German minister warns of ‘massive’ danger from Russian hackers

Nancy Faeser says Ukraine war has exacerbated German cybersecurity concerns

Germany’s interior minister has warned of a “massive danger” facing Germany from Russian sabotage, disinformation and spying attacks.

Nancy Faeser said Vladimir Putin was putting huge resources into cyber-attacks as a key part of his war of aggression. “The cybersecurity concerns have been exacerbated by the war. The attacks of pro-Russia hackers have increased,” she said in an interview with the news network Funke Mediengruppe published on Sunday.

Continue reading...

Pentagon releases selfie of US pilot flying above Chinese spy balloon

Picture was taken from the jet as the balloon entered US airspace earlier this month, before it was shot down over the Atlantic

The Pentagon has released a selfie photograph snapped by the pilot of a U2 spy plane that was hurtling through the skies above the Chinese spy balloon as the US military pursued and shot it down off the coast of South Carolina earlier this month.

The image clearly shows the mysterious, silvery-white sphere of the balloon with panels dangling below it and, whether intended artistically or not, a striking sight of the shadow of the US aircraft cast against the balloon.

Continue reading...

Australia news live: defence pursuing joint patrols with Philippines in South China Sea, Marles says

It comes as Anthony Albanese grilled on balance of power under Aukus after press club address. Follow the day’s news live

Chalmers highlights importance of sustainability of superannuation

Treasurer Jim Chalmers isn’t ruling in or out whether there will be any changes on superannuation tax concessions in the May budget.

I’ll tell you what I think. I gave a longish speech about this on Monday, where I said the priority [of] super is and should be nailing down the objective. For too long, the lack of an agreed objective has meant that our predecessors could mess with superannuation when it came to all kinds of ideological pursuits. We want to take that out of the system.

Ideally, we’d want to get some kind of broad agreement amongst the industry in the community … about what super is for, so that we can build from that. And as part of that speech, I pointed out the fact … that the cost of superannuation tax concessions will overtake the cost of the pension. That’s a fact.

Not necessarily.

I just think as part of a broader assessment of where our superannuation system is at and how we locked down the objective of super so that we can provide more certainty and security around its purpose, as part of that I acknowledged earlier in the week, that these concessions in the superannuation system, they’re not cheap. I don’t think it’s especially controversial to acknowledge that.

Well, as I keep saying, we haven’t changed their view. We haven’t taken any decisions.

We haven’t determined that.

Continue reading...

Revealed: the US adviser who tried to swing Nigeria’s 2015 election

Sam Patten, an American consultant later mired in controversy, exploited emails obtained by Tal Hanan’s team

In late December 2014, a team from Cambridge Analytica flew to Madrid for meetings with a handful of old and new contacts. A member of the former Libyan royal family referred to as “His Royal Highness” was there. So, too, was the son of a US billionaire, a Nigerian businessman and a private Israeli intelligence operative.

For Alexander Nix, the Etonian chief executive of Cambridge Analytica, and his new employee Brittany Kaiser, who networked like most other people breathed, there may have been nothing unusual about such a gathering.

Continue reading...

FBI lab will get to the ‘guts’ of Chinese balloon – White House

‘Electronics and optics’ among wreckage of suspected surveillance craft shot down off South Carolina after recovery efforts end

The US has finished work to recover sunken remnants of the Chinese balloon shot down off the coast of South Carolina and the debris reinforces that it was for spying, officials have said.

The White House national security spokesman, John Kirby, said the wreckage included “electronics and optics” but declined to say what the US had learned from it so far.

Continue reading...

China claims US balloons flew over Tibet and Xinjiang as spying row rumbles on

US deputy secretary of state says Beijing is claiming ‘a gazillion balloons by the US over China … That is absolutely not true’

Diplomatic friction has worsened between the United States and China after Beijing claimed, without evidence, that US high-altitude balloons flew over its Xinjiang and Tibet regions, and threatened unspecified measures against US entities for undermining Chinese sovereignty.

Washington and Beijing are locked in a tussle over flying objects after the US military this month shot down what it called a Chinese spy balloon over the coast of South Carolina. Beijing said it was a civilian research vehicle mistakenly blown off course, and that Washington overreacted.

Continue reading...

Chinese cameras leave British police vulnerable to spying, says watchdog

Warning in surveillance commissioner’s report comes after Chinese CCTV cameras banned from government property

British police are leaving themselves open to spying by Beijing because of their reliance on Chinese-made cameras, according to a report from the government’s independent watchdog on surveillance.

Most forces across England and Wales use camera equipment that is either made in China or contains important Chinese components, the biometrics and surveillance camera commissioner has warned.

Continue reading...

US shoots down ‘octagonal’ flying object near military sites in Michigan

Military general says he will not rule out any explanation as fourth object is downed over North America this month

The US military has shot down a third flying object over North American airspace in three days, as the air force general overseeing the airspace said he would not rule out any explanation for the objects yet.

The high-altitude unidentified object, described as an “octagonal structure” with strings attached to it, was shot down over Lake Huron in Michigan on Sunday.

Continue reading...

Schumer says Chinese ‘humiliated’ after three flying objects shot down

‘Chinese were caught lying',’ says Senate majority leader as US and Canadian military scramble to recover pieces

US and Canadian military are continuing to search by sea and land amid hostile weather conditions in a scramble to recover portions of three flying objects shot down over North American airspace in the past week.

The Democratic majority leader of the US Senate, Chuck Schumer, told ABC’s This Week on Sunday that he had been briefed by the White House and that officials were now convinced that all three of the flying objects brought down by air-to-air missiles this week were balloons. He put the finger of blame firmly on China.

Continue reading...

Chinese balloon was ‘clearly’ for spying, says US

State department source says balloon was carrying equipment capable of intercepting communications

The Chinese balloon that flew over North America for more than a week before being shot down over the Atlantic was carrying equipment capable of intercepting and geolocating communications, the US government has claimed.

A senior state department official said on Thursday that equipment was identified by a U-2 spy plane sent up to scrutinise the balloon.

Continue reading...

Chinese-made security cameras to be removed from Australian government buildings

More than 900 products made by Hikvision and Dahua discovered at 250 federal premises

The federal government has committed to removing Chinese-made security cameras at government buildings across Australia, admitting there is a potential security problem that needs to be addressed.

An audit of surveillance equipment, conducted by the shadow cybersecurity minister, James Paterson, has confirmed that more than 900 products built by Chinese companies Hikvision and Dahua are installed at government locations.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

‘Hot air’: Marjorie Taylor Greene in State of the Union balloon stunt

Republican extremist appears to reference Chinese surveillance dirigible by parading halls of Congress with white balloon

Marjorie Taylor Greene appeared to tee up a State of the Union stunt on Tuesday, patrolling the halls of Congress with a large white balloon in reference to Republican criticism of Joe Biden over his handling of a flight over US territory by a Chinese surveillance dirigible.

“Just an innocent white balloon everybody,” the Georgia extremist said, hours before Biden’s address to Congress, attempting to keep aloft the balloon saga which ended when it was shot down off the Carolinas on Saturday.

Continue reading...

White House rejects Republican fire over wait to down Chinese spy balloon

Pete Buttigieg says president ‘considered safety of American people’ but Marco Rubio criticizes eight-day wait

The US transportation secretary, Pete Buttigieg, rejected Republican criticism of Joe Biden over the eight-day wait to shoot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon which flew over military sites.

“The president gave instructions to have it shot down in a way that was safe,” Buttigieg told CNN’s State of the Union, of the operation off the Carolina coast on Saturday.

Associated Press contributed to this report

Continue reading...

China calls for calm amid growing row with US over suspected spy balloons

Beijing says it will ‘not accept any groundless conjecture’ after balloons spotted over US and Latin America

China has called for calm amid a growing diplomatic row with the US over suspected spy balloons.

It comes after the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, indefinitely postponed a planned visit to Beijing after a large balloon was spotted in US airspace.

Continue reading...

Second spy balloon spotted over Latin America, says Pentagon, as Blinken postpones China trip

Secretary of state calls the incident in US airspace a ‘clear violation of US sovereignty and international law’

A second Chinese spy balloon was reportedly flying over Latin America, according to the Pentagon, in comments that came as the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, postponed a visit to China after the intrusion of a separate high-altitude Chinese balloon into US airspace.

“We are seeing reports of a balloon transiting Latin America,” Pentagon spokesperson Pat Ryder said, a day after the first craft was spotted over US skies. “We now assess it is another Chinese surveillance balloon.”

Continue reading...

US secretary of state postpones China visit after spy balloon flies over Montana

Antony Blinken delays trip, as China claims balloon was for ‘meteorological’ purposes and was blown off course

The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, has postponed a planned visit to China this weekend after the intrusion of a high-altitude Chinese balloon into US airspace.

China had apologised for the incident, claiming it had been a weather balloon which had been blown off course, but US officials made clear they did not believe that explanation and the Pentagon restated its assessment it was a surveillance aircraft, adding that by midday Friday it had changed course and was over the centre of the country.

Continue reading...

Pentagon says it is monitoring Chinese spy balloon spotted flying over US

Officials say balloon has been watched for a few days but decided not to shoot it down for safety reasons

The Pentagon has said it is tracking a Chinese spy balloon flying over the US but decided against shooting it down for safety reasons.

Defence officials said the balloon had been watched since it entered US airspace at high altitude a couple of days ago. It has been monitored by several methods including crewed aircraft, and has most recently been tracked crossing Montana, where the US has silo-based nuclear missiles.

Continue reading...

MI5 refused to investigate ‘Russian spy’s’ links to Tories, says whistleblower

Party member lodges a complaint about the security services ignoring attempt of Russian infiltration into the Conservatives

MI5 repeatedly refused to investigate evidence that an alleged Russian spy was attempting to cultivate influence with senior Conservative politicians and channel illegal Russian funds into the party, a Tory member has alleged in a new complaint lodged with the investigatory powers tribunal (IPT).

Sergei Cristo, a Conservative party activist and a former journalist with the BBC World Service, has lodged a complaint with the investigatory powers tribunal, filing the case after corresponding with the chair of parliament’s intelligence and security committee, Conservative MP Julian Lewis, who recommended he take the information to the authorities.

Continue reading...

Former Swedish intelligence officer jailed for life for spying for Russia

Judge says Peyman Kia abused trust placed in him, and also sentences younger brother to 10 years

A court in Stockholm has sentenced a former Swedish intelligence officer to life imprisonment and his younger brother to 10 years after finding both guilty of spying for Russia’s military intelligence service for more than a decade.

Peyman Kia, 42, served in the Swedish security and counter-intelligence service, Sapo, and in armed forces intelligence agencies, including the foreign intelligence agency (Must) and KSI, a top-secret unit dealing with Swedish spies abroad.

Continue reading...

Germany arrests intelligence agent accused of sharing secrets with Russia

Federal intelligence service says man is suspected of treason for sharing state secrets this year

Germany arrested a foreign intelligence service agent on Wednesday on suspicion of sharing state secrets with Russia this year, raiding his home and workplace as well as that of another person.

“The accused is suspected of state treason,” the federal prosecutors’ office said in a statement. “In 2022, he shared information that he came by in the course of his work with a Russian intelligence agency. The content is considered a state secret.”

Continue reading...