Internet: March 2009 Archives

By Dune Lawrence | Bloomberg.com
March 30, 2009

A China-based cyber spying operation penetrated almost 1,300 computers in embassies and international organizations around the world, according to a report published yesterday that may spur concern about the country's espionage efforts.

The spying extended to "high value" targets in 103 countries, according to a report by Information Warfare Monitor, a joint project by researchers at the Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto and the Ottawa-based SecDev Group, a think tank. Computers in South Korea's embassy in China, India's embassy in the U.S., the Taiwan government service network, and the Associated Press in the U.K and Hong Kong were affected.

"The most obvious explanation, and certainly the one in which the circumstantial evidence tilts the strongest, would be that this set of high profile targets has been exploited by the Chinese state for military and strategic-intelligence purposes," the paper concludes. China's Foreign Ministry didn't immediately respond to a request for comment made through their official media hotline. The report includes information provided by Tibet's government-in-exile.

The findings are a "wake-up call" regardless of who ultimately directed the espionage efforts, because they show the "relative ease" of creating such an effective spy net, the authors said.

>> Complete report

The Times of India
March 30, 2009

China's cyber warfare army is marching on, and India is suffering silently. Over the past one and a half years, officials said, China has mounted almost daily attacks on Indian computer networks, both government and private, showing its intent and capability.

The sustained assault almost coincides with the history of the present political disquiet between the two countries.
According to senior government officials, these attacks are not isolated incidents of something so generic or basic as "hacking" -- they are far more sophisticated and complete -- and there is a method behind the madness.

Publicly, senior government officials, when questioned, take refuge under the argument that "hacking" is a routine activity and happens from many areas around the world. But privately, they acknowledge that the cyber warfare threat from China is more real than from other countries.

The core of the assault is that the Chinese are constantly scanning and mapping India's official networks. This gives them a very good idea of not only the content but also of how to disable the networks or distract them during a conflict.

>> Complete report

By Kim Covert, Canwest News Service | NATIONAL POST
March 28, 2009

10-month investigation by a team of researchers at the University of Toronto uncovered a broad Chinese espionage scheme that reached into foreign embassies, news services and even the office of the Dalai Lama.

The researchers says the system - called GhostNet - sent e-mails that introduced malware into host computers, which in turn fed information back to servers located on the Chinese mainland.

"The GhostNet system directs infected computers to download a Trojan (horse) known as ghOst RAT that allows attackers to gain complete, real-time control," the authors write in Tracking GhostNet: Investigating a Cyber Espionage Network.

"Our investigation reveals that GhostNet is capable of taking full control of infected computers, including searching and downloading specific files, and covertly operating attached devices, including microphones and web cameras."

>> Complete report

By David Barboza | THE NEW YORK TIMES
March 24, 2009

Nearly 100 people, most of them monks, were being held in a Tibetan area of northwestern China after a crowd attacked a police station there on Saturday, according to the state-controlled media.

The authorities, who said they had restored order in the region, said 6 people were arrested and 89 others had "surrendered" to the police. The attack involved monks from the Ragya Monastery in the Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Golog in Qinghai Province.

The riot was the latest and biggest skirmish this month between ethnic Tibetans and Chinese authorities and comes as Tibet and adjoining areas face growing tensions amid a series of historically delicate anniversaries.

China's Tibetan region consists largely of Tibet and several bordering provinces that have large Tibetan populations. The police said the unrest broke out Saturday after rumors spread in the region about a man being investigated by the police and then disappearing after he broke Chinese law by advocating Tibetan independence.

China has sent thousands of troops to Tibetan areas in the northwest part of the country to guard against a repeat of the anti-Chinese riots that occurred last March, when Tibetans rioted in Lhasa, the Tibetan capital, killing some Han Chinese.

While China is celebrating the 50th anniversary of what it calls the liberation of Tibet from serfdom this March, many Tibetans are calling for independence and marking the date when China took control over the region and forced its spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, to flee into exile in India.

Much of the region is closed to journalists and independent observers, making it difficult to verify the government reports.

Several journalists who have entered the region have been detained or forced to leave.

In recent weeks, China has released a series of papers on how its rule has created a safer and more prosperous Tibet. Beijing has also repeatedly accused the Dalai Lama of advocating independence for Tibet. He insists he is seeking only autonomy, not secession.

But in Tibetan areas, where there remains a great deal of support for the Dalai Lama, there are frequent reports of small uprisings. Last Monday, a bomb was set off in a government building in a Tibetan part of western China's Sichuan Province. About a week earlier, a police car and a fire truck were damaged by minor explosions in a Tibetan part of Qinghai.

Last week, the Tibetan government in exile in Dharamsala, India, released a seven-minute video, which is being shown on YouTube*), that purports to show Chinese police officers brutally beating Tibetans last March following the riots in Lhasa. There has been no independent confirmation that the footage is authentic.

*) TAC: blocked by the Government of Communist China

>> Original source

By The Epoch Times
March 15, 2009

The family of respected Chinese human rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng arrived in New York at JFK airport on Saturday night at about 10 PM. Gao's wife Geng He, and their two children, aged 16 and 5, began their escape from China weeks ago and finally arrived in the U.S. on Wednesday March 11.

In a complicated and dangerous plan that involved escape on foot, by train and air travel, the three have defected from China to seek safety from the Chinese Communist Party.

Their escape was aided by human traffickers and several groups, including Friends of Gao Zhisheng, the Global Association for the Rescue of Gao Zhisheng, and the U.N. Refugee Agency.

The escape began on January 9, when Geng He her two children began the trip from Beijing, fleeing for the border to Thailand. Geng He spoke of a harrowing journey in a Radio Free Asia interview earlier this week. "We left from Beijing. We took the train. With the help of friends, we escaped the police and slowly and step by step arrived at a second country. Many things happened during that time, but I can't recall them now. We were on the road day and night, and it was very tough. I don't even remember the places we traveled through."

When asked why she decided to escape from China, Geng He said, "The Chinese regime had been monitoring my family closely for a long time, and it had brought great inconvenience to our life and work. My daughter Gege was not able to attend school, and she became self-destructive and suicidal. I had no place to turn to, so I fled with my children."

Gao Zhisheng's whereabouts are presently unknown. Gao was abducted from his home in Shanxi by Chinese police on February 4, and has not been seen since. Gao had been detained previously after having written three open letters to China's top leaders, as well as the U.S. Congress urging Chinese leaders to cease their persecution of Christians and Falun Gong practitioners. He was a top contender for the Nobel Peace Prize last year and was formerly recognized as a top human rights lawyer in China.

It has been over 2 years since Gao's connections to the outside world were cut off by the regime. In May 2007, the American Board of Trial Advocates granted Gao the Courageous Advocacy Award.

In September 2007, Gao was kidnapped again. During the 13 days, he was stripped naked and laid on the floor. He was hit by electron batons all over his body including his genitals, and even had toothpicks stuck into his genitals. When Gao regained consciousness, he found himself soaked in urine.

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