‘Ghost’ hackers worm into govt. computers

by Suranee | April 1, 2009 at 03:05 am

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GhostNet, an international cyber espionage network, hacked into the Government of Bhutan's computer system. Eleven computers belonging to the Foreign Ministry department and one computer of the Labour Ministry have been infected with the virus.

Eleven computers in Bhutan’s foreign ministry and one in the labour ministry were among a thousand odd computers worldwide hacked by an international cyber espionage network called GhostNet.

A 53-page report, titled “Tracking GhostNet: Investigating a Cyber Espionage Network”, stated that Bhutan is one of 103 countries, where nearly 1,300 computers were hacked. 30 percent of them, including those in Bhutan, have been classified as being important.

A Japanese IT consultant, Mama San told Kuensel that the same virus had infected four to five other computers in Bhutan in early March.

In a related development, a Japanese IT consultant Mama San told Kuensel that he had found the same virus in four to five other computers in Bhutan in early March before the above report came out. “The same virus was something new then and, although I ran many anti-virus programmes, I was not able to remove the virus or trace its source,” said Mama San.

According to the report, the virus is sent via familiar looking emails with attached files, which once opened allows the virus to enter the system and the hacker to take control of the computer. The hacker could then steal and receive all classified information on the computer, correspondence and also activate the webcam and recorder to monitor the room.