Fergie's Tech Blog

Symantec: Chinese Hackers Grow in Number, Skillz

Jeremy Kirk writes on InfoWorld:

China's hacking scene appears poised for growth, as the number of Internet users rise with a commensurate interest in criminal hacking and government spying, according to a new Symantec study.

"China’s hacking scene is clearly an active one," the report said. "These individuals and groups are known for discovering vulnerabilities, writing exploit code, and developing sophisticated hacking techniques."

China ranks second behind the U.S. as far as malicious activity on the Internet as a whole, Symantec said, citing its own data. The country had 131 million Internet users as of the end of 2006, accounting for about 10 percent of its population and 11 percent of the world's Internet users.

A well-known cyberwar between Chinese and American hackers erupted in April 2001 following the collision of a U.S. military spy plane and Chinese fighter. U.S. government Web sites were hacked and defaced with slogans such as "Beat down imperialism of American," courtesy of a group calling itself the Honker Union of China.

posted by Fergie @ 5/18/2007 12:13:00 PM