African Union’s headquarters for spying

China denies claims it built backdoors into African Union’s headquarters for spying



The African Union, a coalition of 55 countries established in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, has reportedly been a victim of state-sponsored espionage after an investigation from French newspaper Le Monde revealed China was using the computers in a new building’s IT division to spy on its continental neighbors.

China was able to do this because it financed and built the new building itself to act as the African Union’s new headquarters and gifted it under false pretenses of cordial partnership, Le Monde reports. The spying has reportedly been happening since 2012 when the building opened in downtown Addis Ababa. The backdoor into the African Union’s computer systems was first discovered in January 2017, when engineers in the IT division noticed an unusual spike of activity late into the evening when the building was no longer staffed.

AU ENGINEERS NOTICED AN UNUSUAL SPIKE IN ACTIVITY ON ITS SERVERS IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT
“[The building] has been fully equipped by the Chinese. The computer systems were delivered turnkey. And Chinese engineers have deliberately left two flaws: backdoors, which give discrete access to all internal exchanges and productions of the organization,” writes Le Monde. “According to several sources within the institution, all sensitive content could be spied on by China. A spectacular leak of data, which would have spread from January 2012 to January 2017. Contacted, the Chinese mission to the AU did not follow our requests.”

China’s ambassador to the AU, Kuang Weilin, called the claims “absurd” in response, and denied China used the infrastructure for spying. “I really question its [the report’s] intention,” Weilin told a group reporters on Monday, as reported by the BBC. “I think it will undermine and send a very negative message to people. I think it is not good for the image of the newspaper itself. Certainly, it will create problems for China-Africa relations.”

The AU moved quickly to remedy the situation by purchasing its own computer servers and encrypting its data and communications. Without official confirmation from the Chinese government, it’s unclear what the purpose of a cyber-espionage operation was beyond an apparent desire to keep an eye on the Pan-African regio

new twist to the proverb :
"nevah tink a gift horse don't ha mouth"

dat is pure fake new! no explanation necessary. le monde is now shit wrag..to wipe with in the toilet if you doh have ah bidet

oh how the mighty has fallen. le monde... now a filth mongering, fake news wrag

ok "Donald" anything you dont like is fake news!

wah happened, you cannot believe that the Chinese will shaft the Afros? Its their turn now!

no impse. even if true its fake news. deh put it deh to attack china and get the african people to start worry about China..t o create african problems fuh china

it wont work! china does not have to lissen in on the AU. the deals deh make are enuff. is those deals or death fuh the african elites. deh know where their breads are buttered