China-based network infiltrates computers

March 29, 2009

1 hour, 10 minutes ago

OTTAWA (AFP) - An electronic spying operation based primarily in China has

infiltrated government and private computers in 103 countries around the world,

including those of the Dalai Lama, according to a report released Sunday.

The report, compiled by specialists based at the Munk Center for International

Studies at the University of Toronto, said the spying was being done from

computers based almost exclusively in China.

" Up to 30 percent of the infected hosts are considered high-value targets and

include computers located at ministries of foreign affairs, embassies,

international organizations, news media and NGOs (non-governmental

organizations), " the report said.

However, the researchers said they could not argue conclusively that the Chinese

government was involved.

They insisted that attributing all these operations to intelligence gathering by

the Chinese state " is wrong and misleading. "

" Numbers can tell a different story, " the report said. " China is presently the

world's largest Internet population. The sheer number of young digital natives

online can more than account for the increase in Chinese malware. "

The investigation started when the office of the Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan

leader, asked them to examine its computers for signs of malicious software.

Their work led them to a broader operation that had infiltrated at least 1,295

computers in in less than two years.

Some of these computers belonged to the Dalai Lama?s Tibetan exile centers in

India, Brussels, London and New York.

" This report serves as a wake up call, " the authors pointed out. " At the very

least a large percentage of high-value targets compromised by this network

demonstrate the relative ease with which a technically unsophisticated approach

can quickly be harnessed to to create a very effective spynet. "

The researchers said they believed that in addition to the spying on the Dalai

Lama, the system, which they called GhostNet, was focused on the governments of

South Asian and Southeast Asian countries.

The newly reported spying operation is by far the largest to come to light in

terms of countries affected.

The operation continues to invade and monitor more than a dozen new computers a

week, according to the report.

However, the researchers found no evidence that US government offices had been

infiltrated, although a NATO computer was monitored by the spies for half a day

and computers of the Indian Embassy in Washington were infiltrated.

Recommended Posts