Researchers: Cyber Spies Break Into Government Computers

Researchers: Cyber Spies Break Into Government Computers

apnews.myway.com

TORONTO (AP) - A cyber spy network based mainly in China hacked into classified documents from government and private organizations in 103 countries, including the computers of the Dalai Lama and Tibetan exiles, Canadian researchers said Saturday.

The work of the Information Warfare Monitor initially focused on allegations of Chinese cyber espionage against the Tibetan community in exile, and eventually led to a much wider network of compromised machines, the Internet-based research group.

(visit the link for the full news article)


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[edit on 28-3-2009 by SpartanKingLeonidas]

It seems that the Chinese are up to all kinds of naughty actions lately. First their proclaiming that our dollar is weak and challenging us, and trying to initiate an international monetary system, and now this spying on people. I included a lot of links not directly linked to this particular story, but about the Chinese spying in general.

apnews.myway.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

It really sounds like they are going to try to force their will upon everybody is what it sounds like.

Blackmail at the highest order. They are starting to be a global power player. That isn't good. They don't exactly have the best humans rights record.

reply to post by Hastobemoretolife


It's just business as usual when it comes to the United States being challenged as the big dog. When you are talking about money, especially one country over another's, people get majorly greedy and will fight to the death over a few pennies.

Why do we have real government info online anyway? It's so retarded. I could understand if they were fake documents, and if they are then good for our government. If they're real, well, they're obviously stupid.

But the report on the Guardian mentions

The network, dubbed GhostNet, appears to target embassies, media groups, NGOs, international organisations, government foreign ministries and the offices of the Dalai Lama, leader of the Tibetan exile movement. The researchers, based at Toronto University's Munk Centre for International Studies, said their discovery had profound implications.

"This report serves as a wake-up call... these are major disruptive capabilities that the professional information security community, as well as policymakers, need to come to terms with rapidly," said researchers Ron Deibert and Rafal Rohozinski.

The Guardian

It's been around for months, effects over 1,000 computers with the best defences - hopefully the governments and embassies use it - What other applications have the same ability.

We all know you can load a spy cam onto a cell phone and they can remotely turn on pc microphones and webcams etc, so Who else uses this technology and against whom?

Unplug would appear to be a good policy to adopt when ever your not using the Net or Electronics.

Tracking Ghostnet Report
www.networkworld.com...

Ghostnet - wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org...

Snooping Dragon Report
www.cl.cam.ac.uk...

Revealed: The Internet's Biggest Security Hole
blog.wired.com...

The Six Worst Internet Routing Attacks
www.csoonline.com...

en.wikipedia.org...
"Botnets have become a significant part of the Internet, albeit increasingly hidden.... Large coordinated international efforts to shut down botnets have also been initiated. It has been estimated that up to one quarter of all personal computers connected to the internet may be part of a botnet."

This is from October 2008.
www.foxnews.com...
"The World Bank Group's computer network — one of the largest repositories of sensitive data about the economies of every nation — has been raided repeatedly by outsiders for more than a year, FOX News has learned. It is still not known how much information was stolen. But sources inside the bank confirm that servers in the institution's highly-restricted treasury unit were deeply penetrated with spy software last April. Invaders also had full access to the rest of the bank's network for nearly a month in June and July. In total, at least six major intrusions — two of them using the same group of IP addresses originating from China — have been detected at the World Bank since the summer of 2007, with the most recent breach occurring just last month.

As a clearinghouse for financial data from both governments and companies, the bank's computers could provide intruders with both a financial and intelligence gold mine — from inside information on bids and contracts to the minutes of confidential board meetings. In a frantic midnight e-mail to colleagues, the bank's senior technology manager referred to the situation as an "unprecedented crisis." In fact, it may be the worst security breach ever at a global financial institution. And it has left bank officials scrambling to try to understand the nature of the year-long cyber-assault, while also trying to keep the news from leaking to the public."

In November 2008, there was a Cyber-Hacking incident at the IMF that was scuppered and later a scandel at Satyam Computer Services Ltd that supplies/maintains IMF/WHO/World Bank software. www.foxnews.com...
"What the IMF intrusion also shows is that the physical wiring of the world's financial systems is increasingly vulnerable — and getting worse."

www.thaindian.com...
British Telecom’s new communications network has been installed by Chinese telecom giant ‘Huawei’, which is allegedly funded by Beijing and has links to the People’s Liberation Army.