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Chinese Hacking Claimed against American Chamber of Commerce

Computer-hackers based in China spied on the systems belonging to American Chamber of Commerce, causing the association's employees to be flooded with spam mails, reported HUFF POST TECH on December 21, 2011.

Actually, during May 2010, it was found that cyber-attackers from China hacked into the American Chamber of Commerce. This followed a security infringement thought to have happened during November 2009 or still a couple of months before so that the hackers could get a minimum of 6-months for maintaining admission into the Chamber's computer-network at the administrator level.

Sources indicate that the hackers at first seemingly acquired admission through spear phishing electronic mails containing malicious web-links dispatched to all the 3m members of the Chamber. Thereafter, at least one employee clicked on the malevolent web-link followed with unwittingly downloading the malware.

However, the amount of compromised data the hackers previewed isn't known. According to the Chamber's officials, investigation revealed that the intruders targeted 4 employees who handled Asia policy as well as that they stole e-mails from those employees' mailboxes counting to the past 6-weeks.

It was also revealed that the hackers had built one PC-network whose IP addresses were situated in China that issued commands to the malware in exchange of the stolen data from it.

Evidently, U.S authorities doubt about the hackers having a link with the government of China, but the latter denied the allegation. Incidentally, the hackers struck during routine business hours, a sign that the government-of-China was involved.

However, Geng Shuang, Spokesman representing the Washington-based Chinese Embassy stated that Chinese law prohibited cyber-attacks and that China itself was targeted with them. According to him, the claim of the Chamber attack being the work of China neither had proof nor clue as also was wholly irresponsible, while there mustn't be any attempt at politicizing the hacking affair. The Wall Street Journal published this, December 21, 2011.

Meanwhile, there's been an enhancement of the network-security along with cleansing of the systems at the Chamber, still there are infrequent instances of, say, a thermostat sending-and-receiving messages from an IP within China alternatively some printer producing prints of Chinese characters.

Related article: Chinese Hackers Threatening Korean Game Sites

» SPAMfighter News - 12/29/2011

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