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cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/35083943

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Advanced persistent threat (APT) groups with ties to China have become persistent players in the cyber espionage landscape, with a special emphasis on European governmental and industrial entities, according to a thorough disclosure from ESET’s APT Activity Report for Q4 2024 to Q1 2025.

The report, covering activities from October 2024 to March 2025, highlights the sophisticated tactics and tools employed by these threat actors to infiltrate sensitive networks.

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These diverse and innovative techniques illustrate the persistent dedication of China-aligned APTs to espionage, often prioritizing long-term access over immediate financial returns.

The ESET report emphasizes that the highlighted operations are merely a snapshot of the broader threat landscape, with intelligence derived from proprietary telemetry data and verified by expert researchers.

The sustained focus on European targets by these APT groups signals a strategic intent to gather sensitive political and industrial intelligence, potentially influencing geopolitical dynamics.

[...]

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/35083943

Archived

Advanced persistent threat (APT) groups with ties to China have become persistent players in the cyber espionage landscape, with a special emphasis on European governmental and industrial entities, according to a thorough disclosure from ESET’s APT Activity Report for Q4 2024 to Q1 2025.

The report, covering activities from October 2024 to March 2025, highlights the sophisticated tactics and tools employed by these threat actors to infiltrate sensitive networks.

[...]

These diverse and innovative techniques illustrate the persistent dedication of China-aligned APTs to espionage, often prioritizing long-term access over immediate financial returns.

The ESET report emphasizes that the highlighted operations are merely a snapshot of the broader threat landscape, with intelligence derived from proprietary telemetry data and verified by expert researchers.

The sustained focus on European targets by these APT groups signals a strategic intent to gather sensitive political and industrial intelligence, potentially influencing geopolitical dynamics.

[...]

Archived

Advanced persistent threat (APT) groups with ties to China have become persistent players in the cyber espionage landscape, with a special emphasis on European governmental and industrial entities, according to a thorough disclosure from ESET’s APT Activity Report for Q4 2024 to Q1 2025.

The report, covering activities from October 2024 to March 2025, highlights the sophisticated tactics and tools employed by these threat actors to infiltrate sensitive networks.

[...]

These diverse and innovative techniques illustrate the persistent dedication of China-aligned APTs to espionage, often prioritizing long-term access over immediate financial returns.

The ESET report emphasizes that the highlighted operations are merely a snapshot of the broader threat landscape, with intelligence derived from proprietary telemetry data and verified by expert researchers.

The sustained focus on European targets by these APT groups signals a strategic intent to gather sensitive political and industrial intelligence, potentially influencing geopolitical dynamics.

[...]

China has no right to decide whether or not Taiwan is a country given it chooses its own government, Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung said on Wednesday, adding that he would be happy to shake the hand of his Chinese opposite number in friendship.

China views democratically-governed Taiwan as its own territory and has stepped up military and political pressure to assert those claims, including increasing the intensity of war games, saying the island is one of its provinces with no right to be called a state.

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cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/35079508

Archived

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The Brazilian government believes it has sufficient room to increase import tariffs instead of resorting to more aggressive measures like quotas, should a wave of industrialized goods from China flood the local market. The risk of such a redirection to Brazil has grown in the wake of the global tariff escalation set off by U.S. President Donald Trump.

[...]

Since the beginning of the trade tensions, Brazil has been closely monitoring any potential uptick in the flow of Chinese-made goods to its domestic market, in an effort to “separate the wheat from the chaff.”

“It’s crucial that we base our actions on clear data: to determine whether there is indeed a flood of products or not,” said a Brazilian government official, who noted that so far, no significant increase has been observed.

[...]

If Chinese products do end up being rerouted to Brazil in large volumes, authorities see an increase in import duties as a more straightforward tool to deploy. The government source emphasized that there is legal leeway under both World Trade Organization (WTO) and Mercosur rules to implement such measures.

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cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/35079508

Archived

[...]

The Brazilian government believes it has sufficient room to increase import tariffs instead of resorting to more aggressive measures like quotas, should a wave of industrialized goods from China flood the local market. The risk of such a redirection to Brazil has grown in the wake of the global tariff escalation set off by U.S. President Donald Trump.

[...]

Since the beginning of the trade tensions, Brazil has been closely monitoring any potential uptick in the flow of Chinese-made goods to its domestic market, in an effort to “separate the wheat from the chaff.”

“It’s crucial that we base our actions on clear data: to determine whether there is indeed a flood of products or not,” said a Brazilian government official, who noted that so far, no significant increase has been observed.

[...]

If Chinese products do end up being rerouted to Brazil in large volumes, authorities see an increase in import duties as a more straightforward tool to deploy. The government source emphasized that there is legal leeway under both World Trade Organization (WTO) and Mercosur rules to implement such measures.

[...]

Archived

[...]

The Brazilian government believes it has sufficient room to increase import tariffs instead of resorting to more aggressive measures like quotas, should a wave of industrialized goods from China flood the local market. The risk of such a redirection to Brazil has grown in the wake of the global tariff escalation set off by U.S. President Donald Trump.

[...]

Since the beginning of the trade tensions, Brazil has been closely monitoring any potential uptick in the flow of Chinese-made goods to its domestic market, in an effort to “separate the wheat from the chaff.”

“It’s crucial that we base our actions on clear data: to determine whether there is indeed a flood of products or not,” said a Brazilian government official, who noted that so far, no significant increase has been observed.

[...]

If Chinese products do end up being rerouted to Brazil in large volumes, authorities see an increase in import duties as a more straightforward tool to deploy. The government source emphasized that there is legal leeway under both World Trade Organization (WTO) and Mercosur rules to implement such measures.

[...]

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In addition to the three MEPs already publicly identified this week, Metsola revealed two more on Wednesday afternoon: Italian European People's Party lawmakers Fulvio Martusciello and Giusi Princi.

Martusciello, who currently leads the Italian EPP delegation, has previously been linked to two letters central to the Belgian probe. Signed by several MEPs in 2021, the letters concerned Europe’s 5G market, where the China-based Huawei was looking to expand its influence.

Martusciello was among the signatories, and prosecutors allege he encouraged other MEPs to sign.

In March, a parliamentary assistant to Martusciello was arrested in Italy under a European arrest warrant. She later agreed to cooperate with Belgian authorities and, after clarifying her position, returned to Italy. Her lawyers told Euractiv that they will request the case be dismissed.

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Archived

The Polish internet infrastructure recently withstood an unprecedented distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack measuring an astonishing 1.3 terabits per second – marking the largest such attack ever recorded in the country. Security teams have been battling this extensive cyber assault over several days, effectively neutralizing what would have otherwise caused significant disruption to digital services nationwide.

This record-breaking attack has already overshadowed previous incidents documented in the CERT Orange Polska Report for 2024, establishing a new benchmark for cybersecurity threats in the region.

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Over the past week, cybersecurity specialists observed and continuously mitigated a series of attacks directed at one of Poland’s leading companies. The threat actors employed significant volumetric attacks, utilizing nearly every available traffic amplification technique to maximize impact.

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Archived

Chinese exports of video game consoles to Russia have jumped nearly sevenfold since 2022, when Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, according to Chinese customs data, raising concerns that such devices could be diverted for military use.

In 2024, China shipped $95.38 million worth of gaming devices, including controllers, to Russia, according to customs data released earlier this month. A Chinese research firm has said the sharp increase indicates gaming equipment is "becoming increasingly popular in Russia."

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Earlier this year, Japan, Britain and the European Union banned the export of game controllers to Russia, citing concerns that such devices could be repurposed to operate drones on battlefield in Ukraine.

China has opposed Western sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine and continued to trade with it, despite international concern that Chinese exports may be aiding the Russian war effort.

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Today, the Commission announced the selection of 15 renewable hydrogen production projects for public funding across the European Economic Area (EEA). The projects, located across five countries, are expected to produce nearly 2.2 million tonnes of renewable hydrogen over ten years, avoiding more than 15 million tonnes of CO₂ emissions. The hydrogen will be produced in sectors such as transportation, the chemical industry, or the production of methanol and ammonia. They will receive a total of €992 million in EU funding, from the Innovation Fund sourced from the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS).

The winning bidders, awarded after the second European Hydrogen Bank (EHB) auction, will produce the renewable hydrogen in Europe with a subsidy that will help to close the price difference between their production costs and the market price and accelerate the deployment of cleaner fuels.

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In parallel, Spain, Lithuania, and Austria are allocating up to €836 million in national funding for projects in their countries through the ‘Auctions-as-a-Service' feature. This allows Member States to identify and fund eligible projects in their territories that meet the auction's qualification criteria but cannot be funded by the Innovation Fund due to budgetary limitations. ‘Auctions-as-a-service' is open to all Member States, enabling them to benefit from the EU-level auction platform and award national funding to additional projects with simplified procedure.

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With an estimated total budget of €40 billion from the EU Emissions Trading System for the period from 2020 to 2030, the Innovation Fund creates financial incentives for companies and public authorities to invest in cutting-edge net-zero technologies and support Europe's transition to climate neutrality.

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cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/34994310

At just 37 hectares, the Philippines-controlled island of Pagasa – or "hope" – is barely big enough to live on. There is almost nothing there.

The 300 or so inhabitants live in a cluster of small, wooden houses. They fish in the clear, turquoise waters, and grow what vegetables they can in the sandy ground.

But they are not alone in these disputed waters: just off shore, to the west, lies an armada of ships.

These are all Chinese, from the navy, the coastguard or the so-called maritime militia – large fishing vessels repurposed to maintain Chinese dominance of this sea. As our plane approached the island we counted at least 20.

For the past 10 years, China has been expanding its presence in the South China Sea, taking over submerged coral reefs, building three large air bases on them, and deploying hundreds of ships, to reinforce its claim to almost all of the strategic sea lanes running south from the great exporting cities on the Chinese coast.

Few of the South East Asian countries which also claim islands in the same sea have dared to push back against China; only Vietnam and the Philippines have done so. The militaries of both countries are much smaller than China's, but they are holding on to a handful of reefs and islands.

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"Pagasa is very important to us," Jonathan Malaya, assistant director-general of the Philippines National Security Council, tells the BBC.

"It has a runway. It can support life – it has a resident Filipino community, and fishermen living there.

"And given the size of the island, one of the few that did not need reclaiming from the sea, under international law it generates its own territorial sea of 12 nautical miles.

"So it is, in a way, a linchpin for the Philippine presence."

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[Assistant director-general of the Philippines National Security Council] Jonathan Malaya says his government has made a formal diplomatic protest every week to the Chinese Embassy over the presence of its ships in what the Philippines views as the territorial waters of Pagasa. This is in marked contrast to the previous administration of President Rodrigo Duterte, which avoided confrontations with China in the hope of getting more investment in the Philippines.

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