We must take the prospect of cyberwar seriously and that means agreeing new international laws to define it
The last month has been another extraordinary one for cyberspace. Ebay, that internet stalwart and pioneer of digital commerce, whose 120 million active users have over the past 15 years competed for a Virgin Mary toasted cheese sandwich, William Shatner's kidney stones and Michael Phelps's bong has had the personal details and passwords of its entire user base stolen. Meanwhile, the US government has issued federal grand jury indictments against five Chinese military officers for commercial cyber espionage. China reacted angrily calling the charges "fictitious" and "absurd", and denying that the country had ever been involved in digital theft.
Anyone who feels this response is even faintly plausible would do well to consult the exhaustive report on Unit 61398 of the People's Liberation Army, published last year by cybersecurity firm Mandiant. In its 70-odd pages the report builds a detailed and fascinating picture of this Chinese cyber crack commando unit tasked with stealing secrets from commercial and military targets abroad: its infrastructure, tools, tactics, base, and even some of the individuals involved, one of whom was identified because he used his computer skills to circumvent China's Facebook ban (a political irony that is unlikely to have escaped his superiors).
Continue reading... Reported by guardian.co.uk 8 hours ago.
The last month has been another extraordinary one for cyberspace. Ebay, that internet stalwart and pioneer of digital commerce, whose 120 million active users have over the past 15 years competed for a Virgin Mary toasted cheese sandwich, William Shatner's kidney stones and Michael Phelps's bong has had the personal details and passwords of its entire user base stolen. Meanwhile, the US government has issued federal grand jury indictments against five Chinese military officers for commercial cyber espionage. China reacted angrily calling the charges "fictitious" and "absurd", and denying that the country had ever been involved in digital theft.
Anyone who feels this response is even faintly plausible would do well to consult the exhaustive report on Unit 61398 of the People's Liberation Army, published last year by cybersecurity firm Mandiant. In its 70-odd pages the report builds a detailed and fascinating picture of this Chinese cyber crack commando unit tasked with stealing secrets from commercial and military targets abroad: its infrastructure, tools, tactics, base, and even some of the individuals involved, one of whom was identified because he used his computer skills to circumvent China's Facebook ban (a political irony that is unlikely to have escaped his superiors).
Continue reading... Reported by guardian.co.uk 8 hours ago.
