Chinese hackers infiltrate U.S. Senator's office PCs
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Senator Bill Nelson of Florida confirmed this week that cybercriminals based in China hacked into his Senate office computers.
The news comes in the same week that the U.S. Department of Defense released a report on China's military capabilities that highlighted the growing threat of Chinese cyberwarfare. Nelson first revealed the attacks March 19 at an Armed Services Committee hearing.
Nelson said in a statement that no classified information was stored on the hacked computers, which were wiped clean by the Senate Sergeant at Arms Information Technology Security Branch.
Twice this month and once in February, hackers targeted the work stations of Nelson’s foreign policy aide, his deputy legislative director and "a former Nelson NASA adviser," Nelson’s office said.
The cyberattacks were traced to China through IP information, according to a report in CQ Politics. China has been suspected of involvement in other cyberattacks in recent years, including an incident last August that infected the communications networks of the presidential campaigns of Barack Obama and John McCain.
The Pentagon's report said China is compensating for its lack of military hardware capabilities through disruptive technologies such as attacking an enemy's computer networks and communication satellites.
Related News:
Cyber criminals exposed medical records - 3.8.2010
More than 18,000 patients, whose medical information is stored on the computer systems of five doctors in Torrance, California, were potential victims of identity theft in September when cyber criminals penetrated the doctors' networks, according to the Los Angeles Times.
McAfee advises companies to boost web security relating to source code - 3.4.2010
At the RSA Conference, currently taking place in San Francisco, McAfee released a report indicating that companies regularly use too few web security protocols when protecting intellectual property such as source code.
False social networking attacks provides teachable moment for web security - 2.25.2010
A unique tool developed to prevent the spread of malware from social networking websites has been recommended Processor.com, a web and network security news provider.
With global web security under siege, exports point to problems - 2.25.2010
In 2009, Garlik, a United Kingdom-based web security company, reported a 207 percent increase in malware use to overtake bank accounts. Recent events have also shown vulnerability in corporate, private and governmental web security systems.
Kaspersky reports malware growing more sophisticated - 2.24.2010
Kaspersky, a web security provider, reported Wednesday that while there is very little growth in the amount of malware currently roaming the web, it is becoming more advanced and much harder to detect.
|
