8 Mar 2010 | Index Index, minipost, Uncategorized
Investigators looking into web attacks on Google and dozens of other American companies last year have traced the intrusions to computers at Jiaotong University as well as Lanxiang Vocational School in Shandong Province, an institution with ties to the Chinese military, according to a report in the New York Times. Beijing has subsequently denied these claims as “groundless“, fighting back against reports that investigators are drawing closer to hackers in China. China’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman, Qin Gang, told reporters: “Reports that these attacks came from Chinese schools are totally groundless and the accusation of Chinese government involvement is also irresponsible and driven by ulterior motives.”
However, US analysts now believe they have identified the Chinese author of the critical programming code used in the alleged state-sponsored hacking attacks, making it far harder for the Chinese government to deny involvement. A freelance security consultant in his 30s wrote the part of the program that used an unknown security hole in the Internet Explorer web browser to break into computers and insert the spyware, a researcher working for the US government told the Financial Times.
8 Mar 2010 | Index Index, minipost, Uncategorized
Ten journalists in Sierra Leone have been assaulted by members of an opposition party during their national conference. The International Federation of Journalists disclosed that supporters of the Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) physically attacked reporters as they were preparing to record the second day of the event in Bo. High ranking members of the SLPP were reported to have seized and stolen the cameras and mobile phones of the journalists present.
8 Mar 2010 | Index Index, minipost, Uncategorized
Voice of America’s (VOA) Amharic-language radio broadcasts have been blocked in Ethiopia. The Washington-based broadcaster has been informed by monitors that its news service in the East African state has been electronically-jammed, although it has not yet been able to identify the source. Ethiopia is preparing for a crucial parliament vote on 23 May and officials have described VOA as the “voice of the opposition”. The Ethiopian Communications Office has, however, denied any involvement.
8 Mar 2010 | Index Index, Middle East and North Africa, minipost, Uncategorized
Student and blogger Ahmed Mostafa is facing a military court after a prosecutor announced on 1 March that they would push ahead with charges of ‘publishing false information about the military establishment’. There has been no investigation into Mostafa’s published allegations that a teacher’s son was pushed out of the military academy in order to make room for a more influential individual.
