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Chinese Hackers Strike Energy Companies

Posted by timothy on from the plz-send-me-yer-planz-kthxbai dept.

angry tapir writes "Chinese hackers working regular business hours shifts stole sensitive intellectual property from energy companies for as long as four years using relatively unsophisticated intrusion methods in an operation dubbed 'Night Dragon,' according to a new report from security vendor McAfee." Reader IT.luddite links this informative PDF from CERT.

28 of 124 comments (clear)

  1. Oh, I Get It by DWMorse · · Score: 3, Funny

    More power to the people, eh?

    --
    There's a spot in User Info for World of Warcraft account names? Really?
    1. Re:Oh, I Get It by spun · · Score: 3, Informative

      Tiamat was a Babylonian chaos monster and ocean goddess. No ancient texts described her as dragon-like, that is a D&D invention.

      Though Tiamat is often described by modern authors as a sea serpent or dragon, no ancient texts exist in which there is a clear association with those kinds of creatures, and the identification is debated.[8] The Enûma Elish specifically states that Tiamat did give birth to dragons and serpents, but they are included among a larger and more general list of monsters including scorpion men and merpeople, none of which imply that any of the children resemble the mother or are even limited to aquatic creatures.

      In the Enûma Elish her physical description includes a tail, a thigh, "lower parts" (which shake together), a belly, an udder, ribs, a neck, a head, a skull, eyes, nostrils, a mouth, and lips. She has insides (possibly "entrails"), a heart, arteries, and blood.

      The strictly modern depiction of Tiamat as a multi-headed dragon was popularized in the 1970s as a fixture of the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game inspired by earlier sources associating Tiamat with later mythological characters, such as Lotan.

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiamat

      --
      - None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license. -- John Milton
  2. Obligatory: ( +1, Inflammatory) by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    All your BTU are belong to US.

    Yours In Odessa,
    K. Trout

    1. Re: Obligatory: ( +1, Inflammatory) by Jeremiah+Cornelius · · Score: 2

      Lighten up. He's just makin' an in-joke.

      Yours,
      Laszlo Toth

      --
      "Flyin' in just a sweet place,
      Never been known to fail..."
  3. Unsophisticated intrusion methods by cappp · · Score: 4, Insightful

    So the article detailing unsophisticated intrusion methods itself requires you to allow cookies before it's readable? Firefox, Opera, and IE all open a blank page if you refuse to accept their little offerings. So English majors...it is ironic?

    Oh and bonus points for throwing a pdf in there too.

  4. Pylons by xMrFishx · · Score: 5, Funny

    ...and all that was found were the words: "You must construct additional pylons".

  5. Operation Night Dragon by The+O+Rly+Factor · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Sounds more like the name of a McAfee marketing campaign.

  6. Just how sensitive is it? by jfengel · · Score: 2

    The "sensitive intellectual property" turns out to be 18,384 files that employees had ripped from CD and DVD. The MPAA and RIAA estimate it's collectively worth $835,682,912, but I think they're exaggerating.

  7. Now wait a second... by Lloyd_Bryant · · Score: 3, Insightful

    From TFA:

    Further, the attacks appeared to originate from computers on IP (Internet protocol) addresses in Beijing, between 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. local time there, suggesting that the culprits were regular company employees rather than freelance or unprofessional hackers, McAfee said in its report.

    Or maybe those responsible has pwned some computers at a business, which were only turned on between 9 and 5. While McAfee's conclusion is possible, I wouldn't consider it likely without some other evidence supporting it.

    --
    Don't tell me to get a life. I had one once. It sucked.
    1. Re:Now wait a second... by Nethemas+the+Great · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Since when did the Chinese have such lax work hours...?

      --
      Two of my imaginary friends reproduced once ... with negative results.
  8. Stay classy, China by benjfowler · · Score: 3, Interesting

    The mainland Chinese really will do anything to win. I've seen it repeatedly with my own eyes. I think it's got something to do with having to deal with the cognitive dissonace of thinking you're the master race, while nursing a massive inferiority complex viz-a-viz the West.

    What I find amusing, is their apparently thin skins -- although when it comes to doing all these totally immoral things and losing tons of face, they don't show any shame at all.

    Maybe the only way to deal with this kind of moral squalor we see so often from the mainlanders, is to trumpet their misdeeads from the hilltops as loudly as possible; red Chinee have no morals, but they DO have a honour/shame culture, and will avoid doing the wrong thing if they will be called out on it.

    1. Re:Stay classy, China by DigiShaman · · Score: 5, Insightful

      It's called the Cultural Revolution and it officially started in 1966. While it was mainly toward purging capitalism, it was in fact much much more damaging. Essentially, 3000+ years of Chinese culture was WIPED OUT. In effect, all modern Chinese are suffering from cultural amnesia. An entire civilization "rebooted" back to the very beginning except for language and minor customs. From a Western POV, China post-revolution is a new nation formed in the year 1966. Quite young.

      If you're like me, you get the feeling that you're walking among a nation ran like the Lord of the Flies mentality when walking the streets of any major city. No manners, no trust, no honor, and lots of back stabbing politics from friends and co-workers. At best, family is all you can rely on in that nation. Quite sad!

      --
      Life is not for the lazy.
    2. Re:Stay classy, China by wan9xu · · Score: 2

      i'm a chinese mainlander, and i endorse this message.

    3. Re:Stay classy, China by Local+ID10T · · Score: 4, Insightful

      It is not immoral to the Chinese. The only shame is in getting caught red-handed. If it can't be conclusively proven, then it is not relevant. Winning is winning.

      --
      "You want to know how to help your kids? Leave them the fuck alone." -George Carlin
    4. Re:Stay classy, China by DigiShaman · · Score: 2

      It's all up to the Chinese people. But first Beijing needs to stop being so imperialistic over the other provinces. The vanity and news propaganda that comes from the CCP is so obvious, it's insulting to most Chinese that can afford to watch TV. My guess is that they'll either find their roots again, or create a more enlightened culture that mimics other neighboring nations...including Japan if you can believe it.

      --
      Life is not for the lazy.
    5. Re:Stay classy, China by sdguero · · Score: 3, Interesting

      It can definitely make it difficult to do business. 75% of my engineering team is in Beijing. Lucky for us engineers, your reputation, salary, and job rely on the ability to produce accurate, repeatable, results. It has nothing to do with politics, cultural stammering, or hurt feelings. If they tried to move technical support or anything other than engineering over there, we'd be in deep shit. Similarly, if it wasn't for the US team working closely with them, we'd be in deep shit.

      It has gotten to the point where China has first crack at everything, then provides their results and notes to US engineers, then we find holes that get fixed, and give it back to China to do again. usually after 2 or 3 rounds of this we have a solid product. It probably takes 3 times longer than doing it with an all US team and we have to deal with weird cultural things (like everyone over there having inflated titles and egos), but total labor costs are way cheaper and Chinese engineers are smart people. IMO, it's pretty much a wash vs doing it all in the USA.

    6. Re:Stay classy, China by sdguero · · Score: 2

      Just wanted to share a personal story that totally goes with your statements.

      5 years ago I worked for a small company with around 20 engineers that hired a married couple that moved to the USA from mainland China. They both had PhDs from Beijing's premier university (it's name escapes me) and were very smart. They were hired to perform the job that 2 lab techs (one was me) and 1 intern had been doing for the previous 2-3 years. Namely to collect electrical and thermal efficiency data on computer systems. At the time, we had implemented somewhat advanced automation tools and had a pretty neat setup going to collect data.

      When the couple started, I immediately took the lead trying to train them on our current methodologies. It was a NIGHTMARE. They refused to listen to me, as I was a "technician" and consistently interrupted when I provided explanations with forceful statements like "No! That is not right! You are not doing it right! This data is inaccurate!!!!" and would then start lecturing on really simple stuff like EMI shielding etc. that really had nothing to do with what I was showing them. Long story short, I attempted, unsuccessfully to train them for 2 months, then handed over all thermal and electrical testing. The "massive inferiority complex" was so intense that they wouldn't even use the test instruments we tried to train them on. Instead, they tried to purchase new stuff (with some success) that was orders of magnitude more expensive and that they simply didn't need. Their manager (not my manager) was a dolt so he did nothing to rectify, and in fact fueled the flames. For a year we essentially had zero data on our products in those respects, unless I snuck into the lab and ran covert tests for my manager under their noses. When downsizing hit, they were the first let go and I assumed their responsibilities.

      Looking back today, I still don't think there is anything I could have done differently. In fact if I went through the same thing again, I would probably just give up and walk away after a couple weeks, knowing that there is no way I could overcome the egos.

    7. Re:Stay classy, China by sdguero · · Score: 3, Interesting

      The truth isn't always classy. Have you ever been to China? Here is some reading:
      http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,187654,00.html
      http://edition.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/asiapcf/east/05/13/asia.whitening/
      http://www.newsweek.com/2008/07/25/china-s-agony-of-defeat.html

      Don't get me wrong. I like China. I like the food, the women, the Chinese sense of humor. It's more my style than the USA nowadays. But the parent poster is dead on. Modern Chinese have all kinds of complexes about their role in the world.

    8. Re:Stay classy, China by shawb · · Score: 2

      The best description I've heard is: China is what you get when government is run by engineers. The United States is what you get when government is run by lawyers.

      But seriously, the Chinese government tends to have scientists and engineers overrepresented in their officials, while the United States has virtually none save for a handfull of MDs.

      --
      I'll never make that mistake again, reading the experts' opinions. - Feynman
    9. Re:Stay classy, China by hey! · · Score: 3, Interesting

      I think you overestimate the effectiveness of the Cultural Revolution. True, many priceless artifacts were lost, and worse many irreplaceable intellectuals.. But you simply can't wipe out a nation's cultural memory in ten years.

      Look at it this way: Deng Xiao Peng was 62 when the Cultural Revolution started, and during it he was purged not once, but twice. After Mao died, the party turned to Deng because of his experience in dealing with the economic chaos from the Great Leap Forward. They turned to 72 year old Deng because of his experience *before* the Cultural Revolution. Deng was *hated* by the supporters of the Cultural Revolution.The Red Guards even threw his son off the roof of a four story building.

      So that should be enough to show that the Cultural Revolution did not succeed in destroying everything that came before. It would be true to say that it transformed China, and not necessarily for the better, but it would be a mistake to depict it as successful on its own terms. One of its ironic effects it had was to inculcate a strong distaste for "Mao Zedong Thought".

      --
      Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
    10. Re:Stay classy, China by Solandri · · Score: 2

      The mainland Chinese really will do anything to win. I've seen it repeatedly with my own eyes. I think it's got something to do with having to deal with the cognitive dissonace of thinking you're the master race, while nursing a massive inferiority complex viz-a-viz the West.

      What I find amusing, is their apparently thin skins -- although when it comes to doing all these totally immoral things and losing tons of face, they don't show any shame at all.

      It's cultural, and it has nothing to do with thinking they're the master race. It actually applies to nearly all of Asia, not just China, which makes me suspect it's rooted in Confucianism.

      In Western culture, business is seen as something outside of regular social circles. It's something necessary to put food on the table, something that has to be done but shouldn't be a high priority in your life. Someone who prioritizes their job over (say) their girlfriend/wife is seen as an insensitive dolt with his priorities screwed up. As such, industrial espionage, while it happens, is generally frowned upon and considered immoral - you're sacrificing a social moral to accomplish a business objective. That just strikes many Westerners as something like running into your burning house to save your computer, while leaving your pet rabbit to die.

      In Eastern culture, business is seen as an extension of your regular social circles (others being family and country). Just as you are expected to do whatever it takes to feed your family, and whatever it takes to defend your country, you are also expected to do whatever it takes to help your company. Industrial espionage is not only accepted, it's expected. If your boss asks you to steal another company's or country's secrets and you refuse, expect to get fired, and expect zero sympathy from others. It's part of the reason corruption and bribery are still so rampant in Asian countries. Those people are simply maximizing the potential of their position and social circle, the welfare of others be damned.

      You assume that they know that they're doing something immoral and should be ashamed about it, but in that culture it's not considered immoral and the shame would be in refusing to do it. Any Western company doing business with/in China would be well-advised to understand this. The Chinese probably can't believe their luck that Western companies are so stupid to think that they can freely share technology with Chinese companies and expect their ideas not to be stolen/copied because of some Western moral or IP law.

    11. Re:Stay classy, China by victorhooi · · Score: 3, Interesting

      heya,

      Hmm, as a Chinese person (admittedly overseas born), I'm a bit uncomfortable with the idea that culturally we're somehow immoral.

      However, while a bit of a generalisation, I do see your logic. *sigh*. And from experience with dealing with other Chinese, particularly mainlanders, you do see the effects at least, that anything seems to go, as long as you win.

      Another thing you might want to bear in mind is the idea in Confucianism of there being a hierachy of loyalties. One thing that I was taught before was that if you had to lie to the police to protect say, your father, or your boss, that was allowed under our culture, and in fact actively encouraged. It was never suggested that it was a moral quandary, or that it was anything but black and white.

      I don't know what the Slashdot groupthink on this is, but in my mind, the rule of law, and what's "right" should usually take precedence over some weird network of loyalties.

      However, the above might give a little more context to your idea that eschewing morals to get ahead, or help your company get ahead is considered acceptable under Chinese culture.

      Cheers,
      Victor

  9. Style points by PopeRatzo · · Score: 4, Funny

    "Operation Night Dragon"?

    Wait a minute, you mean the Chinese hackers are now naming their operations? These guys were probably harvesting gold in WoW a few months ago, and now they're rock stars.

    The Internet is amazing.

    --
    You are welcome on my lawn.
  10. Re: Stay ignorant, OP by chrisG23 · · Score: 2

    Aside from the errors in the OPs post that you rightfully pointed out, and the flaw in his reasoning, you are saying that he/she is incorrect in his thesis, and that China (government and people's mentality) does not implicitly condone spying on other countries to conduct industrial espionage? Because it looks to me like they do.

  11. McAfee by SnarfQuest · · Score: 2

    Ok, it tool McAfee 4 years to discover this was happening. Does that really make you feel good about using them for your internet security?

    --
    Who would win this election: Andrew Weiner vs Andrew Weiner's weiner.
  12. shame vs. guilt by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    The mainland Chinese really will do anything to win. I've seen it repeatedly with my own eyes. I think it's got something to do with having to deal with the cognitive dissonace of thinking you're the master race, while nursing a massive inferiority complex viz-a-viz the West.

    What I find amusing, is their apparently thin skins -- although when it comes to doing all these totally immoral things and losing tons of face, they don't show any shame at all.

    As a general stereotype:

    The West generally works on the concept of guilt: you feel bad internally via your own conscience. Other societies on this planet work on the concept of shame: it doesn't matter if you feel internally that the action was okay, but rather you feel bad from external voices.

    Of course the West has the concept of social/peer pressure, and the East (?) does have the concept of a conscience, but it's a matter of degree. In the West the rebel is often accepted, but in the East not so much.

    (At least that's always been my Reader's Digest version of the concepts.)

  13. lol by Charliemopps · · Score: 4, Funny

    If McAfee discovers your companies being hacked, you know your own security must be absolutely horrible. It's like Snooki uncovering a major terrorist plot.

  14. breaking news from the IT world by nimbius · · Score: 2

    security company McAfee has just discovered evil [insert nation here] hackers are attempting to [steal |destroy | shut down] valuable [information | infrastructure | systems ] in [insert high profile industry segment here] with [simple | sophisticated] hacking methods this [today | week | year]. to protect yourselves you must act immediately and purchase our products and services in a timely, recurring, and unending fashion.

    --
    Good people go to bed earlier.