British PM approves Huawei role in 5G network: report

Yahoo – AFP, April 24, 2019

Last month, Britain identified "significant technological issues" in Huawei's engineering
processes that pose "new risks" for the nation's telecommunications (AFP Photo/
JOHN MACDOUGALL)

London (AFP) - British Prime Minister Theresa May has given the go-ahead for China's Huawei to help build a 5G network, shrugging off security warnings from senior ministers and Washington, the Daily Telegraph reported Wednesday.

The country's National Security Council, which is chaired by May, agreed Tuesday to allow the Chinese technology giant limited access to build "non-core" infrastructure such as antennas, the report said.

The decision was made despite concerns raised over May's approach by Home Secretary Sajid Javid, Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson, International Trade Secretary Liam Fox and International Development Secretary Penny Mordaunt.

Downing Street declined to comment but Huawei welcomed the newspaper report.

"Huawei welcomes reports that the UK government is moving towards allowing Huawei to help build the UK's 5G network," it said in a statement.

"This green light means that UK businesses and consumers will have access to the fastest and most reliable networks thanks to Huawei's cutting edge technology.

"While we await a formal government announcement, we are pleased that the UK is continuing to take an evidence-based approach to its work and we will continue work cooperatively with the government, and the industry."

The United States has however banned Huawei's 5G technology from its territory and urged allies in the so-called Five Eyes intelligence sharing collective -- which also includes Australia, Britain, Canada and New Zealand -- to follow suit.

Huawei is the leading manufacturer of equipment for next-generation 5G mobile networks with almost instantaneous data transfer that will become the nervous system of Europe's economy, in strategic sectors like energy, transport, banking and health care.

The technology titan faces pushback in some Western markets over fears Beijing could spy on communications and gain access to critical infrastructure.

Last month, Britain identified "significant technological issues" in Huawei's engineering processes that pose "new risks" for the nation's telecommunications, according to a government report.

Police bodycam experiments a success, 2,000 mini cameras on order

DutchNews, April 24, 2019

Photo: Politie.nl

The use of bodycams has led to less aggression against the police and more officers are to be equipped with the mini cameras while patrolling the streets, Dutch police said on Wednesday. 

Experiments using the cameras at 30 different locations have shown their use to be ‘valuable’ in reducing aggression and in collecting evidence, police said. Some 2,000 bodycams will now be ordered for beat officers, the statement said. 

Some 700 police officers in Amsterdam were equipped with the cameras during the experiment and bodycam patrol teams in particular were less likely to face threats and intimidation than those without, the researchers said. 

‘Looking at serious threats, for instance, the percentage of victims among officers in the treatment group dropped from 74% to 57%,’ the report said. 

However, there was no effect on behaviour in situations using people who had been drinking or using drugs. 

The cameras were used by traffic police, security details, dog teams and at major events.

‘In society at large, we are used to filming everything we experience and sharing the images with others,’ said spokesman Theo van der Plas. ‘The use of sensors and image technology is becoming increasingly important in police work.’

Indian extradited to US from Singapore in call center fraud

Yahoo – AFP, April 20, 2019

Workers in a call center in India: in 2016 US authorities charged five such call centers
with operating fraud schemes targetting South Asians living in the United States
(AFP Photo/AFP)

Washington (AFP) - Singapore has extradited an Indian national to the United States to face charges in a call center fraud that scammed millions of dollars from victims in the United States, the Justice Department announced Friday.

Hitesh Madhubhai Patel, 42, of Ahmedabad, India, was scheduled to be arraigned Friday in a Houston, Texas federal court for his role in a case that was first announced in 2016, charging 60 people with wire fraud and money laundering conspiracy.

Patel ran the HGlobal call center, one of five India-based operations which allegedly worked together in an operation which targeted mostly South Asians living in the United States.

Callers pretending to be US tax or immigration officials threatened them with arrest and deportation if they did not remit money to the government.

The victims were then directed to people working with the call centers in the United States to collect the "fines" through prepaid debit cards or wire transfers, and the money was quickly laundered out of the country.

"This extradition once again demonstrates the Department's unwavering commitment to disrupt and dismantle the India-based call center scam industry and to work with our foreign partners to hold accountable those who perpetrate schemes that defraud our citizens," said Assistant Attorney General Brian Benczkowski in a statement.

Justice officials said that in the past six years more than 15,000 people have been cheated of over $75 million in scams in which callers pose as agents of the Internal Revenue Service, the federal tax agency.

So far, in the Indian call center case, 24 domestic US defendants have been convicted and sentenced to up to 20 years in prison, the Justice Department said.

"The remaining India-based defendants have yet to be arraigned in this case," they said.

Related Article:

US charges dozens in India-based call center fraud racket

Coalition MPs say Huawei must be kept out of 5G network roll-out

DutchNews, April 12, 2019

Photo: Depositphotos.com

Two of the four Dutch coalition parties have said they do not want Chinese telecoms company Huawei to be involved in rolling out 5G networks in the Netherlands, following the FD’s revelations about industrial espionage at ASML, the Financieele Dagblad said on Friday. 

GroenLinks, the biggest Dutch opposition said in February that Huawei should be excluded from the tender process because of security fears. 

‘It is very simple,’ VVD MP Wybren van Haga told the paper. ‘If a company does not keep to the rules, you don’t play with them. China clearly does not respect the international rules of trade and has no respect for the intellectual property rights of western tech companies.’ 

The CDA is also opposed to Chinese involvement in the project. 

On Thursday, the Financieele Dagblad said Chinese spies have stolen a large number of company secrets from chip machinery maker ASML. 

The spies were highly placed R&D workers who were able to get away with source codes, software, price strategies and secret user manuals, the paper said. It bases the claims on its own research and Californian court documents. 

The scandal comes at a sensitive time for the government, which is currently trying to draw up a formal strategy to deal with Chinese economic interests. 

Earlier this month, the AIVD security service warned about the risks of using Chinese equipment for crucial infrastructure and said digital attacks and espionage by countries such as China, Iran and Russia pose a real threat. 

In the US Huawei has been accused of espionage on behalf of the Chinese authorities and the US ambassador to the Netherlands, Pete Hoekstra, told Trouw earlier this year that the company should be kept out of the Dutch market. ‘This is very, very important to us,’ Hoekstra is quoted as saying.

Related Article:

Chinese spies steal secrets from Dutch chip maker ASML: FD

Scientist superstar Katie Bouman designed algorithm for black hole image

Yahoo – AFP, April 11, 2019

The Event Horizon Telescope project provided the first ever image of a black
hole and its fiery halo (AFP Photo)

New York (AFP) - Anonymous to the public just days ago, a US computer scientist named Katie Bouman has become an overnight sensation due to her role in developing a computer algorithm that allowed researchers to take the world's first image of a black hole.

"I'm so excited that we finally get to share what we have been working on for the past year!" the 29 year-old Bouman, a postdoctoral researcher at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, gushed on her Facebook account Wednesday after the image was published.

The term "black hole" refers to a point in space where matter is so compressed that it creates a gravity field from which even light cannot escape. The massive black hole in the photo released Wednesday is 50 million light years away at the center of a galaxy known as M87.

While the existence of black holes have been long known, the phenomenon proved impossible to witness.

In 2016, Bouman developed an algorithm named CHIRP to sift through a true mountain of data gathered by the Event Horizon Telescope project from telescopes around the world to create an image.

The volume of data -- four petabytes (4 million billion bytes) -- was contained in a mountain of computer hard drives weighing several hundred pounds that had to be physically transported to the Haystack Observatory in Westford, Massachusetts, operated by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

To guarantee the accuracy of the image, the Harvard-Smithsonian Astrophysics Center, operated by Harvard University, gave the data to four different teams. Each team independently used the algorithm to obtain an image.

After a month of work, the four groups presented their results to the other teams.

"That was the happiest moment I've ever had [when] I saw all the other teams had images that were very similar, with the lower half brighter than the top half. It was amazing to see everyone got that," Bouman told The Wall Street Journal.

"No one algorithm or person made this image," wrote Bouman, who in the fall will begin work as an assistant professor at the California Institute of Technology (Cal Tech).

"It required the amazing talent of a team of scientists from around the globe and years of hard work to develop the instrument, data processing, imaging methods, and analysis techniques that were necessary to pull off this seemingly impossible feat," she said on Facebook.

"It has been truly an honor, and I am so lucky to have had the opportunity to work with you all."

Related Article:

The real deal: astronomers deliver first photo of black hole

Assange lawyer accuses Washington of 'persecution'

Yahoo – AFP, April 11, 2019

Spanish lawyer Baltasar Garzon, defence coordinator of the Australian editor of
WikiLeaks Julian Assange, said there is "evident political persecution" against his
client (AFP Photo/GABRIEL BOUYS)

Madrid (AFP) - WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, arrested in London on a US extradition request, is the target of "political persecution," the man coordinating his defence said Thursday.

"There is evident political persecution which started precisely with the massive publication by WikiLeaks in 2010 of cables and very serious information" which Assange had published, including a trove of classified Pentagon documents detailing alleged US war crimes in Afghanistan and Iraq," said Spanish lawyer Baltasar Garzon.

"The threats against Julian Assange for political reasons, persecution on the part of the United States, are more current than ever," said Garzon, who also accused Ecuador's president of lying about the reasons behind the revoking of Assange's citizenship of the South American state, acquired in 2017.

Garzon, who has previously described the case against Assange as arbitrary and baseless, is a high-profile human rights investigator who was investigating magistrate when former Chilean doctator Augusto Pinochet was detained in London on a Spanish warrant for extradition to face genocide charges. The British government ultimately rejected extradition on humanitarian grounds in that case.

A video grab taken from AFPTV footage shows WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange 

as he is driven by British police to Westminster Magistrates' Court in central London

on April 11, 2019 (AFP Photo)

British police arrested Assange at the Ecuadoran embassy in London, where he had spent seven years as a recluse, claiming asylum and Ecuadoran nationality, both of which President Lenin Moreno revoked.

A London court hours later found Assange guilty of jumping bail in 2012 while wanted in Sweden on charges of sexual assault which were subsequently dropped.

"We are very concerned because the Ecuadoran government and in particular its president have not told the truth in the published statement" on Assange, said Garzon, adding that Quito's arguments for justifying his loss of citizenship were "false".

The US Justice Department earlier had said Assange, a 47-year-old Australian, faced a federal charge in the US and a jail term of up to five years for "conspiracy to commit computer intrusion for agreeing to break a password to a classified US government computer".

The indictment alleges Assange conspired in March 2010 with Chelsea Manning, a former US Army intelligence analyst, to crack a password stored on Department of Defense computers.

Timeline on #WikiLeaks founder #JulianAssange, after he was arrested by British police on April 11 pic.twitter.com/qlBZQvBrH0

— AFP news agency (@AFP) 11 april 2019

Chinese spies steal secrets from Dutch chip maker ASML: FD

DutchNews, April 11, 2019

Photo: ASML

Chinese spies have stolen a large number of company secrets from chip machinery maker ASML, the Financieele Dagblad said on Thursday. 

The spies were highly placed R&D workers who had indirect ties to the Chinese ministry of science and technology and were able to get away with source codes, software, price strategies and secret user manuals, the paper said. It bases the claims on its own research and Californian court documents. 

The paper says the theft took place at the Dutch firm’s operations in San Jose in the US and was orchestrated by competitor XTAL, which was established by former ASML workers in 2014. A year later XTAL was able to lure away ASML clients such as Samsung. 

The FD research shows that XTAL’s Chinese parent company Dongfang Jingyuan has ties to the Chinese ministry and had been given subsidies for a project aimed at boosting China’s position in the chip machinery market. ASML is currently world leader. 

The paper points out that the scandal comes at a sensitive time for the government, which is currently trying to draw up a formal strategy to deal with Chinese economic interests. 

Earlier this month, the AIVD security service warned about the risks of using Chinese equipment for crucial infrastructure and said digital attacks and espionage by countries such as China, Iran and Russia pose a real threat. 

However, the FD says, China is an important market for ASML and has enormous growth potential.  Nevertheless, senior company officials are concerned about the Chinese approach to intellectual property, the paper said. 

Neither XTAL or Dongfang Jingyuan were willing to comment on the claims, the FD said. 

At the end of 2018, a court in California ordered XTAL to pay $233m in damages to ASML after ASML took the company to court for the ‘misappropriation of trade secrets’. The ruling has been low profile until now, the paper said.

World's first 5G phone released in South Korea

Yahoo – AFP, April 5, 2019

South Korea's three mobile carriers held launch parties for Samsung's
Galaxy S10 5G, which costs at least $1,200 (AFP Photo/JUNG Yeon-Je)

Samsung Electronics on Friday released the Galaxy S10 5G, the world's first available smartphone with built-in fifth-generation communications technology, as South Korea seeks to build a lead in the transformative system.

On Wednesday the South became the first country to commercially launch nationwide 5G services, with three superfast networks going live offering data speeds that allow users to download entire movies in less than a second.

Hours later US giant Verizon began commercial services in Chicago and Minneapolis, after rival AT&T made a 5G-based system available to selected users in parts of 12 cities in December.

South Korea's three mobile carriers -- SK Telecom, KT and LG Uplus -- held launch events across Seoul for the Galaxy S10, whose base version costs 1.39 million won ($1,200).

Interactive virtual-reality displays and robot demonstrations were on show to tout the capabilities of the latest iteration of mobile internet speed, and new users were excited about the possibilities, especially live streaming of sports games and university lectures.

"I watch a lot of videos often, movies and lectures," said buyer Shim Ji-hye, 38. "I hope faster speeds will help me manage my time better."

Another user said he was most excited about virtual reality content -- which includes games and even "celebrity VR dating" apps according to the country's mobile carriers.

With 5G, said researcher Lee Sang-yoon, VR content "can be enjoyed in real time with no delay... I'll be able to enjoy it in better resolution and speed".

Before Friday's roll-out of the Samsung phone, the 5G service had been restricted to a handful of specially selected users in South Korea.

Rival manufacturer LG is due to launch its V50 ThinQ, another 5G phone, in the South later this month, while in the US, Verizon's network works with Lenovo's Moto Z3 smartphone fitted with a special accessory.

Commercialising 5G gives South Korea the chance to build around the technology, which is crucial for the future development of devices such as autonomous vehicles and the Internet of Things.

It is expected to bring about $565 billion in global economic benefits by 2034, according to the London-based Global System for Mobile Communications, an industry alliance.

The implications of the new technology have pitted Washington against Beijing -- whose firms dominate 5G technology -- in an increasingly bitter standoff.

The US has pressed its allies and major economies to avoid 5G solutions from Chinese-owned telecom giant Huawei, citing security risks that technological backdoors could give Beijing access to 5G-connected utilities and other components.

Chinese entities own a total of 3,400 5G patents -- more than a third of the total, according to data analysis firm IPlytics -- with 1,529 of those registered by Huawei.

South Korea comes next, with its companies holding 2,051 patents, while US firms have 1,368 together.

Neither KT nor SK Telecom use Huawei technology in their 5G networks, but it is a supplier to LG UPlus, the companies told AFP.

South Korea to launch world's first national 5G networks

Yahoo – AFP, Kang Jin-kyu, April 3, 2019

A number of South Korea's tech giants are to launch new, 5G-enabled devices
to coincide with the country switching over to the high-speed technology
(AFP Photo/JUNG Yeon-Je)

Seoul (AFP) - South Korea on Friday launches the world’s first nationwide 5G mobile networks -- a transformational leap that has superpowers sparring for control of an innovation that could potentially change the day-to-day lives of billions of people.

The superfast communications heralded by fifth-generation wireless technology will ultimately underpin everything from toasters to telephones, from electric cars to power grids.

But while the South has won the race to be first to provide the user experience, that is only one part of a wider battle that has pitted the United States against China and ensnared giants including Huawei.

Hyper-wired South Korea has long had a reputation for technical prowess, and Seoul has made the 5G rollout a priority as it seeks to stimulate stuttering economic growth.

The system will bring smartphones near-instantaneous connectivity -- 20 times faster than existing 4G -- allowing users to download entire movies in less than a second.

The new 5G technology will eventually be used to run everyday appliances including 

games machines, toasters, telephones and electric cars (AFP Photo/JUNG Yeon-Je)

In the same way that 3G enabled widespread mobile web access and 4G made new applications work ranging from social media to Uber, 5G will herald a new level of connectivity, empowered by speed.

It is crucial for the future development of devices ranging from self-driving vehicles that send data traffic to one another in real time to industrial robots, drones and other elements of the Internet of Things.

That makes it a vital part of the infrastructure of tomorrow, and the 5G standard is expected to bring about $565 billion in global economic benefits by 2034, according to the London-based Global System for Mobile Communications, an industry alliance.

'One million devices'

But the implications of the new technology have pitted Washington against Beijing in an increasingly bitter standoff.

The US has pressed its allies and major economies to avoid 5G solutions from Chinese-owned telecom giant Huawei, citing security risks that technological backdoors could give Beijing access to 5G-connected utilities and other components.

Long-anticipated deployment of ultrafast 5G wireless networks is beginning in 

South Korea and the United States (AFP Photo/GABRIEL BOUYS)

But Chinese firms dominate 5G technology.

Huawei, the global leader, has registered 1,529 5G patents, according to data analysis firm IPlytics.

Combined with manufacturers ZTE and Oppo, plus the China Academy of Telecommunications Technology, Chinese entities own a total of 3,400 patents -- more than a third of the total, according to the research firm.

South Korea comes next, with its companies holding 2,051 patents.

In contrast, US firms have 1,368 altogether, IPlytics said -- 29 fewer than Finland's Nokia alone.

All three of South Korea's mobile operators -- KT, SK Telecom and LG UPlus -- will go live with their 5G services on Friday.

"5G's hyper speed can connect one million devices within a one square kilometre zone simultaneously," KT said in a report.

LG senior vice president David VanderWaal discusses 5G at the 2019 

Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January (AFP Photo/Robyn Beck)

Neither KT nor SK Telecom use Huawei technology in their 5G networks, but it is a supplier to LG UPlus, the companies told AFP.

On the same day, Samsung Electronics will release the Galaxy S10 5G, the world's first available smartphone using the technology, and rival phonemaker LG follows with the V50s two weeks later.

Deployment in US market

Until now, no mobile networks have offered nationwide 5G access.

US network carrier Verizon said Wednesday it became the first carrier in the world to deploy a 5G network -- in Chicago and Minneapolis, with more cities due to follow this year.

The system will work with Lenovo's Moto Z3 smartphone.

“Verizon customers will be the first in the world to have the power of 5G in their hands," said Hans Vestberg, Verizon's chairman and chief executive officer. "This is the latest in our string of 5G firsts."

The development of wireless mobile networks from the 1980s to the introduction 

of 5G communications (AFP Photo/Jonathan WALTER)

Rival US carrier AT&T deployed what it called its 5G E network in 12 cities last year with speeds faster than 4G networks but below those being deployed in other fifth-generation systems.

Andre Fuetsch, president of AT&T Labs, said in a statement Wednesday that independent testing shows "that we are the fastest wireless network nationwide."

Qatari firm Ooredoo says it offers 5G services in and around Doha -- but does not have devices available to use them.

Japan is also expected to roll out a limited deployment in 2019 before full services start in time for next year's Tokyo Olympics.

Cost barrier

More than three million South Koreans will switch to 5G by the end of this year, predicted KT vice-president Lee Pil-jae.

Cost is likely to be a barrier initially for user uptake, analysts say, as the cheapest version of the new Galaxy handset will be priced at 1.39 million won ($1,200).

"While there are many cheap 4G smartphones under $300, Samsung's 5G phones are well over $1,000, which could be a major minus point for cost-savvy consumers," a KT representative told AFP.

None of South Korea's three network operators would say how much they have invested in 5G, but Seoul's economy minister Hong Nam-ki estimate it would be at least $2.6 billion this year alone.

"If 5G is fully implemented," he said, "it will greatly improve people's lives".

Whatsapp targets fake messages ahead of India mega-election

Yahoo – AFP, April 2, 2019

Whatsapp has launched a hotline in India to flag rumours ahead of the
upcoming election (AFP Photo/NICOLAS ASFOURI)

New Delhi (AFP) - WhatsApp launched a hotline Tuesday allowing Indians to flag rumours circulating ahead of the upcoming election, a major concern in a country where fake news has fuelled violence.

It comes a day after WhatsApp's parent company Facebook removed hundreds of pages promoting India's ruling and opposition parties for violating rules around spam and "coordinated inauthentic behaviour" online.

The spread of viral fake videos and messages on social media platforms has proved incendiary in India, where half a billion people are online but limited digital literacy has helped rumours spread like wildfire.

As hundreds of millions of Indians prepare to vote this month and next, experts say the biggest election in history will also prove an immense misinformation challenge.

Less than two weeks before voting starts, WhatsApp has launched a "tipline" in partnership with an Indian startup that it says will allow voters to submit uncertain or suspicious content for verification.

Pictures, video links and texts will be analysed and debunked if untrue in English and four regional languages, the company said in a statement.

"This combined effort by WhatsApp and industry organisations will help contribute to the safety of the elections, by giving people means to know if the information is verified and deter people from sharing rumors that have no basis in fact," it said.

It follows a major purge of Facebook accounts on Monday by the social media giant, with hundreds of political pages spamming content supportive of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the opposition Congress movement taken down.

Facebook said nearly 700 of these were associated with Congress, whose leader Rahul Gandhi is challenging Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the election. The party said it was investigating the claims.

Another 15 pages shut down for spamming were promoting, among other themes, the BJP and the alleged misconduct of its opponents, Facebook said. One belonged to a news organisation, MyNation, owned by BJP lawmaker Rajeev Chandrasekhar, media reports said.

These pages were followed by 2.6 million users and "linked to individuals associated with an Indian IT firm, Silver Touch", Facebook said.

The company based in Modi's home state of Gujarat developed the premier's personal mobile app and other government projects, Indian media reported.

The WhatsApp tipline follows other security measures taken by the firm in India, its largest global market with 200 million users.

WhatsApp restricted message forwarding in India last year and ran newspaper adverts to counter fake news after a spate of mob killings sparked by hoaxes spread on its messaging service.

In the lead up to the election, YouTube last month said it would start flagging dubious content in news-related videos in India. Its parent company Google is training Indian journalists in verification techniques and boosting stringency over election advertising.

Facebook has also said itwas running its biggest ever election monitoring campaign, with adverts and announcements to help people spot misinformation. It is also working with Indian newsrooms to make false posts less visible.