Revenue at Chinese telecom rose 10% as net profit more than doubles
Chinese telecoms firm Huawei grew faster in 2023 than it has for four years, as it shrugged off the impact of US sanctions.
Revenues rose by nearly 10% to 704.2bn yuan (£77bn) as the Shenzhen-based company enjoyed a rebound within its consumer segment, which includes smartphone handsets.
Continue reading...Experts say UK-imposed sanctions will make no difference when hacking is part of ecosystem of dealing with Beijing
With the announcement that the UK government would be imposing sanctions on two individuals and one entity accused of targeting – without success – UK parliamentarians in cyber-attacks in 2021, the phrase “tip of the iceberg” comes to mind. But that would underestimate the iceberg.
James Cleverly, the home secretary, said the sanctions were a sign that “targeting our elected representatives and electoral processes will never go unchallenged”.
Continue reading...District education authorities launch multibillion-dollar lawsuit against Meta, Snap Inc and ByteDance
Four of Canada’s largest school boards have launched a multibillion-dollar lawsuit against the social media companies Meta, Snap Inc and ByteDance, accusing them of acting in a “high-handed, reckless, malicious, and reprehensible manner” with products the boards claim harm student learning and “rewire” how children think.
The four district boards – Ottawa-Carleton, Toronto, Peel and Toronto Catholic – filed four separate statements of claim in Ontario’s superior court of justice on Wednesday.
Continue reading...Operators hope newly opened Dutch track will help prove feasibility of high-speed shuttle system
The longest hyperloop test track in Europe has opened, raising faint hopes once more that the maglev meets vacuum tube transport technology could be the future.
Operators said the facility would help prove the hyperloop’s feasibility, saying it could allow a 6,200-mile (10,000km) network of high-speed tubes to be in place around the continent by 2050.
Continue reading...Beijing’s chargé d’affaires told that UK government will not tolerate ‘threatening’ cyber-attacks
Ministers summoned a senior Chinese diplomat to the Foreign Office on Tuesday after accusing Beijing-backed hackers of a cyber-attack on the British elections watchdog and a surveillance operation on politicians.
The department called in China’s chargé d’affaires and told him the UK would not tolerate “threatening” cyber-attacks.
Continue reading...Warning comes after UK and US announce sanctions against Chinese companies following mass hacking of UK data
Cyber-attacks linked to Chinese intelligence agencies are increasing in capability and frequency as they seek to test foreign government responses, analysts have warned in the wake of revelations about a mass hacking of UK data.
On Tuesday, the UK and US governments accused hacking group Advanced Persistent Threat 31 (APT 31), backed by China’s government spy agency, of conducting a years-long cyber-attack campaign, targeting politicians, national security officials, journalists and businesses. The UK said the hackers had potentially gained access to information on tens of millions of UK voters held by the Electoral Commission, as well as for cyber-espionage targeting lawmakers who have been outspoken about threats from China.
Continue reading...In today’s newsletter: Information about 40 million UK voters was stolen by Chinese spies in a hack that also targeted elected officials. A cybersecurity experts walks us through whether these are isolated incidents, or the tip of a digital iceberg
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Good morning. You’re probably not an MP or peer on the Inter-parliamentary Alliance on China (Ipac), so that part of yesterday’s cyber-attack revelations needn’t concern you excessively. If you are among the 40 million UK voters included on a register held by the Electoral Commission, though, I have bad news: the Chinese government has your personal details.
Yesterday afternoon, deputy prime minister Oliver Dowden laid out sanctions in response to the attacks – in the case of the Electoral Commission hack, more than three years after it happened. In co-ordinated announcements, the US announced sanctions over a years-long campaign involving 10,000 malicious emails sent to politicians, journalists and businesses, and New Zealand said it had raised concerns with Beijing over an attack on its parliament in 2021.
Israel-Gaza war | The UN security council has voted to demand an immediate ceasefire in Gaza for the first time after the US dropped a threat to veto, bringing Israel to near total isolation on the world stage. Benjamin Netanyahu cancelled a planned White House visit by two ministers, while the Palestinian envoy to the UN, Riyad Mansour, called the result a belated “vote for humanity to prevail”.
US news | A New York court has handed Donald Trump a lifeline, reducing his $454m bond to $175m over the judgment against him in a huge fraud case. Separately, the judge overseeing the hush-money case against Trump involving the adult film star Stormy Daniels refused to delay the trial, setting a date for jury selection of 15 April.
Garrick club | At least four senior judges, Sir Keith Lindblom, Sir Nicholas Cusworth, Sir Nicholas Lavender and Sir Ian Dove, have resigned from the men-only Garrick Club, the Judicial Office has said, as men in the legal profession come under increasing pressure over their close association with an organisation that has repeatedly blocked attempts to allow women to join.
US news | Federal agents have raided properties in Los Angeles, Miami and New York that local news outlets have reported are tied to rapper and mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs. US media reported that the searches were part of a sex trafficking investigation, though the exact reason for the raids remained unclear.
Conservatives | Rishi Sunak is to face another tricky byelection after former Conservative backbencher Scott Benton resigned before the conclusion of a recall petition among his constituents. The Blackpool South MP was facing likely ejection from the Commons after being suspended for 35 days over his role in a lobbying scandal.
Continue reading...The US alleges the individuals were working as a front for Beijing in an indictment and sanctions announcement
Hackers backed by China’s government spy agency have been accused by the US and UK of conducting a years-long cyber-attack campaign, targeting politicians, journalists and businesses.
The operation saw political dissidents and critics of China targeted by sophisticated phishing campaigns, according to the US, which resulted in some emails systems and networks being compromised.
Continue reading...Senior Tories say ministers not holding China to account after Beijing targeted elections watchdog and politicians
Tory MPs have urged ministers to take a tougher approach towards China after the security services confirmed Beijing-backed hackers were responsible for a cyber-attack targeting the UK elections watchdog and a surveillance operation on British politicians.
The Chinese ambassador will be summoned to explain his country’s actions, which resulted in Beijing allegedly accessing the personal details of about 40 million voters, held by the Electoral Commission.
Continue reading...With the Electoral Commission the latest target on a list that includes the economy and supply chains, experts warn of data-gathering ‘on an industrial scale’
In March last year an integrated review of the UK’s defence and foreign policy said it would protect the country’s “democratic freedoms” from Chinese state attacks.
A few months later the Electoral Commission confirmed why democratic institutions and processes were on the threat list as it revealed that a cyber-attack – by a then unidentified assailant – had accessed the data of 40 million voters.
Continue reading...Technology groups face hefty fines if they are found guilty of breaching Digital Markets Act
Apple, Google’s parent company and Meta are being investigated by the EU for potential breaches of the bloc’s new laws designed to police anti-competitive behaviour by big technology companies.
The trio face significant fines if they are found guilty of breaching the Digital Markets Act (DMA), a landmark piece of regulation that came into force on 7 March and is aimed at increasing choice for online consumers.
Continue reading...Court documents and interviews detail the products’ role in alleged exploitation – and how some payments go undetected
When police in Pennsylvania arrested 29-year-old Jennifer Louise Whelan in November 2022, they charged her with dozens of counts of serious crimes, including sex trafficking and indecent assault of three young children.
One month earlier, police said they had discovered Whelan was using three children as young as six, all in her care, to produce child sex abuse material. She was allegedly selling and sending videos and photos to a customer over Facebook Messenger. She pleaded not guilty.
Continue reading...Channel 4 News finds 255 British people including its presenter Cathy Newman to have been doctored into explicit images
More than 250 British celebrities are among the thousands of famous people who are victims of deepfake pornography, an investigation has found.
A Channel 4 News analysis of the five most visited deepfake websites found almost 4,000 famous individuals were listed, of whom 255 were British.
Continue reading...Noland Arbaugh, paralyzed after diving accident, received implant in January but experts caution that procedure is in early days
Elon Musk’s brain-chip startup Neuralink live-streamed its first patient implanted with a chip playing online chess.
Noland Arbaugh, the 29-year-old patient who was paralyzed below the shoulder after a diving accident, was playing chess on his laptop and moving the cursor using the Neuralink device.
Continue reading...Platform to make its debut on New York stock exchange on Thursday with a market value of $6.4bn
Reddit will enter a new era as a publicly traded company with a market value of $6.4bn after the social media platform’s initial public offering was priced at $34 per share.
The price, announced late on Wednesday, came in at the top of the target range set by Reddit’s investment bankers as they spent the past few weeks gauging investor demand for the stock. It sets the stage for Reddit’s shares to begin trading Thursday on the New York stock exchange under the ticker symbol RDDT in the largest initial public offering by a social media company in years.
Continue reading...Johan Röhr’s 2,700 songs have been streamed 15bn times and have more plays than Britney Spears or Abba
A “secret” composer who has released music under hundreds of different names has been identified as Sweden’s most-listened-to artist on Spotify – pulling in more plays than Britney Spears or Abba.
Johan Röhr, a Stockholm-based musician, has been unmasked as the person behind more than 650 different artists on the streaming service who have been played 15bn times, making him Sweden’s current most-played artist.
Continue reading...Co-founder of Autonomy charged with 16 counts of wire fraud, securities fraud and conspiracy in 2011 sale of company to HP
A British technology tycoon once lauded as “Britain’s Bill Gates” was the “driving force” behind a “massive” years-long fraud, prosecutors alleged, as his criminal trial got under way in San Francisco on Monday.
Prosecutors said Mike Lynch, co-founder of the UK software company Autonomy, ruled the firm “with an iron fist” before its blockbuster takeover by Hewlett-Packard in 2011.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Lack of online skills and access creates digital divide that amplifies other exclusions, says report
Almost half of UK families with children lack the online skills or access to devices, data and broadband required to participate in today’s digital society, research shows, with an expert saying this divide is an “amplifier of other exclusions”.
Research shared exclusively with the Guardian found that 45% of households with children did not meet the threshold. Families from low socioeconomic backgrounds in deprived areas and households outside London were among those who were less likely to meet it. Households from minority ethnic backgrounds and those with disabled parents were twice as likely to fall below it.
Continue reading...Company denied that Tim Cook deceived investors when he said iPhone sales were strong weeks before revenue warning
Apple has agreed to pay $490m to settle a class-action lawsuit led by the UK’s Norfolk county council.
The class action alleged chief executive Tim Cook misled investors about a steep downturn in iPhone’s sales in China that culminated in a jarring revision to the company’s revenue forecast.
Continue reading...Industry minister says review of popular video app that is planning to expand in country has been ongoing since September 2023
Canada is conducting a national security review of Chinese-owned TikTok’s proposed expansion of the popular video app in the country, the industry minister, François-Philippe Champagne, said on Friday.
In a teleconference from Italy after meeting with his G7 counterparts, Champagne said the review under the Investment Canada Act had been quietly initiated in September last year.
Continue reading...