“Highly sophisticated Chinese state-sponsored” cyberattack hits Canada Government’s top research organization

Note: Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird is in Beijing

A “highly sophisticated Chinese state-sponsored actor” recently managed to hack into the computer systems at Canada’s National Research Council, confirms the country’s chief information officer, Corinne Charette.

U.S. Weapons System Designs Compromised by Chinese Cyberspies, Confidential report says

Designs for many of the nation’s most sensitive advanced weapons systems have been compromised by Chinese hackers, according to a report prepared for the Pentagon and to officials from government and the defense industry.

Among more than two dozen major weapons systems whose designs were breached were programs critical to U.S. missile defenses and combat aircraft and ships, according to a previously undisclosed section of a confidential report prepared for Pentagon leaders by the Defense Science Board.

A List of Compromised U.S. Weapons Designs and Technologies by Chinese Hackers

The following is reproduced from the nonpublic version of the
Defense Science Board report “Resilient Military Systems and the Advanced Cyber Threat”:

Table 2.2 Expanded partial list of DoD system designs and technologies compromised via cyber exploitation

“Dirty little secret”: Chinese Hacker Breaks in Australian Federal Government departments, ABC reports

While debate rages over Australia’s border security, there’s growing evidence that the greatest threat to Australia’s national security potentially comes from foreign computer hackers. Few in government or business will admit the full extent of the break-ins, with one expert calling it a “dirty little secret”.

Next on Four Corners reporter Andrew Fowler reveals that hackers, working from locations overseas, have targeted key Federal Government departments and major corporations in Australia. Their intention is to steal national security secrets and vital business information.

Chinese Hackers Strike Australian Intelligence Agency 2 Months After “strategic partnership” Negotiation

Blueprints for the new headquarters’ (building) of Australia’s intelligence agency, located in the capital of Canberra, have been stolen by Chinese hackers, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

The news, which hit hard in Australia on Monday night, comes less than two months after Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard negotiated a “strategic partnership” with the Chinese Communist Party’s new leadership, and a subsequent Defence White Paper was released stating that the People’s Republic of China is no longer seen as a threat.

China’s IP Theft Costs US $300bn a Year, Says Report

Intellectual property theft, predominantly by Chinese computer hackers, costs the US economy $300bn (£200bn) a year and must be treated as seriously as terrorism.

Chinese Hackers Found Sensitive U.S. Government Data on Google Servers

When Chinese hackers breached Google servers in 2010, they were not targeting the Gmail accounts of human rights activists, as the company claimed at the time.

What the hackers were actually after was a database containing years of sensitive information related to U.S. surveillance. Now we have learned that the attack was successful, and the data compromised.

Chinese Hackers Accessed Sensitive Data After Breached Google, U.S. officials say

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.

China’s state-sponsored hackers attack US again

Chinese “state-sponsored” hackers have renewed attacks on the US, after a unit of the Chinese army was named in February as the source of many cyber attacks on US companies, a media report said.

According to BBC, cyber-defence company Mandiant told the New York Times daily that the army’s Unit 61398, believed to operate from a heavily guarded building in Shanghai, has recently stepped up its activity.

The company did not name which US agencies and businesses were attacked.

U.S. ‘Losing’ Cyber War, Says House Intelligence Chairman

Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Mich., the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said the United States is losing the cyberwar with the Chinese government.

“They use their military and intelligence structure to [steal] intellectual property from American businesses, and European businesses, and Asian businesses, repurpose it and then compete in the international market against the United States,” Rogers said.

Experts: China has hacked most of Washington Institutions

WASHINGTON — Start asking security experts which powerful Washington institutions have been penetrated by Chinese cyberspies, and this is the usual answer: almost all of them.

The list of those hacked in recent years includes law firms, think tanks, news organizations, human rights groups, contractors, congressional offices, embassies and federal agencies.

China Is USA’s #1 Cyber Threat: U.S. Govt. Report

A new report by the National Intelligence Estimate confirms that China is America’s biggest cyber threat.

The report is classified, but people with knowledge of the findings spoke to The Washington Post on the condition of anonymity.

U.S.- China’s target of massive cyber-espionage campaign

A new intelligence assessment has concluded that the United States is the target of a massive, sustained cyber-espionage campaign that is threatening the country’s economic competitiveness, according to individuals familiar with the report.

The National Intelligence Estimate identifies China as the country most aggressively seeking to penetrate the computer systems of American businesses and institutions to gain access to data that could be used for economic gain.

Drawing lessons from Chinese attacks on US media

Not every media company is as tempting a target for hackers as The New York Times, The Washington Post, or The Wall Street Journal. Not every company can afford high-priced computer security consultants, either. Is there anything that everyday reporters and their editors can learn about protecting themselves, based on the revelatory details the Times and other targets made public last week?

As we wrote at the time, the cyber-attacks on the Times, the Post, and the Journal came as no surprise to foreign reporters working in China or elsewhere who repeatedly face fake emails, custom malware, and hacking attacks on their webmail. But the level of access that the hackers obtained at the Times’ main offices, and the publication of details by their technical advisers, can be instructive.

‘Chinese still hacking us,’ says Wall Street Journal owner

Several U.S. media outlets experienced a massive wave of cyberattacks allegedly coming from the Chinese military over the last few months. While some newspapers have claimed that their networks are now safe, the Wall Street Journal may still be a victim of the online onslaught.

The newspaper’s owner Rupert Murdock tweeted today, “Chinese still hacking us, or were over weekend.”

The Wall Street Journal confirmed last week that it had been the target of cyberattacks in recent months because of its coverage of China. Apparently, hackers infiltrated the newspaper’s computer system through its Beijing bureau in order to monitor the paper’s coverage of the Far East country.

What Are Chinese Government Hackers Looking For?

Recent hacker attacks on U.S. media organizations thought to have originated in China are likely to have been motivated by a desire to uncover the sources of information embarrassing to leaders in Beijing, according to Chinese communications and security experts.

Last week, The New York Times newspaper accused hackers traced to China of “persistently” infiltrating its computer networks over the last four months, sparking an angry denial from Beijing.

Cyber-attack on the NY Times Was Directed by the Communist Propaganda Department- Insider Says

A CCP top-level insider verified the cyber-attack on the New York Times was directed by the CCP Publicity Department.

Buxun.com reported on February 2nd that Beijing Top level revealed the cyber-attack on the New York Times was on the orders of Publicity Department network management office.

The message revealed that Liu Yunshan, Liu Qibao and the head of network management office Wang Chen were masterminds in the cyber attack.

Expert: China hacking “reaching an intolerable level”

A STRING of cyber attacks on major US media outlets has intensified worries over Chinese hackers, who analysts say are probably linked to the secretive Beijing government.

The attacks, part of a series of incidents traced to Chinese servers associated with previous intrusions, underscore an urgent need for Washington to pressure Beijing to rein in its digital warriors, experts say.

Other security professionals argue it is hard to be certain the attacks stem from China or that the hackers acted at the behest of the government.

Chinese Hackers Attacked Washington Post’s Computers

A sophisticated cyberattack targeted The Washington Post in an operation that resembled intrusions against other major American news organizations and that company officials suspect was the work of Chinese hackers, people familiar with the incident said.

Post company officials confirmed the broad outlines of the infiltration, which was discovered in 2011 and first reported by an independent cybersecurity blog on Friday. But they did not elaborate on the circumstances, the duration of the intrusion or its apparent origin.

Google’s chairman calls China “The Most sophisticated Kacker” in New Book

Eric Schmidt, the executive chairman of Google, has criticised China in his new book, describing the country as the world’s “most sophisticated and prolific hacker”.

According to extracts quoted by the Wall Street Journal, Schmidt’s new book, The New Digital Age, paints a picture of a dangerous superpower using “illicit competition” to see off rivals.

China Singled Out by U.S. for Cyberspying

WASHINGTON—The U.S. government accused the Chinese of being the world’s “most active and persistent” perpetrators of economic spying, an unusual move designed to spur stronger U.S. and international action to combat rampant industrial espionage threatening U.S. economic growth.

Russian intelligence agents also are conducting extensive spying to collect U.S. economic data and technology, according to a U.S. intelligence report released Thursday that concluded China and Russia are “the most aggressive collectors” of U.S. economic information and technology.

“The nations of China and Russia, through their intelligence services and through their corporations, are attacking our research and development,” said U.S. counterespionage chief Robert Bryant.

China’s Cyber Attack Targets Fortune 100 Chemical Firms: Report

Canadian operators of telecommunications networks, power grids, water systems and other services of vital importance are growing less prepared for a potentially devastating cyber attack, Symantec Corp. said in a report released on Monday.

In a separate report, the world’s largest security software maker also uncovered a series of attacks targeting dozens of companies in the industrial chemical production sector, which the company traced to a single user based in China.

Applied Research telephoned 3,475 companies in 37 countries between August and September, including 625 in Canada, on behalf of Symantec. The second annual Symantec Critical Infrastructure Protection Survey found providers were growing complacent about potential threats posed by computer hackers.

“Critical infrastructure providers are less engaged with their government’s CIP [critical infrastructure protection] programs, less concerned about threats and less ready than 12 months ago,” reads an excerpt from the 15-page report.

China state-run military TV program shows cyber warfare against US entities (photo)

(Epochtimes)- A standard, even boring, piece of Chinese military propaganda screened in mid-July included what must have been an unintended but nevertheless damaging revelation: shots from a computer screen showing a Chinese military university is engaged in cyberwarfare against entities in the United States.

The documentary itself was otherwise meant as praise to the wisdom and judgment of Chinese military strategists, and a typical condemnation of the United States as an implacable aggressor in the cyber-realm. But the fleeting shots of an apparent China-based cyber-attack somehow made their way into the final cut.

The screenshots appear as B-roll footage in the documentary for six seconds—between 11:04 and 11:10 minutes—showing custom-built Chinese software apparently launching a cyber-attack against the main website of the Falun Gong spiritual practice, by using a compromised IP address belonging to a United States university.

EXPOSED: A picture of the hacking software shown during the Chinese military program. The large writing at the top says "Select Attack Target." Next, the user can choose which IP address to attack from. The drop-down box is a list of Falun Gong websites, while the button on the left says "Attack."