Report Says China Ready for Cyber-war, Espionage, references GhostNet investigation(s)

Source: Robert McMillan, IDG News Service

Looking to gain the upper hand in any future cyber conflicts, China is probably spying on U.S. companies and government, according to a report commissioned by a Congressional advisory panel monitoring the security implications of trade with China.

The report outlines the state of China’s hacking and cyber warfare capabilities, concluding that “China is likely using its maturing computer network exploitation capability to support intelligence collection against the U.S. government and industry by conducting a long term, sophisticated computer network exploitation campaign.” Published Thursday, the report was written by Northrop Grumman analysts commissioned by the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission.

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In another case cited by Northrop Grumman, the attackers clearly had a predefined list of what they would and would not take, suggesting that they had already performed reconnaissance on the network. “The attackers selected the data for exfiltration with great care,” the report states. “These types of operational techniques are not characteristic of amateur hackers.”

Earlier this year, Canadian researchers described a similarly sophisticated cyberespionage network, called GhostNet, launched against international government agencies and pro-Tibetan groups such as the Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

Although the GhostNet report authors did not link the spying to the Chinese government, some researchers did.