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Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Chinese hackers go after foreign companies

The hacking of computers belonging to Tibetan activists and firms in Japan and India, including Indian shipping companies, has been connected to a former graduate student at a Chinese university. The incident is a prime example of ongoing espionage by Chinese hackers against foreign entities.

According to a report released Friday by Trend Micro, a Japanese computer security company, the hack was traced to Gu Kaiyuan, a former graduate student at Sichuan University, which receives government financing for its computer network defense research. Currently working at a leading Chinese Internet company, Gu reportedly may have recruited students to work on the university’s research involving computer attacks and defense.

“The fact they targeted Tibetan activists is a strong indicator of official Chinese government involvement,” said James A. Lewis, director and senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, to The New York Times. “A private Chinese hacker may go after economic data but not a political organization.”

The Trend Micro report outlines systematic attacks, going on for at least 10 months, on at least 233 personal computers, including those of “Indian military research organizations and shipping companies; aerospace, energy and engineering companies in Japan; and at least 30 computer systems of Tibetan advocacy groups.”

- The New York Times

Read the complete story: www.nytimes.com