Chinese Cyber (war)fare (merged thread)

[Dayuhan]

And re this:

Look at the Mandiant report's map of Chinese cyber intrusions (at least those tied to Unit 61398): Russia is untouched. "That's a huge area. . . . I really would wonder why they're after South Africa, the U.A.E. and Singapore but not Russia.

Does that mean that the Chinese are leaving Russia alone, or that Mandant had no data on actions targeting Russia, or that the Chinese have a completely different unit targeting Russia? I certainly wouldn't assume on that basis alone that the Chinese are not targeting the Russians.

[carl]

Yes. Because.

Yes. Because.

Yes. Because.

And, finally...

Yes. Yes. Maybe and oh.

[Dayuhan]

Not very convincing, but not unexpected either.

[AdamG]

Awesome.

A US military contractor was allegedly hacked by those associated with the Chinese military. The company reportedly ignored signs of security breaches, allowing hackers to access military technology and classified documents for three years.

QinetiQ North America was attacked by a Shanghai-based hacker group from 2007 to 2010, Bloomberg reported on Thursday. The hacking collective has been coined the “Comment Crew” by security experts.

The company is known for its contributions to national security – including software used by US forces in Afghanistan and the Middle East.

http://rt.com/usa/us-military-chinese-hackers-792/

[carl]

Looks like they are upping the ante inside the beltway. Here is an NYT story reporting that the US gov is directly accusing the Red Chinese military of being behind all the attacks. An interesting aspect of the story is that in addition to stealing things, they figure the Red Army is conducting what might be called pre-strike reconnaissance.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/07/wo..._20130507&_r=0

It would be interesting to see the emails flying back and forth amongst the anointed in DC. It is surprising to me that they are being so direct about this. I wonder if the threat is so great that normal DC timidity is being suppressed.

[AdamG]

Chinese hackers who breached Google’s servers several years ago gained access to a sensitive database with years’ worth of information about U.S. surveillance targets, according to current and former government officials.

The breach appears to have been aimed at unearthing the identities of Chinese intelligence operatives in the United States who may have been under surveillance by American law enforcement agencies.

It’s unclear how much the hackers were able to discover. But former U.S. officials familiar with the breach said the Chinese stood to gain valuable intelligence. The database included information about court orders authorizing surveillance — orders that could have signaled active espionage investigations into Chinese agents who maintained e-mail accounts through Google’s Gmail service.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/...767_print.html

[Wyatt]

WASHINGTON/CANBERRA (Reuters) - Chinese hackers have gained access to designs of more than two dozen major U.S. weapons systems, a U.S. report said on Monday, as Australian media said Chinese hackers had stolen the blueprints for Australia's new spy headquarters.
Citing a report prepared for the Defense Department by the Defense Science Board, the Washington Post said the compromised U.S. designs included those for combat aircraft and ships, as well as missile defenses vital for Europe, Asia and the Gulf.
Among the weapons listed in the report were the advanced Patriot missile system, the Navy's Aegis ballistic missile defense systems, the F/A-18 fighter jet, the V-22 Osprey, the Black Hawk helicopter and the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.

In Australia, a news report said hackers linked to China stole the floor plans of a A$630 million headquarters for the Australia Security Intelligence Organization, the country's domestic spy agency.
The attack through the computers of a construction contractor exposed not only building layouts, but also the location of communication and computer networks, it said.

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/c...133849940.html