Over the weekend, a Canadian research group reported that a cyber spy network had hacked into the computers and, by extension, secret documents of governments and private organizations in 103 countries.
The network, called Ghostnet, is based mainly in China. Among the computers it targeted were those of Tibet’s spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, and Tibet’s government-in-exile in India. Scholars say the operation may have helped identify people in Tibet who talk to exiled Tibetans, putting those in Tibet at risk of reprisals from the Chinese government, which controls Tibet.
The Canadian researchers said the spying activity they found was just the tip of the iceberg.
Keith Epstein, an investigative reporter in BusinessWeek’s Washington D.C. bureau who specializes in cyber security, joins Martin Savidge to discuss Chinese cyber spying, what information is at risk and defense systems.
08/07/2009 :: 11:04:13 PM
Kam VanHereweghe Says:
Appeared on PBS says…[...] on “World Focus” on PBS TV discussing the risks from Chinese cyber [...]…
Interesting how paradoxical this is in that I’m not really sure that the one who appeared on PBS has said anything here on this forum (is it someone else?) and am left with abiguity in what the comment is trying to say…. in the three minute clip I find it interesting how the interviewer bounces government back to personal (me thinx bringing it home to personal is important to the media in that the general public may have given off a big yawn if it doesn’t hit home on a personal level.)
I read in a newspaper overseas a long while ago 1,000,000 cell phones wiretapped in a country of about 45 million people. As with all guestimations I think this one was more than less than a moderate guestimation. Now, with the dawning of a digital era phone calls are an easy track to highly specific and detailed information— forget files– phone calls whether the cell phone is on or off.. cyber “hackers” are now well-trained communications (perhaps even employeesof “outsourcing agencies” hackers which in the long run can cripple organizations, plans, law-enforcement agencies “in motion”- or not now, and manufacturing races just as easily/simply by gathering (me thinx even more detailed information) via. phone systems whether on the hook or off, powered down or powered-up.
It’s interesting in the interview in that the interview-ee mentions China — however, doesn’t go so far out away from the shore to limit it all to China as a “primary” benifactor of information gathering via. computer/tele-communications hacking.
Today– there are several factions moving trillions of dollars across the globe year by year… all aren’t government and all don’t have any political agenda –rather–the agenda is sometimes quite simple– money. Anyone who makes a lot of money or stands in the way of the making of it illegally (law-enforcement agencies) are both targets of such attacks (again— it isn’t always politically motivated or national protectionism–$$$).
So– what? Are we back to the “Watergate” says where highly detailed information is passed along a park bench where neither friend nor foe can hear within a rocks cast? Oh— cell phones powered down and batteries out? Are we now in the day and age where perhaps burying National Security plans such as Naval locations are to be written and buried in farmer’s field to be picked up later or perhaps a piece of information left on a gum wrapper left on a tree leaf to be picked up later at some agreed upon time/poing? (Tongue-n-cheek.. not paranoia)… however, me thinx the “how-to” protect private/personal information these days is the first and the foremost question.