Slashdot Mirror
A Year's Further Research On an Espionage Network
Mortimer.CA writes "Last year researchers discovered a giant electronic spying operation they dubbed GhostNet. Now, after a further year's worth of research, Infowar Monitor has released a new report. The report (Scribbed PDF) documents a complex ecosystem of cyber espionage that systematically targeted and compromised computer systems in India, the Offices of the Dalai Lama, the United Nations, and several other countries. While the servers are in China, the report's authors say that there is 'no evidence in this report of the involvement of the People's Republic of China or any other government in the shadow network.' Furthermore, the 'intruders even stole documents related to the travel of NATO forces in Afghanistan, illustrating that even though the Indian government was the primary target of the attacks, one gap in computer security can leave many nations exposed.'"
Just the sort of things these scumbags ingage in... http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2010/04/06/cyber-espionage-research.html
...
Plausible. Deniability.
I continue to get a kick out of the Chinese government's fixation on the Dalai Lama. If the whole thing didn't involve the theft of a nation and the brutal repression of the Tibetan people, the situation would be hilarious in a Monthy Python sort of way.
If libertarians are so opposed to effective government, why don't they all move to Somalia?
Over the last ten years, as the laws got stricter in some countries, it's fairly easy to observe the shift of malicious cyberbehavior to others, not unlike pressing down on parts of a balloon and watching the rest expand. It's also interesting to note that the centers of gravity with regard to this type of activity, whether spam, malware, or apparently even spying, appear to coincide with areas that have a lowered regard of copyright and other intellectual property.
I suspect the strongest thing we can do for computer security is to create and approve a framework of laws that engender respect for intellectual property of all stripes, from corporate data, to music, movies, and video games. While many of us are leery of the DMCA, I think we can eventually all agree that a rising tide lifts all boats, and that empowering users to take control over how their information is shared is ultimately a good thing; especially if it creates an environment in which cybercrime can no longer flourish into our computers.
The team describes its findings in a report called Shadows in the Cloud: An investigation into Cyber Espionage 2.0
Even "researchers" have caught the marketing bug. "Cloud" "Cyber" "2.0"
Full report here:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/29435784/SHADOWS-IN-THE-CLOUD-Investigating-Cyber-Espionage-2-0
We also discovered a gigantic copyright infringement network, which is codenamed "scribd."
The best bit of journalism in the last year on this subject:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/02/business/global/02hacker.html?emc=eta1
Now - read the story of Maija the not-so-l33t hacker and pay special attention to how the story explains how the Chinese special intelligence services work. The whole thing is outsourced, loose affiliation. The blackwater-ization of hacking, where for the government is most interested in a plausible denial.
Then tell me again how the Chinese intelligence services aren't funding and running Ghostnet.
The way I see it, these hackers probably get treated as well as Bobby Kotick treats his people. Do thy bidding and get hookers sent over for lunch, maybe two if you find a 0-day.
From wikipedia "Its command and control infrastructure is based mainly in the People's Republic of China and has infiltrated high-value political, economic and media locations[3] in 103 countries. Computer systems belonging to embassies, foreign ministries and other government offices, and the Dalai Lama's Tibetan exile centers in India, London and New York City were compromised. Although the activity is mostly based in China, there is no conclusive evidence that the Chinese government is involved in its operation.[4]"
Anyone want to take a bet on the percentage of compromised Windows systems versus Linux system versus Macs?
See my journal for slashdot ID's by year. Mine created in 2005. http://slashdot.org/journal/289875/slashdot-ids-by-year
Because you downloaded the linked pdf and got pwnz0r3dz0mg!!1!!!!1
so build into all US produced ( or at least with US label ) network devices a small Trojan Boot Loader hidden with dirty programming.
and activate these TBL's with instructions hidden in serachengine answers- according to the serial No of who bought which.
And you end up with a fifth colon paid by the very IT user.
( A French Diplomat made a slip of tounge when asked if they did not fear Argentine to use Exocet missiles against themselves: we can switch it off - analogue a US Diplomat may slipof tongue: we can switch it ON )
and always has been, and don't try to tell the Chinese differently.
Best Slashdot Co
I think you just discovered a big botnet. Countless machines are being used a camouflage to blur out the real man behind the operations.
Probably, it's just a free game with an open door. Anyone who figured out this botnet's protocol would be able to use it for free.
Where is the non-Scribbed PDF?
Does anyone really believe that the Chinese (or any other government) would be stupid enough to do this from their own servers? One of the key tenents of espianoge is to cover your tracks. The closest something like this will ever get to the Chinese government is if the CIA or some other intelligence service happens to catch someone handing off a USB drive filled with whatever digital loot was acquired from the botnet. The government itself does not need to directly sponsor this sort of activity. It would be political suicide to do so. It is much too easy to obfuscate the process by farming it out.
Of course every country out there spies, but most don't try to take over innocent civilians computers in a bid to do so.
It is mentioned on Slashdot not because of the action, but the method.
Well if the US or Russia does take over civilians computers, they are at least better at hiding it than the Chinese.
That is one thing about the Chinese government, they don't tend to be subtle.
Don't know something? Look it up. Still don't know? Then ask.
I find it quite ironic that they publish their report as a PDF, one of the biggest sources of vulnerabilities known to man. Why not something a bit more open and standard, like HTML?
That is one thing about the Chinese government, they don't tend to be subtle.
Not necessarily Perhaps you're transposing the awkward and unsubtle dialect of Chinglish to other aspects of Chinese culture.
Why couldn't this be China. Perhaps they don't have the resources of the US or Europe to find more discrete methods of espionage. Perhaps they just don't care who knows. Clearly it doesn't matter all that much if the evidence points to them because so many people are reluctant to accuse China anyway.
I'd say the ones doing the work are probably sloppy. Skilled, but not thorough enough to cover their tracks. And the higher ups are probably feeling rather cocky and couldn't care less since on the international stage they seem to be getting their way anyway.
The Indian government called, they want their curry recipe back.
That's usually an excuse used by an extrovert suffering from feelings of inadequacy.
How was that a troll? PDFs suck, we all hate having to deal with them.... yet they offer no other way to view the report.