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Russia says DDoS Attack Disrupts Telegram, WhatsApp

Silhouettes of mobile users are seen next to logos of social media apps Signal, WhatsApp and Telegram projected on a screen in this picture illustration taken March 28, 2018. (Reuters)
Silhouettes of mobile users are seen next to logos of social media apps Signal, WhatsApp and Telegram projected on a screen in this picture illustration taken March 28, 2018. (Reuters)
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Russia says DDoS Attack Disrupts Telegram, WhatsApp

Silhouettes of mobile users are seen next to logos of social media apps Signal, WhatsApp and Telegram projected on a screen in this picture illustration taken March 28, 2018. (Reuters)
Silhouettes of mobile users are seen next to logos of social media apps Signal, WhatsApp and Telegram projected on a screen in this picture illustration taken March 28, 2018. (Reuters)

Russian users of Telegram and WhatsApp had trouble accessing the messaging apps on Wednesday due to disruption the state communications monitoring service said was caused by a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack.

The service said the attack had been repelled and that the messaging networks were working normally again. Russian media said other sites, including Wikipedia, Skype and the social media platform Discord had also been affected, Reuters reported.

"The disruption is related to a DDoS attack on Russian telecom operators," the service said in a statement, without saying who might have been responsible.

Wednesday's disruption to the messaging apps, which are widely popular in Russia, came weeks after Russian internet monitoring services reported a mass outage on the availability of video hosting site YouTube as Russian authorities step up criticism of the platform.

Hundreds of Russian users of Signal reported glitches with the secure messenger app earlier this month.

Russia began to block access to Telegram in 2018. The action interrupted many third-party services, but had little effect on the availability of Telegram there.

WhatsApp's parent company Meta Platforms Inc was branded an "extremist" organisation by Moscow in 2022 and other Meta services - Facebook and Instagram - are now banned in Russia, but can still be accessed using virtual private networks (VPNs).

 

 

 

 

 

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Taiwan’s TSMC Building $10 Billion Semiconductor Plant in Germany

Minister-President of the Saxony state Michael Kretschmer, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, C.C. Wei, Chairman and CEO of TSMC and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz attend a groundbreaking ceremony for Taiwanese chip maker TSMC's first European plant in the eastern city of Dresden, Germany, August 20, 2024. (Reuters)
Minister-President of the Saxony state Michael Kretschmer, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, C.C. Wei, Chairman and CEO of TSMC and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz attend a groundbreaking ceremony for Taiwanese chip maker TSMC's first European plant in the eastern city of Dresden, Germany, August 20, 2024. (Reuters)
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Taiwan’s TSMC Building $10 Billion Semiconductor Plant in Germany

Minister-President of the Saxony state Michael Kretschmer, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, C.C. Wei, Chairman and CEO of TSMC and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz attend a groundbreaking ceremony for Taiwanese chip maker TSMC's first European plant in the eastern city of Dresden, Germany, August 20, 2024. (Reuters)
Minister-President of the Saxony state Michael Kretschmer, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, C.C. Wei, Chairman and CEO of TSMC and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz attend a groundbreaking ceremony for Taiwanese chip maker TSMC's first European plant in the eastern city of Dresden, Germany, August 20, 2024. (Reuters)

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) broke ground in eastern Germany on its first European plant as the continent seeks to safeguard its chip supplies amid growing US-China tensions.

“We are dependent on semiconductors for our sustainable future technologies, but we must not be dependent on other regions of the world for the supply of semiconductors,” said German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who attended a ceremony on Tuesday to mark the start of construction of the 10 billion euros ($11 billion) manufacturing plant in the city of Dresden. About half of the funding will be covered by state subsidies.

Germany is leading the European Union push to produce one-fifth of the world's semiconductors by 2030, with the bloc seeking to build up capacity following Covid-era disruptions and as US-China ties deteriorate.

The US, Japan and others are also showering subsidies on the chip industry to localize production of the components that control everything from cutting-edge artificial intelligence to daily gadgets.

TSMC is the world's biggest contract chipmaker, with Apple Inc and Nvidia Corp relying on it for their most important products. It will anchor the Dresden project with a 70% stake in the plant, which will produce chips for the automotive and industrial sectors.

TSMC CEO C.C. Wei attended the event together with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and the heads of Infineon Technologies AG, NXP Semiconductors NV and Robert Bosch GmbH, which each hold a 10% stake in the venture.

Scholz has emerged as Europe's biggest backer of the semiconductor industry as he seeks to promote Germany's tech sector and secure supplies of critical components for the country's manufacturing businesses.

His government plans to spend 20 billion euros to bolster domestic chip production. That includes the TSMC plant and 10 billion euros in aid for a planned Intel Corp plant in Magdeburg.

The EU approved Germany's 5 billion euros subsidy for the Dresden microchip manufacturing plant, von der Leyen said at the event.

The new site will help Europe reduce its reliance on Asia for importing vital technology and comes after German carmakers expressed interest in boosting domestic chip production. Production is slated to begin by the end of 2027.