Fergie's Tech Blog

Did China's Hackers Shut Off the Lights? - UPDATE

Noah Shachtman writes on Danger Room:

Hackers working on behalf of China's People’s Liberation Army have penetrated networks controlling electric power grids in the United States, computer security experts believe. And that may have precipitated a massive blackout on the east coast in 2003, as well as a blackout in Florida this year.

That's just one blockbuster assertion in a long story full of them, from National Journal scoopster Shane Harris.

Harris also reports that spyware was found on the electronics devices used by Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez on an official trade trip to Beijing in December 2007. The malicious code found on these devices was identical to code found on the laptop computers of several U.S. corporate executives who had their information "slurped" in China.

Joel Brenner, the government's top counterintelligence official, said that a major U.S. corporation had its negotiating points and sensitive information obtained by their Chinese counterparts in advance of a business meeting there. “China is indeed a counterintelligence threat, and specifically a cyber counterintelligence threat,” Brenner said. “If you travel abroad and are the director of research or the chief executive of a large company, you’re a target."

posted by Fergie @ 5/29/2008 06:39:00 PM