Data breach at Chinese infosec firm reveals cyber-weapons and target list

Asia In Brief Chinese infosec blog MXRN last week reported a data breach at a security company called Knownsec that has ties to Beijing and Chinas military.

MXRN says the company leaked over 12,000 classified documents, “including information on Chinese state-owned cyber weapons, internal tools, and global target lists.”

The trove also apparently included evidence of Remote Access Trojans that can crack Linux, Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android. The Android code can reportedly extract information from popular Chinese messaging apps, and from Telegram.

Also in the haul was a spreadsheet that lists 80 overseas targets Knownsec has successfully attacked, plus 95GB of immigration data obtained from India, 3TB of call records stolen from South Korean telecom operator LG U Plus, and 459GB of road planning data obtained from Taiwan.

The blog says attackers posted some of the documents to GitHub, which quickly removed them.

India tech services exports keep growing

Indian tech services companies earned over $218 billion in software-related revenue in FY24/25, 6.4 percent higher than the previous year, according to an annual survey conducted by the nation’s Reserve Bank.

Published last week, the annual Survey on Computer Software and Information Technology Enabled Services Exports drew responses from 2,206 companies. The Bank sent its survey to over 7,000 organizations, but isn’t too fussed that so many didn’t respond, as it feels those that did participate represent over 90 percent of tech services exports. The survey also covers work done in India, meaning the bank doesn’t count work done offshore by tech services giants such as Infosys, Wipro, and Tata Consulting Services.

The Bank estimated exports of software services increased by 7.3 percent during 2024-25 to $204.7 billion. Private companies saw exports grow 11.6 percent, far faster than the 1.3 percent growth listed companies posted.

Export growth to Europe raced along at 14.3 percent, far ahead of the 4.9 percent increase in exports to the USA. As a result, the USA’s share of total software exports declined from 54.1 percent during 2023-24 to 52.9 percent during 2024-25. Europe accounted for 32.8 percent of exports, up two points over the year.

The Register fancies exports to the US could grow more quickly this year, as the Trump administration’s restrictions on issuing visas to skilled technologists have already seen India’s top services companies say they’ll use more offshore delivery.

South Korea takes a huge slice out of SMS spam

South Korea’s campaign against SMS spam appears to be succeeding. The nation’s Media and Communications Commission last week published the results of a survey that found citizens now receive three spam texts each month, down from 11 this time last year.

The total number of text spam reports and detection results between January and June also decreased by 85 percent, from 211.5 million last year to 31.93 million in 2025.

NTT establishes autonomous driving biz

Japan’s tech giant NTT last week formed a company dedicated to enabling autonomous cars in Japan.

The new entity, NTT Mobility, will “provide a one-stop service enabling transportation operators and other service providers to utilize autonomous driving services.” The outfit also hopes to establish systems for software updates to the autonomous driving system, and for on-site response and repairs in case of malfunctions.

Smartphone sales still slumping in China

Analyst firm Counterpoint last week reported a further 2.7 percent slip for smartphone sales in China during Q3.

“Consumer demand remained subdued amidst the sluggish economy during the summer holiday and back-to-school periods,” the firm reported.

Chinese smartphone sales are of interest because the nation’s consumers are reluctant to spend on nonessential items. China’s government wants to change that, to stimulate its manufacturing industries.

The recent launch of Apple’s iPhone 17 may have turned things around, with Counterpoint finding 11 percent sales growth in the first two weeks of October.

Google denies reports of Australian AI datacenter build

Google has denied reports that it intends to build an AI datacenter on Christmas Island, an Australian territory in the Indian Ocean.

The web giant told The Register its construction activities on the island are related to the Bosun submarine cable it announced in 2024. ®

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