Fergie's Tech Blog

Chinese Hackers Seek U.S. Access

Jon Swartz writes in USA Today:

The cyberattack of a U.S. military computer system has deepened concern about cyberspying and the security of the Internet's infrastructure.

Chinese hackers were most likely behind an intrusion in November that disabled the Naval War College's network, forcing it to disconnect from the Internet for several weeks, says Lt. Cmdr. Doug Gabos, a spokesman for the Navy Cyber Defense Operations Command in Norfolk, Va.

Forensic analysis indicates the hackers may have sought information on war games in development at the naval college, he said. The college was vulnerable because it did not have the latest security protections, Gabos said.

The November attack was part of an ongoing campaign by Chinese hackers to penetrate government computers. The attacks often come in the form of "spear phishing," scams where attackers craft e-mail messages that seem to originate from the recipient's organization in a ploy to gain unauthorized access to confidential data.

posted by Fergie @ 3/12/2007 10:30:00 AM