Posted on 08/25/2005 3:33:03 PM PDT by Siobhan
Web sites in China are being used heavily to target computer networks in the Defense Department and other U.S. agencies, successfully breaching hundreds of unclassified networks, according to several U.S. officials.
Classified systems have not been compromised, the officials added. U.S. authorities remain concerned because, as one official said, even seemingly innocuous information, when pulled together from various sources, can yield useful intelligence to an adversary.
"The scope of this thing is surprisingly big," said one of four government officials who spoke separately about the incidents, which stretch back as far as two or three years and have been code-named Titan Rain by U.S. investigators. All officials insisted on anonymity, given the sensitivity of the matter.
Whether the attacks constitute a coordinated Chinese government campaign to penetrate U.S. networks and spy on government databanks has divided U.S. analysts. Some in the Pentagon are said to be convinced of official Chinese involvement; others see the electronic probing as the work of other hackers simply using Chinese networks to disguise the origins of the attacks.
"It's not just the Defense Department but a wide variety of networks that have been hit," including the departments of State, Energy and Homeland Security as well as defense contractors, the official said. "This is an ongoing, organized attempt to siphon off information from our unclassified systems."
Another official, however, cautioned against exaggerating the severity of the intrusions. He said the attacks, while constituting "a large volume," were "not the biggest thing going on out there."
Apart from acknowledging the existence of Titan Rain and providing a sketchy account of its scope, the officials who were interviewed declined to offer further details, citing legal and political considerations and a desire to avoid giving any advantage to the hackers. One official said the FBI has opened an investigation into the incidents. FBI declined ...
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
ping ... ChiComs attack in cyberspace...
"Do on to others as the do-on to you..."
-White guy with dreadlocks on hackers.
I am sure the US is already getting some good ole payback on the Chicomms.
I'm hoping with every attack they learn and adapt to them.
Everything done to the ChiComs by the USA is too little too late at this point.
Ahhhhhhhhhh....I think we've been on them since the fifties, so, there's no need for the defeatist rhetoric.
Have faith in the good ole USA, Siobhan.
One hopes we can learn and adapt and respond with devastating results before the ChiComs begin their next round. But Clinton & the Clintonistas already sold us out to the ChiComs, and I think the answer lies in denying China technologies and using EMP weapons to destroy the tech they currently employ and are developing.
"Ahhhhhhhhhh....I think we've been on them since the fifties..."
We were onto them in the 50's but we fell asleep in the 70's and just now woke up with a start. We can't afford to doze off again.
There may be one requirement. Their agent Hitlery may demand to be made Empress before welcoming the occupying horde.
Yeah, and I bet all the info they're stealing is on the up and up. There is no telling what they're being fed.
We got on them in the eighties (Reagan had no love for the Chicomms)...Clinton was the major interruption.
His sad, sad, sad, legacy has yet to be fully revealed. IMHO.
ping
"Everything done to the ChiComs by the USA is too little too late at this point"
I don't know about that man. The US and India are shutting China out from the energy sector, the thing they need most right now. There are ways to make sure you adversary can't afford to wage war. It should have happened sooner indeed, but our efforts were focused elsewhere.
Thanks for the ping!
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