

Bruce Schneier on how US government surveillance enabled the Google/China attack - madars
http://www.cnn.com/2010/OPINION/01/23/schneier.google.hacking/

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andrewcooke
this is the first i've heard of the govt intercept backdoor and he doesn't
give a reference. a quick google is turning up only references to this
article. anyone have more details?

edit: from reddit: [http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2010/01/google-
and-c...](http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2010/01/google-and-china-
the-attacks-and-their-aftermath.ars)

"Google's security team managed to penetrate one of the servers being used by
the attackers, which was how the full extent of the attack—more than 30
companies—was revealed."

and that points to this article:
[http://www.macworld.co.uk/digitallifestyle/news/index.cfm?ne...](http://www.macworld.co.uk/digitallifestyle/news/index.cfm?newsid=28293)

"Right before Christmas, it was, 'Holy s __*, this malware is accessing the
internal intercept [systems]" which seems to be the source of the "backdoor"
details.

that's also the source quoted here:
[http://www.circleid.com/posts/20100114_google_china_and_lawf...](http://www.circleid.com/posts/20100114_google_china_and_lawful_intercept/)
(nice article)

~~~
bootload
_"... this is the first i've heard of the govt intercept backdoor and he
doesn't give a reference. a quick google is turning up only references to this
article. anyone have more details? ..."_

You probably wont read about this in the regular _"open source"_ press. There
are other sources you can scour. My favourite source is Janes ~
<http://www.janes.com/news/> Another is IHS ~
[http://www.ihsglobalinsight.com/Perspective/PerspectiveOverv...](http://www.ihsglobalinsight.com/Perspective/PerspectiveOverviewForService684.htm)
which is a supplier to Janes. Business is interested in specialist news and
analysis for risk and strategic reasons and are available for purchase. Hint:
you can scan the headlines and extracts to gain some insight into what's going
on.

"Beijing's censorship of the internet", John Hill, 2006

 _"... An OpenNet Initiative study reported consistent blocking of certain
websites, such as those relating to the Falun Gong, the BBC, or Tibetan or
Taiwanese independence. They considered that their results "demonstrate that
China's blocking of sensitive content…. is extensive". ..."_ ~
[http://www.janes.com/security/law_enforcement/news/jir/jir06...](http://www.janes.com/security/law_enforcement/news/jir/jir060203_1_n.shtml)

The China/Allied cyber war activities is not new. Estonia, 2007 then South
Korea 2009 ~ <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyberwarfare> highlighted the
vulnerability of nation states but for Western countries the attacks have been
primarily business and defence.

For a more specialised insight into Chinese network intrusion you might want
to visit <http://www.thedarkvisitor.com/> a site setup by Scott J. Henderson
(US Army Ret.) which focuses specifically on China and cracking. To look the
other side you might want to read about the _"Honker Union"_ ~
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honker_Union>

~~~
andrewcooke
thanks, but i should have been clearer; i meant that was the first time i had
heard that the backdoor was used _in the attack_.

------
d2viant
I thought the attackers were exploiting Internet Explorer vulnerabilities.
Does anyone have the specifics of how U.S. intercept requirements aided in
this?

