Huawei sacks staffer accused of spying in Poland

LONDON: Huawei Technologies says it has fired Wang Weijing, an employee arrested in Poland this week on suspicion of spying for the Chinese government, saying he disgraced the company.

“His alleged actions have no relation to the company,” Huawei said on Saturday in an emailed statement. “The incident in question has brought Huawei into disrepute.”

The employee was described as a Chinese citizen responsible for sales to public-sector clients, the Polish television news channel TVPInfo said on Friday. A former high-ranking official at Poland’s Internal Security Agency, who worked at the mobile phone operator Orange Polska, also was detained. They will remain in custody for three months.

Huawei is facing increasing pressure across the European Union amid growing concerns that China could use the company’s equipment for spying, something executives have denied. US President Donald Trump’s administration has been pushing European allies to block Huawei from telecom networks amid a wider dispute over trade with China.

https://www.bangkokpost.com/news/general/1610014/huawei-sacks-accused-spy

Hundreds caught in latest 'Outlaw Foreigners' raids

A total of 375 people were arrested for immigration offences in the latest "Outlaw Foreigners" raids, which targeted 239 locations across the country early Friday morning. Officers involved in the raids…

Officers involved in the raids also arrested 115 Thais for separate offences, Pol Lt Gen Surachate Hakparn, commissioner of the Immigration Bureau, said during a media briefing. Of the 490 foreign and Thai suspects, 21 (four each from India, Laos, and Myanmar, two each from Germany, Sweden and Vietnam and one each from the USA, Russia and Italy) were overstaying their visas.

https://www.bangkokpost.com/news/crime/1609470/hundreds-caught-in-latest-outlaw-foreigners-raids

US Investigating Boeing Satellite Sale To China-Backed Startup

The close relationship of Boeing (whose former employee Patrick Shanahan is now the acting Pentagon chief) with a Chinese government-backed satellite start up company has been the target of an SEC and Commerce Department investigation, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Global IP, based in Los Angeles, reportedly received a letter by the SEC requesting that the company retain all of its documents related to its work with Boeing as well as other entities, including China Orient Asset Management Company, a state owned Chinese lender. The letter says that the SEC believes that the company has "documents and data that are relevant to a matter under investigation". The letter was disclosed in a court filing on January 4 by one of Global IP's founders, Umar Javed. That filing was part of litigation against a group of defendants that includes a unit of China Orient.

China Orient was said to be providing financing to Global IP for the purchase of a satellite from Boeing. This is problematic because due to recent diplomatic… tensions shall we say, American companies are "effectively barred" from selling satellites to China.

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-01-12/us-investigating-boeing-satellite-sale-china-backed-startup

Over 30,000 Join Yellow Vests Protests Across France - Reports

The wave of the so-called yellow vest protests — named after the obligatory attribute of French drivers — started in mid-November. While the French government has scrapped its planned hike in diesel taxes, which is what initially sparked the protests, the yellow vests have evolved into a broader movement against government policies and rising living costs

https://sputniknews.com/europe/201901121071425484-yellow-vests-protest/

Closer Everyday

A new currency, anyone?

But Facebook needs to win people's trust first

Facebook’s decision to develop a cryptocurrency for payments and transfers on its WhatsApp messaging platform has multiple implications. It imparts fresh energy and direction to a sector that’s suffered in 2018. It implies rebranding for Facebook, which is struggling to overcome mistrust from both users and regulators after the revelations of data misuse.

https://www.business-standard.com/article/opinion/a-new-currency-anyone-119011200607_1.html

Facebook rebuts Vietnam claims over alleged illegal content

HANOI: Facebook is defending itself against allegations that it allows illegal content in violation of Vietnam's cybersecurity law. The social media giant said Wednesday that it had a clear process for reporting and handling content that violates laws.

The company said it had restricted illegal content and was in discussions with the government.

The comments were in response to state media reports that the Ministry of Information and Communication has complained Facebook was allowing users to upload slanderous content and anti-government comments, among other alleged violations of a cybersecurity law that took effect Jan 1.

The law requires service providers such as Google and Facebook operating in Communist-ruled Vietnam to store user data and open offices in the country and remove offending contents within 24 hours if requested by the authorities.

https://www.bangkokpost.com/news/asean/1608226/facebook-rebuts-vietnam-claims-over-alleged-illegal-content

>>4725003

> for payments and transfers on its WhatsApp messaging platform

Does WhatsApp Has A Privacy Bug That Could Expose Your Messages?

In-short conclusion—Whatsapp service or its 45-days deletion policy doesn't seem to have a bug. For detailed logical explanation, please read below.

An Amazon employee earlier today tweeted details about an incident that many suggests could be a sign of a huge privacy bug in the most popular end-to-end encrypted Whatsapp messaging app that could expose some of your secret messages under certain circumstances.

According to Abby Fuller, she found some mysterious messages on WhatsApp, notably not associated with her contacts, immediately after she created a new account with the messaging app on her brand new phone using a new number for the very first time.

Fuller believes that the mysteriously appeared content on her new account was the message history associated with the WhatsApp account of the previous owner of the same SIM/mobile number, which WhatsApp pushed to her phone.

https://thehackernews.com/2019/01/whatsapp-privacy-chats.html