GhostNet: Turning Computers into Giant Bugs
Researchers from the University of Toronto have discovered an online spying operation that has infiltrated in excess of 1,200 computers in over 100 countries according to a report today in The New York Times.
Dubbed GhostNet, the operation is notable. Not only can it phish for information, it has remote access capabilities that can quickly and easily turn any computer into a giant listening device.
The investigation into GhostNet began after the office of the Dalai Lama suspected malware on its computers and contacted the Munk Center for International Studies to take a closer look. As the researchers dug deeper, they found more cause for concern: the operation, according to the researchers, appears to not only be spying on the Dalai Lama, but also on the governments of South Asian and Southeast Asian countries.
While researchers believe the operation is based in China, they are quick to point out that this does not necessarily mean the Chinese government was involved. "This could well be the C.I.A. or the Russians. It's a murky realm that we're lifting the lid on," Ronald Deibert, an associate professor of political science at Munk told The New York Times.
The researchers' findings, Tracking GhostNet: Investigating a Cyber Espionage Network, are due to be released this weekend on the Information Warfare Monitor Web site.
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is this another James bond story in real live?well it`s always war in the Internet world and if it is all about spying,is there standard "proxy server can handled that situations?
I would think that if a government was doing the spying they would use servers based in another country.
@Jake: Given what you're saying makes perfect sense, they might as well base the servers in China since there's always plausible deniability.
The NYTimes article is hilarious when it mentions how that information was used by Chinese government officials, then doubts itself and says it might not have been spying performed by or condoned by the Chinese govt. Where did the intelligence come from if that is so? And why did they trust it? Maybe the NYTimes is thinking about that potentially huge Chinese market (with rapidly growing number of English readers)...
I have known all about the Chinese spying for over 7 years now. I had Tiny's firewall and it had a trace function when someone tried to hack into my computer. I would say that 90% of the time it was an office building in Beijing or Peiking, China or however they spell it today.
I am my own IT security and webmaster and I was very aware of this happening. You do not have access to a computer in China to hack someone else's computer unless you have permission from the communist slave masters. Why do we trade with these people? Why do we allow their students to fill our graduate level courses in our universities?
All governments spy, either for political or corporate reasons. Our most trusted allies, this includes China, Israel, and EU are known to spy more on us than less trusted countries such as Russia. It is the trust relationships that are exploited in security incidences. Covert Information gathering or spying is so accepted we have semi-official policies of tolerance, because while the constantly rotating politicians and their faddish ideologues are short term spokespersons for special interest groups, while deceiving everyone in the process, illicit information gathering is required to discern the truth where the current administration or power struggle is more concerned with their own gains than international security. Get used to it, we need to know what the petty politicians and money hoarders are plotting in order to compensate for the greater good of humanity.
zipper heads
Biilybob
I am certain the chinese government, or any government, is interested in your porn surfing habits. i would imagine a government is smart enough to cover its track in the same way a government is smart enough to release misinformation because our education system produces so many stupid people like you. it makes running a country easy.
Again China shows the world Its true face, Showing us all that China speaks nice, but plots evil.. If it were so despicable, the lies Chinese leaders spew daily would be a good laugh. I wonder if they themselves see what enormous liars they are, or do they believe the very lies they tell? with every passing day the monstrous evil that is China is more and more visible, no wonder they are called the Dragon, for as we all know Dragons represent Evil in its most base form. when I wonder will the world leaders stop pandering to this evil empire and do something to stop them while there is still time.
Well, they can look and listen to me. Damn, they will be bored. I know I am.
Andy
People do got the wrong impression about our country. At least, you have the right to criticize the chinese government, I do agree with that. For, we criticize too, however, usually, the government really did something good which lots of people just ignore.
There's one thing, I am 100% sure is that" There is no computer or the internet use control here in China" Everyone could log on the internet easily from their laptop or in a netcafe here. -to billybob.
People should did some investigation before their post their opinions, your opinions at least should based on the common and true facts and should be logically practible.
And another thing I am quite sure about is " the U.S. government is the most powerful spy in the world, it listens all the time!"
There's someone who paid NYT for the report.
There's someone who paid NYT for this old news.
And there's also someone who paid the Reaadwriteweb for this old news.
"Researchers from the University of Toronto have discovered an online spying operation that has infiltrated in excess of 1,200 computers in over 100 countries according to a report today in The New York Times."
It's too few to be reported because the average is about 12 computers which have been infiltrated according to this old news. The journalist should be sent to a primary school to learn maths from ABC.
I can't find the person named Ronald Deibert who told NYT about the research.
I can't find the report entitled Tracking GhostNet: Investigating a Cyber Espionage Network at webapp.mcis.utoronto.ca.
I can't help concluding what this old news says is false.
At least,what this old news says about China is false.
Please visit http://www.yeeyan.com/articles/view/ITAQ/35328/dz for my comments in Chinese.
I like monkies and puppy dogs!
If China can do it the US can do it as well! This is something I wrote while watching Anderson Cooper do a report on the War Next Door...
How Free Are We?
Right now (3/25/2009) I am watching Anderson Cooper on CNN doing this report about the kids being assassins for the cartels and can not help but notice the date on the tape is from 7-28-2006; which of course means that this is old news which is true. Another point that I would like to state is that they talk about Garcia being killed with his wife pregnant wife in the car. Not only do they fail to state that this happened in 2005 they also fail to state that Garcia was a high ranking member in the Mexican Mafia and was involved in the drug trade (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xu3Z8QqUgtE&feature=related) (start watching at 6:45).The truth is that this has been going on for a long time! So what is the advantage of bringing it up now and making a big deal about something that has been going on for years? As did many other people in school I read the book 1984 by George Orwell and realized, like everyone else did, that I would not want to live in that kind of world; but when I look at where we are today it brings up some unsettling similarities. I see people setting up cameras in their homes in the form of computers and phones that allow you to see the person you’re talking to. Do you really think that the government could not access those cameras and see into your homes? There is GPS being put into cars and cell phones which makes it easy to follow your every movement should the government choose to. Even while driving around in my car I see random video cameras set up around the city and also there are now cameras set up on the side of the highway that takes your picture and sends you a ticket if you are speeding. On the news they are saying Mexico may become a failed state but do not go into detail of what that means. It is a term is very broad and does not include details. The term “terrorists” is also being used to strike fear into people. Now I may wrong but I do see something that can very possibly occur in the near future and that is using the Mexican drug war to strike fear in American citizens in order to slowly strip away our rights to privacy and our freedom. I hear of making national ID cards and RFID chips will hold all of your personal information including finger prints and DNA data. I see us heading in the direction of 1984 and I think we need to stand up and look at what is really going on here. We need to stand united and not allow this to happen. It is your everyday, average people who are the foundation of this nation and without a stable foundation everything will fall. This is just my opinion on our current situation and I am practicing my right to freedom of speech. If you agree I encourage you to repost this in as many blogs and places possible and talk to family and friends about it. I am not saying I am right or wrong but just take my opinion into consideration with an open mind.
Educate Yourself!!:
http://www.zeitgeistmovie.com/
Pretty harsh comments about a country most of those who have commented here have probably never visited. Might not be rational to criticize a billion people for a group's actions. Most here would be hypocrites considering how much they claim they do not support of our own government's actions. Regardless, these are the types of issues that remind me to visit justaskgemalto the digital security site regularly.
Well, it now turns out that it was not the Chinese government behind the hacking but a young Chinese hacker with the monker "lost33" who is a university student. This revelation was discovered by Scott Henderson, a blogger who keeps tracks of individuals in the Chinese Hacking community. Here are the links of his research. http://www.thedarkvisitor.com/2009/04/hunting-the-ghostnet-hacker/ and http://www.securityfocus.com/brief/940. This is no different than young Canadian and American hackers (ie. students) having fun.
I think these researchers have egg on their faces. I guess they gotta whipped up hysteria to raise additional funds?
Remember, guys/gals, a professional would not leave tracks like this amatuer hacker. In the article, it mentioned the 'Dashboard' was left unencryted. And, also, even after news of this GhostNet was made public, the network was still active. Don't you think if you have been exposed you would shut everything down? There is a hidden adjenda hear folks. Anti-China is the rage these days. Gotta have an enemy to justified the multi trillion dollar defense industry!
I think its all fake.