Fergie's Tech Blog

'Several' U.S. Government Computers Attacked by Chinese Hackers

Sandhya Somashekhar writes in The Washington Post:

Rep. Frank R. Wolf (R-Va.) today called for better measures to protect government computers and cellphones from cyber attacks by foreign governments, after revealing that computers in his office and those of "several others" on Capitol Hill have been targeted by hackers in China.

Wolf, a champion for human rights in China and elsewhere, said in a news conference today that authorities investigated the attacks on four of his computers in August 2006 and traced them to a computer in China. The hackers, he said, gained access to sensitive information about the identities and locations of Chinese dissidents, among other data.

Rep. Christopher H. Smith (R-N.J.), another vocal critic of China's human rights record who appeared with Wolf to announce the breach and some companion legislation, said he was targeted by Chinese hackers twice and that the sophistication of the attacks and the kind of information retrieved suggests that the government may have been behind them.

posted by Fergie @ 6/11/2008 02:44:00 PM