The Vatican Is Said To Be Hacked From China Before Talks With Beijing (nytimes.com) 55
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The New York Times: Chinese hackers infiltrated the Vatican's computer networks in the past three months , a private monitoring group has concluded, in an apparent espionage effort before the beginning of sensitive negotiations with Beijing. The attack was detected by Recorded Future, a firm based in Somerville, Mass. The Chinese Communist Party has been waging a broad campaign to tighten its grip on religious groups, in what government leaders have periodically referred to as an effort to "Sinicize religions" in the country.
China officially recognizes five religions, including Catholicism, but the authorities often suspect religious groups and worshipers of undermining the control of the Communist Party and the state, and of threatening the country's national security. Chinese hackers and state authorities have often used cyberattacks to try to gather information on groups of Buddhist Tibetans, Muslim Uighurs and Falun Gong practitioners outside China. But this appears to be the first time that hackers, presumed by cybersecurity experts at Recorded Future to be working for the Chinese state, have been publicly caught directly hacking into the Vatican and the Holy See's Study Mission to China, the Hong Kong-based group of de facto Vatican representatives who have played a role in negotiating the Catholic Church's status. The Vatican and Beijing are expected to start talks in September over control of the appointment of bishops and the status of houses of worship as part of a renewal of a provisional agreement signed in 2018 that revised the terms of the Catholic Church's operations in China. One of the attacks, which began in early May, was hidden inside a document that appeared to be a legitimate letter from the Vatican to Msgr. Javier Corona Herrera, the chaplain who heads the study mission in Hong Kong," reports The New York Times.
"It was an artful deception: an electronic file that looked as if it was on the official stationery of Archbishop Edgar Pena Parra. The letter carried a message from Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican's secretary of state, the pope's second in command and an old China hand who has defended the deal. In his message, Cardinal Parolin expressed the pope's sadness about the death of a bishop. It is unclear whether the letter was fabricated or a real document that the attackers had obtained and then linked to malware that gave them access to the computers of the Hong Kong church offices and the Vatican's mail servers. Recorded Future concluded that the attack was most likely connected to negotiations over the extension of the 2018 agreement."
China officially recognizes five religions, including Catholicism, but the authorities often suspect religious groups and worshipers of undermining the control of the Communist Party and the state, and of threatening the country's national security. Chinese hackers and state authorities have often used cyberattacks to try to gather information on groups of Buddhist Tibetans, Muslim Uighurs and Falun Gong practitioners outside China. But this appears to be the first time that hackers, presumed by cybersecurity experts at Recorded Future to be working for the Chinese state, have been publicly caught directly hacking into the Vatican and the Holy See's Study Mission to China, the Hong Kong-based group of de facto Vatican representatives who have played a role in negotiating the Catholic Church's status. The Vatican and Beijing are expected to start talks in September over control of the appointment of bishops and the status of houses of worship as part of a renewal of a provisional agreement signed in 2018 that revised the terms of the Catholic Church's operations in China. One of the attacks, which began in early May, was hidden inside a document that appeared to be a legitimate letter from the Vatican to Msgr. Javier Corona Herrera, the chaplain who heads the study mission in Hong Kong," reports The New York Times.
"It was an artful deception: an electronic file that looked as if it was on the official stationery of Archbishop Edgar Pena Parra. The letter carried a message from Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican's secretary of state, the pope's second in command and an old China hand who has defended the deal. In his message, Cardinal Parolin expressed the pope's sadness about the death of a bishop. It is unclear whether the letter was fabricated or a real document that the attackers had obtained and then linked to malware that gave them access to the computers of the Hong Kong church offices and the Vatican's mail servers. Recorded Future concluded that the attack was most likely connected to negotiations over the extension of the 2018 agreement."
Oh my God! They stole the manuscript (Score:2, Troll)
for the Vatican's upcoming new installment of their best-selling work of fiction: the Even Newer Testament.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
pretty much third-hand here-say
Concerning world's major religions, "third hand hearsay" is actually a very generous description.
Re: (Score:2)
Wrong. There are manuscripts of the entire Old Testament (the Hebrew bible), lacking only the book of Esther, dating back to around 1 CE and even earlier, namely the Dead Sea Scrolls. Also earlier translations of the Old Testament into Greek (the Septuagint, with portions dating back to the 2nd century BCE, complete copies as of the 4th century CE). And complete New Testament manuscripts dating back to the mid 4th century CE, with smaller manuscripts covering all the books of the Greek NT centuries earli
Re: (Score:2)
primitive people who couldn't even begin to understand the world
Excuse me, but your confirmation bias is showing.
The only difference between you and those people is the time you were born in, and the experience, education, and insight that came before you.
They were no less insightful or intelligent than you are, and many of them were more so, as they explored their world without the shoulders of giants you stand on.
You're taking credit for understanding you didn't pioneer, and denigrating them for not having it.
I'll bet that not much of your stance comes from you own in
Re: (Score:1)
No they have to make the prequel first. Then some spinoffs. The post-crucifixion adventures of Thomas the Apostle.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Communism is a religion too.
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
Isn't that the Book of Mormon?
Oh great (Score:1)
Like God isn't already mad at us in 2020 .. now he's going to be REALLY pissed.
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
Obviously atheists. I mean, even God doesn't believe in a higher power.
Re: (Score:2)
He loved Big Brother.
China, if you are listening (Score:1)
Can we see all the stuff from the Inquisition, Galileo, and all the "books of the bible" they hid to maintain their power?
Re:China, if you are listening (Score:4, Informative)
Pretty sure they didn't have to hide anything. People are stupid enough, doesn't matter what is leaked or revealed. People ignore evidence and believe what's convenient to their situation.
Re: (Score:2)
Sad but true
Re: (Score:2)
That old phrase "whatever helps you sleep at night"
Re: (Score:2)
Unfortunately they probably just went after the boring negotiating stuff. The usual spying malarkey.
Re: (Score:2)
it's almost as if they don't know what they're doing....
China has reason to be wary of Vatican (Score:2, Interesting)
As recently as 1994 the hate that fueled the genocide in Rwanda was largely due to the involvement of the Church. [sandiego.edu]. The divisions and fissures existed in that society, but it was seriously exploited by the Church intent on converting them to Christianity. The evidence is impeccable and unrefutable. So much so the Pope actually apologized in mere 23 years after the fact. [theguardian.com]
In India China allied communist
Re: (Score:1)
Yes, the churches of the worlds have been behind all sorts of travesties of the world.
But guess what? So have the many governments been as well... even moreso now that the churches have much less influence than they used to have.
"Just because you are China does not mean the other side automatically would become saints."
True, but I don't care who is fighting, I am likely to pick the side with the least amount of evils. And even as absolute shit the Church is... China right now is the greater evil because t
Re: (Score:1)
You will not get much sympathy from the parts of the world colonized by Europe. All the things you fear China might do to
Re: (Score:1)
"But China has not colonized countries beyond what it considers its borders."
How do you colonize these days? All the land of earth is owned by a government. Just like Russia's annexation of Crimea and China's Hong Kong take over and of course Singapore... that is the new imperialism.
I wonder if Singapore regrets getting into bed with China now?
"All the things you fear China might do to your country, your country has done all and worse to others."
I have no fear of China, I fear the stupidity of the America
Re:China has reason to be wary of Vatican (Score:4, Insightful)
The Roman Catholic Church has never colonized or conquered anything. Catholic kingdoms have, but the Church itself hasn't.
I don't know where that 25% of global GDP number comes from, but it seems rather unlikely. Not that it could be anything other than an estimate given the absence of data. Or of the fundamental concept.
Regardless, who cares what China's economy looked like in the 1600's? If they get to call that the status quo and "restore" it, does the Holy Roman Empire get to do the same? Does Britain get to reclaim it's former colonies? Should Turkey revert to being the Ottoman Empire and take the Middle East and North Africa back? Do we get to burn witches and die of ptomaine poisoning again?
Re: (Score:3)
Yeah, but they keep revising their borders...
nine dash line?
I fully expect them to claim they discovered North America, and it's theirs, at some later time.
It's interesting how so many countries often claim "we control X, or we control Y, and claim it from some historical high period of their history.
If we followed this rule, Lithuania could claim to control Belarus and large portions of Poland, Ukraine and Russia - as they did in the 13th-15th centuries.
Re: China has reason to be wary of Vatican (Score:1)
Well, let's be honest: Everyone should be wary of the vatican.
I mean they are literally the Christian version of the IS. Just with some bomb belting replaced by little boy raping.
It is shocking that something as primitive, backwards and degenerated as that, is allowed to exist in the 21st fucking century!! Not 12th. 21st!!
Not flying to Mars and curing diseases with CRISPR. Talking to yourself all alone in a room and claiming you are talking to some magical skydaddy who solves all your problems and explains
Because IP addresses are AWESOME at.... (Score:2)
... indentifying an attacker.
oh come on...
Re: (Score:2)
Re: Every civilized nation needs to cut ties with (Score:1)
So you are saying they are almost 0.8 USAs?
"an electronic file" (Score:1)
Doesn't that say it all, about the competence of them regsrding the Internet?
Maybe they will find out it's a series of tubes in another ten years! Right after finding out it is wrong to beat up little children, right, Franziskus?
Let them hack the Vatican (Score:2)
and hope that they will find God.
China wants to pick bishops? (Score:2)
Cuckoo's nest (Score:2)