Chinese Hackers Attack New York Times, Other U.S. Organizations

The paper spent four months tracking hacker activity before expelling them.

The days of hand-to-hand combat and gun fights have changed. Now, countries also rely on a more technical approach when gathering intelligence or attacking another country. The proof is evident as the New York Times reports results after investigating attacks on its computer systems by Chinese hackers. The paper said the hackers obtained passwords for its reporters and other employees, possibly downloading documents before it expelled them and replaced computers and passwords.

The attack coincided with the publishing of an Oct. 25 article regarding China’s prime minister, Wen Jiabao, and how he accumulated his fortune. After hiring on computer security experts at Mandiant, digital evidence was revealed linking the same hackers to other attacks made on government agencies and activist groups.  Similar attacks have happened at the United States Chamber of Commerce and Google, where Gmail accounts of human rights activists groups were opened.

There’s no way to actually tie the attacks back to the Chinese military because the hackers use various computers as proxies and constantly switch I.P. addresses. While China’s attacks are considered to be the most active and persistent, they are not alone in using computer attacks for national purposes. The United States, Israel, Russia and Iran are all suspected of developing and deploying cyberweapons. (NY Times)

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