A Hong Kong information security watchdog issued an “extremely high risk” warning on Thursday morning over two critical flaws in a widely used web programming language that could allow hackers to execute code remotely and take control of servers. The warning followed similar alerts from governments and cybersecurity agencies overseas, which urged website operators to install updates to fix the vulnerabilities in the PHP programming language. The Hong Kong Computer Emergency Response Team...

Australia and East Timor signed a defence deal on Thursday to boost cyber and maritime security as Canberra seeks to curb China’s influence among its island neighbours. Australia is East Timor’s largest defence and security partner and the agreement will significantly increase defence exercises, Defence Minister Richard Marles told reporters. “This is a time to double down on friendship, to double down on family,” he said in East Timor’s capital Dili. Australia will provide A$62 million (US$44...

A senior Hong Kong health official has warned of a higher risk of influenza infection as vaccination rates fall and the city’s summer flu season stretches on, following the death of a second unvaccinated child from influenza. Centre for Health Protection controller Edwin Tsui Lok-kin issued the warning as Hong Kong’s current flu season, which began in June, shows no sign of easing. He said authorities were monitoring possible changes in how the virus spreads after two consecutive summer flu...

China has taken a major step in spearheading the standardisation of brain-computer interface (BCI) technologies, as it now chairs the secretariat of a subcommittee jointly overseen by two key international organisations and lists the technology applications as a national development priority. The China-led subcommittee, known as ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 43, was set to formulate global standards regarding the communication and interaction between brains and computers that are applicable across...

Runners in Malaysia are swapping their usual routes through parks and city streets for laps around shopping malls, commandeering air-conditioned corridors to keep up their training as a stubborn blanket of haze makes exercising outdoors increasingly hazardous. The switch comes as smoke from forest and peatland fires continues to foul the air across parts of Southeast Asia, with Malaysia’s capital Kuala Lumpur and its surrounding districts among the hardest-hit areas. By 9am on Thursday, 15 of...

A growing interest among Hong Kong women in an anti-ageing injection containing human tissue has prompted a recent crackdown by health authorities, as the product, widely known in Chinese as the “cadaver skin jab”, has not been registered for use in the city. The South China Morning Post examines why the injection has become a new beauty trend, what it claims to do and the risks involved. 1. What is a ‘cadaver skin jab’? The “cadaver skin jab” refers to Elravie Re2O, a cadaver-derived skin...

Malaysia’s highway authority is working to resolve technical disruptions affecting its TuJu navigation application following a sharp increase in users. In a statement on Thursday, the Lembaga Lebuhraya Malaysia (LLM) said the matter was being resolved together with the application provider Prosignal Consortium. LLM said the surge in users came after Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim suggested that the public consider using a locally developed navigation application instead of Waze. “We apologise for...