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Title: Russian Spies Are Analyzing Data From China's WeChat App

Link: https://yro.slashdot.org/story/25/06/08/01392...

An anonymous reader shared this report from The New York Times: Russian
counterintelligence agents are analyzing data from the popular Chinese
messaging and social media app WeChat to monitor people who might be in
contact with Chinese spies, according to a Russian intelligence document
obtained by The New York Times. The disclosure highlights the rising level of
concern about Chinese influence in Russia as the two countries deepen their
relationship. As Russia has become isolated from the West over its war in
Ukraine, it has become increasingly reliant on Chinese money, companies and
technology. But it has also faced what the document describes as increased
Chinese espionage efforts. The document indicates that the Russian domestic
security agency, known as the F.S.B., pulls purloined data into an analytical
tool known as "Skopishche" (a Russian word for a mob of people). Information
from WeChat is among the data being analyzed, according to the document...
One Western intelligence agency told The Times that the information in the
document was consistent with what it knew about "Russian penetration of
Chinese communications...." By design, [WeChat] does not use end-to-end
encryption to protect user data. That is because the Chinese government
exercises strict control over the app and relies on its weak security to
monitor and censor speech. Foreign intelligence agencies can exploit that
weakness, too... WeChat was briefly banned in Russia in 2017, but access was
restored after Tencent took steps to comply with laws requiring foreign
digital platforms above a certain size to register as "organizers of
information dissemination." The Times confirmed that WeChat is currently
licensed by the government to operate in Russia. That license would require
Tencent to store user data on Russian servers and to provide access to
security agencies upon request.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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