Chinese Hackers Targeting NYPD Computers

Mike writes "A network of hackers, most based in China, have been making up to 70,000 attempts a day to break into the NYPD's computer system, the city's Commissioner, Raymond Kelly, revealed Wednesday. Kelly suggested that 'perhaps it is because of the NYPD's reach into the international arena' that they are being targeted for computer hacking 'in much the way the Pentagon has been.' The hackers are apparently using a botnet to make up to 5,000 attempts a day at various unsecured portals into the NYPD's files. China's foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang denied involvement in computer espionage. 'Some people outside of China are bent on fabricating lies of so-called Chinese computer spies,' he said last month. The obvious question is, why are the Chinese so interested in the NYPD computer network?"

Comments

Why?

[Locke2005]

why are the Chinese so interested in the NYPD computer network? Perhaps hey've been watching too much US "Law And Order" style television programming?

Re:Why?

[Anonymous Coward]

Pentagon needs an enemy. Now it's chinamen coming through cyberspace. And we get thousands upon thousands of news items like this. All blaming random port scans on chinese with no proof or basis in reality to lay it on them than anybody else.

More likely it's Pentagon or CIA goons themselves trying to get a defence budget raise through chinese zombie machines they've captured with the help of Microsoft Windows and Cisco.

That's so cute!

[jtownatpunk.net]

Awwww. The NYPD thinks they're special. :rolleyes:

I must be special, too, because I log tons of probes. Hundreds, sometimes thousands a day.

Re:Chinese organized crime?

[t33jster]

Human trafficking? Drugs? Two obvious ones off the top of my head.

Exactly. This isn't necessarily the Chinese government, but perhaps some criminal enterprise that has an ajenda with the NYPD. We know the Great Firewall of China is relatively effective of keeping unwholsome content out of China, but what about the reverse? It is not so inconcevable that there are a bunch of pirated Win2k machines in internet cafes around the country that are members of some huge botnet.

Why?

[whathappenedtomonday]

Just a wild guess.
Who trusts IPs, though?

Re:Track an IP?

[plover]

Qin Gang denied involvement in computer espionage. 'Some people outside of China are bent on fabricating lies of so-called Chinese computer spies,'

"So-called Chinese computer spies"? Let's just shut off the routers involved and see exactly which country complains.

It probably won't be China doing the complaining, because China will be cut off from the net about that time.

International area?

[cstdenis]

Kelly suggested that 'perhaps it is because of the NYPD's reach into the international arena' that they are being targeted for computer hacking

WTF is the NYPD reaching into the international arena? That's not their job. They shouldn't be doing anything outside of NY.

Re:Track an IP?

[Ex-MislTech]

Well it is more than Botnets.

http://www.redorbit.com/news/technology/1661861/cyberspies_hack_computers_in_103_countries/

Some respected ppl in Canada have seen things
that make it appears its not as minor as one
might think.

To make matters worse counterfeit chips were
made to put into Cisco gear and used to
penetrate the pentagon among other places.

http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/10/24/1819200

So any one piece looks mildly nefarious, but
when you dig deeper than what I have here
you start to see a pattern for concern.

Just my 2 cents.