Chinese Netizens Cautioned against Rise Number of Hacked Websites

According to the CNCERT (China National Computer Network Emergency Technical Team), Chinese netizens have been warned that there was a sudden rise in websites containing malware during the 2nd week of May 2010.

The CNCERT weekly report on network security states that some 5,087 Internet Protocol addresses were linked to computer-servers installed across the Chinese mainland. These servers were controlled by Trojan viruses. There was an increase of 12% in IP addresses during the second week of May 2010 against the preceding week (first week of May 2010), the report notes.

According to the report, 81 government websites in China were hijacked during May 10-16, 2010. This shows that attacks dropped 35% since the 1st week of May 2010. On 17th May, 2010 afternoon, a minimum of 29 websites from the total remained hijacked. During May 2-9, 2010, hackers compromised 124 government websites.

Giving explanation for the constant website hacks in China, security specialists stated that the country's un-patched computers and malicious software exploited several threats. According to them, Chinese people use pirated software at a very high percentage; therefore, it is easy for cyber criminals to take control over un-patched systems.

Furthermore, it was disclosed that 150 '.cn' domain names were maliciously used, with 5 codes of similar nature and 5 software vulnerabilities. Moreover, a malevolent Polish domain called .xorg.pl had been utilized for meddling with numerous Chinese users and websites, the report revealed.

The report's Editor Liu Jun said that the hackers actively used websites harboring malware, as reported by People's Daily Online published this on May 19, 2010. Liu attributed the reason for his observation to the absence of large-scale cyber-attacks against the country's mainframes and to the falling incidences of online security accidents.

For the past several days, there have been consistent attacks against Chinese websites. Accordingly, numerous reputed websites like those of the Xinhua news agency, which the Chinese government runs, were invaded.

In spite of the rise in the total number of malicious Internet sites, CNCERT notably described network security of the 2nd week of May 2010 as "Good," a grade of the 2nd top order within the agency's scale featuring 5-level ratings.

Related article: Chinese Hackers Threatening Korean Game Sites

» SPAMfighter News - 6/2/2010