Security researchers say Chinese authorities are using a new type of malware to extract data from seized phones, allowing them to obtain text messages — including from chat apps such as Signal — images, location histories, audio recordings, contacts, and more.
In a report shared exclusively with TechCrunch, mobile cybersecurity company Lookout detailed the hacking tool called Massistant, which the company said was developed by Chinese tech giant Xiamen Meiya Pico.
Read more…
Source: TechCrunch News
Sign up for the Cyber Security Review Newsletter
The latest cyber security news and insights delivered right to your inbox
Related:
- How Chinese Cybercriminals Use Business Playbook to Revamp Underground
February 10, 2020
Because of its longevity and technical sophistication, the Russian cybercriminal underground has long been the benchmark for threat researchers focused on studying cybercrime tactics and techniques; there is a plethora of publications dedicated to analyzing its economy and hacking forums. However, only a handful of studies have centered on the emerging threats and trends from ...
- China ‘bans foreign computer equipment and software from state offices’
December 9, 2019
Beijing has ordered every public institution in the country to remove foreign computer equipment and software within three years, according to the Financial Times. The newspaper reported that the order was made by the Chinese Communist Party’s central office earlier this year, and is the first publicly known directive obliging government offices to begin purchasing equipment ...
- Chinese Spies Stole NSA Cyberweapons Long Before Shadow Brokers Leak
May 7, 2019
Hacking tools allegedly developed by the National Security Agency (NSA) were being used in the wild by at least one APT long before the Shadow Brokers released the now-infamous trove of U.S. cyberweapons, new analysis suggests. According to researchers at Symantec, an attack group affiliated with the Chinese government known as Buckeye (a.k.a. APT3 or Gothic ...
- Pirates of Brazil: Integrating the Strengths of Russian and Chinese Hacking Communities
April 16, 2019
Each country’s hackers are unique, with their own codes of conduct, forums, motives and payment methods. Recorded Future’s Portuguese-speaking analysts, with a long-standing background in the Brazilian underground, have analyzed underground markets and forums tailored to the Brazilian Portuguese audience over the past decade and discovered a number of particularities in content hosted on forums, ...
- Mystery of the Chinese woman who allegedly tried to sneak into Trump’s Mar-a-Lago with a USB stick of malware
April 2, 2019
A Chinese woman was caught sneaking into President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago country club with a thumb drive of malware, it was claimed yesterday. Yujing Zhang, 32, was collared after possibly trying to slip into a bash at the swanky resort promoted by Li “Cindy” Yang, the former massage parlor boss who denies allegations she sold access to the president and his ...
- APT10 Targeted Norwegian MSP and US Companies in Sustained Campaign
February 6, 2019
A sustained cyberespionage campaign targeting at least three companies in the United States and Europe was uncovered by Recorded Future and Rapid7 between November 2017 and September 2018. Based on the technical data uncovered, and in light of recent disclosures by the U.S. Department of Justice on the ongoing activities of Chinese state-sponsored threat actors, ...

