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Chinese hackers: No site is safe
From: "Richard M. Smith" <rms () computerbytesman com>
Date: Fri, 7 Mar 2008 16:38:37 -0500
http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/03/07/china.hackers/index.html Chinese hackers: No site is safe By John Vause CNN ZHOUSHAN, China (CNN) -- They operate from a bare apartment on a Chinese island. They are intelligent 20-somethings who seem harmless. But they are hard-core hackers who claim to have gained access to the world's most sensitive sites, including the Pentagon. In fact, they say they are sometimes paid secretly by the Chinese government -- a claim the Beijing government denies. "No Web site is one hundred percent safe. There are Web sites with high-level security, but there is always a weakness," says Xiao Chen, the leader of this group. "Xiao Chen" is his online name. Along with his two colleagues, he does not want to reveal his true identity. The three belong to what some Western experts say is a civilian cyber militia in China, launching attacks on government and private Web sites around the world. VideoWatch <http://cnn.site.printthis.clickability.com/pt/cpt?action=cpt&title=Chinese+ hackers%3A+No+site+is+safe+-+CNN.com&expire=-1&urlID=27020787&fb=Y&url=http% 3A%2F%2Fwww.cnn.com%2F2008%2FTECH%2F03%2F07%2Fchina.hackers%2Findex.html&par tnerID=211911#cnnSTCVideo> hackers' clandestine Chinese operation > If there is a profile of a cyber hacker <http://topics.cnn.com/topics/hackers> , these three are straight from central casting -- young and thin, with skin pale from spending too many long nights in front of a computer. One hacker says he is a former computer operator in the People's Liberation <http://topics.cnn.com/topics/china> Army; another is a marketing graduate; and Xiao Chen says he is a self-taught programmer. "First, you must know about the Web site you want to attack. You must know what program it is written with," says Xiao Chen. "There is a saying, 'Know about both yourself and the enemy, and you will be invincible.'" CNN decided to withhold the address of these hackers' Web site, but Xiao Chen says it has been operating for more than three years, with 10,000 registered users. The site offers tools, articles, news and flash tutorials about hacking. Private computer experts in the United States from iDefense Security Intelligence, which provides cybersecurity advice to governments and Fortune 500 companies, say the group's site "appears to be an important site in the broader Chinese hacking community." .
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Current thread:
- Chinese hackers: No site is safe Richard M. Smith (Mar 07)
- Re: Chinese hackers: No site is safe Phil Dyer (Mar 07)
- <Possible follow-ups>
- Re: Chinese hackers: No site is safe Paul Ferguson (Mar 07)
- Re: Chinese hackers: No site is safe Gadi Evron (Mar 08)