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!
Secure intranets people...unplug these damn things from the Internet!
You are right, it's the rehashing of the same story... email systems are on the intranet (caveat: except mobile devices, which should be at least on VPN). At the most, what Chinese are getting (if anything, if the story has any truth to it) would be some stuff that looks like email dump that's planted in the honey-pot in the DMZ area. I think these stories are done periodically to "confirm" to Chinese that they really got something of value, and for domestic consumption to promote the importance and funding of government's and military technology infrastucture.
My computers are probed all the time, mostly from China IPs - it's not difficult to throw them off or feed them some garbage (depending on the mood or method of attack), most of the damage is usually a slowdown of access.