Cyberattack report puts China back in spotlight

Hacker in the front of a laptop computer over flags of U.S and China with U.S. Energy Department and United Nations logo. / CBS/AP

CBS/AP

An intense hacking operation  that compromised computers at such high-profile organizations as the United Nations and the International Olympic Committee has returned allegations of a Chinese hacking offensive to the spotlight.

The computer security firm McAfee Inc. didn't name a suspect in its report on the five-year-long hacking operation released Wednesday, though anonymous security experts told The New York Times that China has developed a "sophisticated" squad to conduct cyber warfare.

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"We're not pointing fingers at anyone but we believe it was a nation-state," Dmitri Alperovitch, McAfee's vice president of threat research and the report's lead author, told the Times Wednesday.

McAfee's report says it found security breaches dating back to mid-2006 and included one attack that lasted for 28 straight months against an unidentified Asian country's national Olympic committee. Overall, McAfee identified 72 hacking targets, including 49 in the U.S. Among the other victims were the U.N. secretariat, a U.S. Energy Department lab and a number of U.S. defense companies.

McAfee told the Times that it didn't identify American corporations harmed by the operation because the corporations worried that being named would scare its shareholders and customers.

The Chinese government has been considered a top suspect in compromising American Internet security systems. In June 2010, CBS' "60 Minutes" correspondent Steve Kroft reported the following:

One top U.S. intelligence official is on record saying that the Chinese have already aggressively infiltrated the computer networks of some U.S. banks and are operating inside U.S. electrical grids, mapping out our networks and presumably leaving behind malicious software that could be used to sabotage the systems.

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To be sure, China has used more low-tech options in its arsenal for spying on the United States. Last August, CBS' Scott Pelley, now anchor of the "CBS Evening News," reported on rare video obtained by "60 Minutes" showing a Chinese spy buying secrets from a Pentagon employee.

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On Wednesday, the Times attempted to ask the Chinese government for comment on McAfee's report, but the country's foreign ministry didn't respond to the Times' requests. The newspaper noted that foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei said at a July news conference in Beijing that "The Chinese government opposes hacking in all its manifestations."

[bigsk8fan]

this is not really news to IT professionals. you can check logs of attempted IP penetrations. quite often, the originating IP address came from china.

[AlFranken]

For those who think we can boycott China products: not going to happen --- our whole economy is wrapped around their affordable products. Just imagine shutting down "just" Walmart.

Okay, you're going to find clothes the average person can afford made in Mexico at maybe some flee market.

India? Maybe some clothes as well.

But your basic needs such as a tooth brush, cup, or dish...

Made in China and you can't afford the other options -- trust me.

Our economy will collapse under the threat of deflation.

NOT AN OPTION -- we are fools

[AlFranken]

typo inflation

[PapaGracio]

China is waiting for its chance to kick America when its down. We need to begin weaning ourselves off their imports, the sooner the better. I think imposing a high tariff on their imports to give our own products a bit more of a chance would be great. How about that for some REVENUE Obama, that should also make the GOP happy since we are making money without more taxes on our own wealthy. Tax the wealthy industries in China.

[venusvegasvada]

The problem with that is the corporations run the govt. The same corps that moved their factories over to China. The same corporations that got the laws setup so the govt actually pays for them to move their factories over there AND get a tax break. Rep or Dem, doesn't matter. Nobody is going against them. Who do you think paid to put all the Dem's and Rep's in office in the first place? NO way they are going to allow import taxes to mess with their profits. They don't care how much of a deficit the country racks up. They move their headquarters to Switzerland and detach themselves from messy things like debt and blue collar workers. Not on their radar.

[AlFranken]

typo: inflation

[venusvegasvada]

So I guess the American public can't be trusted with the information about which American companies were attacked and breached because it might scare the shareholders? Are you kidding me? What kind of crock is that? Screw the shareholders. Tell us which American defense companies dropped the ball on security. Don't we (the ones who are paying for it) have a right to know?

[Hala_c]

Yes, god forbid investors get an accurate and fair view of a company before buying in. And we wonder why our country is in the toilet. Protect the company and scr3w the little guy. God bless Corpmerica!

[mjlewis6]

All this reminds me of the Reagan era business dealings with the USSR in which the US sold/sabotaged their gas pipeline controls with pre-set failure algorithms in electronic components which resulted in catastrophic accidents. It was all part of infiltrating their energy development and slowing it down. Oh, yes, it was attributed to Reagan's approval of a CIA/Business plan of manufactured chips for petroleum controls. Nice business in international relations.

I am sure the Chinese know their greatest success is in having STOLEN all US Nuclear Warhead designs, the results of decades of nuclear testing and design component manufacture.

The irony is that any nuclear exchange over a sudden Chinese invasion of Taiwan....will be US Technology exploding in our own backyard. The double irony is the rise of a Chinese techno-capitalism that may insure a business techno revolution in China, preventing nuclear conflict. We are working to assist this more desirable outcome.

[AlFranken]

You better not be so focused on the STOLEN part of your ideas rather than the RE-INVENT part of the equation.

Our biggest concern after retrieving a Soviet MIG from a deserter who landed in Japan wasn't the level of technology in which they highly lack but rather their efficiency. -- the Soviets can build 100 aircraft to our 3 maybe.

So multiply that by 3.71 billion Chinese.

I've been in China, everyone has to go through basic training before going to college-- I get waken up by their bugles every morning at 4 am.

Trust me, they already have us in their sights.

[redbeachvn]

We should retaliate in like manner, let them feel the pain. I don't buy any food which I know comes from China. Any one who eats cat fish from China is a fool as they feed human waste to the fishes. Chinese exporters are fully aware and try to disguise the product's true origin. If you find green tea which states packaged in LA, Calif, more than likely the tea came from China.

[SandmanUSMC]

Agree on that food from China. I would never buy it. They do not have good quality oversight. They poison their own people to this day.

[sullivan7771]

What else is new. China under the Communists and the present government, what ever that is, cannot be trusted. Yet we continue to do billions of dollars of trade with them. If we stopped trading with them, they would not be able to continue on the present path that they are taking. In the process, we could help our own economy by buying products MADE IN THE USA.This would also great hundereds of thousands of jobs FOR AMERICANS. It's time we took a stance on with China and any other nation who we can not trust. Look at some of the Food that you buy in Super Markets. If the can or Jar says made in China or From China, dont buy it.The present Debt Crisis should make us more aware of dealing with countries like China. WAKE UP AMERICA.

[dangyankee69]

Here's a thought, why don't you write to your representatives and ask them to take all the foods that are "Made in China" or "From China" off the list of Food Stamp (EBT) eligible products. Our nation currently spends billions of dollars buying foods that are made in China to feed our poor. What if we just stopped that practice.