hackers

Chinese Scientists Would Feel "Blind" if Google Pulled Out

Popular Science - February 26, 2010 - 5:45am

Scientists don't want to see Google go bai bai

Most Chinese citizens may still rely on homegrown Baidu for their Internet search needs, but Google's threatened pullout apparently worries the vast majority of Chinese scientists surveyed by the journal Nature. "If I lose Google, it will [be] just like a man without his eyes," one respondent said.

The recent troubles between China and Google began when the U.S. Internet search giant announced that it had suffered unprecedented cyber-attacks by Chinese hackers. The attacks not only targeted the Gmail accounts of human rights activists and stole intellectual property from Google, but also struck more than 30 other U.S. companies. Read more »

China Takes Down Hacker Training Camp Boasting Tens of Thousands of Users

Popular Science - February 9, 2010 - 4:28am

A 2007 hacker attack on an Internet café in Hubei Province in China has led to the discovery and dismantling of an online hacker training camp accused of providing malicious software and lessons in hacker technique to tens of thousands of Chinese users. The site, called Black Hawk Safety Net, has been shut down and three people have been arrested, but as with many stories coming out of the People's Republic these days, it's difficult to tell exactly what's what. Read more »

New Evidence Calls Into Question China's Role in Google Attacks

Popular Science - January 27, 2010 - 9:46am

Over the last two weeks, China and the US have engaged in a round of diplomatic sparring over attacks against Google. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton demanded that China investigate the attacks, while China accused the US of having a hacking double standard, and of using the Internet to foment revolution in Iran. In the ensuing back and forth, Google pulled its operations out of China, and criticized the Chinese government for censoring search results.

But what if China wasn't behind the attacks at all? Read more »

U.S. Wargamers Wrap Up Massive Cyberattack Drill: "We Are Not Prepared"

Popular Science - February 18, 2010 - 5:00am

Washington insiders recently sweated out a real-time war game where a cyberattack crippled cell phone service, Internet and even electrical grids across the U.S. The unscripted, dynamic simulation allowed former White House officials and the Bipartisan Policy Center to study the problems that might arise during a real cyberattack emergency, according to Aviation Week's Ares Defense Blog.

The Policy Center's vice-president reports ""The general consensus of the panel today was that we are not prepared to deal with these kinds of attacks." Read more »

Cyber-Thieves Make Millions from Emissions Cap-and-Trade Scam

Popular Science - February 5, 2010 - 4:38am

Phishing for carbon credits apparently pays

Whatever the views on cap-and-trade systems for greenhouse gas emissions, everyone can agree that it doesn't work when cyber-thieves fraudulently obtain and resell the carbon credits. The mysterious culprits behind a "phishing" scam managed to make millions off of European allowances that permit companies to emit a certain amount of greenhouse gases per year, according to Der Spiegel.

Phishing is that age-old Internet ruse where a fake but convincing email asks users to log onto a website and reenter their user name and password. That website is a decoy site set up for the purpose of snagging the unwary Internet user's log-in info.

In this case, hackers sent emails to companies in Europe, Japan and New Zealand last week that appeared to come from the German Emissions Trading Authority (DEHSt), a part of the European Union's Emission Trading System. The email said that the end users had to log onto the agency's website and reregister to prevent hacker attacks, in no small irony. Read more »