(Photo: Wikimedia Commons)

Recent months have brought a flood of stories about cyber attacks originating in China, many of them state-backed. But, according to the New York Times, it's not just the military. While you get scary letters from lawyers if you so much as expose an existing security hole here in the U.S., hacking is apparently no big deal in China.

The Times says: 

Hacking thrives across official, corporate and criminal worlds. Whether it is used to break into private networks, track online dissent back to its source or steal trade secrets, hacking is openly discussed and even promoted at trade shows, inside university classrooms and on Internet forums.

But, of course, with mainstream acceptance comes a certain...lackadaisical attitude. Attacks are often limited to 9 to 5 Beijing time, and hackers aren't especially diligent about secrecy. According to one American cybersecurity expert:

“They’re using the least amount of sophistication necessary to accomplish their mission,” Mr. Kindlund said. “They have a lot of manpower available, but not necessarily a lot of intelligent manpower to conduct these operations stealthily.”

Guess everybody's working for the weekend.

(Photo: Wikimedia Commons)

After several months of near-constant chatter about Chinese hackers, the U.S. government has finally come right out and said it: the Chinese military is probably, right this very minute, trying to hack into America's computers to steal our precious bodily fluids state secrets.

That's from the Pentagon's annual report to Congress which, as the New York Times reports, was unusually direct in accusing China of hax0ring America's shit. For example:

“In 2012, numerous computer systems around the world, including those owned by the U.S. government, continued to be targeted for intrusions, some of which appear to be attributable directly to the Chinese government and military,” the nearly 100-page report said.

One possible motive? Mapping “military capabilities that could be exploited during a crisis.” The report also says that cyberweapons are an increasingly important element of China's strategic arsenal. Don't everyone start writing Red Dawn-meets-Neuromancer all at once!

China, however, has denied everything:

‘‘We’re willing to carry out an even-tempered and constructive dialogue with the U.S. on the issue of Internet security. But we are firmly opposed to any groundless accusations and speculations, since they will only damage the cooperation efforts and atmosphere between the two sides to strengthen dialogue and cooperation.’’

Oh, well, in that case, a thousand pardons.

(Photo: Technabob)

Every spring during the Qingming Festival, people in China honor their ancestors by cleaning and repairing their tombstones. Offerings are also made to the dead, typically consisting of food and drink, but because Chinese culture dictates that deceased relatives will need money and other material goods in the after life, many will also burn fake money or paper replicas of homes and cars as offerings.

Now, NBC News reports that a new material good has been deemed essential enough to offer to Chinese ancestors: Apple products.

During this year's Qingming Festival, fake Apple products made out of paper and cardboard were one of the biggest hits. One man, who makes cardboard replicas of luxury products like cars and houses, added Apple goods to his repertoire this year and said they were a hot ticket item. For just $7, you can offer your ancestors a Mac, an iPhone and an iPad, but if you want an iPhone 5, you have to pay an extra 50 cents.

NBC News notes that the uptick in fake Apple products being offered to deceased Chinese relatives indicates a societal shift in what's considered an important luxury item. Guess this means China has accepted Tim Cook's apology.

(Photo: France24)

China's Hunan Province has a problem: renegades are using their skills for black hat trickery, Photoshopping pictures of Chinese government officials and company bosses into porn. They'll then use the Photoshopped pictures to attempt to blackmail the officials, who have no way of proving it's not actually them getting freaky in the pics (have they not heard of the pixel test?).

The whole thing has gotten so bad--127 cases reported just last year, with over $7 million extorted--that law enforcement in Hunan are desperate to stop it. So desperate, in fact, that they erected gigantic billboards in the city of Shuangfeng warning against the phenomenon.

"Decisively crack down on the crime of exploiting Photoshop technology to blackmail people with compound pictures, in order to establish a good image of Shuangfeng," reads one of the billboards, according to France 24.

Chinese officials are no strangers to sex controversies, so it's unsurprising that they'd want to get out in front of this scandal: if you're gonna blackmail someone, at least have the decency to do so with a real picture.

(Photo: Microsoft)

Was that a bellow of rage we just heard from the direction of Redmond? The Wall Street Journal reports that the DOJ and SEC are poking around Microsoft as part of an investigation into business partners (like resellers and consultants) who maaaybe secured software contracts by bribing foreign officials.

Well, that would be one way to keep Windows running on every desktop.

Microsoft was quick to throw up its hands and tell the Wall Street Journal "nuh-uh, not us":

"Like every large company with operations around the world we sometimes receive allegations about potential misconduct by employees or business partners," said John Frank, Microsoft's vice president and deputy general counsel. "We cooperate fully in any government inquiries," he added.

This doesn't mean that Microsoft has been charged with anything yet, or even formally accused. But the feds are following up on a hot tip from a former employee:

The tipster, who worked to land potential new business, alleged that an executive of Microsoft's China subsidiary instructed the tipster to offer kickbacks to Chinese officials in return for signing off on software contracts.

But sources tell the Journal that Microsoft already had an outside firm investigate the allegations and turned up zilch. The feds are also sniffing around deals in Italy and Romania. So if you're a Microsoft reseller in an emerging nation, now might be the time to burn all receipts marked "bribe."

Happy Friday. (Photo: Sodahead)

Perhaps feeling jealous of China, North Korea is now accusing the U.S. of committing cyberattacks against it. [Tech in Asia]

We've reached the point where online programming could actually make a significant dent at the Emmy's. House of Cards, anyone? [The Daily Dot]

Google Reader's demise as a wake up call: what do we lose when we become so wholly reliant on a cloud-based app? [Slate]

More techies have stepped up to the plate to fight gun violence. Big name Silicon Valley investors have launched an "innovation and investment" campaign called Sandy Hook Promise. [TechCrunch]

Guns aren't the only political issue techies are taking up. Zuck and others are working for high-skilled immigration reform. [Hillicon Valley]

(Photo: Digital Trends)

Online privacy pundits might not want to venture over to China any time soon; the country just passed a law requiring citizens to identify themselves when signing up for internet and mobile access. [Bloomberg]

Another Snapchat scandal! Turns out both Snapchat and Facebook's new Poke app store your videos sent over the services locally, meaning it's possible to save videos sent to you without the sender ever knowing. [BuzzFeed]

It appears those ads at the top of Wikipedia are paying off: the Wikimedia Foundation has raised $25 million so far in its 2012 fundraiser. [The Next Web]

Someone wants to make a stage show in Las Vegas based on Portal. [The Daily Dot]

John McAfee is at it again. [Wired]

Pretty. (Photo: flickr.com/jaxed)

We all know that Apple is probably announcing an iPad Mini later this week. But how do we know that? Who snitched? That's the subject of a long piece from Ars Technica. Turns out that it's not so much disgruntled engineers as it's a function of the long, winding road that is the company's global supply chain.

Ars Technica makes working at 1 Infinite Loop sound like a cross between working at the CIA and Hogwarts:

Prototypes have to be carried around on company grounds while covered in a black cloth so other employees can't sneak a peek. Those who take prerelease products off campus are heavily restricted when using them with other people (even other Apple employees) in the vicinity. Internal security teams covertly monitor which IRC channels employees like to hang out in.

As you might imagine from such intense security measures, it's probably not the California kids tipping all your favorite gadget blogs. Rather, the leaks are produced the same place as everything else except American Apparel tube socks and artisanal Brooklyn cheese:

"Apple's security practices are targeted at making sure US employees don't leak stuff, but everything comes out of China now," one employee told Ars. "I think Apple's secrecy mode is really outdated."

"Clearly, the people who need the security training are not here" said another. "They're not getting the same level of scrutiny as we are, and it shows."

Then again, if working on a Foxconn assembly line were our lot in life, we'd probably be leaking product specs left and right.

Tim Cook at a factory in Zhengzhou (cnn.com via Apple)

Foxconn decided to close down one of its factories in central China this morning after a riot took place in the factory compound late Sunday night, according to the New York Times. The plant in the city of Taiyuan employs about 79,000 workers and the brawl involved 2,000 of those employees. Reuters spoke to a Taiyuan plant worker who said that the factory is one of the plants assembles and makes parts for Apple's iPhone 5.

No workers died in the riots, but three were put in critical care.

Pictures of the incident were shared on a Chinese Twitter clone and show that windows in the plant were smashed and that Chinese riot police were called to the scene.

This riot comes three months after a 23-year-old employee committed suicide a month after he started working at the plant. Back in March of this year, Apple promised to improve conditions at Foxconn factories. The announcement came after the Fair Labor Association found a slew of violations at Foxconn factories including ones related to working hours, compensation and health and safety.

Both the Times and Reuters emphasize that this event represents a shift in the attitude of Chinese workers, highlighting the frustration Foxcon employees feel with factory conditions. Both quote Geoff Crothall, a spokesman for a Chinese labor group, who says, “They’re more willing to stand up for their rights, to stand up to injustice” and "Clearly there is deep-seated frustration and anger among the employees and no outlet, apart from violence, for that frustration to be released."

(Photo: Daily Mail)

Way back in 2002, a Chinese political dissident named Wang Xiaoning was arrested for publishing pro-democracy materials using his Yahoo account. When the Chinese government went to build a case against Mr. Wang, Yahoo rolled over like a trained dog, coughing up Mr. Wang's records, which China then used to convict him of "subversion." It was all very Orwellian. But, finally some good news: Mr. Wang has finally been freed.

Yahoo was widely panned for cooperating with the Chinese government, and Mr. Wang's family--along with the families of several other Chinese activists--eventually sued the company. Of course, Yahoo chose to settle out of court, paying the families an undisclosed sum.

Now, after serving 10 years in prison, Mr. Wang is free. According to The New York Times:

Wang Xiaoning, a Chinese political dissident who was convicted of state subversion based on evidence provided by the Internet company Yahoo, was released from prison on Friday, after serving a 10-year sentence.

Mr. Wang’s wife, Yu Ling, said by telephone that her husband had returned to their Beijing home in the early morning.

“He was very excited to come out and to be able to see us,” she said on Friday afternoon. “He didn’t sleep the entire night, until just now.”

News of Mr. Wang's freedom opens old wounds over the responsibility internet companies have to protect their users while also following international laws. The news is especially interesting considering the amount of information that internet and telecom companies have been guilty of providing to law enforcement in recent years.

Sadly, another dissident convicted on evidence from Yahoo--Shi Tao--is still in prison. Wonder if Marissa Mayer has any foreign diplomat skills on that résumé.