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China's Microsoft Hack May Have Had A Bigger Purpose Than Just Spying
NPR ^ | 26 Aug 2021 | DINA TEMPLE-RASTON

Posted on 08/27/2021 7:00:42 AM PDT by DUMBGRUNT

When investigators discovered the hack on Microsoft Exchange servers in January, they thought it was about stealing emails. Now they believe China vacuumed up reams of information in a bid to develop better artificial intelligence, or AI.

Officials believe that the breach was in the service of something bigger: China's artificial intelligence ambitions. The Beijing leadership aims to lead the world in a technology that allows computers to perform tasks that traditionally required human intelligence — such as finding patterns and recognizing speech or faces.

These days most companies run Exchange in the cloud so Microsoft takes care of data security.

The attackers seemed to have a weirdly specific piece of data ready to deploy: the exact email addresses of various people running Exchange servers around the world.

Microsoft had to find a way to convince some 350,000 IT administrators running Exchange locally to stop whatever they were doing and patch right away. And that was proving to be hard.

Microsoft had to find a way to convince some 350,000 IT administrators running Exchange locally to stop whatever they were doing and patch right away. And that was proving to be hard.

Kawaguchi said in his nearly 20 years at Microsoft, he'd never seen an attack scale up so quickly.

There was the Office of Personnel Management attack in which hackers spent some time in OPM networks and then whisked away 21.5 million records from the federal government's background investigation database

Imagine how a Chinese intelligence officer can leverage that data to get someone talking or to make a connection that can be used for intelligence purposes. "They know everything about you before they even bump you on a cruise or on a vacation,"

(Excerpt) Read more at npr.org ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Chit/Chat; Computers/Internet
KEYWORDS: china
"The Cuckoo's Egg: Tracking a Spy Through the Maze of Computer Espionage"

Among the most exciting nonfiction books, I have ever read.

Brought it with camping/climbing; read it straight through waiting out the rain in a tent.

1 posted on 08/27/2021 7:00:42 AM PDT by DUMBGRUNT
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To: DUMBGRUNT

I don’t think China is interested in developing AI. They are not the most innovative culture in the world. They are really good at copying. They appropriate intellectual property and make counterfeit copies of software. Pretty much everything they manufacture was designed somewhere else. They will wait until the west develops the technology then when we set it up in their factories they will make as many copies as they want slash need.

They are vacuuming up data for the same reason that google and the NSA do. To use it against us.


2 posted on 08/27/2021 7:08:50 AM PDT by webheart (I thought I was helping by getting vaccinated but they say I didn’t help at all. )
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To: DUMBGRUNT

Instead of going through all that trouble, they could of just asked Bill Gates.


3 posted on 08/27/2021 7:09:00 AM PDT by Baldwin
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To: DUMBGRUNT

Leave it to NPR to make a news story out of something someone said at a cocktail party to make themselves look smart.


4 posted on 08/27/2021 7:10:37 AM PDT by webheart (I thought I was helping by getting vaccinated but they say I didn’t help at all. )
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To: DUMBGRUNT

They’re harvesting potential targets for bribery and blackmail. Hunter Biden, Paul Pelosi and Richard Blum, i.e. Mr. Diane Feinstein, aren’t alone.


5 posted on 08/27/2021 7:12:15 AM PDT by LuxAerterna
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To: webheart

—”I don’t think China is interested in developing AI. “

“There is no greater danger than underestimating your opponent.”
— Lao Tzu


6 posted on 08/27/2021 7:13:18 AM PDT by DUMBGRUNT (("The enemy has overrun us. We are blowing up everything. Vive la France!"Dien Bien Phu last message)
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To: webheart

—” to make themselves look smart.”

As noted above check out “The Cuckoo’s Egg”

IIRC there are documentaries and tv shows on this book; NO READING NEEDED.


7 posted on 08/27/2021 7:17:13 AM PDT by DUMBGRUNT (("The enemy has overrun us. We are blowing up everything. Vive la France!"Dien Bien Phu last message)
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To: LuxAerterna

—”. Hunter Biden, Paul Pelosi and Richard Blum...”

YES,YES,YES!!!


8 posted on 08/27/2021 7:18:17 AM PDT by DUMBGRUNT (("The enemy has overrun us. We are blowing up everything. Vive la France!"Dien Bien Phu last message)
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To: DUMBGRUNT
such as finding patterns and recognizing speech or faces

So they can build systems that the US can use in it's total surveillance state with social scores for all

9 posted on 08/27/2021 7:18:48 AM PDT by Pollard (#*&% Communism)
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To: DUMBGRUNT

The surveillance state is perfect for China.

Imho it will ultimately be run by a handful of billionaires, but for the new slave-planet it won’t make any difference who the invisible bosses are.


10 posted on 08/27/2021 7:22:13 AM PDT by cgbg (A kleptocracy--if they can keep it. Think of it as the Cantillon Effect in action.)
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To: DUMBGRUNT

China still can’t manufacture a reliable modern jet fighter engine, but when it comes to software, they take a back seat to no-one.


11 posted on 08/27/2021 7:23:48 AM PDT by Yo-Yo (is the /sarc tag really necessary?)
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To: Pollard

—”US can use in it’s total surveillance state “

...what kind of government do we have? “A Republic,” he replied, “if you can keep it.”


12 posted on 08/27/2021 7:43:17 AM PDT by DUMBGRUNT (("The enemy has overrun us. We are blowing up everything. Vive la France!"Dien Bien Phu last message)
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To: Yo-Yo

—”China still can’t manufacture a reliable modern jet fighter engine”

I remember when many things were known as JAP CRAP.

And along came Edward Deming...

If you follow Musk/Tesla...Sandy Munro worked with Deming and has a few fun tales.


13 posted on 08/27/2021 7:49:24 AM PDT by DUMBGRUNT (("The enemy has overrun us. We are blowing up everything. Vive la France!"Dien Bien Phu last message)
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To: DUMBGRUNT

I saw 2 Chinese show off their Linux OS on Tech TV years ago and it went very bad , a disaster , I wonder what happen to those guys ,LOL


14 posted on 08/27/2021 7:57:17 AM PDT by butlerweave
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To: DUMBGRUNT

bkmk blue screen outfit


15 posted on 08/27/2021 7:58:27 AM PDT by ptsal (Vote R.E.D. >>>Remove Every Democrat ***)
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To: DUMBGRUNT

China 08/27/2021 bkmk


16 posted on 03/29/2023 10:54:35 PM PDT by linMcHlp
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