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Information Warfare: StrategyPage Server Stormed [by Chinese Hackers]
Strategy Page ^ | 2005 Dec 17

Posted on 12/17/2005 6:19:48 AM PST by Wiz

December 17, 2005: StrategyPage doesn’t just report on Cyber War, sometimes we get caught in the middle of it. We got an electronic nastygram from China recently when, as we were installing a new server, at a hosting site (to improve response time, and lessen the workload on the volunteer staffers who maintain the server). There was a gap of a few days between the time the new server went online, and the hardware firewall (which is a bear to configure) got installed. Into that opening, some Chinese hackers got onto the server and tried to take it over. Actually, it was unclear what they were trying to do, but they did it at 2 AM, when one of our techies was trying to get onto the server to do some database maintenance, the hack attempt was noticed. There ensued a duel between our two guys and the Chinese. The Chinese lost, and we found out they were Chinese when we examined the tools and documents they left behind once they were locked out. Based on that, and the fight they put up, it appears it may have been a training exercise. When China trains its Internet warriors, it sends them out on training missions, to get into a vulnerable server and do the sort of things (like planting a rootkit) that one would do in preparation for a Cyber War.

(Excerpt) Read more at strategypage.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: china; espionage; hack; hacker; strategypage
StrategyPage is a site that analyze and provides information of military related, intelligence, terrorism and political issues, for those who are unaware of this site. It sometimes provides in depth high quality articles for these issues. Just weeks and also months ago, the site had posts about protests within China, explianing about the statistsics of the rising numbers of protests as well. It has also covered many issues about Chinese military affairs, including corruptions in the military, as well as its mililtary equipments. These posts may have caught attention of Chinese nationalists (however, there are no evidence that could prove this, and just a possibility), if not the Chinese covert agents, leading to this cyber attack. I have also skim through Chinese military dedicated sites runned by Chinese, and was very surprised about its quality of information related to equipments and other issues of US Armed Force. There were also several equipments that were explained on these Chinese sites that are rarely on the western sites. There are many Chinese that get on-line, scavenging for valuable information, probably those in English that are not censored as well (It seems that the Chinese government tolerates access by Chinese citizens to foreign military dedicated sites, while keywords such as Tiananmen Square Massacre, Tibet, and East Turkistan (sometimes giving results linking it to terrorism) are part of the combinations that are censored by the "Golden Shield". While this attack is a concern for other military dedicated sites and the interests of US, I think StrategyPage deserves it for writing too many sensitive information related to military affairs of US Armed Force, attracting attention of the Chinese that may have been monitoring the StrategyPage. If you are going to publish something on the Internet related to military issues, always be aware that the Chinese could be watching or hit the site with the keyword search, which could cause threat to the interest of US for feeding them information. Never feed your enemy with valuable information; Loose lips sinks ships.
1 posted on 12/17/2005 6:19:49 AM PST by Wiz
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To: Jeff Head; TigerLikesRooster; Tailgunner Joe

ping


2 posted on 12/17/2005 6:20:31 AM PST by Wiz
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To: Wiz

Is this one of the areas that those opposed to the Patriot Act let slide - hackers?


3 posted on 12/17/2005 6:23:25 AM PST by yoe
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To: Wiz
Never feed your enemy with valuable information;

That's right. Sell it to them like Clinton did.

4 posted on 12/17/2005 6:23:51 AM PST by penowa
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To: Wiz

There is no saying they were really Chinese. Hackers worldwide use farms of zombies, and the computers in China are often rooted because the Chinese users don't have the latest security patches. This is probably because they bought their OS at a market stall for $2.


5 posted on 12/17/2005 6:30:42 AM PST by proxy_user
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To: Wiz
While this attack is a concern for other military dedicated sites and the interests of US, I think StrategyPage deserves it for writing too many sensitive information related to military affairs of US Armed Force, attracting attention of the Chinese that may have been monitoring the StrategyPage.

StrategyPage doesn't know nor print anything that isn't common knowledge around the cocktail circuit in Washington D.C. Perhaps politicians and restaurants should be banned, they might attract Chinese waiters......

6 posted on 12/17/2005 6:31:35 AM PST by ScreamingFist ( The RKBA doesn't apply if I have a bigger gun than your bodyguard. NRA)
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To: proxy_user

Yes, and there are several ways for fabricating identity, such as using proxy and IP spoofing (but these could be detected and be dealt with denying access). If that site can't handle those, then that is their limits and probably it could be from other countries as well.


7 posted on 12/17/2005 6:47:04 AM PST by Wiz
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To: Wiz
There was a gap of a few days between the time the new server went online, and the hardware firewall (which is a bear to configure) got installed

They left their server wide open on the internet for several days without a firewall in front of it? Talk about playing internet roulette.

8 posted on 12/17/2005 7:39:58 AM PST by vbmoneyspender
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To: Wiz
Lol yes, I'm sure the dreaded Chinese government is behind this attack. Talk about an inflated sense of self-worth.
9 posted on 12/17/2005 8:06:40 AM PST by Lejes Rimul (Paleo and Proud)
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To: Wiz
Never feed your enemy with valuable information; Loose lips sinks ships.

But don't miss the chance to slip in some disinformation from time to time. How much money are they wasting because they think the F-22 really exists.

10 posted on 12/17/2005 8:39:59 AM PST by PAR35
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To: Wiz

You have got to be kidding me. Strategypages is amateurish, peddles rumours, sloppy, regurgitates the paradigm du jour, and is generally all-around incompetant when it comes to analysis of the PLA. There are many many many other sources of information, not the least of which is Janes, that are infinetly more reliable than Strategypages. I've visited the site before and the writers are principally hacks and the visitors mostly military fanboys not old enough to shave regularly.


11 posted on 12/17/2005 9:47:00 AM PST by cmdjing
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To: Wiz

StrategyPage only prints open source stuff & analysis pieces based on same. I very seldom see anything on StrategyPage that is world shaking.


12 posted on 12/17/2005 10:32:26 AM PST by Tallguy (When it's a bet between reality and delusion, bet on reality -- Mark Steyn)
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