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A Year's Further Research On an Espionage Network

Posted by kdawson on from the ghostnet's-successor dept.

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.'"

5 of 61 comments (clear)

  1. Ooooh! The Dalai Lama! by oldspewey · · Score: 4, Interesting

    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?
    1. Re:Ooooh! The Dalai Lama! by sopssa · · Score: 1, Interesting

      Or someone is going after Dalai Lama in a crudely obsessive way to make you think it's Chinese doing it in a crudely obsessive way so you would think it's the Chinese who are trying to hide it by doing it in a crudely obsessive way.

  2. Research 2.0 by Jazz-Masta · · Score: 4, Interesting

    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

  3. and there is never a case of US involvement? by kubitus · · Score: 2, Interesting
    Echelon is too costly.

    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 )

  4. Re:Scumbags by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    >That makes me suspect Chinese have nothing to do with it, but its either some other nation using Chinese as a gateway and making them get the heat, or it's someone trying to make Chinese image bad.

    I wouldn't say chinese aren't involved instead I think the articles confirms what's widely known in the hacking world but seems to be distorted in press everytime a hacking ring is traced to china.

    These hackers whomever they are is motivated by profit. Instead of stealing bank information they're stealing strategic information (missile placements, defense protocol, etc.) and then selling it for profit to whomever wants it, be it the chinese government or maybe india's archrival pakistan or corporations with businesses in india.

    There's a tendency to see china as some kind of monolithic entity, meaning if a chinese person did something then "China" must of done it, but peel away the generalizations and as the article states there's different groups with different goals at work.