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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.

17 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

  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. 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.
  7. 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 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
    3. 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.

    4. 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.

    5. 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.
    6. 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

  8. 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.
  9. 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.