Extensive Computer Hack by Chinese PCs Uncovered

Security researchers from Canada have exposed a wide network of spying PCs located mainly in China, which has broken into the computers of private organizations and governments in 103 nations.

The discoveries released on March 29, 2009 took place after an investigation of ten months by the security specialists from SecDev Group, a think-tank based in Ottawa and the Munk Center for International Studies at Canada's University of Toronto.

At first SecDev was directed to investigate the allegations by the Tibetan exiles that Chinese hackers were intruding into computers, but ultimately the Group's investigation brought into the open a far bigger network of bots.

Besides, the researchers' discoveries also suggest that the hackers who invaded the computers installed malicious software on them to exchange data. Furthermore, the software was extremely sophisticated so that it activated the microphone and webcam on the computers while conversations and all activities inside the room were secretly recorded.

The researchers noted that the network of spying PCs known as GhostNet hacked into at least 1,295 PCs, of which a sizeable number belonged to government offices, foreign ministries and embassies along with the Tibetan exile centers of the Dalai Lama in New York, London, Brussels and India.

Even now, the network is continuously infecting nearly 12 new PCs in different places every week, reported the researchers. Further, it apparently was looking for specific targets that held valuable information for the Chinese Government.

Moreover, three servers out of a total of four within the network happen to be located in China while one is based in the U.S. This naturally complicates all efforts for a criminal probe by any nation's government, a logic that is strengthened with the truth that since the Chinese computers are controlling GhostNet, the researchers could not establish any connection with Chinese government bodies. However, the researchers have notified the FBI and other agencies of law enforcement, reports state.

According to the researchers, the report calls for becoming increasingly vigilant. The events represented major disruptive potentialities that professional IT experts and policymakers should be addressing fast, vnunet.com published this on March 29, 2009.

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