Category Archives: China security

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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01/3/12

Hackers hitting NGOs with backdoor attacks 

Hackers may be targeting non-government organizations with a series of backdoor attacks, a computer security firm warned this week.

Trend Micro said it has found evidence that Amnesty International (AI), whose UK website was attacked recently, is “not the only intended target for the attack.”

“Based on our investigation, it seems that the initially reported affected organization is just one of the targets in this attack and that the attack itself is fashioned specifically for the targets,” it said in a blog post.

It cited earlier reports the attack on AI’s website involved an iframe that redirected users to another compromised site in Brazil.

The site executed a malicious Java applet detected as JAVA_DLOAD.ZZC, which exploits vulnerability in Java.

According to Trene Micro, the attack drops BKDR_PPOINTER.SM, which connects to a certain URL to send and receive commands from the attacker.

“It is also capable of gathering certain information about the affected system,” Trend Micro said.

A separate blog post by security researcher Brian Krebs late December said AI’s homepage in the United Kingdom had served malware that exploits a recently-patched vulnerability in Java.

“Security experts say the attack appears to be part of a nefarious scheme to target human rights workers,” he said.

via Hackers hitting NGOs with backdoor attacks  | GMA News Online | The Go-To Site for Filipinos Everywhere.

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12/26/11

China vows to speed up convergence of TV, Internet, phone in 2012 – Xinhua | English.news.cn

BEIJING, Dec. 26 (Xinhua) — China will push ahead the convergence of television, Internet and telecom services in 2012, said Miao Wei, minister of Industry and Information Technology, Monday.

The government will expand pilot projects to all the municipalities, provincial capitals and other eligible cities next year, Miao said.

Last year, only 12 cities were chosen for the trial, including two municipalities, Beijing and Shanghai, and four provincial capitals, Harbin, Nanjing, Hangzhou and Wuhan.

The tri-network integration, which allows users to access television, Internet and mobile phone services through a single device, was listed in the government work report last year as one of the emerging strategic industries for priority development and slated for completion by 2015.

China achieved some progress in facilitating connections of broadcast and telecommunications networks in 2011 and was able to provide consumers with products and services, Miao said.

By the end of November, China’s Internet protocol television (IPTV) users have exceeded 11 million, while mobile video subscribers have surpassed 40 million.

via China vows to speed up convergence of TV, Internet, phone in 2012 – Xinhua | English.news.cn.

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11/15/11

Obama expected to announce increased U.S. military presence in Australia – News – Stripes

YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan – With an eye on China, President Barack Obama is expected to announce plans to boost U.S.-Australia defense ties when he visits the northern Australian city of Darwin on Thursday.

Darwin is the tropical gateway to the Northern Territory, boasting large untapped oil, gas and mineral deposits, as well as vast uninhabited tracts of land suitable for military training.

Australian media outlets reported over the weekend that the two countries would announce a plan for U.S. Marines to rotate through Australia’s Robertson Barracks in Darwin. U.S. and Australian defense officials have not confirmed such a plan, but said closer defense cooperation is likely to include increased U.S. access to Australian training, facilities and ports, and the positioning of U.S. equipment Down Under

via Obama expected to announce increased U.S. military presence in Australia – News – Stripes.

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10/25/11

Japanese parliament hit by cyber attack from China – IT News from V3.co.uk

China has been implicated in a cyber attack designed to hack the emails of Japanese parliament members, as news emerged that details on nuclear plants and war planes may have been stolen from a separate attack on Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.

Japanese newspaper The Asahi Shimbun reported on Tuesday that a server located in China was used for the attack on the Japanese Lower House. This led to an extraordinary meeting of a key subcommittee after it emerged that hackers had access to emails and documents belonging to the chamber’s 480 legislators for at least one month.

via Japanese parliament hit by cyber attack from China – IT News from V3.co.uk.

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10/5/11

US lawmaker slams China for cyber spying – Forbes.com

WASHINGTON — The chairman of the House Intelligence Committee has accused China of waging an unprecedented campaign of cyber espionage aimed at stealing some of the most important U.S. industrial secrets.

Chairman Mike Rogers, a Michigan Republican, says that Chinese efforts to steal U.S. technology via the Internet have reached what he called an “intolerable level,” and has called on the United States and its allies to pressure Beijing to stop.

via US lawmaker slams China for cyber spying – Forbes.com.

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09/4/11

Rule stiffens penalties for Chinese hackers

BEIJING – Starting on Thursday, hackers who broke into 20 or more computers will face jail terms of up to seven years, according to a new judicial interpretation issued jointly by the China’s Supreme People’s Court and Supreme People’s Procuratorate.

People who hack from 20 to 100 computers, or steal from 10 to 50 user names and passwords for online-payment or stock accounts, will get at least three years in prison. And those who hack even more computers or steal more passwords will face jail terms of up to seven years.

The latest rule, an interpretation made to deal with online crimes, which were added to the Criminal Law in 2009, also applies to Chinese hackers who steal information from foreign computers, said Zhou Guangquan, a member of the National People’s Congress’s law committee and a professor in criminal law at Tsinghua University.

via Rule stiffens penalties for hackers.

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07/27/11

Officials in China to monitor public wi-fi use

 

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A green tea, a laptop … and someone monitoring you. Photo: Colleen Kinder/New York Times

BEIJING: New regulations that require bars, restaurants, hotels and bookstores to install costly web-monitoring software are prompting many businesses to cut internet access and sending a chill through the capital’s game-playing, web-grazing literati who have come to expect free wi-fi with their lattes and green tea.

The software, which costs businesses about $US3100 ($2840), provides public security officials the identities of those logging onto the wireless service of a restaurant, cafe or private school and monitors their web activity.

Those who ignore the regulation and provide unfettered access face a $US2300 fine and the possible revocation of their business license.

”From the point of view of the common people, this policy is unfair,” said Wang Bo, the owner of L’Infusion, a cafe that features crepes, waffles and the companionship of several dozing cats. ”It’s just an effort to control the flow of information.”

It is unclear whether the new measures will be strictly enforced or applied beyond the swathe of central Beijing where they are already in effect. But they suggest that public security officials, unnerved by turmoil in the Middle East and North Africa partly enabled by the internet, are undaunted in their efforts to ramp up controls.

At public cybercafes, which is where China’s working poor have access to the internet, customers must hand over state-issued identification before getting on a computer.

The new measures, it would appear, are designed to eliminate a loophole in ”internet management” as it is called, one that has allowed laptop- and iPad-owning college students and expatriates, as well as the hip and the underemployed, to while away their days at cafes and lounges surfing the web in relative anonymity.

It is this demographic that has been at the forefront of the microblogging juggernaut, one that has revolutionised how Chinese exchange information in ways that occasionally frighten officials.

The Dongcheng Public Security Bureau did not respond to requests for comment, but according to its publicly-issued circular, the measure is designed to thwart criminals who use the internet to ”conduct blackmail, traffic goods, gamble, propagate damaging information and spread computer viruses”.

During a survey of more than a dozen businesses, none said they were prepared to purchase the software, which is designed to handle 100 users at one time.

via Officials in China to monitor public wi-fi use.

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07/23/11

Cyber War Games: U.S. Versus China

 

 

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ri20T5Dlggg]

Cyber warfare is one form of espionage that is currently being waged between the U.S. and China. In the event of a full-scale conflict, how would this war be fought, and who would win the war? - David Wise (of big think) an intelligence expert does an excellent job of explaining the 5th Battlefield CyberSpace.  David explains who has an upper hand in this US vs China Cyberspace battle. The United States is well aware of it’s own vulnerable infrastructure our electric grid, our communication networks and aviation grid. We as other governments are a highly industrialized society. China is becoming more and economic power so they in turn are vulnerable. China has been involved in hacking over 33 different companies in the US. The US is doing some of it’s own hacking we we don’t hear about it because were dam good.  (The State department released that CHina’s SCADA system has major security problems).

David does make it clear that we don’t know who these hacker are sometimes a kid playing in his bedroom or a national government in Estonia making belive there in CHina or any other place. It easy to hide in the internet. This makes it difficult to say “Yes” it the Chinese government doing this and that we can’t be sure. David and I agree that dealing with China a communist country is difficult. China is a growing economic power base it need Cyberspace to grow. China is enjoying the money and its need to keep the Internet open to do business, this will also enable it’s people to become free in cyberspace.

This is an excellent Video David Wise is great. –my 2 cents- gatomalo

big_Think Youtube Channel See More > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ri20T5Dlggg

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07/20/11

Chinese Spy did not deliver code scrambler to China: – Taipei Times

SALE OF THE CENTURY:Officials were unable to say how or why Lo was promoted to the position of general after losing such an important piece of security equipment

The Ministry of National Defense (MND) denied a local media report yesterday claiming that former Army major general Lo Hsien-che (???) sold a scrambler used by Taiwan’s intelligence services to China while he was posted in Thailand from 2002 to 2005.

via Spy did not deliver code scrambler to China: MND – Taipei Times.

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