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China Privacy Security

China Is Forcing Tourists To Install Text-Stealing Malware at its Border (vice.com) 230

Posted by msmash from the growing-tension dept.
Foreigners crossing certain Chinese borders into the Xinjiang region, where authorities are conducting a massive campaign of surveillance and oppression against the local Muslim population, are being forced to install a piece of malware on their phones that gives all of their text messages as well as other pieces of data to the authorities, a collaboration by Motherboard, Suddeutsche Zeitung, the Guardian, the New York Times, and the German public broadcaster NDR has found. From the report: The Android malware, which is installed by a border guard when they physically seize the phone, also scans the tourist or traveller's device for a specific set of files, according to multiple expert analyses of the software. The files authorities are looking for include Islamic extremist content, but also innocuous Islamic material, academic books on Islam by leading researchers, and even music from a Japanese metal band. In no way is the downloading of tourists' text messages and other mobile phone data comparable to the treatment of the Uighur population in Xinjiang, who live under the constant gaze of facial recognition systems, CCTV, and physical searches. [...] The malware news shows that the Chinese government's aggressive style of policing and surveillance in the Xinjiang region has extended to foreigners, too.

"[This app] provides yet another source of evidence showing how pervasive mass surveillance is being carried out in Xinjiang. We already know that Xinjiang residents -- particularly Turkic Muslims -- are subjected to round-the-clock and multidimensional surveillance in the region," Maya Wang, China senior researcher at Human Rights Watch, said. "What you've found goes beyond that: it suggests that even foreigners are subjected to such mass, and unlawful surveillance."
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China Is Forcing Tourists To Install Text-Stealing Malware at its Border More

China Is Forcing Tourists To Install Text-Stealing Malware at its Border

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  • They're a communist country!!!! (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward

    OMG!!! Really???? They do that there???? Duh????

    • Re:They're a communist country!!!! (Score:5, Insightful)

      by TWX ( 665546 ) on Tuesday July 02, 2019 @11:18AM (#58861312)

      They're not really communist anymore. They've shifted gears to being a corporatist totalitarian regime. Prior to the thawing of relations with the West they were a communist totalitarian regime, but it's cheaper and less effort to allow the trappings of private enterprise to let confrontation drive economics and attract outside investment, while using corporatist policies to enforce control upon the largest enterprises to make them follow the will of the State.

      In the United States we tend to nationalize risk and privatize profits. China appears to have managed the reverse, to privatize risk to and extent, and also, to an extent, nationalize profits.

      • They're not really communist anymore. They've shifted gears to being a corporatist totalitarian regime.

        Other than the occasional small farms inside capitalist democracies, no actual nation ever has been communist in the first place. The replacement King/Tsar/Emperor calls himself 'communist leader' but that's about it.

        • The totalitarian nature of the government didn't change when the ruler became the Chairman instead of the Emperor, but they usually tried to implement Marxist economic policies. Generally all that this managed to accomplish was massive starvation which killed more of their people than enemy soldiers ever managed. There were two Soviet economists who detailed the many failings of the centrally planned economy of the Soviet Union and called for market reforms to fix it in a book they published [kirkusreviews.com] shortly before
          • It's a shame how the proletariat starves to death before the State can perfect them.

          • Re:They're a communist country!!!! (Score:4, Insightful)

            by TWX ( 665546 ) on Tuesday July 02, 2019 @07:38PM (#58864158)

            It's a bit of an oversimplification, but strong economies require both cooperation and competition. Cooperation comes in the form of enforced government oversight, and competition comes in the form of encouraging free enterprise to try to present additional solutions to needs or problems. A true laissez-faire economy doesn't work because its ultimate form would be direct market manipulation and possibly physical violence out of companies (see the alcohol trade during Prohibition), while fully centrally managed economies destroy innovation in favor of the party line, leading to stagnated, unrefined products and shortages of options.

            A strong economy features competition between players in a market and a government to provide checks on market manipulation along with regulation to enforce minimum standards. Ideas could come from anywhere, and people are free to try new things without requiring the State to grant them permission in most cases, and if they're successful then their products or services might well take off and gain marketshare. It also means the buyer can shop from potentially multiple sources for a solution to their need, weighing pros and cons of a given solution instead of being forced to take on a take-it-or-leave-it sole-source. In most cases.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by Kjella ( 173770 )

          Other than the occasional small farms inside capitalist democracies, no actual nation ever has been communist in the first place. The replacement King/Tsar/Emperor calls himself 'communist leader' but that's about it.

          A key element of communism is that the "means of production" was to be owned by the state rather than private capitalists and that kind of centralized plan economy has been tried rather extensively. It sounds great in theory, instead of relying on the chaotic nature of competition, supply and demand you just figure out what people need and produce optimal amounts of the necessary products that are rationed instead of sold. In practice it lacked feedback causing shortages and waste, discouraged initiative an

          • Thanks, the first comment on 'Communism' that explains something.

            I think the whole world has settled on capitalism as the economic foundation

            Would that expand to something like 'settled on various forms of a democratic state regulate capitalism'

      • They're not really communist anymore. They've shifted gears to being a corporatist totalitarian regime.

        The word you're looking for is fascistic.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by gtall ( 79522 )

        "corporatist totalitarian regime" In other words, they are Fascist.

      • not if the number of billionaires [fortune.com] they have is any indication...

    • You know Communism doesn't necessarily mean Authoritarian / Autocratic / Dictatorial -- right? The former is a political / economic ideology, the latter are governmental systems. Just like Capitalism and Democracy don't necessarily go hand-in-hand.

      • You know Communism doesn't necessarily mean Authoritarian / Autocratic / Dictatorial

        A long time ago in fairytale land it didn't necessary mean that, but now it does.

    • Re: (Score:2, Informative)

      by CohibaVancouver ( 864662 )

      They're a communist country!!!!

      This is what makes me chuckle about the Republican party screaming SOCIALIST at the likes of Warren, Sanders, AOC - Really, anything the Dems talk about.

      Meanwhile the leader of their party, Donald Trump, is best pals with Kim Jong Un - Praising Kim, praising "love letters" from Kim, praising North Korea - Trump is praising a hardcore COMMUNIST and his COMMUNIST country.

      Lemme see if I can get this straight, Republicans: Socialism bad, Communism good. Is that correct?

      • Best Korea is horrible, but short of annihilating them, you gotta try and find some path moving forward. And what to dictators really love? People praising them.

        If trying to be friends with him on a personal level opens the doors to maybe not having to destroy that many civilian lives, isn't that a good thing in general?

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by gtall ( 79522 )

          "nd what to dictators really love? People praising them." Soooo...that would mean la Presidente Tweetie is similar to a dictator. And foreign leaders have realized he's rube and will suck down praise with his Fruit Loops in the morning.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by gtall ( 79522 )

        Yep, and his "enemies of the people" BS is right out the communist playbook.

      • There are complete idiots in both parties. And then there are the ones that say the right things but only so as to get what they want. This shouldn't come as a surprise but the way so many people rush to be all in, on one side or the other, seems to indicate it has yet to become common knowledge.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by vlad30 ( 44644 )
      Seriously not new news for the last 15 years I always sent "china only" laptops with staff nothing but the bare minimum they needed to deal with matters in china and anything they wanted private stored elsewhere the machines were wiped upon return. We got tired of all the malware installed as soon you enter the country. Phones a just another vector for them

  • MFN / WTO fail (Score:4, Insightful)

    by liquid_schwartz ( 530085 ) on Tuesday July 02, 2019 @11:12AM (#58861276)
    China should have never been admitted into the WTO. WTO status gives them less downside since they couldn't lose most favored nation (MFN) trade status and now they do as they please with even less concern about repercussions. Thanks Clinton. Citation: http://tech.mit.edu/V114/N27/c... [mit.edu]

    • Please, just do the math

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Anonymous Coward

      The People's Republic of China should have never been recognized as the government of mainland China. Recognition gives them less downside since they won't lose their "open door" and economic parity, and now they do as they please with even less concern about repercussions. Thanks Nixon. Citation: Richard Nixon's 1972 visit to China [wikipedia.org]

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Anonymous Coward

      The first president that gave China MFN was Jimmy Carter after Nixon opened diplomatic relations in 1974 and pushed free trade. Nixon would have granted MFN but he resigned before the end of his term. Because China isn't a democratic nation, MFN status has to be renewed annually and every president since Carter has done so. All your citation says is Clinton made a campaign promise not to renew and he did so anyways.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by jonwil ( 467024 )

      America buys far to much made-in-China stuff to ever take away China's trading status. (even with the current tariff fight, there is pressure both in public and in private for it not to affect the things Joe q public is buying too much)

  • this sort of thing... (Score:3)

    by TWX ( 665546 ) on Tuesday July 02, 2019 @11:12AM (#58861280)

    ...is why I said I trust my government more than I trust the Chinese government [slashdot.org].

    That doesn't mean that I implicitly trust my own government. But So far in three international trips I have never had Customs even comment on my personal electronics, let alone ask to, demand to, or unilaterally examine them, let alone install anything on them.

    • Maybe you look guilty. Having traveled to China a few times I've never been asked anything strange and no one has looked at my electronics. In the mean time I got all sorts of stupid questions (stupid in the sense of asking that won't accomplish anything regardless of my answer), and in the past 10 years there's been far more stories about border issues in the USA than China here on Slashdot.

      So what do I trust? Your anecdote? My anecdote? The reports that come out over time?

    • I've seen news reports of DHS grabbing cellphones from foreigners for "examination".
  • From the summary they are installing it on equipment that is entering their country. You enter their country you fall under their law.

    • Re:Unlawful Surveillance? (Score:4, Interesting)

      by ShanghaiBill ( 739463 ) on Tuesday July 02, 2019 @11:31AM (#58861412)

      From the summary they are installing it on equipment that is entering their country.

      Not when you enter the country. Only when you cross an internal border into Xinjiang. Very few western visitors go to Xinjiang.

      You enter their country you fall under their law.

      Indeed. Many countries have "rule of law", which means even the government can be held accountable when they break the law. It doesn't work that way in China. The CCP is sovereign, so anything they do is legal, regardless of what the law says.

      • The CCP is sovereign, so anything they do is legal, regardless of what the law says.
        ..which is why I'd never go to China for any reason or for any amount of money.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by dk20 ( 914954 )

          you are aware that this is the case for EVERY COUNTRY in the world right?

          In the United States, the federal government has sovereign immunity and may not be sued unless it has waived its immunity or consented to suit. The United States as a sovereign is immune from suit unless it unequivocally consents to being sued.

          I suppose you wont be visiting the US now either?

          • In the United States, the federal government has sovereign immunity

            Sovereign immunity is a different concept from sovereign override of laws.

            In America, it is difficult to sue the government, but we have habeas corpus, an independent judiciary, juries, etc. Donald Trump can't just tell the courts to ignore the evidence and find dk20 guilty of molesting children. In China, you have none of these protections, and the courts do what they are told.

            Of course, Americans are far more likely to be arrested and imprisoned by their government, and in the age of draconian sentencin

          • Oh shut up that's not precisely what I referring to and if you weren't blatantly trolling you'd acknowledge that.
    • They probably don't have a specific law allowing this. China has an "Opaque" legal system. That means the laws mean whatever the China Communist Party thinks they mean. I suppose this means bring your Blackberry.

  • Rooting for Hong Kong... (Score:4, Interesting)

    by b0s0z0ku ( 752509 ) on Tuesday July 02, 2019 @11:25AM (#58861366)
    May the protests in Hong Kong flourish and seriously damage the Chinese financial industry. Economic collapse of China would be a net benefit to the cause of freedom worldwide.

    • May the protests in Hong Kong flourish and seriously damage the Chinese financial industry.

      They won't.

    • Remember the last time China dealt with a large-scale protest? I think we're not far from seeing tanks in the streets of Hong Kong.

      • Hong Kong is far wealthier and more connected than Beijing was in 1989. All it takes is the flip of a switch and a large % of Red China's finance industry goes dark.

  • Fascist is as Fascist does (Score:3)

    by nagora ( 177841 ) on Tuesday July 02, 2019 @11:30AM (#58861410)

    "Yeah, we're communists. Honest..."

    • Re:Fascist is as Fascist does (Score:4, Insightful)

      by Brett Buck ( 811747 ) on Tuesday July 02, 2019 @11:34AM (#58861424)

      Communists are universally totalitarians, and they have always fully embraced this sort of behavior. It's an inevitable development, they *have* to oppress people in order to force people to go along.

      • Communists are frank about it. Right in their public documents they proclaim a dictatorship of the proletariat. Then they add that the Party is the vanguard of the proletariat.

        • Communists are frank about it. Right in their public documents they proclaim a dictatorship of the proletariat. Then they add that the Party is the vanguard of the proletariat.

          Right. When the students and workers tried to have discussions with The Party in 1989, we saw how that turned out.
          Hopefully that doesn't happen in HK.

      • Really? The Amish and Hutterites would love for you to explain how they are "totalitarian".

        Here's a better hot take. "Communism" doesn't work at a national level, and it never will. A country can declare itself Communist, but about 10 minutes after that declaration it starts to violate many of the key tenets of communism and veers straight into totalitarian territory. China started that way and has now sucked a bunch of capitalism into the mix, North Korea is just insane, and Cuba is your bog standard d

      • Communists are universally totalitarians, and they have always fully embraced this sort of behavior. It's an inevitable development, they *have* to oppress people in order to force people to go along.

        Hardly, this is pretty much an attribute of Marist-Leninism with the authoritarian part being what Lenin added into the equation. The Red Scare of the 19th century was much more democratic and libertarian societies based on mutual consent.

  • "Imagine a boot stepping on a human face...forever."

  • Will they not let you in the country?

  • Same as the US (Score:4, Informative)

    by sdinfoserv ( 1793266 ) on Tuesday July 02, 2019 @11:45AM (#58861494)
    Trump rolled out requiring visa applicants provide social media accounts:
    https://thehill.com/hilltv/ris... [thehill.com]
    This is in addition to Customs already seaching laptops AND phones of AMERICANS.
    https://www.washingtonpost.com... [washingtonpost.com]
    BTW... you're phone is NOT covered by the 5th amendment, even if locked by biometrics
    https://the-parallax.com/2018/... [the-parallax.com]
    • Right, they're doing it here too.
      Yes, I'm in the US.

      Makes me wonder if you could mail yourself your phone/laptop to somewhere in Mexico if you were crossing, and vice versa.
      • The plan you are looking for is: Save data/programs to server. Wipe phone/laptop. Bring phone/laptop and Linux boot CD through customs. Download files using VPN. Do suff. Upload files using VPN. Wipe phone/laptop. Return home.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Agripa ( 139780 )

      This is in addition to Customs already seaching laptops AND phones of AMERICANS.

      The authorization to seize and search a phone, which the CBP has, implicitly includes authorization to trespass just as if a warrant had been issued. So nothing precludes CBP from installing whatever they like on your phone. Based on the courts' response to agents of the government destroying property when executing a warrant, they could destroy the phone also.

      I am sure they do this in special cases but only when the risk versus reward makes it worthwhile. Public discovery would be a public relations dis

  • Well... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Penguinisto ( 415985 ) on Tuesday July 02, 2019 @11:48AM (#58861520) Journal

    Step 1) Don't take your effing phone to China. Rent one there if you need one, and use it for voice-only.

    Step 2) Don't send, keep, or otherwise use that phone for anything sensitive. Do all that crap face-to-face, and save anything onto a cheap laptop with encrypted everything on/in/around it (because odds are perfect some jackalope is going to suck out a copy of the contents.

    Seriously - treat a trip to China like you would a trip to BlackHat - assume that your shiz is going to get cracked if you so much as turn it on there, mitigate any/all potential attacks as best you can, and behave accordingly.

    • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

      by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

      Basically the same procedure as going to the US. Delete your social media accounts, take at most a burner phone.

    • Step 1) Don't take your effing phone to China. Rent one there if you need one, and use it for voice-only.

      Why not? They aren't doing anything in China. Maybe you're thinking about a specific region in China. But then if you're travelling to that literal desert wasteland chances are that your Instagram feed is the least of your concerns as you try to get from Mongolia to one of the *stans without dying.

      I'm far more concerned about going to the USA.

    • Knowing the Chinese government, they'll probably harass you continually for not bringing your own phone. I wouldn't go to China for any reason, ever, no matter how much you paid me.

  • If I go to China I have no expectation of privacy. It is an authoritarian regime and doesn't really claim to provide the sort of protections that are available in other countries

    There is a value to privacy - but its not infinite. Americans and Europeans have shown a willingness to trade their privacy for trivial amounts of money, so at least many people don't seem to think its a high priority.

    I don't know any way to find out what the Chinese public thinks about this in general, give that surveys in an auth

  • and what about people with phones for business use that can't install or just say ok then I will stop doing business in china?

    • Eh, that's the businesses' problem not China's. They'll side load whatever they need to onto your device; you being unable to install things on your device doesn't stop China from abusing an exploit to do so. If they can't for whatever reason they'll just blacklist the phone on their network (assuming they don't just confiscate it).

      China has shown they are more than willing to exclude foreign interests if they're not willing to play ball. Look at the widespread blocking of major tech companies like Goog

  • ... cheap chinese smartphones in the world today, that you can get one just for trips to and stays in China. :-P
    Scan away, Big Blother. 8-)

  • Good luck trying to install malware to my Nokia 2110i :)

  • If that's what they want to do let em. If the people of China don't like it, they can rise up and elect someone else. Oh wait! It's a communist dictatorship, the citizens have NO rights and, no way to defend themselves from the government, or to change it.
  • Comment removed based on user account deletion
  • China and Russia are a real threat to the world.

  • Do not support them economically, these pieces of cheating shits

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