China's Internet Hijacking Uncovered

China's Internet Hijacking Uncovered

gizmodo.com

Cybercrime experts have found proof that China hijacked the Internet for 18 minutes last April. China absorbed 15% of the traffic from US military and civilian networks, as well as from other Western countries—a massive chunk. Nobody knows why.

(visit the link for the full news article)


Related News Links:
www.nationaldefensemagazine.org

Said Alperovitch: “This is one of the biggest — if not the biggest hijacks — we have ever seen.” And it could happen again, anywhere and anytime. It’s just the way the Internet works, he explained. “What happened to the traffic while it was in China? No one knows.”

The incident involved 15 percent of Internet traffic, he stressed. The amount of data included in all these packets is difficult to calculate. The data could have been stored so it could be examined later, he added. “Imagine the capability and capacity that is built into their networks. I’m not sure there was anyone else in the world who could have taken on that much traffic without breaking a sweat,” Alperovitch said.

Just like the comment from Dmitri Alperovitch from McAfee threat research, I myself is quite impressed. If it's true that is. What I want to know is, what will happen next to internet? Will the government use this to tighten control over the internet? New regulation, new policy or what? Very interesting on that part, let alone the global security implication if this incident is indeed as big as it has been portrayed.

gizmodo.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

reply to post by Jazzyguy

China absorbed 15% of the traffic from US military and civilian networks

How? I don't understand the technical aspect of how this was achieved...what do they mean "absorbed" or "hijacked"? How can China "hijack" my connection unless I visit a Chinese website or something? Or they "hacked" 15% of the world? This doesn't really make much sense to me...more clarification is needed.

reply to post by WhizPhiz

Explanation is in the article also in the national defense magazine link.

The telephone giants of the world work on a system based on trust, he explained. Machine-to-machine interfaces send out messages to the Internet informing other service providers that they are the fastest and most efficient way for data packets to travel. For 18 minutes April 8, China Telecom Corp. told many ISPs of the world that its routes were the best paths to send traffic.

For example, a person sending information from Arlington, Va., to the White House in Washington, D.C. — only a few miles away — could have had his data routed through China. Since traffic moves around the world in milliseconds, the computer user would not have noticed the delay.

This happens accidentally a few times per year, Alperovitch said. What set this incident apart from other such mishaps was the fact that China Telecom could manage to absorb this large amount of data and send it back out again without anyone noticing a disruption in service. In previous incidents, the data would have reached a dead end, and users would not have been able to connect.

The sentence in bold, that's why it's impressive.

April 7th wasn't that the date with the troubles with the great fire wall?

Sounds like a bunch of crap to get us scared about "chinese cyber terrorists". I dont see how it is possible for them to direct 15% of the worlds internet traffic there without physically pulling plugs around the world.

Originally posted by Jazzyguy
reply to post by WhizPhiz

 

Explanation is in the article also in the national defense magazine link.

The telephone giants of the world work on a system based on trust, he explained. Machine-to-machine interfaces send out messages to the Internet informing other service providers that they are the fastest and most efficient way for data packets to travel. For 18 minutes April 8, China Telecom Corp. told many ISPs of the world that its routes were the best paths to send traffic.

For example, a person sending information from Arlington, Va., to the White House in Washington, D.C. — only a few miles away — could have had his data routed through China. Since traffic moves around the world in milliseconds, the computer user would not have noticed the delay.

This happens accidentally a few times per year, Alperovitch said. What set this incident apart from other such mishaps was the fact that China Telecom could manage to absorb this large amount of data and send it back out again without anyone noticing a disruption in service. In previous incidents, the data would have reached a dead end, and users would not have been able to connect.

The sentence in bold, that's why it's impressive.

That doesnt explain anything. We dont route traffic through China, and for them to get it all directed there would require physical access to a lot of routers and wires, a lot of hacking, and such a clandestine use of the worlds data that they would possibly be risking war with other countries to do it....doesnt make sense. Whats the big payoff?

EDIT: The article says that the chinese routers were declared teh fastest possible, so all telecoms went through them, as they are programmed to go through the fastest servers possible. What a load of crap! Are you expecting me to believe that the government and the military sends secret, sensitive documents unencrypted over the regular ole internet? Give me a break.

A thought occurred to me while reading this. How many people do online banking? If China also hijacked civilian data then in theory they could drain every single one of their accounts.

Just saying.

Originally posted by DaMod
A thought occurred to me while reading this. How many people do online banking? If China also hijacked civilian data then in theory they could drain every single one of their accounts.

Just saying.

To what end? They already pretty much own everything in the US as it is. Why go through this criminhal action when they could just call in their trillions in loans?

Also, China more than likely has THOUSANDS of active spies in the United States, plus the fact that most americans are so greedy they will willingly accept bribes, and China doesnt HAVE to do this to get ANYTHING.

China, Korea and many others have been taking Man in the Middle (MITM) attacks to a whole new level for a long time. Passwords, Usernames, Bank Details, covert op teams out in the field using civilian technology to communicate their intel, research comms between universities, military installations all using the same domains like level3 and bell etc - which civi's use also.

All you got to do is make filters and apply them in programs like Wireshark and you can search for specific strings.

There's been a war going on in cyberworld for a very long time.

Originally posted by aching_knuckles

Originally posted by DaMod
A thought occurred to me while reading this. How many people do online banking? If China also hijacked civilian data then in theory they could drain every single one of their accounts.

Just saying.

To what end? They already pretty much own everything in the US as it is. Why go through this criminhal action when they could just call in their trillions in loans?

Also, China more than likely has THOUSANDS of active spies in the United States, plus the fact that most americans are so greedy they will willingly accept bribes, and China doesnt HAVE to do this to get ANYTHING.

edit on 17-11-2010 by aching_knuckles because: (no reason given)

Ok, thanks for OP for explaing that, admittedly I did not read the article before posting. ...I could see that happening, but it really is amazing they managed to take on all that traffic and have no one notice...and it really is scary to think what kind of information they gained, and how easily they gained it...something needs to be set in place so this can't happen again (not a kill switch!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!).

reply to post by DaMod

Just saying.

I'm going to scream if I read that phrase one more time on ATS...

Originally posted by aching_knuckles

Originally posted by DaMod
A thought occurred to me while reading this. How many people do online banking? If China also hijacked civilian data then in theory they could drain every single one of their accounts.

Just saying.

To what end? They already pretty much own everything in the US as it is. Why go through this criminhal action when they could just call in their trillions in loans?

Also, China more than likely has THOUSANDS of active spies in the United States, plus the fact that most americans are so greedy they will willingly accept bribes, and China doesnt HAVE to do this to get ANYTHING.

edit on 17-11-2010 by aching_knuckles because: (no reason given)

Possibly you two are looking at this in too narrow of a super-power showmanship perspective. OK. So they did their little 18-minute venture. Why? For show if nothing more (and of course it was for data).. So they did the supposed (despite official explanations) missile launch just off the coast of California. Anything else they may have done to get our attention in a boastful, show-of-force manner? Maybe (That area is out of my interest.)

What I am keen on is the black triangles. They are seen mostly around the US and in GB. There is no doubt these craft exist. (And as I usually do, you either have to acknowledge that they exist fairly much as they present themselves, or you must call them alien craft. Take your best choice.) Anyway, we have been demonstrating that particular air superiority (which also includes at least the orbital space neighborhood) for a couple of decades now.

The Chinese are not fools, and they are clever. They may not have our capabilities in the development of field-powered miraculous craft, but they have their own styles of capabilites and resources. In my estimation, they could be showing us that there is more to national superiority and strength than having a flock of black triangles. And if that is their estimation also, they would be correct. They are effectively making the matter a draw.

Why did our Federal Government/military abandon it's internal private LAN networks and connect everything they have to the world wide web?


There is absolutely no reason for any Federal/military computer to be connected to the world wide web.

Each military base could use a simple satellite to connect its internal lan to another bases lan. Unhackable.

So why did they move everything to the public domain? False Flag Event. Wipe away digital debt. Make the Public Domain the non-public domain.

reply to post by Pervius


Im pretty sure there is a military intranet that is exclusive to government/military purposes...that is unable to be accessed by regular users of the internet so I dont think they got anything REALLY important.

The Chinese could just have been testing some new server... this was nothing.

These news seem filled with "agenda" and crucial facts are simply ignored.
Ok, so China managed to route 15% of internet load without anyone noticing effects on speed or routing.
So how much is the US doing right NOW?

I understood that there is a sort of "commission" for investigating such matters within US congress(?) ... would they 'sound the alarm' if the same was done by Google?


Peace

I don't think that China can do this kind of thing, and i also don't believe that they have more advanced technology than the U.S....

Originally posted by WhizPhiz
reply to post by Jazzyguy

 

China absorbed 15% of the traffic from US military and civilian networks

How? I don't understand the technical aspect of how this was achieved...what do they mean "absorbed" or "hijacked"? How can China "hijack" my connection unless I visit a Chinese website or something? Or they "hacked" 15% of the world? This doesn't really make much sense to me...more clarification is needed.

For 18 minutes the re-routed a massive amount of internet traffick through China..."China Telecom" to be specific.

Let's say you mail a letter to the next state over...that mail will be routed through a given post office and then delivered to it's destination.

China told 15% of everything that occured on the internet that it should be routed through "China Telecom"...they could have read, altered or done anything they liked with that traffic. It included US defense department, gov emails and traffic, personal emails etc....it all went to China for 18 minutes before being sent along.

You could have sent an email to your boss...and instead of being routed through a local US server and ISP...it was sent to China and then forwarded on back to the states.

I heard a security expert say this was very, very frightening...and it would take decades to defend against since it exploits a fundemental structure of the internet as we know it. We would essentially have to rebuild the entire interent to defend against it.

Originally posted by HollowJacket
reply to post by Pervius

 

Im pretty sure there is a military intranet that is exclusive to government/military purposes...that is unable to be accessed by regular users of the internet so I dont think they got anything REALLY important.

see here

So networks included office of the secretary of defense, all the armed services, a number of intelligence networks, a number of civilian government networks as well. Up to 172 countries were actually impacted by this hijack.

www.npr.org...