China has depicted Washington as the “biggest threat to global cybersecurity”, saying that Washington “knowingly abuses technology” for spying and a range of other purposes.
The United States is seeking to preserve “hegemony in cyberspace” under the false pretext of “national security”, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning told reporters on Friday, urging the US to “stop its global hacking operations.”
The development came after US President Joe Biden issued a new executive order, purportedly limiting the use of spyware by the American government. Signing the order late last month, Biden banned the use of commercial spyware like Pegasus and Predator, but left ample room for the US to keep using hacking technologies of all sorts.
Hitting back at the US move, Ning said that the recent White House order to crack down on certain surveillance tech would not change the fact that Washington is the “biggest threat” to global cyber-security.
Chinese President Xi Jinping accused Western countries led by America of implementing an all inclusive "containment, encirclement and suppression" of China.
US agencies have targeted foreign states and companies “under the pretexts of national security and human rights without any evidence,” she said, adding that “the US government, in an attempt to maintain its hegemony in cyberspace, knowingly abuses technology for cyber surveillance and theft of secrets.”
Earlier this week, a report in the New York Times revealed that the White House signed a “secret contract” with the Israeli cyber surveillance firm NSO Group through a front company in 2021.
The contract allowed officials to use NSO Group’s ‘Landmark’ geolocation tool to covertly track “thousands” of phone users in Mexico.
The deal also “allows for Landmark to be used against mobile numbers in the United States.”
Despite language in the executive order urging federal agencies to stop employing tools that have been “misused” by governments abroad, the deal with NSO Group “still appears to be active,” the Times reported.
The Israeli firm has come under fire for collaborating with over a dozen foreign governments to target human rights activists, journalists, and lawyers using its powerful ‘Pegasus’ spyware program, including in Mexico, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The New York Times said in a report last year that the FBI purchased access in 2019 to Pegasus, which invades mobile phones and mines their contents.
The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps’ (IRGC) Intelligence Unit says Iran will consider the Israeli regime’s shelters “legitimate targets” if residential areas in the country come under attack.
In a post published on social media platform X on Tuesday, the IRGC said that any strikes on residential areas in Iran would give Iran’s armed forces the right to attack Israeli shelters in the occupied lands.
The IRGC stated that it has intelligence on the blueprints and the exact locations of these shelters.
Iran began its Operation True Promise 4 after the US and Israel launched their joint military aggression against the Islamic Republic in late February by assassinating Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Sayyed Ali Khamenei, and several senior Iranian officials.
In its latest wave of attacks, the IRGC said it rained down missiles on the Israeli regime’s “secure” intelligence facilities in Tel Aviv.
Iranian armed forces have also pounded American military bases and ...
In a fresh wave of retaliatory strikes, the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) targeted the Israeli regime’s “secure” intelligence facilities in Tel Aviv.
The IRGC’s Public Relations Department said in a statement on Tuesday that it had carried out the 79th wave of its ongoing retaliatory Operation True Promise 4 against the Israeli and American targets.
Deploying powerful Kheybar Shekan, Emad, and Sejjil missiles alongside IRGC Aerospace Force kamikaze drones, the operation successfully breached the regime's multi-layered air defense systems, the statement said.
The missiles, it stated, targeted Israel’s intelligence facilities in northern and central Tel Aviv, as well as military commercial and support centers in Ramat Gan and the Negev.
The missiles also hit Israel’s southern military logistics and command headquarters in Beersheba.
The missile strikes triggered widespread panic across Israel and forced the suspension of a Knesset (parliament) session on Tuesday.
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The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) announces staging the 78th wave of its underway retaliatory Operation True Promise 4, targeting such highly sensitive Israeli targets as Dimona, Tel Aviv, and Eilat as well as several US military bases in the region.
In a statement on Tuesday, the IRGC described the latest phase of the operation as a significant development featuring missiles raining down on enemy targets as the nation was leveling momentous support behind the Islamic Republic by attending millions-strong rallies with "clenched fists."
'A distinct record'
The latest phase, it noted, "has set a distinct record in the timeline of the war."
According to the statement, targets in the occupied port of Eilat, Dimona, a heavily fortified city that hosts the Israeli regime's notorious nuclear reactor in its vicinity, and northern Tel Aviv were struck using Emad and multi-warhead Qadr missile systems along with attack drones.
This was the second time the Corps was hitting Dimona, ...
