Torbjørn Færøvik's Blog, page 228

China Cyber Underworld Unmasked: The OPM Breach, Sakula, and the Evolution of Cybercrime

In China Cyber Underworld Unmasked, author Neo Spector delivers a riveting exploration of the largest data breach in U.S. history. This compelling cybersecurity narrative delves into the intricate cyber-attack on the US Office of Personnel Management (OPM) in 2015, which exposed the personal data of millions of government employees. Spector expertly weaves a tale of espionage, technology,

FBI: The China Threat

The counterintelligence and economic espionage efforts emanating from the government of China and the Chinese Communist Party are a grave threat to the economic well-being and democratic values of the United States. Confronting this threat is the FBI’s top counterintelligence priority. To be clear, the adversary is not the Chinese people or people of Chinese descent or heritage. The threat comes

Behind the doors of a Chinese hacking company, a sordid culture fueled by influence, alcohol and sex

The hotel was spacious. It was upscale. It had a karaoke bar. The perfect venue, the CEO of the Chinese hacking company thought, to hold a Lunar New Year banquet currying favor with government officials. There was just one drawback, his top deputy said.“Who goes there?” the deputy wrote. “The girls are so ugly.”So goes the sordid wheeling and dealing that takes place behind the scenes in China’s

Patricia M. Kim, Brookings: The US-China relationship in 2024 is stabilized but precarious

Neither Washington nor Beijing has high hopes for the bilateral relationship in 2024. As Ambassador Nicholas Burns put it at a Brookings event last month, he is “not optimistic” but “realistic” about the U.S.-China relationship. His comments aptly reflect the sentiment in both capitals.The upside is that both sides share low expectations — it’s often when expectations are mismatched that there’s

In Retrospect: Full Text of Clinton's Speech on China Trade Bill, March 2000

"Supporting China's entry into the W.T.O is about more than our economic interests; it is clearly in our larger national interest. It represents the most significant opportunity that we have had to create positive change in China since the 1970's, when President Nixon first went there, and later in the decade when President Carter normalized relations. I am working as hard as I can to convince

Fleeing China: 'I’ll never forget it as long as I live. It was very dangerous.’

Last year, Li Kai and his family were among 24,000 Chinese nationals who made a grueling trip through Central America to the Mexican-U.S. border as part of the "run" movement of ordinary people seeking political asylum in the United States. A member of the Hui Muslim minority from the northern city of Tangshan, Li took his family and fled the country after a standoff with the authorities over

Why China Is Rooting for Trump

Remembering how the world looked before Donald Trump became the U.S. president in January 2017 paints a striking picture. At that time, the idea that Beijing poses a threat to global security was not a mainstream one in Washington. Imposing tariffs on European imports seemed inconceivable. And controls on technology exports—which had fallen into progressive disuse since the end of the Cold War—

Beijing accuses US of devising tactics to suppress China despite improvement in relations

China's foreign minister accused the U.S. on Thursday of devising tactics to suppress China's rise and criticized the Biden administration for adding more Chinese companies to its sanctions lists. Wang Yi, speaking to media during the annual meeting of China’s legislature, said China's relations with the U.S. have improved since Presidents Xi Jinping and Joe Biden met in November, but America has

China slams ‘unfathomable absurdities’ of US trade controls as it hails Russia ties

China’s top diplomat hit out at Washington’s “bewildering” trade policy during a news conference Thursday on the sidelines of a political gathering in Beijing, where Chinese leaders have been championing high-tech development in the face of mounting curbs from Washington. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi accused the US of “devising various tactics to suppress China” and said Washington’s “

The Bookstore Giving Shanghai’s Women a Room of Their Own

Wang Xia still denies that she runs Shanghai’s only feminist bookstore. When she started the business in 2020, she claims that she didn’t even know what the term meant. “The word ‘feminism’ was very unfamiliar to me,” Wang tells Sixth Tone. “I still insist that my bookstore is a women-themed bookstore.” For Wang, running the business has been quite an education. It has not only changed her life,