The Online Cold War: foreign hackers and trolls undeterred by virus crisis

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The Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic has not brought a stop to the activities of hackers and trolls bankrolled by various foreign governments, including Russia and China. In some cases hacking attacks have targeted institutions who are in the front line in the battle against the virus. Trolls meanwhile have been extolling the virtues of how authoritarian regimes have handled the health emergency. François Bougon and Matthieu Suc report.

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He is a member of the French intelligence services and a veteran of several wars and terrorist attacks. And given that the coronavirus crisis is now impinging on his domain, he is not letting his guard drop. “We should all be pulling in the same direction to hold back this epidemic,” he said. “But instead some are putting sticks in the wheels of everyone else to further their own petty interests. Put like that, it's tantamount to treason!”

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