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Blog Reveals a Chinese Military Hacker's Life Is One of Boredom and Bitterness

Posted by samzenpus on from the I'd-rather-farm-gold dept.

Nerval's Lobster writes "People's Liberation Army hackers: they're just like us. As noted by IT security firm Mandiant, and detailed in a new article by The Los Angeles Times, a blogger calling themselves 'Rocy Bird' had posted several hundred blog entries over a three-year period about life as a Chinese military hacker. It wasn't the most exciting existence. He worked a normal workday—8 A.M. until 5:30 P.M., unless some project required late hours—and lived in a dorm. He dined often on instant noodles and enjoyed the television series 'Prison Break.' He spent lots of time online, even when off the clock. And like millions of people all over the world, he disliked many aspects of his job. 'What I can't understand is why all the work units are located in the most remote areas of the city,' the hacker, who the Times identified as having the family name Wang, wrote in a portion of a blog posting reprinted by the paper. 'I really don't get what those old guys are thinking in the beginning. They should at least take us young people into consideration. How can passionate young people like us handle a prison-like environment like this?'"

6 of 185 comments (clear)

  1. Surely There's Something Interesting To Do by Greyfox · · Score: 2, Informative

    Did he ever explore the steam tunnels? Take up lockpicking and go exploring places he wasn't supposed to go? Go looking for parquor lines? If you sit around in your underwear all day playing video games, you can't really complain when life went passing you by. The video games are there to make it do that.

    --

    I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?

    1. Re:Surely There's Something Interesting To Do by Fluffeh · · Score: 1, Informative

      If parent and grandparent were going for Karma, they should know that +Funny gives no Karma and hence would be rather pointless.

      --
      Moved to http://soylentnews.org/. You are invited to join us too!
    2. Re:Surely There's Something Interesting To Do by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

      In China, there is a common conception that everything is illegal and the only thing that matters is being successful before you get noticed. Then you get to join "the club". But if you're the odd-man-out you're going to do life or worse. In China you have to engage in graft to get around laws designed to enforce their take on communism.

      In the US one does not need to risk a moral abiguity or legality to have a summer home. But if you want to become really weathy, you're probably going to have to stain you soul. Fortunately for us, even this doesn't mean jail time and often it is a legal way of doing buisiness. There are plenty of prediagnosed alzhiemer retired persons with over a million dollars in savings that will gladly sign a 30 year anuity for a fat payday...

      But yeah, regarding the incarceration rates in the US, being a pot smoker must suck.

  2. Re:military life by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    Not true. You are confusing China with Korea (both of them).

    China has a large enough population, a large percentage of which still living in poverty, that there are no shortage of people who are willing recruits. Besides, unlike America, China isn't fighting wars with anyone (not yet, at least), so there is no danger in a military career.

    The Chinese military is genuinely, entirely voluntary.

  3. Re:Won't work by drinkypoo · · Score: 1, Informative

    That's the lamest conspiracy theory I've heard all week. Fema and the rest of the clowns involved in that circus were simply incompetent to the point of criminal neglect.

    You'd like to think that, but there's no reason for FEMA to need APCs unless they're going to make war against us. And how much news have you heard out of NJ about the FEMA camps you're not allowed to leave, in which you need permission to go to the bathroom... convicted criminals have more freedom. This stuff doesn't even appear in our media, because we are not meant to be aware of it.

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  4. Re:Won't work by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

    I live in NJ and I've volunteered to help with the cleanup in Union Beach several times in the wake of Hurricane Sandy.
    A close friend of mine has been volunteering at the shore every single weekend since the evacuation orders were lifted in the area.
    Neither of us have seen anything remotely similar to what you've described.
    This stuff doesn't even appear in our media because it's not real.
    Alex Jones, is that you?