Chinese hackers used Facebook to target Uighurs in Australia, elsewhere, company says

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The hackers targeted activists, journalists and dissidents who were predominantly Uighurs, a largely Muslim ethnic group facing persecution in China, Facebook says.

A protester from the Uighur community living in Turkey holds an anti-China placard during a protest in Istanbul.It said the majority of the hackers’ activity occurred away from Facebook and that they used the site to share links to malicious websites rather than directly sharing the malware on the platform.

“This activity had the hallmarks of a well-resourced and persistent operation, while obfuscating who’s behind it,” Facebook cybersecurity investigators said in a blog post.Facebook said the hacking group used fake Facebook accounts to pose as fictitious journalists, students, human rights advocates or members of the Uighur community to build trust with their targets and trick them into clicking malicious links that would install spying software on their devices.

It said hackers both set up malicious websites using look-alike domains for popular Uighur and Turkish news sites and compromised legitimate websites visited by the targets. Facebook also found websites created by the group to mimic third-party Android app stores with Uighur-themed apps, like a prayer app and dictionary app, containing malware.

Facebook said its investigation found two Chinese companies, Beijing Best United Technology Co Ltd and Dalian 9Rush Technology had developed the Android tool deployed by the group.The Chinese Embassy in Washington did not immediately return a message seeking comment on Facebook’s report. Beijing routinely denies allegations of cyber espionage.

Reuters was not immediately able to locate contact information for Dalian 9Rush Technology. A man who answered the number listed for Beijing Best United Technology hung up.

 

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Hardly news - unless you have been living under a rock. One also assumes Chinese/Russian actors have been doing the same with BLM etc etc. Anything to destabilize, disrupt and discredit the 'west' and promote Chinese-style dictatorship as the only viable answer.

Yet Australia rewards China by importing their rubbish solar panels and wind turbines.

Funny mud pee.

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