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China Security

Germany Says China Was Behind a 2021 Cyberattack on Government Agency (apnews.com) 31

Posted by msmash from the worrying-trend dept.
An investigation has determined that "Chinese state actors" were responsible for a 2021 cyberattack on Germany's national office for cartography, officials in Berlin said Wednesday. From a report: The Chinese ambassador was summoned to the Foreign Ministry for a protest for the first time in decades. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Sebastian Fischer said the German government has "reliable information from our intelligence services" about the source of the attack on the Federal Agency for Cartography and Geodesy, which he said was carried out "for the purpose of espionage."

"This serious cyberattack on a federal agency shows how big the danger is from Chinese cyberattacks and spying," Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said in a statement. "We call on China to refrain from and prevent such cyberattacks. These cyberattacks threaten the digital sovereignty of Germany and Europe." Fischer declined to elaborate on who exactly in China was responsible. He said a Chinese ambassador was last summoned to the German Foreign Ministry in 1989 after the Tiananmen Square crackdown.
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Germany Says China Was Behind a 2021 Cyberattack on Government Agency More

Germany Says China Was Behind a 2021 Cyberattack on Government Agency

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  • Why? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by cayenne8 ( 626475 ) on Wednesday July 31, 2024 @01:04PM (#64670208) Homepage Journal
    Why is the greater western world, NOT currently making a concerted effort to ween ourselves away from anything that involves China with respect to anything economics and production related?

    This country deserves to be shunned and slowly but surely extricated from all aspects of our lives that they currently touch.

    Let's face it...we made a mistake, we thought including them in the greater western world economy would encourage them to become more democratic and free and instead they are aggressively using our freedoms against us.

    It is time to start to slowly cut the cord and become more independent from anything involving them.

    They are NOT our friends, they are actively our adversaries.

    Let's form policy that treats them as such, and move away from them.

    It won't be quick, but it's time to start NOW.

    • Re:Why? (Score:4, Insightful)

      by LazarusQLong ( 5486838 ) on Wednesday July 31, 2024 @01:11PM (#64670236)
      Why? because Walmart, Home Goods, etc. at least in America our people want cheap crap, mostly, rather than quality stuff. Sure, you and I and some others can attempt to never buy chinese again... but the greater America out there? Give them their cheap crap, bread and circuses, and they are happy, plus two other adjectives that I will leave to the reader to insert

      • Re:Why? (Score:4, Informative)

        by fahrbot-bot ( 874524 ) on Wednesday July 31, 2024 @01:47PM (#64670340)

        Why? because Walmart, Home Goods, etc. at least in America our people want cheap crap, mostly, rather than quality stuff.

        Want? More likely it's all they can afford. Even many Walmart employees earn so little working full-time they still qualify for SNAP (food stamps) and Medicaid. From Taxpayers Subsidize Poverty Wages at Walmart, McDonald’s, Other Large Corporations, GAO Finds [senate.gov]:

        Many full-time workers employed by some of America’s largest and most profitable corporations receive wages so low that they qualify for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, or “food stamps”) benefits and Medicaid, according to a report released today by the Government Accountability Office (GAO).

        he report, Millions of Full-time Workers Rely on Federal Health Care and Food Assistance Programs [senate.gov], commissioned by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), found that 5.7 million Medicaid enrollees and 4.7 million SNAP recipients who worked full-time for 50 or more weeks in 2018 earned wages so low that they qualified for these federal benefits. An estimated 12 million wage-earning adults enrolled in Medicaid and 9 million wage-earning adults living in households receiving SNAP benefits worked at some point in 2018.

        The report lists the number of employees at 18 companies, who responded to federal surveys in 9/6 states, that receive SNAP/Medicaid benefits and Walmart tops the lists with 14,541 receiving SNAP and 10,350 on Medicaid. For more, Google walmart employees (medicaid|snap) [google.com].

        • thank you for this information. Yes, I have worked in jobs like that, thankfully I managed to find a way out, but for many....

          • thank you for this information. Yes, I have worked in jobs like that, thankfully I managed to find a way out, but for many....

            I think many of us have, but often it's when we're young(er). Unfortunately, some (many?) people don't have other opportunities (for a variety of reasons) or find themselves in a Catch-22. If they work, or get paid, a little more, they stop being eligible for assistance, or it's substantially reduced, but they're still not earning enough to be self-sufficient. I think the point of reports/articles like I noted is that companies often rely on their employees getting public assistance when offering low wa

            • I have known many people who found themselves trapped as you say, making just a small amount more meant they lost considerably more in benefits, without having gained much in return. I know people who work 60-70-80 hours per week in multiple jobs, because the employers don't want them counted as full time so they do not have to advance benefits to them (I have been one of those people in the past)... I got lucky and because of that luck, got out to jobs that actually pay enough to live on, but, I know that

      • Why? because Walmart, Home Goods, etc. at least in America our people want cheap crap, mostly, rather than quality stuff. Sure, you and I and some others can attempt to never buy chinese again... but the greater America out there? Give them their cheap crap, bread and circuses, and they are happy, plus two other adjectives that I will leave to the reader to insert

        Well, there's tariffs, no?

        And can we not by law limit imports from them over time?

        I mean, at the very least, I'd have to guess that pretty much

        • true story. We used to make the best, back in the day. But then the MBA's got in charge and decided it was more fun to make something that broke or wore out just after the warranty expired...
          • when I was a wee lad, anything Sears sold with the Craftsman name on it had a lifetime warranty, including power tools! then by the time I had my first car, only hand tools, non-power, had that same warranty, but they were awesome tools and lasted forever... Recently, watching tool videos on youtube (mostly ProjectFarm to be honest) I see that Craftsman is no longer what it was in the 70's. Too bad that through all my moves in the 80's and 90's I lost much of what I had had, but now, as I approach my dotage

      • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

        by oh_my_080980980 ( 773867 )
        Right. Talk to Corporate America jackass. They are the ones who relocated to a cheap labor country in order to make cheap goods and had over their profits to investors. Moron.
        • did someone piss in your coco crispies this morning? I know I didn't, but hey, if it makes you feel good, what other insults ya got for me?

    • Re:Why? (Score:4, Insightful)

      by laughingskeptic ( 1004414 ) on Wednesday July 31, 2024 @01:16PM (#64670248)
      Mistake? As intended, American involvement in wars in SE Asia ended. The problem is we forgot the whole point and allowed a strategy to evolve into a liability.

    • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward

      Because a lot of the news is bullshit, and a lot of it is just US trying to maintain its dominance. We already know that the US has been releasing tons of propaganda over the past 5 years, starting with the CIA in 2019 under Trump, and than later on with the propaganda wing of the US army during covid.

    • We can't (Score:1, Troll)

      by Schoenlepel ( 1751646 )

      China is the biggest producer of rare earths (you know, the stuff which makes permanent magnets and is used in PCBs and such). It's also where a lot of the world's actual production happens.

      Cut the cord? We'll need a rare earths mine at least at least as large as they have.

      On top of that, China has been busy forging alliances. We're no longer dealing with just China anymore. China has half of Africa in its pocket and, as NATO has been so stupid to kick Russia out of SWIFT, China has been connecting more and

      • Re: (Score:1, Troll)

        by cayenne8 ( 626475 )

        Simply because they're not aligned with Western values, does not make them worse.

        Yes it does.

        I'd argue their type of government (which is not communist in any way) is actually better than democracy.

        No, it's not.

        Hey look...found the commie in the room!!

        (I'm guessing you're not living in your beloved China, otherwise, you'd not have the freedom to make such posts here.)

        • Re:We can't (Score:4, Informative)

          by VeryFluffyBunny ( 5037285 ) on Wednesday July 31, 2024 @05:57PM (#64670944)
          Yes, China is a communist, single party state. They also hold democratic elections. They also have a mixed economy which allows private ownership & capital.

          China's also lifted 800 million of its citizens out of poverty over the past 40 years: https://www.worldbank.org/en/n... [worldbank.org] It's building renewable infrastructure faster than anyone else, & building out high-speed mass transportation networks on a national scale (much faster & more efficient than electric cars). They've also overtaken the USA in research & academic publishing, & tuition & the cost of living for students at Chinese universities is affordable. The intentional homicide rate in China = 0.502 per 100,000 (total of 7,157 in 2020) but in the USA = 6.383 (total of 21,594 in 2022).

          On many measures, China is a better place to live and raise a family. Their typical workplace practices leave a lot to be desired though.

      • Re: (Score:2, Flamebait)

        by Baron_Yam ( 643147 )

        > Yes, they have a different type of government. Democracy (basically a glorified popularity contest) isn't the best way of governance, I'd argue their type of government (which is not communist in any way) is actually better than democracy.

        Well... Thanks for letting me know your opinions should be discarded without further consideration.

      • China is currently the biggest producer of REEs because they cut prices to the point that everyone else went out of business, they account for 40% of the worlds reserves. The US only has 2% of the worlds reserves but is capable of matching China in production ... if the price is right.

        https://www.politico.com/news/... [politico.com]
        https://web.mit.edu/12.000/www... [mit.edu]

      • China is the biggest producer of rare earths

        The US is number two and produces about 20% of what China does. Australia is number three. No European country comes among the first ten, but two large finds have recently been found in Scandinavia, and work is ongoing.

        And the need for rare earth metals is expected to increase five times by 2030 so no reason not to work on new mines and production methods.

    • "we made a mistake"

      Nah. We used them for their cheap labor then threw them out once they got uppity.

      It's China who has a string of existential crisis.

    • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

      by VeryFluffyBunny ( 5037285 )
      Yeah, it's not like the USA has political dissidents... oh, wait. But at least the USA is a democracy where citizens get to vote for... a duopoly. At least the USA doesn't systematically persecute its minorities & treat them as 2nd class citizens with no rights... oh, wait. At least the USA doesn't imprison thousands of people who never even had a fair trial... oh, wait.

      This could go on for a long time but you get the idea.

      • At least the USA doesn't systematically persecute its minorities & treat them as 2nd class citizens

        You're right here...we do NOT.

        At least the USA doesn't imprison thousands of people who never even had a fair trial.

        Again, you are correct, we do NOT.

        Of course we are not perfect and don't get it right EVERY time, but that is a very small minority of cases...

        • Re: persecution, yes, you do. There's a long history of persecution of African Americans, Chinese, & those from south of your border.

          Re: imprisonment, yes, you do. Only ~2% of people in US prisons were actually convicted by trial. The rest were offered "plea deals" with sentences so severe if they lose, that it basically amounts to onerous coercion.

    • Because you're all full of it.

      Your agencies specifically set up attacks to look like they come from anywhere they like, and that makes it impossible to blame anyone.

      It's a fact that the USA is the bad actor in this world and that it is what it accuses China of being. China actually has nothing on the USA when it comes to issues such as this. USA is first in this field, no doubt at all.

      China doesn't have to be your enemy, but when you keep on attacking it, it's not too surprising if it starts acting that way

      • It's time for the USA to move aside and let the rest of the world rise.

        Hmm...not sure where you live, but you have fun with that.

        First, we'll take our foreign aid away and find a better way to use it domestically.

        And, we'll stop protecting you with our armed forces....and you can start paying fully for your own defense and GOOD luck if one of the bad guys looks your way.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

      North Korea is heavily sanctioned and still manages to hack up on a regular basis.

      Not to mention that the US and UK do a lot of hacking too, and probably many other Western nations.

  • Doesn't anybody remember why Julian Assange was persecuted for over a decade by Washington ? Wikileaks spilled the beans on the Umbridge program, which lets the CIA spy on anyone and leave tracks that implicate other actors, such as Russia or China. While I don't doubt the existence of hacking by most if not all governments as well as private hacking groups, leaving evidence behind that can be traced back is something more on a script kiddie level. When the CIA created Umbridge for themselves, they also cre

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