Largest Cyber Attack in History Caught.

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/biggest-ever-series-cyber-attacks-uncovered-u-n-040749882.html The link now works.


BOSTON (Reuters) - Security experts have discovered an unprecedented series of cyber attacks on the networks of 72 organizations globally, including the United Nations, governments and corporations, over a five-year period.

Security company McAfee, which uncovered the intrusions, said it believed there was one "state actor" behind the attacks but declined to name it, though several other security experts said the evidence points to China.

The long list of victims in the extended campaign include the governments of the United States, Taiwan, India, South Korea, Vietnam and Canada; the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN); the International Olympic Committee (IOC); the World Anti-Doping Agency; and an array of companies, from defense contractors to high-tech enterprises.

In the case of the United Nations, the hackers broke into the computer system of its secretariat in Geneva in 2008, hid there for nearly two years, and quietly combed through reams of secret data, according to McAfee.

"Even we were surprised by the enormous diversity of the victim organizations and were taken aback by the audacity of the perpetrators," McAfee's vice president of threat research, Dmitri Alperovitch, wrote in a 14-page report released on Wednesday.

"What is happening to all this data ... is still largely an open question. However, if even a fraction of it is used to build better competing products or beat a competitor at a key negotiation (due to having stolen the other team's playbook), the loss represents a massive economic threat."

McAfee learned of the extent of the hacking campaign in March this year, when its researchers discovered logs of the attacks while reviewing the contents of a "command and control" server that they had discovered in 2009 as part of an investigation into security breaches at defense companies.

It dubbed the attacks "Operation Shady RAT" and said the earliest breaches date back to mid-2006, though there might have been other intrusions. (RAT stands for "remote access tool," a type of software that hackers and security experts use to access computer networks from afar).

Some of the attacks lasted just a month, but the longest -- on the Olympic Committee of an unidentified Asian nation -- went on and off for 28 months, according to McAfee.

"Companies and government agencies are getting raped and pillaged every day. They are losing economic advantage and national secrets to unscrupulous competitors," Alperovitch told Reuters.

"This is the biggest transfer of wealth in terms of intellectual property in history," he said. "The scale at which this is occurring is really, really frightening."

CHINA CONNECTION?

Alperovitch said that McAfee had notified all 72 victims of the attacks, which are under investigation by law enforcement agencies around the world. He declined to give more details.

Jim Lewis, a cyber expert with the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said it was very likely China was behind the campaign because some of the targets had information that would be of particular interest to Beijing.

The systems of the IOC and several national Olympic Committees were breached before the 2008 Beijing Games. And China views Taiwan as a renegade province, and political issues between them remain contentious even as economic ties have strengthened in recent years.

"Everything points to China. It could be the Russians, but there is more that points to China than Russia," Lewis said.

McAfee, acquired by Intel Corp this year, would not comment on whether China was responsible.

There was no comment from China on the report.

The U.N. said it was aware of the report, and had started an investigation to ascertain if there was an intrusion.

White House spokesman Jay Carney declined to comment on the report's findings but said U.S. President Barack Obama viewed cybersecurity as a top priority and was working to tighten the defenses of both the government and private sector.

U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said, "We obviously will evaluate it, look at it and pursue what needs to be pursued in terms of its content."

Britain's electronic spy agency told Reuters the McAfee report highlighted the need for international cooperation as cyber security challenges were transnational.

"Attribution for attacks in cyberspace is always difficult. But whoever is responsible, this report is another reminder of the need for effective cyber-security," said a spokeswoman for the Government Communications Headquarters, one of the three main arms of British intelligence.

STONE AGE

Vijay Mukhi, a cyber-expert based in India, said some South Asian governments were highly vulnerable to hacking from China.

"I'm not surprised because that's what China does, they are gradually dominating the cyberworld," he said. "I would call it child's play (for a hacker to get access to Indian government data) ... I would say we're in the stone age."

In Taiwan, an official of the Criminal Investigation Bureau, which has a cyber crime unit, said he had no knowledge of the McAfee report but added there had been no cases in recent years of hacking of government websites.

An official from the Japanese trade ministry's information security policy team said it was difficult to determine whether a specific government lay behind a cyber attack "although we see which countries the attacks originate from."

McAfee released the report to coincide with the start of the Black Hat conference in Las Vegas, an annual meeting of security professionals who promote security and fight cyber crime.

(Additional reporting from Tom Miles in Geneva, Jack Kim in Seoul, James Pomfret in New Delhi, William Maclean in London, Laura MacInnis and Jeremy Pelofsky in Washington; editing by Tiffany Wu, Martin Howell, Ron Popeski, Ed Lane and Eric Walsh)
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Holy (*)(*)(*)(*)! Hopefully this will goad the UN into grilling china and not (*)(*)(*)(*)(*) out like they do every other time China does something bad (or anyone does anything bad for that matter).

 

Wow!

China is out of control.

Is there a better link for this story?

 

I agree about China.

 

China = Cylon-style sneak attack.

_

 

The link now works.

 

Why is it that people can`t take a moment to notice and unite against a common security threat and instead bicker about petty politics?

 

China is NOT our friend. It's govt laughs at us. They plan of being the number one global superpower.

 

And we won't be able to look out our windows and see them coming, (*)(*)(*)(*) shrubs. LOL!

 

China is just like the US except the chinese do it online while the US gets involved in countries affairs via military / planned coups

 

If the Chinese government was a persons mind it would be that of a sociopath imo. Cold, unapologetic, yet able to put on a show of deceptive emotion, will do anything to rise above others, will do anything it deems as "good for me" no matter the consequences or morals involved, and calculating.

 

Uncle Ferd says its dem Chinese tryin' to get to our military secrets an' muck up the internet...

Massive global cyberattack hits US hard: Who could have done it?
August 3, 2011 - Cybersecurity firm McAfee says it infiltrated a 'command and control' server with detailed logs of five years of cyberattacks against targets ranging from the US government to the World Anti-Doping Agency. McAfee suggests a country was behind it. Experts suspect China.

 

Here's what we'll do to "fix" those Chinese: let's up our debt limit a couple trillion dollars, spend like fools over the next ten years, and borrow like crazy - from them! That'll take care of those evil bastards!

 

Do you honestly think that's going to last forever?

The only thing keeping China from engaging in a truly imperialistic expansion is it's lack of military technology and training.

 

Wouldn't it be funny if they got most of our industry over there and then suddenly decided to cyst themselves off, not allowing anyone or anything to leave and just declared imminent domain over everything within their borders and announced that all the plants, designs and products were then theirs to sell on the world market?

That would be...hilarious....

Not.

 

ACTUALLY! Technically they sort of already have that. There is a law over there that says anything made there for 4+ years it`s patent and everything else about it automatically becomes the property of the Chinese government (civilian side, not military side). They own quit a few apple products and other things because of this.

 

And the fact they have no one to "invade" besides Taiwan. They would loooove to go after Japan and south Korea, hell even Russia but they would get their asses handed to them because nearly the entirety of asia would unite against them (as would most of the rest of the world), you don`t go after a first world country by yourself (technically they would have NK as an ally) and expect to not be attacked by everyone else in this day and age.

 

What is this obsession with land?

Natural resources are IN THE OCEAN.

They want the South China Sea, they want the Spratley Islands. They want control of the Sea Line of Communication between Taiwan and our base in Okinawa.

They want to control the Straits of Malacca the same way the US has strategic control of the Panama Canal.

They don't have to attack a first world country with an invasion. All they need is a large enough navy to protect whatever they claim in the pacific and then hold onto it. No one except America is going to defend the neutrality of the South China Sea, prevent the Chinese from pressing claims in the Spratley Islands against nations like the Philippines, Vietnam, etc.

 

Golly! We're so smart not providing universal healthcare and enticing industry to stay here.

I was sort of hoping my instincts were wrong about that but I can see from your statement that the Chinese are two steps ahead of me. They know it takes at least four years to get settled in. We should just dispense with formalities and sign over the Constitution to the Chinese and have done with it.

 

Complexity on the level of Stuxnet...

Flame: Massive cyber-attack discovered, researchers say
28 May 2012 : The malware is said to have infected over 600 specific targets

 

possum sittin' at the computer with a evil lil' grin on his face...

Official hints Israel capable of 'Flame'-type attack
May 29th, 2012 - Israel's Vice Prime Minister suggested Tuesday that his country has the capabilities to develop malware capable of attacking sophisticated computer systems, but would not confirm whether Israel has any role in the newly revealed “Flame” malware that has been infecting computers in the region, with Iran seeming to be a main target.

 

Uncle Ferd says dey pro'bly come up with it inna first place...

Iran Says It Can Destroy Data-Stealing Virus
May 29, 2012 - The Iranian government said Tuesday it has produced an antivirus program capable of fighting what computer experts are calling "the most sophisticated cyber weapon yet unleashed."

 

Just wait till it makes its way `round to home computers...

Super-virus Flame raises the cyberwar stakes
May 30, 2012: Flame, a stealthy and complex cyberweapon, was found to be spying on Iran's government officials and computer systems.

 

Obama gonna be ready if a cyber attack comes...

Obama takes part in cyberattack exercise
6/05/12 - Hosted a Cabinet meeting to practice the decision-making that would occur

See also:

Senate Democrats blast national security leak about cyberattack against Iran
6/05/12 : Senate Democrats on Tuesday blasted leaks to the press about a cyberattack against Iran and warned the disclosure of President Obama’s order could put the United States at risk of a retaliatory strike.

 

because liars in our own government seek to destroy our internet freedoms, and they lie about it....

Obama let it leak, America is the bestest at cyber attacks...

ask amadinejad if you dont believe me.

 

Granny says it's dem hackers muckin' with the interweb...

Global internet slows after 'biggest attack in history'
27 March 2013 - The internet around the world has been slowed down in what security experts are describing as the biggest cyber-attack of its kind in history.