Police deny China hacking rumor

[InfoSec News <isn () c4i org>]

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2003/08/21/2003064581

By Jimmy Chuang
STAFF REPORTER
Thursday, Aug 21, 2003

The National Police Administration (NPA) yesterday denied reports that
its computer system had been attacked by Chinese hackers and
classified information stolen.

"Access to our classified information requires several usernames and
passwords. It has not been hacked or stolen by anybody," said Yang
Chi-lin (·¨ÄQÅï), director of the NPA's Information Technology
Department.

Yang said that all the classified information was stored in a closed
computer network that could not be accessed through the Internet.

The classified information held on the NPA's computers includes
documents and records such as vehicle registration information,
information on vehicle owners and criminal records, Yang said. The
only way to access the system and steal information is to do so from a
terminal inside the NPA.

Two Chinese-language news-papers reported yesterday that several
unidentified Chinese hackers from Hubei Province began attacking the
NPA's computer network and database in April.

Yang denied that classified information had been accessed.

"I can assure you that our national security was not breached and
privacy was not invaded," he said.

According to the reports, special agents from the Ministry of
Justice's Bureau of Investigation spent three months identifying and
locating the hackers and discovered that they were Chinese government
officials.

The NPA hired at least three local software companies to help rebuild
the firewalls protecting its systems, the reports said.

However, the Bureau of Investigation's Public Relations Department
denied the reports.

"We have never heard of such a thing and have never investigated or
tried to locate any Chinese hackers. In addition, if somebody hacks
government computer systems and breaches national security, the police
will also investigate," it said in a press release.

In response to questions about the "Blaster" virus that has infected
more than 120,000 computers worldwide, Yang said that the NPA's
computer system was protected by the "McAfee 4286" anti-virus program.

"Protecting our system from being attacked by hackers or computer
viruses has always been our priority. And I can proudly say that my
co-workers have performed well," Yang said.



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