqin Phoenix Tree Building Challenge with the lowest score of 3-under par 72. She also shot one of her favorite strokes in her career during one of these tournaments. She hit a hole-in-one in June 2017 and shared a video of the same on her Instagram. She also turned pro in 2017 at the age of 20.

    By 2020, Zhang Weiwei had won 5 CLPGA tournaments. She also participated in the Final Qualifying game of the Crail Golfing Society. Weiwei topped the leaderboard in the event to book her a place in the AIG Women’s Open. It’s a prestigious tournament that has previously been won by LPGA pros like Rose Zhang and Atthaya Thitikul.

    ADVERTISEMENT

    Article continues below this ad

    Weiwei also joined the Epson Tour in 2020. From 2020-25, she made 28 cuts and finished in the top 10 8 times. Her best performance came at the Prasco Charity Championship where she finished at T2 in 2021.

    That’s all we have about her professional career so far. But there is a lot more to Zhang Weiwei than just golf. Let’s explore the life of Weiwei off the course.

    Life away from the clubs

    ADVERTISEMENT

    Article continues below this ad

    As per all the information available about Zhang Weiwei, she enjoys singing, watching movies, and playing video games. One of her Instagram posts features the late Christina Grimmie with the caption, “Once my favorite cover sister, I can’t even hear your song now… May there be no shooting in heaven…” It seems that the singer was one of Weiwei’s favorites when she was young.

    There are also a few pictures of beautiful landscapes shared by the pro. It seems that she also has an eye for photography. Besides that, her social media is filled with her golf exploits which include her holding scoreboards, posing beside other golfers, and hitting beautiful strokes on courses. This is all that we could find about Zhang Weiwei’s life.



    Source link

  • Chinese hackers target Tibetan websites in malware attack, cybersecurity group says

    Chinese hackers target Tibetan websites in malware attack, cybersecurity group says

    BANGKOK — A hacking group that is believed to be Chinese state-sponsored has compromised two websites with ties to the Tibetan community in an attack meant to install malware on users’ computers, according to findings released Wednesday by a private cybersecurity firm.

    The hack of the Tibet Post and Gyudmed Tantric University websites appears geared toward obtaining access to the computers of people visiting to obtain information on them and their activities, according to the analysis by the Insikt Group, the threat research division of the Massachusetts-based cybersecurity consultancy Recorded Future.

    The hackers, known in the report as TAG-112, compromised the websites so that visitors are prompted to download a malicious executable file disguised as a security certificate, Insikt Group said. Once opened, the file loads Cobalt Strike Beacon malware on the user’s computer that can be used for key logging, file transferring and other purposes, including deploying additional malware.

    “While we do not have visibility into the activity that TAG-112 conducted on compromised devices in this campaign, given their likely cyber espionage remit and the targeting of the Tibetan community, it is almost certain that they were engaged in information collection and/or surveillance rather than destructive attacks,” Insikt Group senior director Jon Condra told The Associated Press.

    “This behavior aligns with historical targeting of the Tibetan community,” he said.

    Chinese authorities have consistently denied any form of state-sponsored hacking, saying China itself is a major target of cyberattacks.

    The Chinese Foreign Ministry said it was not aware of the hacking of the two websites reported by the Insikt Group.

    “China’s stance on the issue of cybersecurity is consistent and clear,” the ministry said in a faxed reply to a request for comment without elaborating.

    According to the Insikt group research, the sites were first compromised in late May and the attacks bear many overlaps with a previously tracked hacker group known as TAG-102, leading analysts to conclude it is a subgroup of the already known group “working toward the same or similar intelligence requirements,” Insikt Group said.

    Overlaps include reuse of specific tactics, techniques and procedures and going after identical targets, Condra said.

    “These two threat clusters are almost certainly interrelated,” he said.

    TAG-102, known by multiple names such as Evasive Panda and StormBamboo, has been in operation since as early as 2012, and is widely thought to be a Chinese-sponsored advanced persistent threat, or APT, group, Insikt Group said.

    Among other things, it uses custom malware frameworks used by other Chinese APT groups and its targeting “aligns with likely Chinese intelligence requirements,” Condra said.

    “The group has engaged in a wide variety of campaigns over the years, with an emphasis on targeting individuals and organizations in opposition to the Chinese government, such as human rights organizations, religious organizations, ethnic minority groups, academic institutions, and supporters of democracy or independence movements in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and even in mainland China,” Insikt Group said.

    The university and the news website, which are both located in India, have been informed by Insikt Group of the hack. As of this week, it appears the Gyudmed Tantric University, which is a place of learning about Tibetan Buddhism, language, history and culture, has remediated the problem while the news website remained compromised, Condra said.

    The Tibet Post is known for promoting democracy, freedom of speech and for advocating Tibetan independence from China, he said.

    China claims Tibet has been part of its territory for centuries, although it only established firm control over the Himalayan region after the Communist Party swept to power during a civil war in 1949.

    Many Tibetans’ loyalties still lie with the Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader who has lived in exile in India since a failed anti-Chinese uprising in 1959.

    China has been regularly accused of human rights abuses in Tibet, including earlier this year over its efforts to forcibly urbanize villagers and herders as part of a drive to assimilate rural Tibetans through control over their language and traditional Buddhist culture.

    Source link