FBI Warns Chinese Hacking Campaign Has Expanded, Reaching 80 Countries (msn.com) 19
The FBI and other law enforcement and intelligence agencies around the world warned Wednesday that a Chinese-government hacking campaign that previously penetrated nine U.S. telecommunications companies has expanded into other industries and regions, striking at least 200 American organizations and 80 countries. From a report: The joint advisory was issued with the close allies in the Five Eyes English-language intelligence-sharing arrangement and also agencies from Finland, Netherlands, Poland and the Czech Republic, an unusually broad array meant to demonstrate global resolve against what intelligence officials said is a pernicious campaign that exceeds accepted norms for snooping.
"The expectation of privacy here was violated, not just in the U.S., but globally," FBI Assistant Director Brett Leatherman, who heads the bureau's cyber division, told The Washington Post in an interview. Chinese hackers won deep access to major communication carriers in the U.S. and elsewhere, then extracted call records and some law enforcement directives, which allowed them to build out a map of who was calling whom and whom the U.S. suspected of spying, Leatherman said. Prominent politicians in both major U.S. parties were among the ultimate victims.
"The expectation of privacy here was violated, not just in the U.S., but globally," FBI Assistant Director Brett Leatherman, who heads the bureau's cyber division, told The Washington Post in an interview. Chinese hackers won deep access to major communication carriers in the U.S. and elsewhere, then extracted call records and some law enforcement directives, which allowed them to build out a map of who was calling whom and whom the U.S. suspected of spying, Leatherman said. Prominent politicians in both major U.S. parties were among the ultimate victims.
Extracted call records... (Score:1)
Exactly what the five eye countries have been doing since at least the early 2000s under the Patriot act.
Cue the sock puppets (Score:3)
But are they Russian sock puppets trying to defend their criminal turf, Chinese sock puppets trying to distract from the bad publicity, or just the usual nameless forgettable morons seeking attention?
Solution-oriented thoughts elsewhere.
Re: Cue the sock puppets (Score:2)
Pretty certain Russia made it legal (grey area) to hack-for-hire as long as it is not on home turf. China probably does the same.
Re:US wiretapping system was hacked... (Score:1)
Let's not forget that China hacked into US wiretapping system with Salt Typhoon.
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We did forget. One of the first things the Trump administration got rid of was the group investigating Salt Typhoon for the US [csoonline.com].
only 80? Such naivette. (Score:2)
I'd bet that they have a special group that only hack their allies, so I'm sure that the number of countries hacked by China is the same as the number hacked by the USA: 193 out of 193.
Worth reiterating for Slashdummies (Score:1)
I'm not saying China isn't special and worth keeping an eye on.
But yeah every major global player hacks and spies on every single country on the planet and any exception to that rule would be driven only by disinterest and lack of consequence.
Does China care about spying on Jamaica or San Marino?
Probably not but even that may be a naive conclusion.
The Marshmallow Forest however?
China would, or course, do anything to get ahold of more of our delicious Light Sweet Fluffy Grade A Marshmallows just like any oth
Re:only 80? Such naivette. [Can it be cured?] (Score:2)
Okay, kind of a shallow comment, though true enough, but it is an opening for one of my favorite axes. We don't know anything about the real scope of the problem. So let's put "sizing the problem" as a preliminary problem to solve and here is a solution approach:
What if there was a website that let the potential victims report the attacks? The basic idea would be to collect lots of data, figure out which attacks are most serious, and then prioritize police resources towards breaking the scammers' various bu
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Yep, let's rely one one of the least reliable aircraft in the world, one which is easily detectable by modern systems and which has no defense against the latest air defense systems. Great plan.
Besides, when you're attacked by a bot created in India, deployed from a zombie server in Egypt, with C&C being run from a DC in Ireland, controlled by a hacked laptop in Italy, who do you attack?
Forgot the word "Known" (Score:1)
"FBI Warns KNOWN Chinese Hacking Campaign Has Expanded"
There, fixed that for you.
Less-snarky version: We should assume our adversaries have been successfully hacking us and our allies remotely since remote hacking became possible. We should also assume we don't know all of the hacks that are in progress at any given time.
Don't put critical infrastructure on the Internet (Score:2, Insightful)
It is probably true (Score:5, Insightful)
Unfortunately, right now I feel like I have to treat any FBI "report" with an exceptionally high degree of skepticism. Which is too bad, since I'm sure there are still plenty of good, professional people in the rank and file...
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Info from a 'lone gunmen' underground news site:
Dr Scully was let go for being too DEI, I mean sexy.
Special Agent Mulder, well no one has heard from him for a few years since he did a clinical trial of some mind-altering opiates. I believe he lives in California and goes by the name 'Hank'.
I though the FBI worked for Trump (Score:2)
No solution for computer security (Score:2)