Sophisticated Chinese hackers who used a previously unknown iPhone security flaw to target ethnic minority Uighurs also went after Tibetans in exile, according to a report published on Tuesday.
It was the first detected use of malicious software against exiled Tibetans that required only a single click on a mobile device to work, said Citizen Lab, a Canada-based academic research group.
Citing the technical similarities in the attacks and ones uncovered by U.S. tech firms against Uighurs, the report suggested that forces likely working with the Chinese government may be upgrading their surveillance efforts against key minorities more broadly. The Tibetans are protesting Chinese rule of the mountainous region inside China.