Here is the NYTime's piece, leading with the 73,000 files the Chinese malware scans tourists' phones for. As expected, Islamic extremism material, but also harmless Islamic content, PDFs related to the Dalai Lama, and books on terrorism from experts https://t.co/0frvrW1DsE

— Joseph Cox (@josephfcox) July 2, 2019

This is weird and fascinating https://t.co/A24ItQlyeY

— Max Chafkin (@chafkin) July 2, 2019

China is forcing foreigners who cross into the Uighur homeland of Xinjiang to install malware on their phones that steals text messages, scans for the Quran and Dalai Lama texts, and the song "Taiwan: Another China" from Japanese metal band Unholy Gravehttps://t.co/HVSydkCDOF

— Sarah Emerson (@SarahNEmerson) July 2, 2019

"This is highly alarming in a country where downloading the wrong app or news article could land you in a detention camp."https://t.co/jWmfzH9coJ

— Ryan Mac ? (@RMac18) July 2, 2019

New: collaboration between Motherboard, Süddeutsche Zeitung, Guardian, New York Times, and German broadcaster NDR has found tourists are being forced to install Android malware at a Chinese border. Takes texts, contacts, scans phone for 70k files https://t.co/YlGruNUjws

— Joseph Cox (@josephfcox) July 2, 2019

This isn't surveillance creep, it's a surveillance leap. And where one nation has trod, others will follow https://t.co/aSfuJV93we

— ᴅᴇʀᴇᴋ ᴍᴇᴀᴅ (@derektmead) July 2, 2019

A big reason it’s usually not recommended to bring your own devices (ESPECIALLY work devices) with you when you travel there. And that was based just on suspicion of something like this. https://t.co/Dxfbm73qdT

— Tal Kopan (@TalKopan) July 2, 2019

If you want more technical details on the app, here is Cure53's report, supported by OTF: https://t.co/P19pE2JriE pic.twitter.com/2noNP083AW

— Joseph Cox (@josephfcox) July 2, 2019

China forcing tourists to install malware is another stark example of the digital divide. If I have the means, I can buy another phone just for travel. If I don't have the money, Chinese spyware now has access to my entire life. https://t.co/dYKR4j8iAq

— Patrick Howell O'Neill (@HowellONeill) July 2, 2019

As well as downloading text messages and other data, the Chinese malware scans for phone for some 73,000 different files. It does this with hashes, but we managed to identify around 1,300 of them. The malware looks for an .MP3 from this Japanese metal band https://t.co/yM4jwaedSl

— Joseph Cox (@josephfcox) July 2, 2019

Need a VC post on Medium lusting after this powerful new customer acquisition technique. https://t.co/U12WoPp16P

— Ben Thompson (@benthompson) July 2, 2019

There's no end to what China's dictatorship will do to spy on everyone and everything -- including forcing foreigners to install spyware on their phones if they visit certain places. Chilling details here, in a fine journalistic collaboration: https://t.co/WU6NDrvgFw

— Dan Gillmor (@dangillmor) July 2, 2019

Motherboard is crushing it today. https://t.co/9SWAuC0PEs

— Matthew Gault (@mjgault) July 2, 2019

New: the Chinese government forces tourists to install malware that steals text messages at the border.https://t.co/bTx5vvqfGz pic.twitter.com/o6X920t6LG

— Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai (@lorenzofb) July 2, 2019

NEW: China is installing text-stealing malware on tourists' phones at the border https://t.co/W4fuPIV6di a collaboration between Motherboard, the NYTimes, Guardian, and two German publications

— Jason Koebler (@jason_koebler) July 2, 2019

China is forcing tourists to install text-stealing malware at its border: https://t.co/j7KGnClVr6 pic.twitter.com/7h3M2Y3EST

— Motherboard (@motherboard) July 2, 2019

? Foreigners crossing certain Chinese borders are being forced to install malware on their Android phones.

"The malware downloads a tourist’s text messages, calendar entries, and phone logs, as well as scans the device for over 70,000 different files." https://t.co/71iQuCfgcd

— The Tor Project (@torproject) July 2, 2019

China Is Forcing Tourists to Install Text-Stealing Malware at its Border https://t.co/QPzUz2pLLy

— Neeraj K. Agrawal (@NeerajKA) July 2, 2019

China Is Forcing Tourists to Install Text-Stealing Malware at its Border
The malware downloads a tourist’s text messages, calendar entries, and phone logs, as well as scans the device for over 70,000 different files. https://t.co/dcducahwH2 pic.twitter.com/s7JDSUvaVG

— Disinfo Digest (@Disinfo_Digest) July 2, 2019

China Is Forcing Tourists to Install #Malware at its Border https://t.co/4dIk94YlIC via @vice (@josephfcox)

a collaboration by @Motherboard, @SZ, @Guardian, @nytimes, @NDR

The BXAQ app on @GitHub: https://t.co/klKETMKl1C

R/E by @cure53berlin, @citizenlab #Xinjiang pic.twitter.com/tWtccM1xTi

— Greg Walton (@meta_lab) July 2, 2019

China Is Forcing Tourists to Install Text-Stealing Malware at its Border https://t.co/wJ4fVvPMXl

— Jaime (@ironicdummy) July 2, 2019

Foreigners crossing certain Chinese borders are being forced to install a piece of malware on their phones that gives all of their text messages, calendar entries, phone logs, and other pieces of data to the Chinese authorities. #malware https://t.co/nYFbyLNCo0

— Lana CIPP/US, CIPM, CIPT (@lanasec) July 2, 2019

The article below refers to an authoritarian government we know cannot be trusted to safeguard human rights. The link talks about the US. Read both and compare. https://t.co/SqgPf6SZJ6 https://t.co/aYvg5hmkpc

— Jorge Guajardo (@jorge_guajardo) July 2, 2019

China Is Forcing Tourists to Install Text-Stealing Malware at its Border https://t.co/9PtWG2Trcn

— Idrees Ahmad (@im_PULSE) July 2, 2019

China Is Forcing Tourists to Install Text-Stealing Malware at its Borderhttps://t.co/RRLkjjcqAK

— Nicolas Krassas (@Dinosn) July 2, 2019

And as if @motherboard needed another scoop today, we get one from the venerable @josephfcox about Chinese government spying on tourists. Good day to be with the MB squad. Gang gang. https://t.co/5KDMxImIG8

— Ben Makuch (@BMakuch) July 2, 2019

Chinese officials reportedly installed a surveillance app on tourists' phones https://t.co/Wsb8WiVakd #cybersecurity #surveillance #politics

— Gamer Geek (@GamerGeekNews) July 2, 2019

Don’t take your phones to China, son. https://t.co/RNr4kyWNVU

— Brave Patrie (@bravepatrie) July 2, 2019

Chinese border guards put secret surveillance app on tourists' phones https://t.co/TUCrCCGUhx

— Graham Cluley (@gcluley) July 2, 2019

"Border guards are taking their phones and secretly installing an app that extracts emails, texts and contacts, as well as information about the handset itself. Tourists say they have not been warned by authorities in advance." https://t.co/FVcgwTJ3lI

— Murtaza Mohammad Hussain (@MazMHussain) July 2, 2019

#software extracts emails, texts and contacts and could be used to track movements #cybersecurity #infosec https://t.co/HYbQckNAit

— Ronald van der Meer (@ronaldvdmeer) July 2, 2019

"Border guards are taking their phones and secretly installing an app that extracts emails, texts and contacts, as well as information about the handset itself.” https://t.co/8zNuwbwEWP

— Colin Lecher (@colinlecher) July 2, 2019

Chinese border guards are secretly installing a spying app on the phones of visitors arriving in Xinjiang from Kazakhstan https://t.co/bOfhr2uvEb

— Reece Jones (@reecejhawaii) July 2, 2019

Chinese border guards put secret surveillance app on tourists' phones https://t.co/Bb0fQW2wnN

— Abdul Kazi (@abdulkazi) July 2, 2019

"Chinese border police are secretly installing surveillance apps on the phones of visitors and downloading personal information as part of the government’s intensive scrutiny" in #EastTurkustan

- @guardian https://t.co/Pb8Z9ZAoce

— WorldUyghurCongress (@UyghurCongress) July 2, 2019

Chinese border guards put secret surveillance app on tourists' phones
Software extracts emails, texts and contacts and could be used to track movementshttps://t.co/mfL3PSqeue

— Charles Mok 莫乃光 (@charlesmok) July 2, 2019

Here is the Guardian's piece on the malware installed on tourists' phones at a Chinese border. "At no point were they told what was being done to the phones." https://t.co/l5d8JKC27D

— Joseph Cox (@josephfcox) July 2, 2019

China has been secretly installing spyware on some tourists’ Android phones https://t.co/Chfei0XGIN pic.twitter.com/BDmsqYm3TH

— The Verge (@verge) July 2, 2019

China has been secretly installing spyware on some tourists’ Android phones: Chinese border agents have been installing spyware on phones from tourists who enter the country through certain crossings in the… https://t.co/PlM76gv1p1 #TheResistance #ImpeachTrump #NotMyPresident pic.twitter.com/X91yLsrVZh

— Patrick (@cahulaan) July 2, 2019

Motherboard has obtained the Android malware and published it on our Github page here for anyone who wants to analyze: https://t.co/tM0GjWHcIG

— Jason Koebler (@jason_koebler) July 2, 2019

We published a sample of the malware here. Chinese authorities are putting this onto tourists' phones as they cross into Xinjiang. https://t.co/UWCduJtVTu

— Joseph Cox (@josephfcox) July 2, 2019

“After Fengcai scans a phone, the app generates a report containing all contacts, text messages and call records, as well as lists of calendar entries and of other apps installed on the device. It sends this information to a server.” #China #Xinjiang https://t.co/Z76M3z7Q1U @hrw

— Sophie Richardson (@SophieHRW) July 2, 2019

The Times through @zhonggg, plus a consortium of other outlets, examined a policing app used in Xinjiang, where surveillance is ingrained. Here's what we found was under the hood of the app:https://t.co/4ZSt0inpTx

— Pui-Wing Tam (@puiwingtam) July 2, 2019

Surveillance malware is now routinely installed on mobile devices at certain internal borders in China. https://t.co/c7KsFPoqBq

— matt blaze (@mattblaze) July 2, 2019

The @nytimes, @Forbes & @VICE have all covered #China's installation of secret apps on tourist phones to scan for banned materials.

Included in the list of 73000 forbidden files are photos of the Dalai Lama, Arabic dictionary & my book, #TheSyrianJihad. https://t.co/4nu07kjiKj pic.twitter.com/Ozvwz6wbGw

— Charles Lister (@Charles_Lister) July 2, 2019

China secretly installs spyware on the phones of tourists, including westerners, who cross in and out of Xinjiang https://t.co/8MU5DVK6Ia

— Adrian Zenz (@adrianzenz) July 2, 2019

Chinese border officials are installing a spying app on visitors’ phones, offering a rare glimpse at exactly what Beijing doesn’t want you looking at, reading or listening to in the country’s troubled Far West. https://t.co/JQHe0IgabU

— Raymond Zhong (@zhonggg) July 2, 2019

“After Fengcai is installed on a phone, it gathers all stored text messages, call records, contacts and calendar entries, & checks the files on the phone against the list of more than 73,000 items.”https://t.co/wjuQk2twA5

— Frank Pasquale (@FrankPasquale) July 2, 2019

중국 국경에서 텍스트 도둑질 악성 코드 설치를 관광객에게 강요 https://t.co/cU6CBbGjE3

— editoy (@editoy) July 3, 2019

Chinese border guards are putting a surveillance app on tourists’ phones https://t.co/v1WkOgQZ0A #privacy #security

— Rob Viglione (@robviglione) July 3, 2019

Welcome to #China circa 1984 https://t.co/GcCXS4eaZl

— Pravit Rojanaphruk (@PravitR) July 3, 2019

China is installing malware on tourists’ (and locals’) phones at selected border crossings. It scans and downloads content, incl. texts, calendar entries, and phone logs. Collaborative investigation by @nytimes @guardian @motherboard @SZ et al. ➡️ https://t.co/kq4dwjrMtG #Fengcai

— CTHH MV (@CTHH_MV) July 3, 2019

If you think Android malware at the border is bad, wait for the 5G espionage global infrastructure Huawei is building that can spy & collect data at speeds 100x faster than what we use now to communicate. China will be everywhere https://t.co/Eepj5diMe8 https://t.co/Eepj5diMe8

— Beth Kindig (@Beth_Kindig) July 3, 2019

A reminder that major American corporations threaten to pull business from pro-life states, but are perfectly happy to operate in China, which is increasing its surveillance of citizens and tourists. https://t.co/C2rLc9NNyG cc: @tim_cook

— Erick Erickson (@EWErickson) July 3, 2019

https://t.co/f5h9O4dzRa
たぶんそう。キルギスとカザフとタジクじゃないかな？イスラム圏だし。（タジクの国境って開いてんのか？）

— yuya (@yuyaction) July 3, 2019

#China Is Forcing Tourists to Install Text-Stealing Malware at its Border https://t.co/WgTIOesdLV

— Melisa (@cmellaniac) July 2, 2019

China is forcing tourists to install text-stealing malware at its border.https://t.co/FwnN9JsVzg

— VICE (@VICE) July 2, 2019

"China Is Forcing Tourists to Install Text-Stealing Malware at its Border: The malware downloads a tourist’s text messages, calendar entries, and phone logs, as well as scans the device for over 70,000 different files.” https://t.co/PXy0MlZqMq

— Muslim Voices (@muslimvoices) July 3, 2019

China Is Forcing Tourists to Install Text-Stealing Malware at its Border - VICE https://t.co/o3X6mFfOly

— Nicolas Veron (@nicolas_veron) July 3, 2019

"Chinese border police are secretly installing surveillance apps on the phones of visitors and downloading personal information as part of the government’s intensive scrutiny of the remote Xinjiang region"

h/t @RainDogDancehttps://t.co/oZJCd19grx

— Matt Odell (@matt_odell) July 3, 2019

新疆に入境する外国人は、スマホに情報検閲アプリを入れられる、という英ガーディアン報道。

内容もさることながら、NYTや南ドイツ新聞との合同調査だとの点が意義深い。取材機会が限られる国ではライバル紙同士が手を組む。

※写真チョイスは英国メディアの面目躍如。https://t.co/W2ktZ2kH2d

— 林哲平 Teppei Hayashi (@hwhayashite) July 3, 2019

Reaching the point when even normal travellers should be considering using burner phones when going to China. https://t.co/JLlN16BV4u

— ????? ????????? ????????? (@jgriffiths) July 3, 2019

Becoming obvious you now need a travel phone and a personal phone. https://t.co/WuRRkqseNl

— Ben Judah (@b_judah) July 2, 2019

the app searches for information from fasting during Ramadan to literature by the Dalai Lama, and music by a Japanese metal band called Unholy Grave. https://t.co/qHDqdHeGYp

— Rachel Harris (@Rachel_A_Harris) July 2, 2019

Nice to see collaboration among news agencies - NYT, the Guardian, NDR, Süddeutsche Zeitung, Motherboard worked together to investigate a tracking app installed on visitors' phones at China's far west border https://t.co/PdnQpyVQv7https://t.co/2EdCWpeKaN

— Eva Dou (@evadou) July 3, 2019

Chinese border police are secretly installing surveillance apps on the phones of visitors and downloading personal information as part of the government’s intensive scrutiny of the remote Xinjiang region, the Guardian can reveal.https://t.co/co12uYJo6q

— UyghurAid (@AidUyghur) July 2, 2019

Chinese (Irkeshtam) border guards put secret surveillance app on tourists' phones.

Software extracts emails, texts and contacts and could be used to track movements. https://t.co/PFHgYwviGC

— Uyghur Bulletin (@UyghurBulletin) July 3, 2019

this technology now existshttps://t.co/Ymj1tCUxPu

— Marvic Leonen (@marvicleonen) July 3, 2019

Genuine question - would you allow a border guard anywhere to tell you to unlock your phone and then allow them to take it away to another room?https://t.co/4kNnnFuOFe

— Rick O'Shea (@rickoshea) July 3, 2019

#Xinjiang researchers, watch out! "The information [the app] collects would allow the authorities to locate someone if used together with details of the phone’s location." https://t.co/R3vSgHfFCp

— Jo Smith Finley (@j_smithfinley) July 3, 2019

China: At the cutting edge of repression today…

"Chinese border police are secretly installing surveillance apps on the phones of visitors and downloading personal information as part of the government’s intensive scrutiny of the remote Xinjiang region" https://t.co/uI4TrGp9Xl pic.twitter.com/hlVSLtztp7

— Andrew Stroehlein (@astroehlein) July 3, 2019

Chinese Border Guards Put Secret Surveillance App on Tourists’ Phones

“It appears with the default Android icon and the words 蜂采 (Fēng cǎi); the term has no direct English translation, but relates to bees collecting honey.” https://t.co/MTDTnAD7QU pic.twitter.com/UYWGvWuiKo

— David Paulk 波大卫 (@davidpaulk) July 3, 2019

China has been secretly installing spyware on some tourists’ Android phones https://t.co/Chfei0XGIN pic.twitter.com/mGXRSB4lmK

— The Verge (@verge) July 3, 2019

#China has been secretly installing spyware on some tourists’ Android phones https://t.co/xnqK8YClLi #travel #fyi

— adventuregirl (@adventuregirl) July 3, 2019

China has been secretly installing spyware on some tourists’ Android phones#CyberSecurity #hacking #Pentesting #password #vulnerability #cyberattacks #IoT #IoTSecurity #hackers #malware #Android #smartphone #dataprivacy #privacy https://t.co/M4ZNHllSKC via @Verge

— Reinard Mortlock (@MortlockReinard) July 3, 2019

Here is the sample from the Chinese border antivirus firms are now flagging as malware: https://t.co/UWCduJckuU

— Joseph Cox (@josephfcox) July 3, 2019

Thanks to @josephfcox & co for publishing a copy of the malware that Chinese authorities are putting onto tourists' phones as they cross into Xinjiang. https://t.co/evdasQeFY2

— Runa Sandvik (@runasand) July 3, 2019

Here's the malware China is making foreigners install when visiting the country. Via @motherboard (and h/t @ItsNux) https://t.co/M7Y27QmEbw pic.twitter.com/7Ohp5zSSPp

— uɐpʇou@ ✸ (@notdan) July 3, 2019

Very often Infosec reporting comes very scarce on technical details, this chinese spyware story is very different in that regard and comes with a) the apk made public and b) a detailed report from a security company https://t.co/vQ0ahHvM9K https://t.co/BVFSjBoITn

— hanno (@hanno) July 2, 2019

bxaq - An APK Chinese authorities load onto the Android phones of foreigners crossing into Xinjiang. https://t.co/T6ok0bkQNH Story: https://t.co/Tj8ZiDCBHi

— sadie (@YrB1rd) July 2, 2019

Copy of the #android #malware being force-installed on Tourist phones by Chinese border authorities looking for Terrorism materials. https://t.co/UFMatUlI1d

— Joffy (@Joflixen) July 3, 2019

NEW: We took a look at a policing app that is extending Xinjiang’s surveillance dragnet beyond residents to ensnare tourists, traders, truck drivers, and other visitors — by digging deep into their smartphones. https://t.co/JQHe0IgabU

— Raymond Zhong (@zhonggg) July 3, 2019

China Snares Tourists’ Phones in Surveillance Dragnet by Adding Secret App https://t.co/Tqvwazpfvq

— James Millward 米華健 (@JimMillward) July 2, 2019

China Snares Tourists’ Phones in Surveillance Dragnet by Adding Secret App - The New York Times https://t.co/w5EEMGZ5xq

— Carola Frediani (@carolafrediani) July 3, 2019