Sunday, March 29, 2009

Cyberspy Network Hacked 103 Countries' Systems

Here's the deal: Canadian researchers with the Information Warfare Monitor (IWM) started out seeing if there was anything to claims that the Chinese government had been using computers to spy with Tibetans living in exile.

Chinese Cyberspying: Big Time

I can see why China's government would want to keep track of Tibetans who escaped "Xizang Province." People like that could be an embarrassment. Tibet's got other names, too: but since I use American English - and so do you - I'll use a name you're likely to recognize.

So far, IWM has found 103 countries whose computers have been hacked by a small, selective, network that just happens to be mostly in China.

As The Canada Press put it:

" 'What we found is not so much unprecedented in scope and sophistication,' said Nart Villeneuve, a senior IWM analyst.

" 'But the relatively small size of the network and concentration of high-value targets is significant. It does not fit the profile for a typical cyber crime network.'

"Principal investigators Ron Deibert and Rafal Rohozinski said: 'This report serves as a wake-up call.'..."

Wake-Up Call - Not to be Alarmist, but This Sounds Serious

I've been reading about hacked government sites for some time. It's not exactly being hushed up, but news services haven't seemed overly eager to put the story up front, either.

Can't say that I blame them, considering the sort of comments I've gotten when I used the 'wrong' word for Xizang Province, and suggested that China's invasion and occupation of Tibet - and policies in general - fell somewhat short of the idea.

This time around, though, there doesn't seem to be so much polite reticence.

Good thing, too. The way I see it, breaking into another nation's files isn't nice: even it it's a virtual break-in.

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