Category Archives: Umbrella Movement

Hong Kong targeted in new sweeping mobile malware campaign

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A new spate of iOS and Android mobile malware attacks capable of taking control of devices, and tracking GPS location, phone call history, contacts, and text messages has been unleashed on targets in Hong Kong in the last several months, according to multiple cybersecurity companies. The attackers, which Kaspersky suspects are Chinese-speaking, lure their victims by posting links to local news sites in general discussion sections of forums that are popular among Hong Kong residents. But when victims click through to see the news, attackers deploy a hidden iFrame that runs an iOS malware variant, a modular backdoor. Trend Micro researchers have also found this malware, dubbing it “LightSpy.” Some of the lures include content on protests in Hong Kong. They also touch on information about the novel coronavirus and sex. The Android portion of the campaign is being distributed through Instagram posts and Telegram channels, with lures encouraging victims to download […]

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NSA director rebukes Beijing for ‘weaponizing’ disinformation in Hong Kong protests

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The National Security Agency’s director issued a rebuke Wednesday of the Chinese government’s recent efforts to spread disinformation online about protests in Hong Kong focused on a controversial Chinese law. “The Chinese government has subverted pro-Democratic demonstrators with fake social media posts, providing us a snapshot of how Beijing weaponizes information,” Gen. Paul Nakasone said while delivering remarks at FireEye’s Cyber Defense Summit in Washington, D.C. As Hong Kong protesters have taken to the streets in recent months to protest proposals on Hong Kong’s extradition laws, China’s government has waged an information campaign on social media platforms to try shaping the narrative in favor of the police. In one instance, Beijing’s state press arm bought ads on Twitter critical of the protests. Twitter then said there was “reliable evidence” that the Chinese government was behind nearly 1,000 Twitter accounts trying to insert political discord about the protests. That same month, […]

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YouTube disables 210 channels spreading disinformation about Hong Kong

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YouTube has disabled 210 channels working as part of a “coordinated” influence operation against pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong, who the Chinese government has sought to portray as terrorists or paid demonstrators. The Google-owned video streaming company on Thursday provided no details about the number of subscribers each channel had, the content of the videos they disseminated, the number of views each video had, nor other information about targeting. In a blog post, Shane Huntley, a member of Google’s threat analysis team, said only that this activity “was consistent with recent observations and actions related to China announced by Facebook and Twitter.” Both social media companies on Monday announced they had removed accounts spreading disinformation on Beijing’s behalf. Twitter cited “reliable evidence” tying the nefarious use of its platform to a state-sponsored effort. Chinese officials have sought to disrupt international media coverage showing that protests in the semi-autonomous territory are mostly peaceful. An estimated […]

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Twitter, Facebook scrub coordinated activity targeting Hong Kong demonstrations

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Facebook and Twitter collectively have removed hundreds of accounts that were participating in a state-backed information campaign against the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong. Twitter on Monday said it suspended 936 accounts that “were deliberately and specifically attempting to sow political discord in Hong Kong” from inside mainland China. The company said it has “reliable evidence to support” the conclusion the government was behind the effort. Facebook announced its own removal of seven pages, three groups and five accounts that altogether had fewer than 20,000 followers. “Specifically, we identified large clusters of accounts behaving in a coordinated manner to amplify messages related to the Hong Kong protests,” Twitter said in a blog post. “The accounts we are sharing today represent the most active portions of this campaign; a larger, spammy network of approximately 200,000 accounts – many created following our initial suspensions – were proactively suspended before they were substantially […]

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Chinese state media bought Twitter ads to spread disinformation about Hong Kong protests

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Twitter was posting advertisements on behalf of Chinese state media that portrayed the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong as “increasingly violent,” according to the social media bookmarking site Pinboard. Ads originating with Xinhua News Agency, the Chinese government’s official media outlet, falsely reported that “All walks of life in Hong Kong called for a brake to be put on the blatant violence and for order to be restored,” according to Pinboard, a platform where ads and social media activity are catalogued and analyzed. Chinese officials are trying to disrupt international media coverage showing that the protests, known as the Umbrella Movement, are mostly peaceful. There have been eruptions of violence, such as when police fired bean bags at demonstrators, injuring one woman’s eye, and when authorities dispersed protesters by beating them with clubs. An estimated 1.7 million people marched Aug. 18 in a peaceful protest calling for reforms such as […]

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