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Blog Reveals a Chinese Military Hacker's Life Is One of Boredom and Bitterness
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?'"
That hot girl you're falling in love with is actually your daughter.
GEE I wonder why!
http://i.cubeupload.com/T6cyLu.png
Considering the attitudinal similarities between the Chinese military computer hackers and the "hackers"/I.T.workers in the US military branches, I wonder how long it will be until the Chinese have a Bradley Manning of their own?
;>)
Bite the wax tadpole, indeed. I wonder how you translate "Bradley Manning" into Mandarin or Cantonese? Tech workers are pushed around by slave-drivers and middle management everywhere in the world, in all possible environments. Did you catch how his manager was able to expense a $100-equivalent bottle of liquor while the keyboard-combatant couldn't even get $1 reimbursed for bus-ffare to attend a tech conference?
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How do you translate "Dilbert" into Chinese? No need. It's all the same!
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?
It's like a Chinese version of an American drone pilot, but with less blood on his hands, and more noodles on his plate.
Yes, everyday. *first thought when I see the new homepage next button*
sysadmins and parents of newborns get the same amount of sleep.
No shit, it's called working in IT.
Based on the comment in the summary: what did this person think the military was like? Perhaps the people that recruited him sold him a bill of goods: 'Protect the Fatherland! China faces threats on multiple fronts! It'll be better than World of Warcraft and The Matrix combined! Your skill set and our resources will be cracking secrets everywhere in Europe and the U.S.A. and you'll be a hero and celebrated! You'll be part of the select group protecting us from the evil outside our borders that doesn't recognize our sovereignty."
"To stop the terrorists."
Most people don't, and I'm pretty sure most people wouldn't want an "exciting" existence. Ever heard the old curse "may you live in interesting times"?
Think about it and you know why it's a curse.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
A computer security firm 'found' a blog whose source cannot be verified. The content of the blog, apparently written by a specialist computer security agent of the Chinese government, talked about:
... common sense?
- The Chinese military
- The Chinese leadership
- Hacking techniques
- Hacking targets
- Lifestyles of government employed hackers
And was derisive. The Chinese government didn't happen to notice that one of their military intelligence agents living in a military dorm was regularly posting derisive and secret information for 3 years. Just to state the bleedingly obvious here, but this would never happen in the US and the Chinese are much stricter on information control.
So do you trust the Los Angeles Times and a private security agency pitching for government contracts, or
Take the red pill.
You mean to tell me that such an organized, concerted and government-directed effort by the Chinese to hack other countries on a corporate and national scale is actually BORING?
I can't believe it isn't more of a grass-roots effort with neat 3D graphics and Jolie boobs like in the movie Hackers!!
I am probably well known for pointing out the issues of the Chinese gov. However, I think that the average Chinese, like any other person on this planet, loves his nation, hates his gov, and simply wants to live and enjoy life. This blog supports this case, though it could easily be written by the propaganda unit.
I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
If they don't like their jobs, why not outsource it to someone in the US?
I doubt American hackers have lives which aren't bitter and boring as well. That is the life of a hacker.
Someone needs to call JC Denton about this!
Mod me down, my New Earth Global Warmingist friends!
I was very sure I picked a hint of "pythonesque" humor in the voice over so I googled and yup, it's a hoax
prison-like environment, remote areas of the city. ;) ). :)
Sounds like the growing pains of the 1950-60's GCHQ and NSA stations around the "Commonwealth" land for signal bases swap.
The conditions in the UK bases where cash strapped - any money raised was going to exotic expensive new equipment and keeping the USA very happy.
The Russians where fast to pick up on the gifted young men and woman in distant lands with very low wages, mounting lifestyle costs and young families.
Add in a cold command structure left over from past wars and many where open to waiting Russian offers.
What has China (and other spook agencies) learned?
Young people with dreams might walk out - dont hire skilled people with any strange imaginations.
Keep tourists, business types, diplomates in other parts of the country/city. If the foreigners venture out they are easy to note.
Hire gifted locals, from trusted families with deep village backgrounds. If you walk out the pain will be massive - up and down the family tree,
If China wants more from its staff they should follow the GCHQ reforms of the 1970-90's (excluding the union issues) - wage and basic working condition improvements.
Drop the military feel - even something as simple as the endless tight "dress" uniforms can make a huge difference to the quality of everyday life to a young officer.
Cash the staff up and offer massive extra rewards for extra long term study (NSA is great at that
If China lets the "anguished person" thing fester they will suffer.
The UK and USA where able to profile and wage up their staff to fix that issue. Long term China will have to make some huge cash investments in domestic tech.
The internet in the USA always was and will be a NSA play thing - totally open to 'cyber command' and will soon go on the offence.
"not elite uber-hackers" seems to show China is just learning like the UK did in the 1950-70's with US tech.
What can China do? Face down the NSA on the "internet" - that did not work well for the Russians.
Go for soft US personal with issues and buy them to sell out the USA? The NSA keeps its staff and exstaff close.
Or just keep chipping away with a broad front of masses of staff hoping a few get into some US box thats open to scripts?
The only problem for the USA is its own staff pushing for cloud and networking - somehow "all" the data been shared will give them insights.
Many spy agencies have lost generations of work due to massive data loss in one go due to a person and in the future a script/hack.
Russia will aim for the person or site, China is going for everything and will see what drops out
All the NSA can do is keep its gems off the network - but the demands of contracts with political/mil friends with cloud tools for sale will be fun to watch.
Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
It is quite scary and enlightening to replay Deus Ex now. So much of it echoes of the current US position. Only real differences is that the Statue of Liberty is not bombed and UN does not hold power over the United States.
Oh and the game had NSF who actually got their shit together and fought back; In real life people just whine about the situation and do nothing.
That's what I want to know... this is the INTERNET people, haven't we heard of hyperlinks?? Is this slashdot or what?
Exactly! This whole sage has suddenly been blown up recently. They have the full control of their routers and gateway and can fake network addressing information anyway they want, if it is a serious spy operation. Besides, anyone who really know China should know that government departments or employees in china are almost ways just work for their own projects for their own profits, rather than that of the country's.
This whole saga reminds me of the WMD in Iraq claim before the Iraq war. It was so convinced at the time that Iraq was building/storing massive WMD that aimed at US... until we spent trillions of dollar and thousands of lives to find out the whole thing is a flop. So many defense contractors who were friendly to the ruling parties got big rainfall, and nobody really got punished for such terrible intelligence.
This time, though, we will never find out the truth, because we can't possibly invade China to find out. We will just keep spending $$$. Thanks a lot!
When I lived in Atlanta I liked my IT jobs, hated the non tech execs, dispised the South, and hated my life even though i had a lot of great friends. But the day to day realy wore on me.
Today, I still enjoy working in IT and I live 8miles from Snowbird/Alta. It really is the best snow on this Earth. In the summer I can push my bike up Cottonwood Canyon and put my bike on the lift in Park City, that's pretty fun. And I can see Mountain Goats and Moose on a hike. Hunting too if you're into that. Or climb a little moutain for a nice view. I've got plenty of excitement,
I don't have anyone to talk to seriously yet, because I'm basicly not a dogmatic asshole (religious, liberal or conservitive) and I'm not LDS or a tatooed freak methhead. If you're into that kind of drama there is plenty of that here in SLC. But the slopes are full of normal humans too. I'm sure i'll find that conclave of like minded people that exists here full time eventually.
But on excitement I'm OK and i recommend it.
"The Adobe Updater must update itself before it can check for updates. Would you like to update the Adobe Updater now?"
The hacker rocy bird left the military in 2008. So maybe it's the same guy.
Another opinion...
you can sleep when you're dead.
If you don't push yourself you might as well be sleeping or dead.
You don't need to try to kill yourself, but at least make the health insurance pay for it.
"The Adobe Updater must update itself before it can check for updates. Would you like to update the Adobe Updater now?"
During Glasnost, Russian reporters on the American election noted not just how similar the US elections were to USSR ones (pick one of two) but how much BETTER the Americans had gotten at totally muzzling the press through unseen torture methods because at no point could the Russians see any sign of the American media asking akward or difficult questions. What terrible gulags must exist to put the fright into the press to such a degree!?!
Well... the answer is of course, the gulag of exile. Ask akward or non-pre-approved questions and you don't get access anymore to special events and then have to explain to your advertisers why your network/newspaper was the one not present at a press conference. It is a marvelous system. You can ask any question you want as a member of the free press at a press conference... you just won't be there to ask them.
The KGB had to actually get out of their chair to supress the media, get their hands bloody. The white house press officer just sends one less invite. It is not just the US doing this, ask the wrong questions and they can't keep you out of the official big gatherings, you just don't get access anymore to all the "optional" stuff. It is so simple but it is where democracy dies. It is not just the ones in power that do it, Palin only does things by invite and with pre-approved lists of questions. Wilders both bans AND is himself banned (right wing dutch politician).
Mind you, the catholics show the other method doesn't really work either. In theory any kardinal can be elected pope... so how come they got the rotten luck every single elected pope turns out to be a war criminal, child molesting bigot? I mean... what are the odds... unless every single catholic is a nasty piece of work... nah... that couldn't be the case could it? Or could it be that if the milk is spoiled, that which rises to the top is not the cream? That any person who makes it into a position of being elected ruler has had to swim in the cesspool for so long, they can't help but got tainted?
That it don't matter how many are up for election, they are all part of the system because the system is what nurtured them?
Geert Wilders is a right wing dutch politician who often bitches about "The Hague" which is our capitol hill. Tiny detail, he is one of the longest serving politicians. It is the clincher for many right wingers, if someone tells you business will solve everything and government is filled with useless people who can't do anything right... and they been in government for decades and have no business experience... do you believe them?
If you are a Republican, you should listen to richest people on this planet since they by your believe system are the most right. So... what do Bill Gates and Warren Buffet have to say about politics? Mmm?
We are the cesspool and our leaders are what floated to the top.
MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
They used Fema to move people who'd lost everything all over the country so they couldn't become a dangerous voting block
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.
And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage? - Pink Floyd.
Ha! We've got him now!
Modern copyright is theft of culture from everyone and it retards the progress of the useful arts and sciences.
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.'"
It's a very good hoax due to how plausible it really is.
I live in Taiwan. That saying isn't actually a curse in the original.
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?
I bet they'd be helpful to move people around during hurricanes.
Maybe Kim Jong-Un will have a public screening of that video. Attendance will be mandatory.
"When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
Reason is such a funny word to apply to a process that involves people appointed by committee asking for funding.
In a real way, you are absolutely correct. However, that sort of rational thinking is often totally absent, and I think you really need to look at how the Military Industrial Complex, and its newer subsidieries work.
Check out this: http://www.speroforum.com/a/UGRHJGPCSM51/73796-Hercules-C130-An-epic-tale-of-military-aviation-and-pork-spending?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=email3-13-2013
Long story short... the Military asked for some number of planes that they expected to need. Congress bought 50 times that for them. Not 10% extra, not 50%...5000% more. Why? Because Lockheed-Martin started directing their sales efforts directly at politicians.
What you have done is made a ground assessment of need, and looked at what they have vs what they need, and concluded that they have a hidden agenda. You are absolutely correct, but that agenda is to waste money on equipment. Money wasted on equipment is money that goes into jobs, that buy constituents.
Oh it leaves them prepared for war against us, and since they have the ability, it becomes that much easier, but, that's not what they are preparing for, that's just the accidental consequence, they just don't care about that, its not their problem.
"I opened my eyes, and everything went dark again"
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.
You obviously don't understand how government requisitioning works. Here's a snippet of the relevant conversation:
FEMA staffer "We need some trucks."
FEMA manager "We only got 10% of the budget we asked for, you get a wheelbarrow."
FEMA staffer "Well, we still need the trucks, what do we do?
FEMA manager "Next budget cycle, ask for something expensive, like an Armored Personnel Carrier."
FEMA staffer "But we don't need APCs - we need trucks!
FEMA manager "Idiot. If you ask for a 4 million dollar APC, you just might get and $80,000 truck. If you ask for a truck, you get a wheelbarrow."
FEMA staffer "Oh"
FEMA manager "That's all right son, that's why I'm the manager."
Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
How can passionate young people like us handle a prison-like environment like this?
Your whole fucking nation is a prison.
posting to undo bad moderation... oops
just wondering..
should they have moved everyone into one big promised land housing project outside LA or where the fuck was fema supposed to move the people that didn't think they were handled well?
(and it's not like those could keep in touch with internet or whatever..)
world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
re: Just earlier this week I called out one of my senators on twitter and he responded to me with the truth. It was amazing. Get everyone to start doing it.
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Cool! Can you point me to the tweets? I'd like to see some truth spouted by a congress-critter! Actually, I am serious, I'd love to see what the senator twittered/tweeted.
Has anyone come across this blog which the paper is basing its artixcle on?! I couldn't find anything or any traceas to it..even if it had been taken down, there would still be dead links.. ta
Holy crap! Did someone hack your account or something? You used to seem so balanced and rational before and now this? WTF?
Let's assume for a moment that your account was not hacked and that you are rational... do you have any evidence to show anyone else that what you are saying is true? While I am not terribly surprised that they might have APCs since disaster zones and whacked survivalists may cause some concern for safety of personnel, I would be more interested in proof of "needing permission to go to the bathroom" and "inability to leave FEMA camps".
How did you find out about this stuff? Were you wandering around in the backwoods and stumble across such a camp? Were you able to hear the "prisoners" begging to go to the bathroom?
Did all cell phones get taken away from these prisoners? If not, do you have video or audio recordings proving any of this? Do the relatives of the prisoners in these camps not care and not report anything to anyone?
Just fucking weird. Very very weird.
"Someone needs to talk to the tree of liberty about its ghoulish drinking problem." by ohnocitizen
Let's assume for a moment that your account was not hacked and that you are rational... do you have any evidence to show anyone else that what you are saying is true?
References abound. If you don't care enough to go find them when it is so very easy, I cannot help you. I do not care if people too lazy to use google believe me or not. They are not important. I cannot force people to remember history.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
Well then. Since I have heard nothing about these FEMA camps and find your claims so incredibly outrageous, I will not bother to search further. Why should I waste my time on fruitless searches that I do not believe in? Should I search on Google for medical experiments run by the government to create a race of zombies? How about any other of the millions of weird, batshit crazy conspiracy themes? If your story was true, you would have provided a link or two to reputable sources and then told me to search for more.
As it is, I can only assume that you are only rational while taking your meds. Just weird. I have read so many rational comments from you over the years and then BAM!, this hits. Very unsettling.
"Someone needs to talk to the tree of liberty about its ghoulish drinking problem." by ohnocitizen
That happens in China, not the US. If you want to claim otherwise, provide the terms and / or some proof, because that would be pretty major news which noone has reported on yet.
Like China and Russia, the United States has political prisoners... Barrett Brown.
From wikipedia...
On December 7, 2012, Brown was indicted on an additional 12 federal charges stemming from the December 25, 2011 hack of Austin-based private intelligence company Stratfor.
Brown faces up to 15 years in federal prison
So not 100 years, and however bogus the charges may be theyre not due to "blogging", theyre due to involvement in leaking hacked info. Two completely different things.
Im not justifying it, but its really sad that you dont grasp the difference between a country where you may get the hammer dropped on you for being involved with hacker groups, and being arrested for simply posting on a political position. We simply do not have that here, as evidenced by the third party debates and the existence of conspiracy theories around the president. Heck, even calling for a presidental impeachment is allowed here, where similar actions in China result in your disappearance.
If you want to live in conspiracy fantasyland, you can, I just hope for your sake you never have the chance to go to china and make similar accusations. At least as a non-citizen of China you would only be kicked out of the country....
"Extraordinary claims requier extraordinary evidence." You can't just make a wild claim like that and then shine it on with "oh, it;'s everywhere, YOU go find it."
Provide evidence or I call bullshit and go on my way assuming that you're just another internet crank. If it's so easy, YOU provide the evidence. It's like saying "the moon is made of green cheese" and then when I say "prove it" you say "go find out for yourself." Or, closer to homer, saying "an all-powewerful superbeing naed god exists." "Really? Prove it." "No, you DISprove it!"