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Computer hackers

A laptop with binary computer code and an India flag on the screen. Photo: Shutterstock

India’s wave of cyberattacks prompts calls for tougher rules and countermeasures

Among the entities that have been targeted by hackers were Star Health Insurance, the Supreme Court and SMEs.

14 Oct 2024 - 6:49PMvideocam

Chinese scientists hack encryption on quantum computer: paper

17 Oct 2024 - 3:36PMvideocam

Old devices, servers can be turned to spy on us: China’s top security agency

11 Oct 2024 - 5:55PMvideocam

OpenAI says it foiled suspected China-linked phishing attack

The US start-up says SweetSpecter, a suspected China-based group, posed as a ChatGPT user and sent emails to staff with malware attached.

10 Oct 2024 - 9:51AM

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. The start-up says it has thwarted an attempt by a suspected China-linked group to phish its employees. Photo: AFP/Getty Images/TNS

Chinese hackers breach US court wiretap system: Wall Street Journal

Verizon Communications, AT&T and Lumen Technologies are among the telecoms companies whose networks were reportedly breached.

7 Oct 2024 - 12:46AMvideocam

‘State actor’ blamed for massive Dutch police hack

Hackers stole the contact details of almost all 65,000 police officers in the Netherlands.

3 Oct 2024 - 11:48AM

Beijing says Anonymous64 hacker group targeting mainland China backed by Taiwan

Taipei information command denies claims as Beijing’s Ministry of State Security vows to ‘resolutely crush all separatist attempts’.

23 Sep 2024 - 6:41PMvideocam

Beijing’s top intelligence agency says the Anonymous64 group on X is “waging online ideological and public opinion battles against the mainland” on behalf of Taipei. Photo: Handout

Iranian hackers failed to interest Biden campaign in stolen Trump info: FBI

Nobody on the US president’s team is known to have responded to the unsolicited emails offering the hacked material.

19 Sep 2024 - 8:11AM

US FBI strikes second Chinese hacking group ‘Flax Typhoon’

The group was run by a Chinese company that ‘collected intelligence and performed reconnaissance for Chinese government security agencies’.

18 Sep 2024 - 11:27PM

Security ministry says Chinese jailed for giving railway data to foreigners

Ministry of State Security says Chinese vendor enticed by lucrative contract to gather data later identified as ‘intelligence information’.

2 Sep 2024 - 7:01PMvideocam

China’s Ministry of State Security says it has identified and jailed citizens for collecting data from China’s railways, which the ministry deems “intelligence information”, for a foreign company. Photo: AFP

Chinese hackers exploited bug to compromise internet companies: security firm

Lumen said it assessed the hacking campaign in the US and abroad was carried by alleged Chinese government-backed group ‘Volt Typhoon’.

28 Aug 2024 - 1:58PM

US telecoms firm Lumen said Chinese hackers exploited a software bug to compromise several internet companies in the US and abroad. Photo: Shutterstock

Trump campaign says it was hacked, blames Iran

A US news outlet says an anonymous source offered it a report on running mate J.D. Vance’s ‘potential vulnerabilities’ and other documents.

11 Aug 2024 - 11:45AMvideocam

AI has made Hongkongers more vulnerable to fraud but is also used to fight back

Fraudsters are using AI to convincingly portray themselves as acquaintances and steal digital identities, driving demand for hi-tech cybersecurity solutions.

10 Aug 2024 - 12:00PM

Privacy watchdog finds ‘glaring deficiency’ in Hong Kong Ballet’s cybersecurity

Findings revealed of investigation into two breaches, the other at Council of the Hong Kong Laureate Forum, involving data of about 46,000 people.

8 Aug 2024 - 6:38PM

Both organisations failed to take steps to protect their computer systems and contravened security requirements under the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance. Photo: Shutterstock

North Korean hackers are stealing military secrets, US and allies say

The FBI has issued a warrant for one of the ‘Andariel’ hackers, with a reward of up to US$10 million for information leading to his arrest.

26 Jul 2024 - 2:27AM

The FBI has issued an arrest warrant for Rim Jong-hyok, one of the alleged North Korean hackers from the Andariel group, and offered a reward of up to US$10 million for information that would lead to his arrest. He was charged with hacking and money laundering, according to a poster uploaded to the FBI’s Most Wanted website on Thursday July 25, 2024.

CrowdStrike outage: Australia warns of ‘malicious websites’ offering recovery

Australia’s cyber intelligence agency urges consumers to source their technical information from official CrowdStrike sources only.

20 Jul 2024 - 1:38PM

What is CrowdStrike, the cybersecurity giant behind the global IT outage?

The company is known for building software defences for the cloud computing age and exposing Russian and North Korean threats.

20 Jul 2024 - 2:04PMvideocam

Overseas cyberattack shuts down 5 Macau government websites for 45 minutes

Expert warns Hong Kong could be ‘wide open to being attacked at any given time’ as many organisations do not have sufficient protection.

12 Jul 2024 - 3:46PM

Government House in Macau. Five government websites in the city were temporarily shut down after a cyberattack. Photo: Dickson Lee

Australia accuses Hainan-based Chinese hackers of prowling secure networks

Australian intelligence on Tuesday issued a warning about APT40 using old and forgotten devices to infiltrate sensitive networks.

9 Jul 2024 - 2:54PMvideocam

Indonesia’s top communications ministry leader quits after cyberattack

Indonesian netizens continued to demand greater accountability from the communications minister after the June 20 breach paralysed public services for several days.

5 Jul 2024 - 7:35PMvideocam

Indonesia’s Jokowi orders audit of data centres after cyberattack

Last week’s cyberattack, the worst in Indonesia in recent years, disrupted multiple government services including immigration and operations at major airports.

28 Jun 2024 - 7:00PM

Indonesians, is your data safe? Immigration hack sparks privacy crisis

Cyberattacks are common in Indonesia, but the latest episode was marked by a rare admission from authorities of system failure.

26 Jun 2024 - 4:10PM

Immigration officers check passengers’ passports at a ferry terminal on Indonesia’s Bintan Island in May. Photo: AP

Online rumours of Philippines civil war tied to China’s covert agenda

Analysts accuse Beijing of using cognitive warfare to destabilise the Philippines’ political landscape amid their South China Sea row.

17 Jun 2024 - 7:22PMvideocam

Microsoft president testifies over security lapses after China-linked hack

Brad Smith fielded questions about Microsoft’s ties to China a year after Chinese hackers spied on thousands of federal emails by hacking into the tech giant.

14 Jun 2024 - 5:40AM

TikTok says hackers targeted brands and celebrity accounts, including CNN

Reality TV star Paris Hilton was among those targeted in the cyberattack, but her account was not compromised, an insider says.

6 Jun 2024 - 5:01PMvideocam

Hackers sent a malicious link through private messages to hijack prominent TikTok accounts. Photo illustration: Reuters

China finds data wastage a big issue and storage for bytes is limited

National Data Resources Survey Report 2023 released at digital economy summit finds 22 per cent of Chinese firms surveyed have no data management system.

1 Jun 2024 - 6:52PMvideocam

A Chinese government survey finds that the country’s data generation and storage conversion ratio remains low, although it is a worldwide issue. Photo: Shutterstock

Singapore’s wealth flows face fresh scrutiny after Chinese hacker’s arrest

Wang, the alleged mastermind behind the ‘911 S5’ botnet that facilitated cyberattacks and large-scale fraud, lived the high life in the city state.

31 May 2024 - 3:48PMvideocam

Philippines struggles to retain ‘cyber warriors’ as foreign firms grab talent

Brain drain has widened digital security skills gap in the Philippines that saw a 325 per cent jump in hacking cases in the first quarter of the year.

30 May 2024 - 2:24PMvideocam

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Computer hackers

A computer hacker is an online security expert who exploits weaknesses in a computer system or network. The term 'white hat' refers to hackers who operate for non-malicious reasons, for example, testing security systems for large companies. A 'black hat' is a hacker driven by malice or personal gain. A 'grey' hat usually hacks a system to point out a security flaw, then offers to fix it for a fee.

last updated:

28 August, 2024