Spying

Apple accused of silencing workers, illegally monitoring personal devices

Apple imposes confidentiality policies that prohibit employees from discussing working conditions, including with the media, and engaging in legally-protected whistleblowing, lawsuit alleges

Russia to expel 6 British diplomats over spying, subversive activities

Russia's Federal Security Service on Friday accused six British diplomats of spying and said a decision has been made to withdraw their accreditation. Russian state TV quoted an official from the security service known as the FSB as saying that they will be expelled. The expulsions come as Prime Minister Keir Starmer visits Washington for talks with President Joe Biden that will include Ukraine's request to use Western-supplied weapons against targets inside Russia. Starmer said on his way to the US that Britain does not seek any conflict with Russia. Russia started this conflict. Russia illegally invaded Ukraine. Russia could end this conflict straight away, he told reporters. Ukraine has the right to self-defense and we've obviously been absolutely fully supportive of Ukraine's right to self-defense we're providing training capability, as you know. But we don't seek any conflict with Russia that's not our intention in the slightest, he said. The FSB said it received documents

Taiwan court sentences three retired officers for spying on China's behalf

Taiwan News reported that Chang, Chou, and Yueh reaped benefits from China for their business

China warns students: Beware of “good looking people”

NIA conducts searches across 7 states to probe leakage of defence secrets

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has conducted searches at locations across seven states to probe the case of classified defence information leakage through a Pakistani espionage racket, according to an official statement issued on Thursday. The premises searched on Wednesday by NIA teams were linked with suspects who had received money from Pakistan to undertake spying activities in India, it said. "Extensive searches were conducted at 16 locations in Gujarat, Karnataka, Kerala, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Haryana in the case related to leakage of classified defence information through a Pakistani ISI espionage racket," the NIA statement said. Twenty-two mobile phones and a host of sensitive documents were seized during the searches conducted by the NIA, which had in July 2023 taken over the instant case, originally registered in January 2021 by the counter-intelligence cell of Andhra Pradesh. The case involved the leakage of sensitive vital information pertaining t

CERT-In in talks with Apple over 'state-sponsored' spyware attack: Govt

MoS for Electronics and Information Technology, Prasad was responding to a question from Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) Raghav Chaddha over alleged state-sponsored hacking in the Rajya Sabha today

Russia has irrefutable evidence journalist Evan Gershkovich is spy: Lavrov

Russia's foreign minister has said that Moscow has irrefutable evidence that imprisoned Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich is guilty of espionage, one day before Gershkovich is scheduled to appear in court. Sergey Lavrov blamed American journalists for helping delay US-Russia talks regarding a possible prisoner exchange by publicizing the confidential negotiations, which he said are still ongoing. Lavrov told a UN news conference on Wednesday that Gershkovich's case has nothing to do with any attacks on journalism. I would like to assure you that, just as much as you do, we are in favor of journalism and freedom of speech, Lavrov said in answer to a reporter's question. On March 29, 2023, Gershkovich was arrested while on a reporting trip in Yekaterinburg, a city in the Ural Mountains. Russian authorities did not offer any evidence that he was gathering secret information for the United States. Last month, the Russian Prosecutor General's office accused Gershkovich of .

Court voids Kansas researcher's conviction in Chinese espionage probe

A federal appeals court has reversed the conviction of a researcher who was accused of hiding work he did in China while employed at the University of Kansas. Feng Franklin Tao was convicted in April 2022 of three counts of wire fraud and one count of making a materially false statement. US District Judge Julie Robinson threw out the wire fraud convictions a few months later but let the false statement conviction stand. She later sentenced him to time served. But the 10th US Circuit Court of Appeals in Kansas City, Missouri, on Thursday ruled that the government failed to provide sufficient evidence that Tao's failure to disclose his potential conflict of interest actually mattered, and it directed the lower court to acquit him of that sole remaining count. The case against Tao was part of the Trump administration's China Initiative, which started in 2018 to thwart what the Justice Department said was the transfer of original ideas and intellectual property from US universities to t

Australia: Court denies bail to army private accused of spying for Russia

An Australian army private and her husband accused of spying for Russia were denied bail Friday on the first charges against suspected operatives under Australia's sweeping espionage laws enacted in 2018. Kira Korolev, 40, and her husband Igor Korolev, 62, are Russian-born Australian citizens and hold Russian passports. They did not appear in person and were represented by lawyers in the Brisbane Magistrates Court on a charge each of preparing for an espionage offense. They did not enter pleas and will appear next in a federal court on Sept. 20. Australian Federal Police Commissioner Reece Kershaw had earlier told reporters the couple allegedly "worked together to access Australian Defense Force material that related to Australia's national security interests. We allege they sought that information with the intention of providing it to Russian authorities. Whether that information was handed over remains a key focus of our investigation." Kershaw said. While the couple are the fir

Is your iPhone compromised by 'mercenary spyware attack'? What Apple said

Apple notes that these sophisticated attackers invest "exceptional resources" to selectively target a small group of people

China has developed multiple spy facilities in Cuba: US think tank

China has developed multiple spy facilities in Cuba, less than 100 miles from Florida, according to a US think-tank report. China has historically lacked access to ground stations in North America. Accessing installations in Cuba could help close that gap, Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a think-tank, said in a report which gives satellite images from the region. Cuban facilities would also provide the ability to monitor radio traffic and potentially intercept data delivered by US satellites as they pass over highly sensitive military sites across the southern United States, CSIS said. Florida alone is home to the major space-launch complex at Cape Canaveral, the headquarters of both the US Southern Command and Central Command, and multiple submarine and other bases, it added. Pentagon Press Secretary Maj Gen Pat Ryder, at a news conference, said China had completed an upgrade of its facilities in Cuba in 2019. "We know that the PRC is going to continue to tr

Houthis claim to break up US-Israel spy network after arresting UN staffers

Yemen's Houthi rebels said Monday they had arrested members of an American-Israeli spy network, days after detaining at least 11 UN staffers along with others from aid organisations. Maj. Gen. Abdulhakim al-Khayewani, head of the Houthis' intelligence agency, announced the arrests, saying the spy network had first operated out of the US Embassy in Sanaa. Then after it was closed in 2015 following the Houthi takeover of the capital Sanaa and northern Yemen, they continued their subversive agenda under the cover of international and UN organisations, he said. He did not say how many people were arrested. Houthi authorities issued what they purported to be videotaped confessions by 10 Yemenis, several of whom said they were recruited by the US Embassy. They did not include any of the UN employees who were arrested. The Houthis' claims could not be independently verified. The United Nations on Friday announced the arrests of 11 Yemeni staffers. Six worked for the UN's human rights agenc

Ex-BrahMos engineer gets life imprisonment for spying for Pakistan

The former BrahMos engineer has been charged under Official Secrets Act for keeping classified information related to missiles in his personal device, which was leaked outside

Beijing blames Britain of recruiting couple working for Chinese govt to spy

In a statement, China's civilian spy agency, the Ministry of State Security (MSS), said it just cracked a "major espionage case" involving MI6

Yemen's Houthis sentence 44 to death on charges of treachery, spying

A court run by Yemen's Houthi rebels on Saturday sentenced 44 people to death, including a businessman working with aid groups, on spying charges, a defence lawyer said. The 44 were among 49 people who were detained by the Iran-backed rebels and accused of collaborating with the enemy, a reference to the Saudi-led coalition that has been at war with the Houthis since 2015, lawyer Abdel-Majeed Sabra said. Four were given prison sentences, Sabra said. Sixteen were sentenced to death in absentia, while 28 were brought before the Specialised Criminal Court in the capital Sanaa, Sabra said. Among those sentenced to death was Adnan al-Harazi, CEO of Prodigy Systems, a Sanaa-based company that developed systems to help humanitarian groups register and verify the distribution of aid to those in need in the war-stricken country. The Houthis detained al-Harazi in March last year after throwing stones at his company. Saturday's court ruling included the seizure of al-Harazi's properties, Sabr

Pak refuses to share details of consular access to 2 Indian spying accused

Pakistan on Friday refused to share details of consular access to the two Indian nationals held on the charges of spying, saying such access had been provided from time to time. Foreign Office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch was asked at the weekly briefing about the reported consular access to two Indians who were arrested for allegedly spying in Gilgit-Baltistan. I will not go into the details of such communications. However, Pakistan does from time to time arrange consular access for the Indian High Commission to its nationals, she said. Earlier this week, The Express Tribune newspaper reported that Pakistan authorities granted consular access to India for a meeting with two Indian nationals arrested on charges of spying in 2020. The consular access was provided at the request of the Indian government and the meeting between Indian diplomats and the alleged spies took place on Monday. Reports suggest that the two individuals, purportedly from Jammu and Kashmir, were arrested i

UP ATS arrests Pakistan ISI agent working at Indian Embassy in Moscow

Satendra Siwal, a resident of Shahmahiuddinpur village in Hapur, could not give satisfactory answers and confessed to his crime during 'questioning', it said

China says it detained individual accused of collecting secrets for Britain

China says it has detained an individual accused of collecting state secrets on behalf of Britain's foreign intelligence agency MI6. The Ministry of State Security posted on social media on Monday that Britain had been cooperating since 2015 with the person, who it said was a citizen of a third nation and had the surname Huang. The ministry said Huang had received training in intelligence gathering, provided with equipment and had collected numerous state secrets on repeated visits to China. No further information on the intelligence gathered was given, nor did the ministry say when he or she had been detained or where they were being held. The definition of state secrets is not clearly defined under China's opaque political and legal system, and many consulting and advisory firms have been investigated for obtaining data that would ordinarily be in the public record, particularly if they were shared with foreign entities. The British government has yet to comment on the allegation

Taiwan reports China sent 4 suspected spy balloons over the island

Taiwan's Defence Ministry said that China sent four balloons over the island, three of which passed near to a key air force base. The reported incursions on Tuesday come as China has been upping its threat to use force to annex the self-governing republic. Taiwan is holding elections for its president and legislature on January 13, and China has used its military, diplomatic and economic power to influence voters to back candidates favouring unification between the sides. Despite that, the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party is leading in most polls, reaffirming the electorate's backing for the status of de-facto independence from mainland China. China regularly sends navy ships and warplanes to waters and airspace close to Taiwan, and its use of balloons to collect intelligence could be a new stage in its campaign of intimidation against the island. The Defence Ministry said three of the balloons passed from east to west, close to the Ching-Chuan-Kang air base, home to

Iran charges Swedish national Johan Floderus with spying for Israel

Iran on Sunday held the first hearing for a Swedish citizen who was detained last year on charges of spying for Israel, media reported. A report by Mizanonline.ir news website, which is affiliated with the country's judiciary, said that the prosecutor accused the man who was identified as Johan Floderus of having links with Israeli elements" and gathering information for Israel in the framework of projects through American, Israeli and European institutes that were active against the Islamic Republic of Iran. The prosecutor said Floderus had traveled to Israel, worked with Swedish intelligence and transferred money to Iran for projects aimed to toppling its government. He asked the judge to prosecute Floderus based on articles of Iranian law that carry penalties from six months to capital punishment. Judge Iman Afshari said a date for the next session will be decided later. The report also published images of Floderus and his lawyers in the courtroom. The report did not say anythin