Posted on 11/06/2008 10:18:13 PM PST by Jet Jaguar
Chinese hackers have penetrated the White House computer network on multiple occasions, and obtained e-mails between government officials, a senior US official told the FT.
The cyber attackers managed to penetrate the White House system for brief periods that allowed them to steal information before US government experts each time patched the system.
US government cyber experts suspect the attacks were sponsored by the Chinese government, although they cannot say for definite.
“We are getting very targeted Chinese attacks so its stretches credulity that these are not directed by government-related organisations,” said the official.
The National Cyber Investigative Joint Task Force, a unit established in 2007 to tackle security, detected the attacks. The official stressed the hackers had accessed only the unclassified computer network, and not the more secure classified network.
“For a short period of time, they successfully breach a wall, and then you rebuild the wall . . . it is not as if they have continued access,” said the official. “It is constant cat and mouse on this stuff.”
The US has increased efforts to tackle cyber security in the past year, especially since Chinese hackers penetrated the Pentagon last year, in an attack that obtained e-mails from the system serving Robert Gates, the defence secretary.
Separately, US government cyber investigations have determined that an attack this summer on the Obama and McCain campaign computer networks originated in China. Details of the attack were first reported by Newsweek. The secret service told the Obama and McCain campaigns that their networks had been comprised by foreign hackers.
The cyber attackers successfully downloaded large quantities of information from the campaign networks, which security agencies believed was an attempt to learn more about the contenders’ policy positions.
A second US official said government cyber experts had determined that the attacks originated from China, but he cautioned that they could not determine whether they were related to the government.
“There is no doubt that foreign governments are actively targeting cyber space not only for sensitive information but to influence our most sensitive processes such as the US presidential election,” said Sami Saydjari, head of the Cyber Defence Agency, a private company that advises government. “This underscores the need for president-elect Obama to take leadership in the cyber space race that is well under way.”
While the US has raised concerns about cyber attacks, many foreign governments believe the US is also engaged in electronic spying. Bob Woodward, the veteran Washington Post reporter, this year revealed that the US had been spying on the Iraqi government.
ping
The White House wants open borders, why not open hard drives?
Just F*****G peachy. What kind of idiots do we have running the IT systems there?
And for crap sakes, how about threatening the chicoms with major sanctions.
Okay, I keep reading about these stories. Why the f*ck are these computers hooked up to networks that have vulnerabilities? Secure intranets people...unplug these damn things from the Internet!
And things continue to get interesting. Does anyone else see this as a problem?
i believe in any hot confrontation with china, the US will suffer various network outages of varying degrees of severity and gravity.
Hopefully DoD is at least aware of the fact they need to plan for asymmetric cyberwarfare.
I wonder if this has anything to do with Chinese made motherboards and chips that are in nearly every brand of computer...
So, if the Chinese are so good at this, does it mean that all the people there are secretly on the internet, in spite of the government’s attempts at control?
And now the bridge on the ship of state will be commanded by a 1st term Senator with no experience to speak of who’s written two autobiographies before age 45 and is the product of the Daley Machine.
I’m really glad students, professors, and poor people elected this guy. Basically people who have yet to prove they are capable of taking care of themselves. Deciding what the American taxpayer will pay for. Ugh.
Chinese hack into White House networkThe jokes on them. In a few months the new President Hussein will hand them whatever they want, just for the asking.
If they’re patient, Obama will give them everything they want. He hates America.
oh s***
“US government cyber experts suspect the attacks were Sponsored by the Chinese government, although they cannot say for definite.”
Yes they can. Black hats working without consent of the chicoms would get shut down fast and hard. This isn’t spoofing or somebody using a node in Beijing. This is PLA/MSS.
But the Chicoms would be stupid NOT to run Intrusion OPS/hax. If they get in they get some datas without ANY fear of retribution from the US Government. If they fail they fail and Uncle Sam keeps it nice and quiet..so what.
I doubt this.
I know what operating system the White House backbone runs on, and it’s not Windows.
We really need two separate networks for the Government and Military. Sensitive data shouldn’t be on networks with access to the public Internet.
Bomb them
And there is the problem. With morons like these running the networks, it is no wonder they are breached. You do not need continued access. Get in once and plant a logger program and that is all you need.
They have probably been doing it for ages.
Since I know next to nothing about computers; I am impressed.
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