This is a thread about how China used a prize-winning iPhone hack, developed at the country’s top security competition, to spy on the Uyghurs. technologyreview.com/2021/05/06/102…
Chinese hackers used to be the most dominant force at international hacking competitions. In 2018, Beijing stopped sending its hackers overseas and instead created its own contest. The first top prize went to a remarkable iPhone hack.
.@techreview has learned that US government surveillance quickly spotted the same prize-winning iPhone hack being used against Uyghurs, and informed Apple.
The Americans concluded that the competition had generated an important hack; and that the exploit had been quickly handed over to Chinese intelligence, which then used it to spy on Uyghurs.
China’s hacking of Uyghurs is so aggressive that it is effectively global, extending far beyond the country’s own borders. It targets journalists, dissidents, and anyone who raises Beijing’s suspicions of insufficient loyalty. nbcnews.com/tech/security/…
These bugs are incredibly valuable, not just in financial terms, but in their capacity to create an open window for espionage and oppression.
READ the full story about how China used its top hacking competition to get a weapon against the Uyghurs. It was reported and written by @howelloneill and repurposed into this thread by @Benji_Rosen. technologyreview.com/2021/05/06/102…
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