Satellite System of U.S. Was Attacked By Chinese Hackers

Computer hackers, possibly from the Chinese military, interfered with two U.S. government satellites four times in 2007 and 2008 through a ground station in Norway, according to a congressional commission. The intrusions on the satellites, used for earth climate and terrain observation, underscore the potential danger posed by hackers, according to excerpts from the final draft of the annual report by the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission. The report is scheduled to be released next month.

“Such interference poses numerous potential threats, particularly if achieved against satellites with more sensitive functions,” according to the draft. “Access to a satellite‘s controls could allow an attacker to damage or destroy the satellite. An attacker could also deny or degrade as well as forge or otherwise manipulate the satellite’s transmission.”

A Landsat-7 earth observation satellite system experienced 12 or more minutes of interference in October 2007 and July 2008, according to the report. Hackers interfered with a Terra AM-1 earth observation satellite twice, for two minutes in June 2008 and nine minutes in October that year, the draft says, citing a closed-door U.S. Air Force briefing. The draft report doesn’t elaborate on the nature of the hackers’ interference with the satellites.

Chinese Military Writings:-

U.S. military and intelligence agencies use satellites to communicate, collect intelligence and conduct reconnaissance. The draft doesn’t accuse the Chinese government of conducting or sponsoring the four attacks. It says the breaches are consistent with Chinese military writings that advocate disabling an enemy’s space systems, and particularly “ground-based infrastructure, such as satellite control facilities.”

U.S. authorities for years have accused the Chinese government of orchestrating cyber attacks against adversaries and hacking into foreign computer networks to steal military and commercial secrets. Assigning definitive blame is difficult, the draft says, because the perpetrators obscure their involvement. The commission’s 2009 report said that “individuals participating in ongoing penetrations of U.S. networks have Chinese language skills and have well established ties with the Chinese underground hacker community,” although it acknowledges that “these relationships do not prove any government affiliation.”

Chinese Denials:-

China this year “conducted and supported a range of malicious cyber activities,” this year’s draft reports. It says that evidence emerging this year tied the Chinese military to a decade-old cyber attack on a U.S.-based website of the Falun Gong spiritual group. Chinese officials long have denied any role in computer attacks.

The commission has “been collecting unproved stories to serve its purpose of vilifying China’s international image over the years,” said Wang Baodong, a spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, in a statement. China “never does anything that endangers other countries’ security interests.” The Chinese government is working with other countries to clamp down on cyber crime, Wang said. Defense Department reports of malicious cyber activity, including incidents in which the Chinese weren’t the main suspect, rose to a high of 71,661 in 2009 from 3,651 in 2001, according to the draft. This year, attacks are expected to reach 55,110, compared with 55,812 in 2010.

Relying on the Internet:-

In the October 2008 incident with the Terra AM-1, which is managed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, “the responsible party achieved all steps required to command the satellite,” although the hackers never exercised that control, according to the draft. The U.S. discovered the 2007 cyber attack on the Landsat-7, which is jointly managed by NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey, only after tracking the 2008 breach. The Landsat-7 and Terra AM-1 satellites utilize the commercially operated Svalbard Satellite Station in Spitsbergen, Norway that “routinely relies on the Internet for data access and file transfers,” says the commission, quoting a NASA report. The hackers may have used that Internet connection to get into the ground station’s information systems, according to the draft. While the perpetrators of the satellite breaches aren’t known for sure, other evidence uncovered this year showed the Chinese government’s involvement in another cyber attack, according to the draft.

-News Source (Bloom Berg)

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Anonymous China Rampage Continues- Chinese Defense Contractor & 500 Govt Websites Compromised

Anonymous China Rampage Continues- Chinese Defense Contractor & 500 Govt Websites Compromised

Hacker collective Anonymous started massive cyber attack against Chines cyber space. So far they have blown more than five hundred of high profile Chines websites. Among them there are many government and commercial sites. “Your government controls the Internet in your country and strives to filter what it considers a threat for it. Be careful.” This was the message from the hacker group Anonymous to the Chinese people after they hacked numerous Chinese local government websites this week. On March 30th the group, posted on a new “Anonymous China” Twitter account : “Anonymous China arrived, see the Government defaces and Leaks :).” Later, a list of over 480 defaced websites was posted on the Twitter feed, including five dot gov dot CN sites. These are all Chinese government websites.  last Tuesday, Anonymous China announced their latest hack via Twitter, indicating that Tongcheng Environmental Protection, a Chinese government environmental protection website, had been hacked. In a Pastebin release Anonymous China leaked website information. The full list of attacked domains posted on Pastebin has now reached 501 after rising in recent days, some of which were defaced more than once after Chinese officials regained control. 

According to an exclusive report of Reuters- A hacker has posted thousands of internal documents he says he obtained by breaking into the network of a Chinese company with defense contracts. The hacker, who uses the name Hardcore Charlie and said he was a friend of Hector Xavier Monsegur, the leader-turned- informant of the activist hacking group, LulzSec, told that he got inside Beijing-based China National Import & Export Corp (CEIEC). He posted documents ranging from purported U.S. military transport information to internal reports about business matters on several file-sharing sites, but the authenticity of the documents could not be independently confirmed. The Beijing company, better known by the acronym, CEIEC, did not respond to a request for comment. U.S. intelligence and Department of Defence officials had no immediate comment. CEIEC's website says the company performs systems integration work for the the Chinese military. Hardcore Charlie said that he had worked with others to crack the email passwords that got him inside CEIEC.

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FBI Draws Interest on Gmail Hacking

 

The computer phishing scam that Google says originated in China was directed at an unknown number of White House staff officials and set off the FBI inquiry that began this week, according to several administration officials. It is unclear how many White House staff members - or those of other departments in the executive branch - might have been targeted, according to two officials with knowledge of the investigation. But the intended victims ranged across different functions in the White House, and were not limited to those working on national security, economic policy or trade areas that would be of particular interest to the Chinese government.  Administration officials said they had no evidence any confidential information was breached, or even that many people fell for the attack by providing information that would allow a breach of their Gmail accounts. White House classified systems run on dedicated lines and information on those systems, the officials said, cannot be forwarded to Gmail accounts. But investigators are trying to determine if the attackers believed that some staff members or other officials used their personal email accounts for sensitive government communications.

"Right now," said one senior official, "that's a theory, not a fact."
Google disclosed the attack this week and said it targeted not only U.S. government officials, but also human right activists, journalists and South Korea's government. Google tracked the attack to Jinin, China, which is the home to a Chinese military school.
But that does not necessarily mean the attackers were Chinese or related to the government. The Chinese government denied any involvement.
The attack used emails that appeared to be tailored to their targets to better fool their victims, a technique known as spear phishing. Recipients were asked to click on a link to a phony Gmail login page that gave the hackers access to their personal accounts.
The attacks come as the U.S. government considers expanding its use of Web-based software for email, along with word processing, spreadsheets and other kinds of documents. Google is one of the many companies vying for the business with its Apps product, as is Microsoft . Web based email would be vulnerable to hackers who steal login information through phishing attacks. But Web-based systems are not necessarily any easier to hack than traditional email, which a government agency would usually manage using its own servers, said Larry Ponemon, chairman of the Ponemon Institute, a computer security company in Traverse City, Mich.
Jay Carney, the White House press secretary, said Thursday that all White House-related electronic mail was supposed to be conducted on work email accounts to comply with the Presidential Records Act, which governs how those communications are protected and archived. Carney said there was no evidence that any White House accounts were compromised.

White House employees are permitted to have private email accounts, he said, but cannot use them for work purposes. Officials at the White House and other agencies often keep two computers in their offices, one for unclassified work and another for classified. Very senior officials sometimes have a "secure facility" in their homes, in which computers and telephones are on dedicated lines and communications are encrypted.
Given its size, Google and its Gmail system will always make an attractive target.
Other personal email services, including Yahoo and Microsoft's Hotmail, have faced similar attacks, according to Trend Micro , a computer security company in Cupertino, Calif. "The types of attacks that are happening against Web mail users aren't confined to Gmail alone and extend to other email platforms," said Nart Villeneuve, a senior threat researcher for Trend Micro.

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Govt Sites, DBM, Radio Network & Universities of Philippine Hacked By Chinese Hackers

Govt Sites, DBM, Radio Network & Universities of Philippine Hacked By Chinese Hackers

Chinese hackers plan to attack more Philippine government websites, according to their discussions on the Internet.  An online forum of Chinese hackers belonging to the "Silic Group" tagged the Philippine Institute of Development Studies (PIDS) and Bulacan provincial government websites that are next in their firing line.

One forum user even posted usernames and passwords of Bulacan provincial government website administrators. The Bulacan website remained intact as of 8 p.m. Wednesday. Its log-in page for administrators has a time-lock security feature that prevents people logging in outside regular office hours. On Wednesday night, a purported hacker from China claiming to be a member of the "Honker Union" also published on Facebook the alleged usernames and passwords of administrators of websites belonging to Radio Mindanao Network (http://www.rmn.ph), the University of the Philippines College of Arts and Letters (http://kal.upd.edu.ph), and the People Management Association of the Philippines (http://www.pmap.org.ph). The website of the Philippine National Police (http://www.pnp.gov.ph) also seemed to be in error  as it showed only a raw index page. However it was not confirmed if the police website has been hacked.

An administrator of the Chinese hackers' forum at bbs.blackbap.org also boasted about "first-hand" details about the attack that crippled the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) website on Wednesday afternoon. The message indicated that those who defaced the DBM website are the same ones who attacked the Vietnamese government's website, gov.vn. The hackers allegedly discussed their attack on the DBM website in a chat hub for several minutes.

Details about the DBM server webshell address, administrator and publisher accounts were posted online. While the Philippine government has yet to publish full details about the DBM attack, the Chinese hackers apparently turned the DBM website into a chat room. The hackers also post racist comments  in  the forum, referring to Filipinos as "maids who are going up against the Chinese government."

-Source (ABS-CBN News)

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Chinese Hackers Eavesdropping European Diplomats Before G20 Summit

Researchers At FireEye Found -Chinese Hackers Snitching  Europeans Before G20 Summit 

Story of cyber espionage by Chinese hackers used to remain one of most highest pick of breakneck. Yet again another breathtaking issue of  eavesdropping by Chinese hackers get spot light, when  California-based renounced computer security firm FireEye Inc have figured out that a group of Chinese hackers eavesdropped on the computers of five European foreign ministries before last September's G20 Summit, which was dominated by the Syrian crisis. From the detailed analysis we came to know that the hackers have infiltrated the ministries' computer networks by sending emails to staff containing tainted files with titles such as "US_military_options_in_Syria," which sells virus fighting technology to companies. Whenever the targeted recipients opened those documents, they loaded malicious code on to their personal computers. Researchers of FireEye said that they were able to monitor the "inner workings" of the main computer server used by the hackers to conduct their reconnaissance and move across compromised systems for about a week in the late August. But suddenly they lost access to the hackers after they moved to another server shortly before the G20 Summit in St. Petersburg, Russia. 

Though the company has declined in open press to identify the nations whose ministries were hacked, although it said they were all members of the European Union. But FireEye informed the FBI about the whole issue in details. FireEye also confirmed that the hackers where from China, but they did not find evidence which may link those hackers to the Chinese government. Not surprisingly and obviously like earlier the Chinese government has distanced itself from any claim that it might have hacked foreign governments for data. FireEye also successfully monitor several dozen hacking groups operating in China, most of which they suspect of having ties to the government. The firms also suspect the hacking groups of stealing intellectual property for commercial gain. The researchers had been following the hackers behind the Syria-related attack for several years, but this is the first time the group's activities have been publicly documented. The company calls the group "Ke3chang," after the name of one of the files it uses in one of its pieces of malicious software. "The theme of the attacks was U.S. military intervention in Syria," said FireEye researcher Nart Villeneuv. 

On reaction Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said- "U.S. internet companies are keen on hyping up the so-called hacker threat from China, but they never obtain irrefutable proof, and what so-called evidence they do get is widely doubted by experts. This is neither professional nor responsible," 

While talking in this story of Chinese eavesdropping, I also want to dig some points from decent parts where we all became very habituated of seeing Europe & U.S. countries blaming China for engaging cyber attacks; and China also do the same for accusing U.S. like vice versa. I am reviving your memories of last few years where If you look at the story of major cyber attacks of this year we will find that the name of China has been involved several times for engaging cyber attacks against several high profile websites and organization of U.S. including New York Times, Twitter, NBC and so on. And if you refresh our memory then then we will find the scenario of big cyber attack and espionage by Chinese hackers have been spotted several times. In 2012 Chinese hackers had  breached Telvent's corporate network & gained control of US Power Grid. Also in the middle of last year, we have seen that Chinese hackers have broken into Indian Navy's Computer System & stolen sensitive data. Few months before this hack, Tokyo based computer security firm Trend Micro confirmed that Chinese hackers were responsible for biggest cyber-espionage in India, Japan & Tibet. Also the director of National Security Agency (NSA) General Keith Alexander confirmed that hackers from China was responsible for the serious attack on one of the leading IT security & cyber security company RSA. Also in 2011 China was responsible behind the attack on US Chamber of Commerce, Satellite System of U.S, Nortel Network & so on.  But few days ago National Computer Network Emergency Response Coordination Center of China (CNCERT/CC), China's primary computer security monitoring network claimed that China fallen victim of one of biggest cyber attacks originated from US, Japan & South Korea. We must have to say that this statement is truly irrelevant. Cyber crime investigator have found that China was directly responsible for the hack into Japan's Biggest Defense Contractor Mitsubishi, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) & Parliament of Japan. In case of South Korea  more than 13 Million of MapleStory players data has been stolen, there also hackers from China was responsible.  

Before I conclude, I request you to closely look at the above mentioned stories, you will find China majorly responsible for eavesdropping & security breach. On the same side China also been effected by the same way. So in conclusion, we cant put a full stop in this chain of cyber attacks, hacking & eavesdropping, as it comes from both end. So this exciting episode will be continued like it does. If you want to stay updated then don't forget to stay tuned with VOGH. 

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China Claiming Their Defense & Military Sites are Serially Attacked By U.S. Hackers

China Claiming Their Defense & Military Sites are Serially Attacked By U.S. Hackers 

We all are very much familiar of hearing the story of cyber espionage and cyber attacks originated from China by Chinese hackers. Where many countries across the globe have fallen victim like U.S. India, Japan, South Korea, many European countries and many more. But today a complete reverse story came under light where the Chinese government are claiming that several top secrete government sites like defense, army, military were targeted and hit by hackers from United States. According to some classified sources it came that Chinese government websites are routinely hacked from IP addresses originating within the United States. In a news conference, spokesman of Defense Ministry of China; Mr. Geng Yansheng said that - more than 144,000 hacking attempts per month are targeted at the China Military Online and Defense Ministry websites. According to Chinese defense ministry a close to two-thirds of those attacks (62.9 percent) originated in the United States. Geng said he had noted reports that the United States planned to expand its cyber-warfare capability but that they were unhelpful to increasing international cooperation towards fighting hacking.

"We hope that the U.S. side can explain and clarify this." The U.S. security company, Mandiant, identified the People's Liberation Army's Shanghai-based Unit 61398 as the most likely driving force behind the hacking. Mandiant said it believed the unit had carried out "sustained" attacks on a wide range of industries. Yansheng did not mention a direct link between the cyber attacks and the U.S. government only that the attacks originated in the United States. He did note, however, that China is concerned with reports that the United States is planning to expand its cyber warfare capabilities. 

In the last month China was blamed for engaging cyber attacks against several high profile websites and organization of U.S. including New York Times, Twitter, NBC and so on. And if you refresh our memory then then we will find the scenario of big cyber attack and espionage by Chinese hackers have been spotted several times. In 2012 Chinese hackers had  breached Telvent's corporate network & gained control of US Power Grid. Also in the middle of last year, we have seen that Chinese hackers have broken into Indian Navy's Computer System & stolen sensitive data. Few months before this hack, Tokyo based computer security firm Trend Micro confirmed that Chinese hackers were responsible for biggest cyber-espionage in India, Japan & Tibet. Also the director of National Security Agency (NSA) General Keith Alexander confirmed that hackers from China was responsible for the serious attack on one of the leading IT security & cyber security company RSA. Also in 2011 China was responsible behind the attack on US Chamber of Commerce, Satellite System of U.S, Nortel Network & so on.  But few days ago National Computer Network Emergency Response Coordination Center of China (CNCERT/CC), China's primary computer security monitoring network claimed that China fallen victim of one of biggest cyber attacks originated from US, Japan & South Korea. We must have to say that this statement is truly irrelevant. Cyber crime investigator have found that China was directly responsible for the hack into Japan's Biggest Defense Contractor Mitsubishi, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) & Parliament of Japan. In case of South Korea  more than 13 Million of MapleStory players data has been stolen, there also hackers from China was responsible. 

After keeping in mind all the above facts, we can not conclude the matter very easily, but what we can say that, whether China is responsible or not is neither been proved so far. In spite of looking at the situation we can only say, the entire matter is foggy; where the original truth has either been manipulated or been still untold. But it is sure that those untold or manipulated issues will some day came in front, till that time we have to keep patience and don't forget to stay tuned with VOGH for all kind of cyber related topics and expert reviews.

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China Denies hacking-attack claims over Gmail

China denied it supports hacking activities and said it is part of global efforts to combat computer security threats Thursday, a day after Google disclosed some of its email users suffered hacking attacks that orginated within the country. Google disclosed Wednesday that personal Gmail accounts of several hundred people, including senior U.S. government officials, military personnel and political activists, had been breached. Google traced the origin of the attacks to Jinan, China, the home city of a military vocational school whose computers were linked to an assault 17 months ago on Google's systems. China is firmly opposed to activities that sabotage Internet and computer security, including hacking, Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei told reporters Thursday. Hong said hacking was a global problem and Chinese networks had also been targeted by hackers, but he gave no specifics. He said China was working to crack down on the problem, but he didn't respond when asked whether it would investigate this specific incident. "Allegations that the Chinese government supports hacking activities are completely unfounded and made with ulterior motives," Hong said. Google said all of the hacking victims have been notified and their accounts have been secured. 

This time around, the hackers appeared to rely on tactics commonly used to fool people into believing they are dealing with someone they know or a company that they trust. Once these "phishing" expeditions get the information needed to break into an email account, the access can be used to send messages that dupe other victims. China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, which has a hand in regulating the Internet, referred questions about the allegations to another regulatory agency, the State Council Information Office, which asked that questions be faxed and then did not respond. 

The Pentagon said Thursday it had very little information since the reported breaches involved personal accounts rather than government email. And since the accounts were not official, the U.S. Department of Defense was unaware if the targeted individuals were defense employees, the statement said. 

The latest attacks aren't believed to be tied to the more sophisticated assault last year. That intrusion targeted the Google's own security systems and triggered a high-profile battle with China's Communist government over online censorship. The tensions escalated amid reports that the Chinese government had at least an indirect hand in the hacking attacks, a possibility that Google didn't rule out. 

The previous break-in prompted Google to move its Chinese-language search engine off the mainland so it wouldn't have to censor content that the government didn't want the general public to see. The search engine is now based in Hong Kong, which isn't subject to Beijing's censorship rules. China's official Xinhua News Agency blasted Google in an unsigned commentary on Thursday saying the company "provided no solid proof" to support its claims that the hack attacks originated in China. Xinhua said Google's compaints had "become obstacles for enhancing global trust between stakeholders in cyberspace."

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Chinese Hackers Breached New York Times & Stolen Employee's Password

Chinese Hackers Breached New York Times & Stolen Employee's Password 

Yet again the story of cyber espionage by Chinese hackers spotted in the wild, when the famous and one of the most popular American news daily reported that their system has been compromised by a round of sophisticated cyber attack generated from China. After the hack of White House unclassified network, it is the second time in last six month; when Chinese hackers have targeted the American cyber space. The New York Times has reported that for the last four months Chinese hackers have been infiltrating its networks, broken into the email accounts of senior staff, stolen the corporate passwords for every Times employee and used those to gain access to the personal computers of  more than 50 employees. 

According to a blog post of NYT - The timing of the attacks coincided with the reporting for a Times investigation, published online on Oct. 25, that found that the relatives of Wen Jiabao, China’s prime minister, had accumulated a fortune worth several billion dollars through business dealings. Security experts hired by The Times to detect and block the computer attacks gathered digital evidence that Chinese hackers, using methods that some consultants have associated with the Chinese military in the past, breached The Times’s network. They broke into the e-mail accounts of its Shanghai bureau chief, David Barboza, who wrote the reports on Mr. Wen’s relatives, and Jim Yardley, The Times’s South Asia bureau chief in India, who previously worked as bureau chief in Beijing. 

“Computer security experts found no evidence that sensitive e-mails or files from the reporting of our articles about the Wen family were accessed, downloaded or copied,” said Jill Abramson, executive editor of The Times. The hackers tried to cloak the source of the attacks on The Times by first penetrating computers at United States universities and routing the attacks through them, said computer security experts at Mandiant, the company hired by The Times. This matches the subterfuge used in many other attacks that Mandiant has tracked to China.

Cyber Espionage of China (2011-2012) at a Glance:-

While talking about this cyber attack, we would like to refresh your memory last two years, where the scenario of big cyber attack and espionage by Chinese hackers have been spotted several times. In 2012 Chinese hackers had  breached Telvent's corporate network & gained control of US Power Grid. Also in the middle of last year, we have seen that Chinese hackers have broken into Indian Navy's Computer System & stolen sensitive data. Few months before this hack, Tokyo based computer security firm Trend Micro confirmed that Chinese hackers were responsible for biggest cyber-espionage in India, Japan & Tibet. Also the director of National Security Agency (NSA) General Keith Alexander confirmed that hackers from China was responsible for the serious attack on one of the leading IT security & cyber security company RSA. Also in 2011 China was responsible behind the attack on US Chamber of Commerce, Satellite System of U.S, Nortel Network & so on.  But few days ago National Computer Network Emergency Response Coordination Center of China (CNCERT/CC), China's primary computer security monitoring network claimed that China fallen victim of one of biggest cyber attacks originated from US, Japan & South Korea. We must have to say that this statement is truly irrelevant. Cyber crime investigator have found that China was directly responsible for the hack into Japan's Biggest Defense Contractor Mitsubishi, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) & Parliament of Japan. In case of South Korea  more than 13 Million of MapleStory players data has been stolen, there also hackers from China was responsible. 

All those above stories it has been clearly identified that China was the point of those said attacks, but it doesn't necessarily prove that it the operation is backed by the Chinese government or intelligence services. It could just as easily be a patriotic group of skilled, independent Chinese hackers upset with how the Western media is portraying their country's rulers. For all kind of cyber related topics and expert reviews on those matters just stay tuned  with only VOGH. 

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White House Calls China to Stop Hacking & Cyber Espionage Against U.S.

White House Calls China to Stop Hacking & Cyber Espionage Against U.S.

The story of cyber espionage by Chinese hackers used to remain on the spot light due to its consistency, but now the situation get nasty and takes a new way as the national security adviser of U.S. President Obama directly pointed his finger to China. Many of our readers might take this issue lightly as earlier China has been blamed for engaging cyber attacks against different countries for many times. But this time there is a twist as the U.S. government vows to take the issue in a very serious manner. In his speech the national security advisory Tom Donilon said that "The international community cannot afford to tolerate such activity from any country," Like earlier China has denied any type of involvement and condemned the report for lack of hard evidence. But this time such reaction will not at all be entertained as the president said in the State of the Union, "we will take action to protect our economy against cyberthreats." The above two statements can be taken in both friendly warning or also in a serious threat. The White House already warned China to end the campaign of cyber espionage against U.S. companies, saying in its toughest language yet on the issue that the hacking activity threatens to derail efforts to build stronger ties between the two countries. 

Donilon did not directly accuse the Chinese government of launching the attacks on U.S. computer systems, only noting that the attacks are coming from inside the country. "Increasingly, U.S. businesses are speaking out about their serious concerns about sophisticated, targeted theft of confidential business information and proprietary technologies through cyber intrusions emanating from China on an unprecedented scale," he said. Another important message came from the Obama administration saying United States “will not accept North Korea as a nuclear state” and called on Chinese leaders to get serious about cracking down on cyber-related crimes. 

While covering this story we would like to remind you that couple of weeks ago Chinese officials issued a same complain against United States where they blamed U.S. for engaging massive cyber attacks against Chinese military and defense system. If you look at the story of major cyber attacks of last few days we will find that the name of China has been involved several times for engaging cyber attacks against several high profile websites and organization of U.S. including New York Times, Twitter, NBC and so on. And if you refresh our memory then then we will find the scenario of big cyber attack and espionage by Chinese hackers have been spotted several times. In 2012 Chinese hackers had  breached Telvent's corporate network & gained control of US Power Grid. Also in the middle of last year, we have seen that Chinese hackers have broken into Indian Navy's Computer System & stolen sensitive data. Few months before this hack, Tokyo based computer security firm Trend Micro confirmed that Chinese hackers were responsible for biggest cyber-espionage in India, Japan & Tibet. Also the director of National Security Agency (NSA) General Keith Alexander confirmed that hackers from China was responsible for the serious attack on one of the leading IT security & cyber security company RSA. Also in 2011 China was responsible behind the attack on US Chamber of Commerce, Satellite System of U.S, Nortel Network & so on.  But few days ago National Computer Network Emergency Response Coordination Center of China (CNCERT/CC), China's primary computer security monitoring network claimed that China fallen victim of one of biggest cyber attacks originated from US, Japan & South Korea. We must have to say that this statement is truly irrelevant. Cyber crime investigator have found that China was directly responsible for the hack into Japan's Biggest Defense Contractor Mitsubishi, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) & Parliament of Japan. In case of South Korea  more than 13 Million of MapleStory players data has been stolen, there also hackers from China was responsible. 

-Source (The Hill, Cnet & WT)

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DOD Said: Evidence Emerging of Chinese Planning Internet Attacks

The much-delayed 2011 Department of Defense (DOD) report on Chinese military and security developments highlights the growing Chinese emphasis on cyber security and cyberwarfare. As the report notes, “PRC military writings highlight the seizure of electromagnetic dominance in the early phases of a campaign.”
Coinciding with the release of the DOD report, media coverage has emerged of a China Central Television (CCTV) video clip of Chinese cyber activities aimed at dissident organizations. The clip, shown on CCTV-7, the official military channel of the state-run CCTV network, included screenshots of a computer program intended to allow a distributed denial of service (DDOS) attack against a religious dissident group (Falun Gong). A DDOS attack often takes down an organization’s website, and such attacks have been used against Estonia and Georgia in recent tensions. The clip would seem to confirm that Chinese government entities are testing the means to seize electromagnetic dominance.

Strikingly, the six-second video clip indicates that the program can also mask itself by substituting a different electronic address, so that the attack, if traced, would be ascribed to third parties (in this case, reportedly the University of Alabama at Birmingham).
While the specific clip is undated and may be several years old, the program itself would seem to belie the Chinese claim that Beijing has no hand in the various cyber intrusions and activities that are regularly traced to Chinese Internet addresses. It also suggests that attacks traced to third parties may actually originate in China.
The program shown on the Chinese video underscores the problem with the Obama Administration’s assumption that the solution to growing U.S.–Chinese security tension is greater dialogue. The 2011 DOD report asserts that “the fundamental purpose for two countries to conduct military-to-military relations is to gain a better understanding of how each side thinks about the role and use of military power in achieving political and strategic objectives.” This assumes that the Chinese side wants what the U.S. side wants, “contacts at all levels that can help reduce miscommunication, misunderstanding, and the risks of miscalculation.” In short, it hopes that the Chinese are as eager as President Obama to extend an “open hand.”
But the creation of programs designed to mask IP addresses and mislead cyber-forensic specialists about the origin of DDOS attacks and other cyber activities is not a means of reducing miscommunications and misunderstanding, much less facilitating “common approaches to challenges… [and building] more productive working relationships.” Rather, it suggests a policy of seeking military advantage—something that the DOD report recognizes, but the Administration apparently does not.

To see the DOD report Click Here

-News Source (The Foundry & Defence.gov)

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Massive Phishing Scheme Originating from China, said Google

Hundreds of personal Gmail accounts, including those of some senior U.S. government officials, were hacked as a result of a massive phishing scheme originating from China, Google said Wednesday.The account hijackings were a result of stolen passwords, likely by malware installed on victims' computers or through victims' responses to e-mails from malicious hackers posing as trusted sources. That type of hack is known as phishing. Gmail's security systems themselves were not compromised, Google said.The company believes the phishing attack emanated from Jinan, China. In addition to the U.S. government personnel, other targets included South Korean government officials and federal workers of several other Asian countries, Chinese political activists, military personnel and journalists. The news comes a little more than a year after a separate hack originating from China affected Gmail accounts of Chinese human rights activists. In that case, attackers were able to break through Google's security systems, and two Gmail accounts were hacked.

That cyber attack set off a series of events that eventually led to Google ending its agreement with the Chinese government to censor certain search results, and the company physically moved its servers out of the country.

This time around, the hack appears larger in scope -- but Google itself was not attacked. A person with knowledge of the attack's details said there was no apparent correlation between last year's attack and this one.

A spokesman from Google declined to comment on how the company obtained the information about the most recent hack. Public information, user reports and a third-party hacking blog called Contagio was used to determine the scope, targets and source of the attack.Google (GOOG, Fortune 500) said it notified the victims and disrupted the campaign. The hackers were attempting to monitor the victims' e-mails, and some users' forwarding settings were altered.The company urged users to "please spend ten minutes today taking steps to improve your online security so that you can experience all that the Internet offers -- while also protecting your data." Google provided several examples of how Gmail users can better protect themselves from phishing attacks on its blog, including enabling a setting that allows users to login to their accounts only after receiving a verification code on their phones. The company also suggested that users monitor their settings for suspicious forwarding settings.

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US House of Intelligence Committee Warn American Companies Doing Business with Huawei & ZTE

US House of Intelligence Committee Warn American Companies Doing Business with Huawei & ZTE

Though US is very much advance and updated on cyber security but after facing so many large cyber attacks from China, now American government taking few steps to avoid any kind of cyber espionage. Recently the US House Intelligence Committee says that the American companies should avoid doing business with two of China's leading technology firms, ZTE and Huawei. Many of us will not agree with this decisions  but while keeping in mind latest cyber attacks and damages, the authorities have no other way left. 

The Chairman and Ranking Member of the House Intelligence Committee, Mike Rogers (R-MI) and C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger released a report recommending to U.S. companies considering doing business with Chinese telecommunications companies Huawei and ZTE to find another vendor.  The report encourages U.S. companies to take into account the long-term security risks associated with either company providing equipment or services to our telecommunications infrastructure.  Additionally, the report recommends that U.S. government systems, particularly sensitive systems, exclude Huawei or ZTE equipment or component parts. The report highlights the interconnectivity of U.S. critical infrastructure systems and warns of the heightened threat of cyber espionage and predatory disruption or destruction of U.S. networks if telecommunications networks are built by companies with known ties to the Chinese state, a country known to aggressively steal valuable trade secrets and other sensitive data from American companies.  Additionally, the report notes that modern critical infrastructure is incredibly connected, everything from electric power grids to banking and finance systems to natural gas, oil, and water systems to rail and shipping channels. All of these entities depend on computerized control systems. The risk is high that a failure or disruption in one system could have a devastating ripple effect throughout many aspects of modern American living.

The report, released in a Capitol Hill news conference, states that Huawei and ZTE provided incomplete, contradictory, and evasive responses to the Committee’s core concerns.  The report comes after a year-long investigation into the national security dangers posed by Huawei and ZTE, the two largest Chinese telecommunications companies doing business in the United States.

The Report Includes Five Recommendations:-

1. US government systems and US government contractors, particularly those working on sensitive systems, should exclude any Huawei or ZTE equipment or component parts.  Additionally, the Committee on Foreign Investments in the United States (CFIUS) must block acquisitions, takeovers, or mergers involving Huawei and ZTE given the threat to U.S. national security interests.

2. U.S. network providers and systems developers are strongly encouraged to seek other vendors for their projects.

3. Unfair trade practices of the Chinese telecommunications sector should be investigated by committees of jurisdiction in U.S. Congress and enforcement agencies in the Executive Branch.  Particular attention should be paid to China’s continued financial support of key companies.

4. Chinese companies should quickly become more open and transparent. Huawei, in particular, must become more transparent and responsive to U.S. legal obligations.

5. Committees of jurisdiction in Congress should consider potential legislation to better address the risk posed by telecommunications companies with nation-state ties or otherwise not clearly trusted to build critical infrastructure, including increasing information-sharing among private sector entities and expanding a role for the CFIUS process to include purchasing agreements.

To Download the Full 60 Page Report Click Here

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