All Roads Lead to China

Several recent news stories again are charging Chinese government involvement in the last cyber incidents.

Chinese Hackers Penetrate Foreign Computer Systems

In a 10-month investigation into Chinese cyber espionage against Tibetan institutions, researchers found that hackers tapped into foreign embassies, ministries of foreign affairs, and international organizations.

Security investigators from the Information Warfare Monitor (IWM), a public-private venture between a Canadian think tank and an academic group at the University of Toronto, found a network of 1,295 infected hosts in 103 countries.

Conficker worm might originate in China

BKIS, a Vietnamese security firm that makes the BKAV antivirus software, announced Monday that they found clues that the virus may have originated in China. Previously, there were rumors that it might have been from Russia or Europe.

The firm’s conclusion is based on its analysis of the virus’ coding. It found that Conficker’s code is closely related to that of the notorious Nimda, a virus that wreaked havoc on the Net and e-mail in 2001. At that time, BKIS determined that Nimda was made in China, based on the firm’s own data.

The recent CSIS report, Securing Cyberspace for the 44th Presidency, recommended that the Obama administration partner with the private sector, which is combating intellectual property theft and most directly controls 85% of our critical infrastructure. We (private industry) have the tools and technology to address this problem, what we need from the government is leadership and commitment to address the issue.