🚨 Black Friday alert: Chinese scammers are imitating big brands like L.L. Bean and Ikea with “deals” up to 80% off. They use tracking pixels in Meta and TikTok to detect your location and translate the site so it looks legit. Don’t fall for too-good-to-be-true offers, and shop on official sites only!
Chinese researchers broke encryption
Look at these two headlines:
- “China’s Quantum Computer Scientists Crack Military-Grade Encryption” (Newsweek, Oct. 18, 2024)
- “Debunking Hype: China Hasn’t Broken Military Encryption With Quantum” (Forbes, Oct. 16, 2024)
So, who’s right?
To figure that out, let’s talk about quantum computers. Now, before your eyes glaze over and you think, “Come on, Kim, I can barely find the duplicate photos on my phone” (here’s my walkthrough!), you’re going to start hearing a lot more about these futuristic, ultra-powerful machines, and I want you to be in the know.
You see, quantum computers were just used to decipher part of the encryption we all rely on for protecting our banking info, private messages and more. I know it sounds scary — and it kinda is — but I don’t want you to panic because of the misinformation some bloggers and sites are spreading online.
What the heck is a quantum computer, anyway?
Think of your everyday laptop or desktop as a runner who takes one step at a time, even if it’s really, really fast. It’s all about processing those ones and zeros in a sequence — one calculation, then another. Today’s computers can juggle lots of tasks at once, but they’re still doing one thing after another, just at lightning speed.
Quantum computers, on the other hand, are like having a whole marathon of runners all sprinting in different directions at the same time. Instead of ones and zeros, they use quantum bits, aka qubits, which can be a one, a zero or both simultaneously (thanks, weird quantum physics). This allows them to process massive amounts of data at once.
How about another analogy? In a chess game, a regular computer thinks about each move one at a time. A quantum computer can consider all possible moves and multiple games at once. It’s like someone playing 10 chess matches simultaneously and still winning every single one.
Why aren’t we all using these yet?
Quantum computers are huge, complex machines that operate in labs at super-cold temperatures. Even in these ideal settings, keeping those qubits stable is tricky. So, for now, only researchers have access to this kind of tech — not everyday cybercriminals.
‘Should I be worried?’
500,000 fans
On Xiaohongshu (China’s Instagram) for Maye Musk. Elon’s gorgeous mom has been a model for many years and is a superstar in China. At 75, she’s a top silver-haired influencer. Maye we all be this fabulous.
100 miles
How far a Chinese ship dragged its anchor, cutting two Baltic Sea internet cables. Investigators suspect they cut the critical data cables on purpose, in part because it’d be nearly impossible not to notice dragging an anchor that far. The carrier left a Russian port a couple of weeks ago, packed with fertilizer. Both countries say, “Nope, not us.”
1,000-plus
Fake news sites tied to China that were just blocked by Google. The Glassbridge network was trying to pass off communist propaganda as “journalism.” One firm ran over 600 sites. The real question: Why did it take Google this long to spot and remove them?
Have you seen these missing robots? In China, 12 robots were “kidnapped” from a robotics showroom by … another robot. CCTV video shows the robot thief breaking in and convincing the other machines to quit their jobs. The viral moment was just a test but still gives me the willies.
🚨 Be smart; don’t put anything in your cart: A Chinese fraud network is using thousands of fake online stores to steal credit cards. They’re impersonating brands like The North Face, Ikea and Wayfair with (fake) massive discounts. Red flags? Many sites have “blackfriday” in the domain name and end with .shop, .store, .vip or .top.
💸 Amazon’s new budget battleground: Say hello to Amazon Haul, their latest venture geared toward selling ultra-cheap items (think under $20). Why? Because Shein and Temu are mopping the floor with Amazon. With Haul, expect to find items like $2 earrings, $10 blenders and, yes, even a $20 wedding dress. (Pro tip: Don’t walk down the aisle in that!) Don’t expect Prime’s speedy shipping, either; your order will take one or two weeks since it’s coming from China. Heads-up: You can only shop Amazon Haul through the Amazon app for now.
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Not exactly brag-worthy: The federal Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency is tooting its own horn for no successful hacks during the U.S. election. That doesn’t mean there wasn’t interference. Russia ramped up its disinformation campaigns on social media, and several bogus bomb threats made at polling stations were traced back to them. And don’t forget China hacked phones belonging to President-elect Trump and JD Vance.
Look how some livestreamers in China who sell clothes do their work.
🤖 Tough decisions: Should AI weapons be fully autonomous and allowed to make deadly decisions? The big fear is that enemy states like China may go all in on AI weapons first, while the U.S. still needs someone to press a button each time to fire. FYI: While the U.S. military doesn’t buy fully autonomous weapons yet, companies here aren’t banned from making or selling them.
🇨🇳 Communist China-based hackers are the suspects: Yup, they’re the ones suspected of breaking into three major telecom companies and causing major outages — AT&T, Verizon and Lumen Technologies. Details are scarce, but the hackers probably gained access to the systems used for court-approved wiretapping and eavesdropping. Truly frightening.
👀 Spy on me: TikTok is legally required to share user data with the Communist Chinese government, but a recent survey shows 68% of Americans don’t support banning the app. Arguments include: 1.) “The U.S. government has more access to info than China,” and 2.) “I’ve got nothing to hide.” My take: It’s not only about the data; it’s about China being able to use 170,000,000 devices in America for a coordinated cyberattack on our communications network, power grid or worse.
3,600-year-old cheese
Found buried with Bronze Age mummies in northwestern China. It took researchers a decade of DNA analysis to determine the substance was, in fact, the world’s oldest cheese. Un-brie-lievable.
🇨🇳 Patreon copycat: Communist China app TikTok’s new Subscription feature lets you offer paying subscribers exclusive content, like videos, notes and unique badges. To qualify, you must be 18 or older and have at least 10,000 followers and 100,000 views in the past calendar month. I wouldn’t put my efforts into this until we know what’s going on with the ban.
⏰ The clock is TikTok-ing: A three-judge panel just heard TikTok’s argument against splitting from ByteDance, a company with direct ties to Communist China. They say 170 million Americans use TikTok (think of that loss of productivity!) and questioned why other Chinese-owned apps like Temu and Shein aren’t being targeted the same way. I hope Mr. Wonderful’s idea of letting everyday Americans buy TikTok comes to fruition.
🚫 Another China ban: The House of Representatives just voted to ban new DJI drones in the U.S. The Chinese spy balloon incident, along with China’s threats to invade Taiwan and drag America into a Pacific war, have led to real concerns about China collecting intricately detailed maps of the U.S. and its infrastructure through the millions of DJI drones flown by innocent Americans. You can still buy one, but if the bill passes, flying new models will be off-limits.
🚨 All that and dim sum: Researchers dug into Communist China-owned TikTok’s algorithms and found they suppress content critical of the Chinese Communist Party. Search for “Xinjiang,” a region linked with genocide and crimes against humanity, and you’ll find only 2.3% of results are anti-China. Compare that to 21.7% on YouTube. And the cherry on top? They’re not above manipulating teens with pro-China propaganda.
48% of TikTok users
Under age 30 use it to keep up with politics and news. Frightening. This is why it’s so important to understand the role Communist China has in this app and its data. The older Americans get, the less they rely on TikTok for news; 36% of 30- to 49-year-olds get their news from TikTok, as do 22% of those ages 50 to 64 and 24% of folks 65 and older.
Naan compare to you: Rumor has it Apple will manufacture its most expensive iPhone Pro models in India this year. Finally, they’re trying to diversify production beyond China. They say it’s about supply shortages, but politics and national security definitely play into this.