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let's start a new thread ... Part II was started in 2012 to 2022 (10 years cycle) ...

Beware of spies!

If there is ever a Guinness record for stupidest things on earth, this one shall make it to the top 10, at least. I wonder how the pigeon is going to respond when the charge shit sheet is read out to him, and what will be the penalty for spying. "If you are found guilty for spying under section 123 of SMLJ ACT, you may face a penalty of up to RS100,000 fine, jail for up to 10 years (err pigeon life span is how long ah?) or be BBQ (death penalty)" Hahahaha Pigeon Suspected Of Being Chinese Spy By Police In India, Detained For 8 Months Source: https://mustsharenews.com/pigeon-spy-india/ A pigeon was suspected by the Indian police of being a Chinese spy, and detained for as long as eight months. The bird was finally released after an animal welfare group reached out to the police. It had aroused suspicion due to an illegible “message” on its wings. It started in May 2023, when the police in Mumbai found a bird that had what was thought to carry a “message” on its wings. Though the “words” were illegible, they seemed to be in a “Chinese-like script”, reported The Times Of India (TOI). It also had two rings tied to its leg, which made it more suspicious. The pigeon was sent to the Bai Sakarbai Dinshaw Petit Hospital for Animals (BSDPHA) to be medically examined as part of police investigations. It ended up staying there for an “astonishing” eight months, PETA India said. Recently, the hospital asked the police whether they could release the bird, which was healthy and taking up a cage for no good reason. However, no appropriate response was received. PETA India reaches out to police PETA India thus reached out to the police, requesting them to allow BSDPHA to release the pigeon. The organisation said that a 2011 court judgement stated that birds have a “fundamental right to live free in the open sky” and should not be caged. Another court order in 2015 also disallowed the caging of birds for business or other purposes. Initially, the pigeon was charged with spying. However, investigations revealed that the bird had taken part in racing events in Taiwan and accidentally flown to India, according to TOI. The charge was dropped and the police eventually granted the bird’s release. It was subsequently released on the hospital premises on Wednesday (31 Jan).

https://www.timesofisrael.com/suspected-spy-devices-found-in-gifts-given-to-ministers-by-chinese-embassy-reports/ Suspected spy devices found in gifts given to ministers by Chinese embassy – reports Routine security check finds suspicious component in travel mug sent to Israeli science and transportation ministries By TOI staff Today, 10:34 am An alleged bugging device found in a travel mug given as a gift by the Chinese embassy to an Israeli ministry (Courtesy) A travel mug given as a gift by the Chinese embassy in Israel to an Israeli minister was found to contain a component suspected to be a possible spying device, multiple Hebrew media outlets reported on Tuesday morning. Army Radio first reported that a routine security check found that one of several such mugs sent by the Chinese embassy to government offices contained a suspicious part in it. Further examination raised the suspicion that the component was a listening device and the Shin Bet was alerted. All mugs sent by the embassy were collected for further inspection, the reports said. Moreover, all government offices have been told to be extra careful about receiving gifts from foreign entities as “they may contain listening devices or cameras.” The suspicious mug was sent by the Chinese embassy to the Science and Technology Ministry and was most likely intended for Innovation, Science and Technology Minister Orit Farkash Hacohen, according to an unnamed Israeli official cited by the Walla news site. The mug was examined before reaching her office, the official said, adding that a similar mug had been addressed to the office of Transportation Minister Merav Michaeli. A travel mug, illustrative (semenovp; iStock by Getty Images) Both ministries are relevant for Israeli infrastructure projects China is interested in, the report noted. Officials in the Foreign Ministry said it was looking into the incident, Channel 12 reported, noting that the details were still unclear. The publication of such suspicions by multiple news outlets as an examination was still ongoing was notable, however. Amid a US-China trade war that has ebbed and flowed in recent years under both the Trump and Biden administrations, Israel and China have seen warming relations and growing Chinese interest in Israeli innovations, especially in medical tech, robotics, food tech and artificial intelligence. While the Biden administration has yet to make specific demands of Israel regarding its relations with China, the US has publicly brought up the Israeli relationship with China several times recently. Chinese President Xi Jinping and then US Vice President Joe Biden walk down the red carpet on the tarmac during an arrival ceremony in Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland, September 24, 2015. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) China’s growing economy is forcing Israel to reposition itself politically and economically with the rising superpower. Data published by Israel’s National Bureau of Statistics in January indicated that in 2021 China became Israel’s largest source of imports, surpassing even the United States. That same month, Israel and China held a joint committee on innovation cooperation, led by Foreign Minister Yair Lapid and China’s Vice President Wang Qishan. The committee agreed to a three-year plan to regulate cooperation and government-to-government dialogue between the countries through 2024. While gradually strengthening ties with Beijing, the Israeli government has also notified the Biden administration that it will keep the White House in the loop regarding significant deals it strikes with China and is prepared to reexamine such agreements if the US, Israel’s closest ally, raises opposition.

Ho sey liao. Wonder who snitched on him. https://www.straitstimes.com/world/united-states/singaporean-pleads-guilty-in-us-to-working-for-chinese-intelligence

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-09-14/chinese-data-leak-linked-to-military-names-australians/12656668 China's 'hybrid war': Beijing's mass surveillance of Australia and the world for secrets and scandal By political editor Andrew Probyn and political reporter Matthew Doran Posted 19hhours ago, updated 15hhours ago The massive data leak raises serious questions about China's aggressive intelligence gathering operations.(Unsplash: Taskin Ashiq) Key points: 2.4 million names and profiles are on the database, including more than 35,000 Australians The company which created the database has links to China's government and military The leak raises further questions about the spread and scope of China's intelligence gathering operations A Chinese company with links to Beijing's military and intelligence networks has been amassing a vast database of detailed personal information on thousands of Australians, including prominent and influential figures. A database of 2.4 million people, including more than 35,000 Australians, has been leaked from the Shenzhen company Zhenhua Data which is believed to be used by China's intelligence service, the Ministry of State Security. Zhenhua has the People's Liberation Army and the Chinese Communist Party among its main clients. Information collected includes dates of birth, addresses, marital status, along with photographs, political associations, relatives and social media IDs. It collates Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and even TikTok accounts, as well as news stories, criminal records and corporate misdemeanours. While much of the information has been "scraped" from open-source material, some profiles have information which appears to have been sourced from confidential bank records, job applications and psychological profiles. The company is believed to have sourced some of its information from the so-called "dark web". One intelligence analyst said the database was "Cambridge Analytica on steroids", referring to the trove of personal information sourced from Facebook profiles in the lead up to the 2016 US election campaign. Zhenhua Data's vast database has explicit references to use by military intelligence.(Supplied.) But this data dump goes much further, suggesting a complex global operation using artificial intelligence to trawl publicly available data to create intricate profiles of individuals and organisations, potentially probing for compromise opportunities. The database has been shared with an international consortium of media outlets in the US, Canada, United Kingdom, Italy, Germany and Australia, comprising the Australian Financial Review and the ABC. The media consortium sought comment from Zhenhua, but received no reply. Zhenhua Data's chief executive Wang Xuefeng boasted of using data to wage "hybrid warfare".(Supplied) The company's chief executive Wang Xuefeng, a former IBM employee, has used Chinese social media app WeChat to endorse waging "hybrid warfare" through manipulation of public opinion and "psychological warfare". Of the 35,558 Australians on the database, there are state and federal politicians, military officers, diplomats, academics, civil servants, business executives, engineers, journalists, lawyers and accountants. They range from the current and former prime ministers, to Atlassian billionaires Mike Cannon-Brookes and Scott Farquhar, and business figures David Gonski and Jennifer Westacott. But there are 656 of the Australians featured on the list as being of "special interest" or "politically exposed". Exactly what the company means by either of these terms is unexplained, but the people on the list are disparate in occupation and background, and there seems little to no explanation in who has made the list. The list includes current Victorian Supreme Court Judge Anthony Cavanough, retired Navy Admiral and former Lockheed Martin chief executive Raydon Gates, former ambassador to China Geoff Raby, ex Tasmanian Premier Tony Rundle and former foreign minister Bob Carr. Singer Natalie Imbruglia features in this list, along with One Nation co-founder David Oldfield, National Party President Larry Anthony, former treasurer Peter Costello's son Sebastian, ex-Labor MP Emma Husar, News Corp journalist Ellen Whinnett and rural businesswoman and ABC director Georgie Somerset. But it also has some Australians with a criminal past, including self-proclaimed Perth sheikh Junaid Thorne, Geelong accountant and fraudster Robert Andrew Kirsopp and ex-TEAC boss Gavin Muir who died in 2007 just weeks before he faced court for dishonesty offences. Singer Natalie Imbruglia and technology entrepreneur Mike Cannon-Brooks feature on the list.(AAP/ABC News) The database was leaked to a US academic based in Vietnam, Professor Chris Balding, who until 2018 had worked at the elite Peking University before leaving China citing fears for his physical safety. "China is absolutely building out a massive surveillance state both domestically and internationally," Professor Balding told the ABC. "They're using a wide variety of tools — this one is taken primarily from public sources, there is non-public data in here, but it is taken primarily from public sources. "I think it speaks to the broader threat of what China is doing and how they are surveilling, monitoring and seeking to influence… not just their own citizens, but citizens around the world." Professor Balding has returned to the United States, leaving Vietnam after being advised it was no longer safe for him to be there. It was also a grave risk taken by the person who leaked the database to him, who contacted him as he started publishing articles about Chinese tech giant Huawei. "We've worked very hard to make sure that there are no links between me and that person, once I realised what had been given to me," he said. "They are still in China. But hopefully I think they will be safe." 'Collection nodes' scattered around the world, one likely in Australia Christopher Balding was given the vast database, and has returned to the United States citing safety concerns.(Supplied: Fulbright University Vietnam) Professor Balding gave the database to Canberra cyber security company Internet 2.0 which was able to restore 10 per cent of the 2.4 million records for individuals. Internet 2.0's chief executive Robert Potter said Zhenhua had built the capacity to track naval vessels and defence assets, to assess the careers of military officers and catalogue the intellectual property of China's competitors. "This mass collection of data is taking place in China's private sector, in the same way Beijing outsources its cyber attack capability to private subcontractors," Mr Potter told the ABC. "In the process, the company has violated the privacy of millions of global citizens, the terms of service of just about every major social media platform and hacked other companies for their data." Of the 250,000 records recovered, there are 52,000 on Americans, 35,000 Australians, 10,000 Indian, 9,700 British, 5,000 Canadians, 2,100 Indonesians, 1,400 Malaysia and 138 from Papua New Guinea. There are 793 New Zealanders profiled in the database, of whom 734 are tagged of special interest or politically exposed. Zhenhua boasts it has about 20 "collection nodes" scattered around the world to vacuum enormous amounts of data and send back to China. Two of the nodes have been identified as being in Kansas in the United States and the South Korean capital Seoul. The Australian node has not been detected. The Zhenhua Data database monitors military assets, using things like social media posts of officers to plot out movements.(Supplied.) The military sector appears to be of particular interest to the company. The database tracks promotion prospects of officers and political networks. In one instance, the career progression of a US naval officer was closely monitored and he was flagged as a future commander of a nuclear aircraft carrier. "The company… boasts that it has 20 information collection centres spread around the world," Clive Hamilton from Charles Sturt University said. "This suggests that there's almost certainly one in Australia. So that means somewhere in Australia, there is a Chinese state-owned company that is sucking up data from across Australia and feeding it into China's intelligence service. "Well, where is that centre? And if we can find it, shouldn't we close it down? It would appear to be violating all kinds of laws." Academic Clive Hamilton argues it is likely a "collection node" is somewhere in Australia.(ABC News: Leon Compton) Professor Hamilton said the wide range of people named in this database provided serious cause for concern. "If you're a 14-year-old daughter of a politician, then we now know that China's intelligence service is monitoring your social media commentary, and recording pieces of information that are of interest or may be of interest in the future," he said. "So it really is quite sinister in the way that China is targeting so many aspects of society in a country like Australia for sucking up and storing this intelligence, and using artificial intelligence in a exceptionally sophisticated way." Concerns of aggressive intelligence gathering operations A Five Eyes intelligence officer, who uses the pseudonym Aeneas, has pored over the data, and described the technique as "mosaic intelligence gathering" — sourcing vast tracts of information from a wide variety of sources. "The individual pieces of intelligence are like tiles in a mosaic, which make sense when they are arranged the right way," Aeneas said. He argued it was a different way to collect information than how many western agencies went about their work. "For example, we had a long-running penetration operation inside a Chinese diplomatic post," Aeneas said. "You'd think we would have collected on everyone, but we didn't. "Not everyone inside the post was an intelligence operator for the other side. "We collected thoroughly on their spooks and stringers, but unless someone in the post was a possible source for us, we left them alone." Australia's fledgling space industry is also of some interest to Zhenhua. Queensland's Gilmour Space Technology, founded by banker Adam Gilmour, has been closely profiled by the company — so much so that every board member of the company has been profiled in the database. Zhenhua went looking for everyone in Australia with the surname Gilmour to probe the company. The discovery of Zhenhua's core business, known as the Overseas Key Information Database, or OKIDB, will fuel concern about China's aggressive intelligence gathering operations. It also presents a challenge to domestic cyber defence, given the likely presence of other hostile computer servers in Australia trawling public source data. Zhenhua Data, established in 2018, is believed to be owned by China Zhenhua Electronics Group which in turn is owned by state-owned China Electronic Information Industry Group (CETC), a military research company which had an association with the University of Technology Sydney until 2019. Zhenhua Data's parent company is believed to be the Chinese state-owned CETC, which previously partnered with the University of Technology Sydney.(702 ABC Sydney: Amanda Hoh)

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