Police have disrupted an international network suspected of smuggling tens of thousands of stolen phones from the UK in its largest operation to tackle phone theft in London, the Metropolitan police said. The criminal organisation is believed to have smuggled up to 40,000 stolen phones from the UK to China over the past 12 months – up to 40% of all phones stolen in the capital, the Met said on Monday. The force launched Operation Echosteep in December 2024 after a box containing about 1,000 iPhones being shipped to Hong…
Tag: Telecommunications industry
Huawei founder sparks alarm in China with warning of ‘painful’ next decade
The founder of Huawei has delivered a stark warning for the tech company’s future, sparking alarm with the frankness of his assessment and what it signals for smaller businesses amid China’s economic troubles and a global downturn. In a leaked internal memo, Ren Zhengfei told Huawei staff “the chill will be felt by everyone” and the company must focus on profit over cashflow and expansion if it is to survive the next three years, indicating further job cuts and divestments. “The next decade will be a very painful historical period,…
At least 13 phone firms hit by suspected Chinese hackers since 2019, say experts
At least 13 phone companies around the world have been compromised since 2019 by sophisticated hackers who are believed to come from China, a cybersecurity expert group has said. The roaming hackers – known as LightBasin – were able to “search and find” individual mobile phones and “target accordingly”, according to CrowdStrike, a group regularly cited by western intelligence. Hackers were also able to obtain personal subscriber information held by phone companies and metadata showing who made and received calls. “Sophisticated signals intelligence activity” aimed at phone company networks has…