Tech & Biz

Chinese hackers attack 'anything and everything'

by nukegingrich | February 17, 2007 at 11:00 pm

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NORFOLK, Va. -- At the Naval Network Warfare Command here, U.S. cyber defenders track and investigate hundreds of suspicious events each day. But the predominant threat comes from Chinese hackers, who are constantly waging all-out warfare against Defense Department networks, Netwarcom officials said.

Attacks coming from China, probably with government support, far outstrip other attackers in terms of volume, proficiency and sophistication, said a senior Netwarcom official, who spoke to reporters on background Feb 12. The conflict has reached the level of a campaign-style, force-on-force engagement, he said.

“They will exploit anything and everything,” the senior official said, referring to the Chinese hackers’ strategy. And although it is impossible to confirm the involvement of China’s government, the attacks are so deliberate, “it’s hard to believe it’s not government-driven,” the official said.

I'm certainly no computer expert, but I find it hard to believe that it is "impossible" to determine the source of the attacks. If so, then the attacks display a stealth level that is extremely sophisticated, and should be viewed as hostile.

The ability to perform everyday commerce, from basic utilities to multi-million dollar financial transactions, is dependent upon the free flow of information.

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bigbrother

at 23:49 on February 17th, 2007

I don`t agree with the term Hacker and i thinks lots of people use this term wrongly cause a hacker is someone "who creates and modifies computer software or computer hardware, including computer programming, administration, and security-related items " but does not break it.I think that the press should try to use the appropriate word from now on, that is Cracker. Hackers build things, Crackers break them. "
We request that you try to make things right. From now on, when you say
hack, make sure you mean hack and not crack. You owe hackers an apology
for spoiling their name, but most of all, you owe them respect."Said
Philip Tellis.

nukegingrich

at 18:20 on February 18th, 2007

You owe hackers an apology...your comment reminds me of an earlier instance in this forum when the description "First Nation" was used. Not knowing what it meant, I inquired, and was told that my question was racist. Now, having been reared in the Deep South of the late 50's and 60's, I am aware of what racism is, and is not, so the commenter's accusation did not bother me much. I suppose that your comment suggest that I am a geekist, or hackist, or whatever term of victimhood you would choose to label anyone who does not suscribe to your particular viewpoint. And, having told you of my background, you can probably understand my own distate for the term that you employed, "cracker", but rather than berate a total stranger for excercising 1st Amendment priveleges, without having an opportunity to discern his or her motives, I remain quite sanguine in my original choice of words, and allow the same choice to you.

matte

at 00:27 on February 19th, 2007

"probably with government support"

Or someone else pretending to be Chinese....

bigbrother

at 06:58 on February 19th, 2007

I respect what you said , may be you have not understand what i wanted to point out.The press should understand that the appropriate word to use is a Cracker.Example:The book Windows Xp Hack , will help you to modify windows for a better usage not for breaking the code and or the WGA! When you said your Choice of word i wanted to ask you if you are the author of the article @ fcw.com, cause i have said in my comment " that the press should try to use the appropriate word from now on..."