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White House Confirms Chinese Cyberattack
New submitter clam666 writes "White House sources partly confirmed that U.S. government computers — reportedly including systems used by the military for nuclear commands — were breached by Chinese hackers. From the article: 'The attempted hack used 'spear phishing,' in which an attacker sends an email to a specific target that uses familiar phrases in hopes that the recipient will follow links or download attachments that unleash the hacker's malware. None of the White House's secure, classified computer systems were affected, said the official, who reached out to POLITICO after the Free Beacon story appeared — without having been asked for comment. Nor had there been any attempted breach of a classified system, according to the official.'"
Obligatory: Would you like to play a game of thermonuclear warfare?
Next up, petitioning the White House to find out why the fuck nuclear control systems are on the internet ...
#fuckbeta #iamslashdot #dicemustdie
How can the attack include military systems used for nuclear commands, yet not include any secure classified systems?
When they made a list of which government systems should be secured, they decided to leave the nukes off that list?!
Alphanos
How does the US know the actual nationality of the hackers and not just their end-proxy?
Perhaps they have collaborating intel from another source (e.g., spies or signals intelligence).
Or do you just want to start a war with China for some reason?
I wouldn't be surprised if it was posturing for election rhetoric. Could have been done to preempt a GOP leak ahead of Wednesday's debate, or it could tie-in with Obama's recent "tough on China" talking points. I try not to follow this stuff too closely though, so take my speculation with a grain of salt...
-1, Too Many Layers Of Abstraction
If you read TFA "Soy sauce has been found all over port 21 and a Beijing duck was stuck on the firewall".
Attribution.
Disclaimer: I am a Navy Information Warfare Officer.
First, it's important to note that the White House didn't confirm the suspected source. It was anonymous officials who said this appeared to originate "from China" -- take that as you will.
As you point out, an attack may appear to come from a particular (set of) IP address(es), network(s), or source(s). An attack may have a certain profile, or share a profile with other attacks. An attack may have an assumed motivation based on its target. The attacker(s) may even wish to make it appear that the attack is originating elsewhere.
Even if the "source" is established, is it a nation-state? Hacktivists? Nationalist hackers acting on behalf of government or at the government's explicit or implicit direction? Transnational actors? None of the above?
No one wants to "start a war" with China, but the error in balancing the cyber threat against the "hype" is assuming that all threats are bogus, or must be the result of hawks looking for neverending war, excuses to begin/escalate the next "Cold War", and similar. The threat from China is very real, long-established, and well-understood for anyone who cares to look. It has been discussed thoroughly, even for the Chinese, in their own strategic literature, and there are very public examples of China's offensive cyber capabilities. China's investment in offensive cyber capabilities comes because of the understanding that dominance of the information realm will essentially allow China to skip large chunks of military modernization and still be highly effective in any conflict with the United States.
Think of it this way: it's now assumed that the Stuxnet/Duqu/Flame family were created by the US and/or Israel. (Keep in mind that even overt admissions prove nothing, and can be self-serving...) Even before the books and articles about OLYMPIC GAMES, attribution was assumed because of the target and because of snippets of clues in the code. In general, why is that assumption any more or less valid than this? Is it because some are more inclined to believe that of course the US engages in cyber warfare; but any cyber attacks against us are suspect.
Of course, there are those who will assume that indications of any cyber attack will always be a "false flag" and/or used by those with ulterior motives who want war. It can't possibly be that there are aggressors who indeed want to attack the US, and who greatly benefit from the odd proclivity of those in free societies to see the enemy as their own government, while overlooking the actual adversary. Sun Tzu would be beaming.
Background:
Chinese Insider Offers Rare Glimpse of U.S.-China Frictions
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/03/world/asia/chinese-insider-offers-rare-glimpse-of-us-china-frictions.html?_r=1
"The senior leadership of the Chinese government increasingly views the competition between the United States and China as a zero-sum game, with China the likely long-range winner if the American economy and domestic political system continue to stumble, according to an influential Chinese policy analyst. China views the United States as a declining power, but at the same time believes that Washington is trying to fight back to undermine, and even disrupt, the economic and military growth that point to China’s becoming the world’s most powerful country."
China is on track to exceed US military spending in real dollars by 2025
http://www.economist.com/node/21542155
China’s military rise
http://www.economist.com/node/21552212
The dragon’s new teeth: A rare look inside the world’s biggest military expansion
http://www.economist.com/node/21552193
Essential
Are you really that stupid, or just trying to start a flamewar?
That is grossly unfair.
There's absolutely no reason it can't be both.
systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
Anyone else do a double take while reading summary?
"White House sources partly confirmed that U.S. government computers — reportedly including systems used by the military for nuclear commands — were breached by Chinese hackers."
Check. Got it.
"Nor had there been any attempted breach of a classified system, according to the official.'"
Chinese breach nuke system, no classified systems were breached, so nuke systems aren't classified....?
HA! I just wasted some of your bandwidth with a frivolous sig!