Category Archives: China Military PLA

05/24/12

China Cyber-Warfare Capabilities

Cyber Espionage and Cyberwarfare Capabilities.

In 2011, computer networks and systems around the world continued to be targets of intrusions and data theft, many of which originated within China. Although some of the targeted systems were U.S. government-owned, others were commercial networks owned by private companies whose stolen data represents valuable intellectual property. In the hands of overseas competitors, this information could diminish commercial and technological advantages earned through years of hard work and investment. Intrusions in 2011 occurred in key sectors, including companies that directly support U.S. defense programs.

Authoritative writings and China’s persistent cyber intrusions indicates the likelihood that Beijing is using cyber network operations (CNOs) as a tool to collect strategic intelligence. In parallel with its military preparations, China has increased diplomatic engagement and advocacy in multilateral and international forums where cyber issues are discussed and debated. Beijing’s agenda is frequently in line with Russia’s e&orts to promote cyber norms under a UN framework. In September 2011, China and Russia were the primary sponsors of an Information Security Code of Conduct that would have governments exercise sovereign authority over the %ow of information in cyberspace. China has not yet accepted that existing mechanisms (such as the Law of Armed Con%ict), apply in cyberspace. However, China’s thinking in this area may evolve as its own exposure increases through greater investment in global networks.

Technology Transfer, Strategic Trade Policy, and Military Modernization. 

The PRC continues to modernize its military by incorporating Western (mostly U.S.) dual-use technologies, which have also assisted its overall indigenous industrial, military industrial, and high-technology sector development. One of the PRC’s stated national security objectives is to leverage legally and illegally acquired dual-use and military-related technologies to its advantage. China has a long history of cooperation between its civilian and military sectors and openly espouses the need to exploit civilian technologies for use in its military modernization. In this context, the cumulative e&ect of U.S. dual-use technology transfers to China could also make a substantial material contribution to its military capabilities. For example, interactions with Western aviation manufacturing !rms may also inadvertently provide bene!t to China’s defense aviation industry. “rough its advisory role within the U.S. export control process, DoD will continue to identify and mitigate risk, and seek to prevent critical advanced technologies exports to China that could be diverted to unauthorized end-use or to third-country end-users of concern, or contribute to overall modernization of China’s military and defense industrial base.

Espionage.:

Chinese actors are the world’s most active and persistent perpetrators of economic espionage. Chinese attempts to collect U.S. technological and economic information will continue at a high level and will represent a growing and persistent threat to U.S. economic security. “e nature of the cyber threat will evolve with continuing technological advances in the global information environment.

Sensitive U.S. economic information and technology are targeted by intelligence services, private sector companies, academic/research institutions, and citizens of dozens of countries. China is likely to remain an aggressive and capable collector of sensitive U.S. economic information and technologies, particularly in cyberspace.

Civil-Military Integration. :

China’s defense industry has bene!ted from China’s rapidly expanding civilian economy, particularly its science and technology sector. Access to foreign advanced dual-use technology assists China’s civilian economic integration into the global production and research and development (R&D) chain. For example, with increasing globalization and integration of information technologies, companies such as Huawei, Datang, and Zhongxing, with their ties to the PRC government and PLA entities, pose potential challenges in the blurring lines between commercial and government/military-associated entities.

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03/27/12

Huawei Spying on Customer

Huawei - Mitt Romney's Bain Capital sold out 3Com to the Chinese

gAtO wRoTe - about the Chinese company Huawei (Shenzhen, China-based company) a long time ago with it’s ties to Rick Perry the governor of Texas and ex-Presidential bid and Mitt Romney’s company Bain Capital that sold out 3Com and sold our national secrets to them. Now it finally falls on Australia to take the first step WHEN electoral fortunes are fading a good “reds under the beds” story can boost political stocks, but the row about Chinese telecommunications equipment supplier Huawei being barred from supplying equipment to the National Broadband Network puts a new twist on an old tactic. Generally it’s the Right that beats the red peril drum. Here in Australia it’s a Labor government claiming the NBN is too vital a piece of national infrastructure to be put at risk by buying equipment from China.

Huawei, which is second only to Sweden’s Ericsson in telecom equipment sales, was blocked on Monday from bidding on a $36 billion Australian national broadband contract. Security firm Symantec (SYMC, Fortune 500) ended in November because of Symantec’s concerns that its relationship with Huawei would prevent it from getting a sensitive U.S. government security contract.

Will this be the tipping point were we America stands up and see’s pass the profits and starts with looking at our nations cyber security survival. We hear that DHS and NSA and everyone is pushing for dollars $$ to fix our infrastructure but when will we start to stop the Chinese from stealing our intellectual capital that has made America great. Politicians need to take a look at what is the real problem like Rick Perry allowing dozens of Chinese companies to set up shop in Texas and claiming that they have such a great employment record at the cost of our national security.

gAtO is sad that we see the veterans of our great country without a job when we could be investing in Cyber Security training our young veterans in this field. Veterans have vital experience but as gAtO has found out personally the VA has a problem with allowing our veterans to get an education in this vital field of Internet Security. I like China don’t get me wrong and some of the accusation about China I suspect is nothing more that a scare tactic to get funding for political pet project. But if we start to training our veterans and anyone who wants this training we will not lose the cyber war- gAtO oUt 

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02/18/12

China’s Hacking Of U.S. Remains A Top Concern : NPR

U.S officials have long complained about countries that systematically hack into U.S. computer networks to steal valuable data, but until recently they did not name names.

In the last few months, that has changed. China is now officially one of the cyber bad guys and probably the worst.

“We know and there’s good evidence … of very deliberate, focused cyber espionage to capture very valuable research and development information, or innovative ideas, or source code or business plans for their own advantage,” says Mike McConnell, a former director of national intelligence and before that the director of the National Security Agency.

It’s the Chinese he’s talking about, though other countries also engage in cyber espionage to gain a competitive edge. Russia, for example, but China stands out as especially aggressive.

“China does not care what other people think,” says Richard Bejtlich, the chief security officer at MANDIANT, a company that helps firms deal with cyber intrusions. “Culturally they are very interested in being seen as responsible, but when it comes to their actual work on the ground; if you try kicking them out of your network on a Friday, they’re back on a Monday.”

The increased willingness of the U.S. government to point a finger at the Chinese dates from an official report released last October that identified them “as the world’s most active and persistent perpetrators of economic espionage.”

via China’s Hacking Of U.S. Remains A Top Concern : NPR.

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02/17/12

Are Chinese Telecoms acting as the ears for the Sri Lankan government?

The title is inspired by the article Are Chinese Telecoms Acting as the Ears for Central Asian Authoritarians? published in Eurasianet.org, examining the probable role of Chinese telecoms firms, notably Huawei and ZTE, in espionage and surveillance. The article notes that both ZTE and Huawei have signed contracts worth tens of millions of US dollars with governments in Central Asia, not known for their democratic credentials. The article also flags an on-going US congressional committee probe into the two companies in particular, and how the telecoms products (like USB dongles) and possibly even services  (including underlying network technologies and infrastructure) aid espionage. As the article avers,

via Are Chinese Telecoms acting as the ears for the Sri Lankan government? – Groundviews.

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02/17/12

Hacked: How China is stealing Americas business secrets

Sen. John Kerry is fed up with Chinas penchant for looting technology from U.S. businesses — up to $400 billion worth of data each year. When will it stop?POSTED ON FEBRUARY 16, 2012, AT 3:52 PMChinese gamers at an internet cafe: Sen. John Kerry D-Mass. says Chinese hackers are illegally stealing business secrets from American firms. Photo: Imaginechina/Corbis SEE ALL 54 PHOTOSChinese Vice President Xi Jinping, slated to be the next leader of the worlds most populous nation, is getting an earful from U.S. officials over Chinas shady business practices. During Xis first official tour of the U.S. this week, Sen. John Kerry D-Mass. accused a Chinese company of bankrupting a U.S. competitor by ransacking its software. And thats just the tip of the iceberg, alleges Kerry, implicating China in “cyber-attacks, access-to-market issues, espionage [and] theft.” And, indeed, a flurry of recent reports indicate that Chinese hackers, backed by the government, are stealing business secrets from the U.S. Here, a guide:

via Hacked: How China is stealing Americas business secrets – The Week.

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01/16/12

PLA “Online Blue Army” gets ready for cyber warfare

Defense Ministry spokesman Geng Yansheng hosts the ministry’s second regular press conference in Beijing, May 25, 2011. [Photo/China Daily, mod.gov.cn]

The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) confirmed in May 2011 that it has established an “Online Blue Army” to improve China’s defense capability and ensure the security of the country’s military network. The announcement drew close attention from military watchers and experts worldwide.

Zhang Shaozhong, a military expert and a professor from PLA National Defense University, told the People’s Daily that China is increasingly dependent on the Internet, but makes no domestic root servers, and various other types of software and Internet hardware are U.S. made. In this sense, China can be described as merely a computer user with a fairly fragile Internet security system. These are circumstances that cry out for the build up of Internet security forces.

Throughout 2010, 480,000 Trojans viruses and 13,782 Zombie viruses were detected, with 221,000 Trojan and 6,531 Zombie remote control clients found to originate in foreign countries.

via PLA “Online Blue Army” gets ready for cyber warfare – Headlines, features, photo and videos from ecns.cn.

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01/8/12

“Cyber China” From Operation Aurora to China Cyber attacks Syndrome | Security Affairs

When we think of China in relation to cyber warfare, we imagine an army of hackers hired by the government in a computer room ready to successfully attack any potential target. China is perceived as a cyber power and ready to march against any insurmountable obstacle using any means. In this connection we read everything and its opposite, and we are ready to blame all sorts of cyber threats to the Country of the Rising Sun. The truth, however, is quite different, at least in my opinion, and understands that the Chinese people before others have understood the importance of a strategic hegemony in cyber space. However, many doubts are beginning to gather on the real technological capabilities of China.

It certainly has a high potential for cyber offensive but its quality is really arguable. China has the most extensive cyber-warfare capabilities. It began to implement an Information Warfare strategy in 1995 conducting a huge quantity of exercises in which computer viruses have been used to interrupt military and private communications. In 2000, China established a strategic Information Warfare unit, Net Force, which is responsible for “wage combat through computer networks to manipulate enemy information systems spanning spare parts deliveries to fire control and guid ance systems.” Today The PLA GSD Third Department and Fourth Departments are considered to be the two largest players in China‘s burgeoning cyber-infrastructure.  In November 2011, Desmond Ball, a professor in the Strategic and Defense Studies Centre at Australia’s National University argues that the Chinese offensive capabilities today are pretty limited and he has also declared that the internal security has a bunch of vulnerabilities.

via “Cyber China” From Operation Aurora to China Cyber attacks Syndrome | Security Affairs.

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10/5/11

Cyber Revenge Against Japan?

The world has grown wearily accustomed to the concept of cyberspace being mankind’s newest battleground. So while the Japanese defence establishment was understandably unsettled by the recent cyber attacks against arms company Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI)—which first occurred in August but were only disclosed this week—the phenomenon will have struck governments and corporations that have experienced similar attacks as nothing particularly new.

The specifics of the attack on MHI and other Japanese entities remain unclear. While the Japanese media has attempted to trace the attack back to China—the usual suspect in these cases—its origin has not been publicly confirmed. Certainly, Beijing denied that it was involved, as it always does, despite admitting earlier this year to the existence of a PLA cyber warfare unit known as the Blue Army.

via Cyber Revenge Against Japan? | Flashpoints.

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09/19/11

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Hacked: Japan Defense Industry’s First Cyberattack

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s biggest defense contractor, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd, said on Monday hackers had gained access to its computers, with one newspaper saying its submarine, missile and nuclear power plant component factories had been the target.

The company said in a statement that some information could have been stolen in the first known cyber attack on Japan’s defense industry.

“We’ve found out that some system information such as IP addresses have been leaked and that’s creepy enough,” said a Mitsubishi Heavy spokesman.

via Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Hacked: Japan Defense Industry’s First Cyberattack.

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08/23/11

China Caught With Evidence of Cyberwarfare Against U.S. | TheBlaze.com

It was supposed to be just another piece of Chinese propaganda. It ended up as a major “oops,” revealing that a Chinese military university is engaged in cyberwarfare against the U.S.

The Epoch Times reports that the film, screened in mid-July, included a screenshot that it calls a “damaging revelation.” Here’s the screenshot:

 

 

And here‘s why it’s so damaging, according to the Times:

The screenshots appear as B-roll footage in the documentary for six seconds—between 11:04 and 11:10 minutes—showing custom-built Chinese software apparently launching a cyber-attack against the main website of the Falun Gong spiritual practice, by using a compromised IP address belonging to a United States university.

via China Caught With Evidence of Cyberwarfare Against U.S. | TheBlaze.com.

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