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FBI Looks Into Chinese Role in Darfur Site Hack
Amy Bennett writes "This past weekend we discussed an increasing level of attacks online, targeting Tibetan-based NGOs. Now the BBC is reporting that the Save Darfur Coalition has called in the FBI on what appears to be a similar matter. Allyn Brooks-LaSure, a spokesman with the group, doesn't know who is behind the attacks, but he said the IP addresses of the computers that had hacked his organization were from China. Save Darfur has been trying to get China, one of Sudan's largest trading partners, to pressure Sudan's government into stopping the mass killings in Darfur's ongoing civil war. 'Someone in Beijing is trying to send us a message,' Brooks-LaSure said. Probably the same message they're sending by continuing to shut down video sites covering the Tibetan unrest."
And what do they do? They proceed to show the world that they are still a backwards oppressive country with no common sense, jeopardizing much of the progress that they've made over a bunch of piss-ass monks and to avoid some bad press that 99.9% of the world would have ignored if they hadn't tried so hard to supress it.
Is there no Chinese term for "Bad PR" or are they just that stupid?
Don't get me wrong, I'm no fan of the Dali Lama (like Penn Gillette, I think his intentions are a lot less pure than he lets on). But jeez China, USE YOUR HEAD. At least wait until AFTER the Olympics to start busting heads.
SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
I find it amazing that countries are still able to act with such impunity over the Internet, just because they aren't doing these things in the physical realm.
98% of America's teens drink alcohol, smoke, and have sex. Put this in your sig if you like bagels.
So what if the IP came from China? Are there not a billion people there, who probably do have computers with default exploitable installations of Linux or Windows that could be used to launch attacks elsewhere? Not everything has to read like a Tom Clancy novel when it comes to international events.
Lately the world's been trying to undermine China who is looking like the next superpower. Western leaders are continually meeting with the Dalai Lama to make them mad. Soon there will be Olympic boycotts.
Analytic & algebraic topology of locally Euclidean meterization of infinitely differentiable Riemmanian manifold
"Save Darfur has been trying to get China, one of Sudan's largest trading partners, to pressure Sudan's government into stopping the mass killings in Darfur's ongoing civil war."
First, Sudan's north-south civil war is a separate matter from the Darfur genocide. Second, it has not only been Save Darfur, but also the entire UN, that has been trying to pressure China to stop funding the genocide. However, China has refused to budge, and likewise have the powers of the world. The only real progress that has been made is for individual states, universities, and organizations to remove all of their investments in companies that do business with the Sudanese government and indirectly profit from the genocide. Sudanese divestment has influenced many companies to pull out of contracts with Sudan and it is definitely having some effect.
For an excellent introduction to China's role in the Darfur genocide, watch Frontline's special for free online.
To see how much your state congressmen are doing to divest contracts from Sudan, see DarfurScores.Org. The Sudan Divestment Task Force has info on which states and organizations are divesting, and which ones are sitting on their hands.
that is the real question. I think they don't.
Why? Because even with all the previous threats and actual atrocities they committed they were granted the Olympics. Every time they threaten Taiwan and the US responds in the political arena its the US who is chastised for being the war mongers.
The real question is, what is the fate of places like Tibet and Taiwan during and AFTER the Olympics?
* Winners compare their achievements to their goals, losers compare theirs to that of others.
OK, so don't open the emails. Really, does it need the FBI to tell you this?
Better, maybe use a platform that isn't susceptible to Word/OS viruses and trojans.
Better yet, how about some anti-virus software?
politicians are like babies' nappies: they should both be changed regularly and for the same reasons
I thought that China had that covered by offering "bullet proof server" services with -allegdely- the ok from authorities to hack from there. They can then blame hacking from China-ip on users of that service, in a kind or tor-like denyability ( "it's not my traffic, my computer is an exit node" won't hold in court, except if you're a country).
To be honest, I heard this on slashdot; if someone can find the post or the poster elaborate, that would be great.
Don't take my posts literally; it's just code to control my botnet.
I know how Dr. Paul rates among this crowd, and I myself was a devoted fan, until I found out about his stance on the Darfur genocide and Sudanese divestment. See this thread for the details and an informative discussion.
You have to realize that many Chinese youth today feel China is wronged by the West by a double standard, I won't go into the details as you can read them yourself (ex. the fb group "Tibet WAS,IS,and ALWAYS WILL BE a part of China"). But the point is, the attack is more likely to be caused by a Chinese citizen than the government itself.
In another story I read this comment by Digestromath (1190577) and it pretty much nails it.
Like the parent said, the Chinese government would be stupid to attack these sites right before the Olympics. I read a book called "China Shakes the World" By James Kynge and in one chapter in mentioned how the Chinese government has "nurtured nationalism in the youth into so potent a force that they are about to loose control of it."(remembering from the top of my mind...)For example, Only recently are the Japanese portrayed in a semi-positive light in WWII TV series, which probably explains the large amount of people that participate in anti-Japanese riots.
Of course the Chinese government could do more to stop these attacks, but the political climate in China prevents it from happening. No, I'm not talking about the dictatorship of the people. See, anyone that stands up and say these actions are wrong would be labeled a traitor by both politicians and majority of the citizens alike. So politicians tries to avoid denouncing anti-foreigner actions for the sake of their own skin.
'Someone in Beijing is trying to send us a message,' Brooks-LaSure said. What happened to just writing a letter?
That's not Picasso, that's Kandinsky!
Chinese hackers have the blessing of their government to hone their skills against political enemies. Someday these skills will be needed for military enemies.
The Chinese shooting team needs to practice for the Olympics, preferably with moving targets, you insensitive clod!
...but in the last 10 years I can hardly think of a war started by china. So maybe the US reputation of warmonger isn't so overrated.
C. Sagan : A demon haunted world:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0345409469/
visit randi.org
Actually, I still think we could hurt them far more than they can hurt us, for the following reasons:
I will agree with you on one thing though: our multinationals are selling us out. They are building factories there so that they can sell in that market and avoid duties, but that really sucks for us because it pumps up the economy of a repressive regime. Still, though, at least that reason is better than the more common reason, which is that they want cheap labor to make goods they will ultimately sell not in China, but in the US. That's almost treason to humanity, because there are many countries in the world that aren't so repressive and that have people who would be desperate for those jobs and would work just as cheap. But no, we give their jobs to the repressive nation.
Beware of bugs in the above code; I have only proved it correct, not tried it.
Seems to me the best solution for the Chinese would be to make sure there markets remain stable and willing to buy Chinese manufactured goods. If this involves a military assault on Washington and annexing New York, San Fransico and LA to ensure US co-operation then so be it thats just good business.
You might feel it as a flamebait... But sadly this is the feeling which is most probably shared by a lot of people right now. In the last 10 years the US has waged more war than China did (zero for China as far as I can tell). As such the US has earned a reputation of warmonger, whereas China, however how bad at human right is, has made no war in the last 10 years, and thus is not a warmonger.
C. Sagan : A demon haunted world:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0345409469/
visit randi.org
What have the FBI/CIA/Justice Department been doing to Al-Qaeda and other web sites belonging to Muslim extremists? Possibly infiltrating and shutting them down?
The Western/American hypocrisy is piling up, nice and thick.
there are huge botnets in China. Just because the IP address was Chinese does not prove China is the origin of the attack.
See, anyone that stands up and say these actions are wrong would be labeled a traitor by both politicians and majority of the citizens alike. So politicians tries to avoid denouncing anti-foreigner actions for the sake of their own skin.
It's more than that; that kind of nationalism (such as the "eternal dominance" claims over Tibet and Taiwan) serves directly to legitimize the power and prestige of the existing government. They're not just scared to denounce it; they actively encourage it because it helps promote their power. People who are passionately committed to their existing government and to what they see it as standing for don't much care if they technically can't vote or publicly disagree with policy; and it's much easier to convince a mob that they're The Best, from The Longest Cultural Tradition, with a Manifest Destiny Over Everything, etc. than to convince them that they don't need a public sphere because Things Are In Good Hands. Especially in the sticks, where there's no other distraction because they won't get rich and live fat, dumb, and happy.
If you think about it, it's exactly the same tactics that function very effectively in (ferinstance) conservative politics in the US.
Freedom isn't free; its price is the well-being of others.
A link with some info:
http://www.thewhir.com/marketwatch/0324008_FBI_Probe_Darfur_Protest_Site_Hack.cfm
Registration required:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/23/AR2008032300014.html
guys, if you're reading this site, you're not idiots. go read wikipedia to see the history of Tibet! if you're not hopelessly brainwashed by all the American propaganda, you'll see the continuing encrouchment upon Tibet by the British and American Empires (plus the now defunct Russian Empire). Even as a little as 50 years, ago, the US was actively funding guerilla warfare in Tibet, trying to steal it from China. And now, it's more than a little obvious that the US is behind the Dalai Lama in actively creating violent unreset in Tibet, in its renewed attempt to separate a large piece of territory from its number one rival. Perhaps the US can see the Iraq invasion is drawing to a conclusion and it's setting the stage for the next war. Who knows what kind of lying propaganda it's going to come up with this time as an excuse to invade China - "weapons of mass destruction" perhaps?
Moreover, Tibet considered itself part of China even before the North American continent was invaded and illegally occupied by the British and European colonists who brutally slaughtered the natives into near extinction. I would challenge anyone who cries "free Tibet" to firstly protest against the occupation of the North American continent (and Australia while you're at it), and after the greater crimes have been addressed, you may begin to complain about the Tibeten situation.
Was going to write the exact thing. Chinese leadership has always done as they please, and the 'west' coming in and wanting to use their facilities/cheap labour only doesn't change anything, it only provides them with a skilled workforce, and lots of 'western' technology for free.
If anything this has let the leadership know that as long as we get our cheap toys and electronics we'll turn a blind eye to anything not directly impacting the price and availability of said cheap items.
The US interest in Tibet and Taiwan is for its own strategic interests, rather than genuine concern over human rights. Back in 1970's, China was still under Mao and was in a period known as the Cultural Revolution; it was one million times more oppressive than it is now and over half million people died for political reason (comparing to maybe tens to hundreds, depending on the reports you read, of people are under arrest for political views today.) YET , it was at that time the US gave up on Taiwan to foster closer tie with China in order to fend off the Soviet Unions. And now, China has opened up and has much better human rights landscape comparing to the pre-reform era, but the US started pressing China on the human rights and gave Taiwan much more supports. Why? Because China becomes so strong now and Taiwan is known as the "unsinkable aircraft carrier" of the US to contain China's expansion. The US cannot afford to lose it -- not to mention the billions of dollars of weapon sales. To the best of our interest, Taiwan should neither go independent nor re-unify with China, we should continue to provoke the war of words between China and Taiwan and enjoy the billions of weapon sales 9along with the Russian defense industry.)
Similarly, Tibet is such a remote mountainous region with very limited resources and capability, it is only good for deploying missiles. Tibet cannot be truly independent -- it must rely on some big country for foods and supports. either it can rely on China or it relies on the US. The US can then deploy missiles along its food supplies -- like what we do in easter European countries.
And for your last question, nothing bad will happen to either places after the Olympics or in the future, unless the US start stirring up again. They are just two pieces on the chess board played by China and the US -- just like China used to be a piece on the board between US and Soviet Unions. Oh... by the way, Taiwan just elected a pro-China president over the weekend, ditching the pro-independent DPP.
Here's the current list of IPs. I stuck the entire country on the "drop all packets" list a while back on some of my servers and never looked back. AND got a significant reduction in the random crap that tried to break into my stuff.
http://www.apnic.net/apnic-bin/ipv4-by-country.pl?country=cn
There never was any useful traffic from there for what I am doing, so no loss.
While the US certainly has its indoctrination process, they still fundamentally believe in the right of free speech and assembly. It is interesting that china apologists most frequently reach for the "you're bad too" argument. If something happens and you're critical to a person, and then they look at you coldly and say "you're no better than me" - that highlights a pretty poor moral development. Kohlberg's stages of moral development would rank this at stage 2, self-interest orientation. That's one level better than "obedience and punishment orientation".
There is a relationship between morality and harmony, and transitively to happiness. Concerned onlookers see Chinese people suffering so much that they risk there livelihoods to express their bitter dissatisfaction. Other Chinese people are beating them into shape, and in turn, reinforcing the idea of destroying problems, instead of recognizing opportunities. This is a vicious cycle and the suffering is completely unnecessary. Still, it's impossible to talk to most Chinese about it, because they tend to be so defensive, and quickly resort to attacking the misdeeds of others. It seems they don't want some basic intelligence to interfere with their misery.
If you are in doubt about the types of things that Chinese censorship tries to cover up, then it is worth exploring why they'd bother doing it in the first place. But that's dangerous talk within China, isn't that so? But if you just let go of the whole damn thing and you'll be fine. It's simple - you treat each other well, and then there's nothing to cover up, and nobody gets pissed off.
China can best prove itself a great nation by showing that it knows how to live in harmony.
Like all pain, suffering is a signal that something isn't right
When are we going to free Uighurstan?
... who other people talk to?
Hmm. A Communist dicatorship, perhaps. I hear they sort of get off on that.
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Do the Chinese not understand free association?
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I think you will find that the Chinese government understand counterrevolutionary activity quite well, Comrade. It is the West who doesn't understand China, because its intellectual class has been self-deceptive for decades about Communism. ("You can't say that! We're just as bad!") China is a one-party totalitarian state where genocide at home and abroad is explicit government policy when it serves their objectives. ("Stop saying that! Iraq! War is bad! Viva la revolution and smash imperialism!")
Help poke pirates in the eyepatch, arr.