Russian Spies Are Analyzing Data From China's WeChat App (nytimes.com) 14
An anonymous reader shared this report from The New York Times:
Russian counterintelligence agents are analyzing data from the popular Chinese messaging and social media app WeChat to monitor people who might be in contact with Chinese spies, according to a Russian intelligence document obtained by The New York Times. The disclosure highlights the rising level of concern about Chinese influence in Russia as the two countries deepen their relationship. As Russia has become isolated from the West over its war in Ukraine, it has become increasingly reliant on Chinese money, companies and technology. But it has also faced what the document describes as increased Chinese espionage efforts.
The document indicates that the Russian domestic security agency, known as the F.S.B., pulls purloined data into an analytical tool known as "Skopishche" (a Russian word for a mob of people). Information from WeChat is among the data being analyzed, according to the document... One Western intelligence agency told The Times that the information in the document was consistent with what it knew about "Russian penetration of Chinese communications...." By design, [WeChat] does not use end-to-end encryption to protect user data. That is because the Chinese government exercises strict control over the app and relies on its weak security to monitor and censor speech. Foreign intelligence agencies can exploit that weakness, too...
WeChat was briefly banned in Russia in 2017, but access was restored after Tencent took steps to comply with laws requiring foreign digital platforms above a certain size to register as "organizers of information dissemination." The Times confirmed that WeChat is currently licensed by the government to operate in Russia. That license would require Tencent to store user data on Russian servers and to provide access to security agencies upon request.
The document indicates that the Russian domestic security agency, known as the F.S.B., pulls purloined data into an analytical tool known as "Skopishche" (a Russian word for a mob of people). Information from WeChat is among the data being analyzed, according to the document... One Western intelligence agency told The Times that the information in the document was consistent with what it knew about "Russian penetration of Chinese communications...." By design, [WeChat] does not use end-to-end encryption to protect user data. That is because the Chinese government exercises strict control over the app and relies on its weak security to monitor and censor speech. Foreign intelligence agencies can exploit that weakness, too...
WeChat was briefly banned in Russia in 2017, but access was restored after Tencent took steps to comply with laws requiring foreign digital platforms above a certain size to register as "organizers of information dissemination." The Times confirmed that WeChat is currently licensed by the government to operate in Russia. That license would require Tencent to store user data on Russian servers and to provide access to security agencies upon request.
Huh... (Score:2)
"Russian counterintelligence agents are analyzing data from the popular Chinese messaging and social media app WeChat to monitor people who might be in contact with Chinese spies ... By design, [WeChat] does not use end-to-end encryption to protect user data.
I'm pretty sure Chinese spies use something more secure, and stealthy than WeChat to communicate with their informants in Russia.
Better to encode message in kitten pics ... (Score:2)
I'm pretty sure Chinese spies use something more secure, and stealthy than WeChat to communicate with their informants in Russia.
Which would be far more suspicious and incriminating, drawing more attention. A public conversation with pre-determined codes is safer. A kitten pic means one thing, a puppy pic another. Matching eye colors one thing, different eye colors something else. Or go binary, the preceding gives 2 bits of data, 4 possible predetermined messages. Add more bits as necessary, wall color, on floor or on couch, ...
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
I'm pretty sure Chinese spies use something more secure, and stealthy than WeChat to communicate with their informants in Russia.
Which would be far more suspicious and incriminating, drawing more attention. A public conversation with pre-determined codes is safer. A kitten pic means one thing, a puppy pic another. Matching eye colors one thing, different eye colors something else. Or go binary, the preceding gives 2 bits of data, 4 possible predetermined messages. Add more bits as necessary, wall color, on floor or on couch, ...
Sure, and data-mining the batch of chatter containing those conversations with an artificial intelligence will not raise any red flags.
Re: (Score:2)
I'm pretty sure Chinese spies use something more secure, and stealthy than WeChat to communicate with their informants in Russia.
Which would be far more suspicious and incriminating, drawing more attention. A public conversation with pre-determined codes is safer. A kitten pic means one thing, a puppy pic another. Matching eye colors one thing, different eye colors something else. Or go binary, the preceding gives 2 bits of data, 4 possible predetermined messages. Add more bits as necessary, wall color, on floor or on couch, ...
Sure, and data-mining the batch of chatter containing those conversations with an artificial intelligence will not raise any red flags.
It will raise far more false positives than using a full encrypted channel. And getting the FSB to burn AI resources analyzing kitten and puppy pics sounds like a plus.
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The beauty of this is its simplicity. Once a plan gets too complex, everything can go wrong.
Re: (Score:1)
Purloin: To steal, especially in a stealthy way. synonym: steal. "
Contrast to what every country does, when the Russians do it, its "purloined" according to the thsaurus wielding NYT.
Re: Huh... (Score:2)
We thought Russian and Ukrainian soldiers would prefer to stay alive, but there are plenty of stories about them using telegram, giving their positions away, then getting bombed to death.
I'm pretty sure people do a lot of things, let's say using certain software, without thinking about the consequences .
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The Brits sent messages to their SOE operatives in coded BBC weather and news reports. Coded messages in the want-ads of news papers were common trade craft before the internet existed. I'm pretty sure Chinese spies use would use WeChat for similar purposes.
Contact with foreigners was always investigated (Score:2)
Oh No! (Score:2)
Anyway...
Say it again (Score:2)
Friendly Reminder: Tencent is owned by a South... (Score:3)
In this story the villain is a South African tech billionaire, sound familiar?
Re: (Score:2)
If you ask Google who owns Tencent it'll tell you about Pony Ma and his 8% stake but Koos Bekkar controls about a %45 stake making him the beneficial owner of the company.
hm
Its largest shareholder is South African media company Naspers, which owns roughly a quarter of the company through its affiliate Prosus. Other significant shareholders include China Asset Management, Fidelity Management, and Ramirez Asset Management. Ma Huateng (also known as Pony Ma), the co-founder and CEO, holds a significant stake, according to business news sources.
So it does name Ma and not Bekker, but it does say a South African company is the largest shareholder. Rating partially true