Millions of Americans have downloaded apps that secretly route their internet traffic through Chinese companies, according to an investigation by the Tech Transparency Project (TTP), including several that were recently owned by a sanctioned firm with links to China’s military.

TTP’s investigation found that one in five of the top 100 free virtual private networks in the U.S. App Store during 2024 were surreptitiously owned by Chinese companies, which are obliged to hand over their users’ browsing data to the Chinese government under the country’s national security laws. Several of the apps traced back to Qihoo 360, a firm declared by the Defense Department to be a “Chinese Military Company." Qihoo did not respond to questions about its app-related holdings.

We analyzed third-party keyboard apps Tencent QQ, Baidu, and iFlytek, on the Android, iOS, and Windows platforms. Along with Tencent Sogou, they comprise over 95% of the market share for third-party keyboard apps in China. This is an FAQ for the full report titled "The not-so-silent type: Vulnerabilities across keyboard apps reveal keystrokes to network eavesdroppers."

Chinese bank says it has contained a hack that affected some fixed income and equities transactions

Cyber attacks are common occurrences that often make headlines, but the leakage of personal information, particularly credit card data, can have severe consequences for individuals. It is essential to understand the techniques employed by cyber criminals to steal this sensitive information.

Credit card fraud in the United States has been on the rise, with total losses reaching approximately $12.16 billion in 2021, according to Insider Intelligence. Card-Not-Present (CNP) fraud constituted 72% of these losses, with a substantial portion attributed to Chinese fraudsters.

This latest release documents further extensive evidence of the establishment by local PRC Public Security authorities of at least 102 “Chinese Overseas Police Service Centers” in 53 countries around the world and how some of them have been partaking in the execution of "persuasions to return" operations. Patrol and Persuade (PDF) also documents the (silent) complicity of a number of host countries, instilling a further sense of fear into targeted communities and severely undermining the international rules-based order .

Reuters shows how Chinese hackers invaded myriad global companies, exposing entrenched weaknesses in Western cyber defenses.