A Year's Further Research On an Espionage Network

Posted by kdawson on Tuesday April 6, 2010 @06:02AM 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.'"

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Let me refer all of you to this... by GPLDAN · 2010-04-06 06:31 · Score: 5, Informative

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.