“Federal prosecutors have accused a former high-level aide to New York’s governor of secretly working for China in exchange for perks like orchestra tickets, millions in cash, and over a dozen Nanjing-style salted ducks.
Linda Sun, who worked for Gov. Kathy Hochul and her predecessor, Andrew Cuomo, was charged on Tuesday with over 10 criminal counts, including visa fraud, money laundering, and conspiracy to violate the Foreign Agents Registration Act.
Sun, 40, is accused of blocking Taiwanese officials’ access to the New York governor’s office and changing public messages from both governors to boost China’s talking points, among other acts.
According to the Justice Department, she also sent messages informing the Chinese consulate about Taiwan’s requests to the governor’s office.”
https://www.yahoo.com/news/top-york-official-paid-off-053609747.html
“Britain’s signals intelligence spy chief raised eyebrows this week with warnings that Russia is coordinating both cyberattacks and physical acts of sabotage against the West. There’s evidence to back her claims—and the West may be returning the favor. Coming soon after FBI Director Christopher Wray warned that China is targeting American infrastructure, it looks like the world is not only fracturing once again, but that the hostile blocs are engaged in covert warfare.”
https://reason.com/2024/05/17/world-war-war-iii-may-already-have-started-in-the-shadows/
“The same U.S. government that wants tech companies and telecoms to create secret software doors that would allow it to snoop on our private communications and data is also worried that other governments will be able to use those same back doors to do the same thing. This is what tech privacy experts have been warning U.S. officials (and U.K. officials and Australian officials) all along: Any back door that allows law enforcement to circumvent user privacy protections will ultimately be used by people with bad intentions.”
“Officials said the massive hack by the members of China’s People’s Liberation Army underscored Beijing’s aggressive pattern of stealing private data to improve its intelligence operations and boost the performance of its domestic companies.”
…
“Chinese spies have ramped up espionage-focused hacking in recent years. Their targets — including the Office of Personnel Management and the health insurance titan Anthem — reflect Beijing’s desire to amass dossiers on Americans, especially those with security clearances, in the hope of compromising them.
The Justice Department charged two Chinese hackers with the Anthem breach, and U.S. officials have privately blamed China for the devastating OPM intrusion. Intelligence officials have also linked Beijing to other major cyberattacks, including the Marriott hack that exposed the personal data of roughly 500 million people.
“At the FBI we’ve been saying for years that China will do anything it can to replace the United States as the world’s leading superpower,” Bowdich said. “This indictment is about more than targeting just an American business. It’s about the brazen theft of sensitive personal information of nearly 150 million Americans.””