Rybar Telegram channel and two China tech firms hit UK’s naughty list
Chinese tech firms i-Soon and Integrity Tech, as well as Russian Telegram channel Rybar, are the latest companies to be sanctioned by the UK for disinformation and cyber threats.
Speaking in London on Tuesday Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper added that Rybar’s coowner Mikhail Sergeevich Zvinchuk has also been added to the list.
The UK Foreign Office said that Rybar “masquerades as an independent body” using “classic Kremlin manipulation tactics,” including fake “investigations” and AI- driven content to respond rapidly to global events and shape narratives in the Kremlin’s favour.
It added that the UK was also imposing sanctions on two other improbably named organizations: The Centre for Geopolitical Expertise and the Foundation for the Support and Protection of the Rights of Compatriots Living Abroad.
In her speech, Cooper outlined that the center was a think tank run by Russian ultranationalist ideologue Alexander Dugin, while the foundation – also known as Pravfond – has been described by Estonian intelligence as a front for Russia's GRU spy agency.
Who are the Chinese tech firms sanctioned by the UK?
The Chinese companies, Sichuan Anxun Information Technology Co. Ltd ( i-Soon) and Integrity Technology Group Incorporated (Integrity Tech), are just two third-party contractors that the UK says have played a significant role in facilitating and executing many of China’s offensive cyber operations.
Like the company that owns Rybar, the Chinese firms claim to be independent from the state, despite evidence to the contrary.
While both are private sector actors, the UK’s security watchdog, NCSC said that it was “almost certain” that their ecosystem supports Chinese state-linked cyber operations.
In a press release issued by the Foreign Commonwealth and development office, the UK government said:
“I-Soon and Integrity Tech are examples of the threat posed by the cyber industry in China, which includes information security companies, data brokers (that collect and sell personal data), and ‘hackers for hire’. Some of these companies provide cyber services to the Chinese intelligence services.”
Following a data leak at i-Soon last February, security researchers at Sentinel Labs analyzed how the organization appears to be responsible for the compromise of at least 14 governments, pro-democracy organizations in Hong Kong, universities, and NATO.
Listed in the leaked documentation were pictures of custom hardware snooping devices, including a tool designed to resemble a power bank that actually transmitted data from the victim’s network back to the hackers.
The UK government says that Integrity Tech is known for “controlling and managing a covert cyber network and providing technical assistance for others to carry out cyberattacks.” Targets have included UK public sector IT systems.
In August, the UK and its international partners announced three other China-based companies linked to the cyber-espionage campaign known as Salt Typhoon.
Those companies were: Sichuan Juxinhe Network Technology Co Ltd, Beijing Huanyu Tianqiong Information Technology Co, and Sichuan Zhixin Ruijie Network Technology Co Ltd.
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