Chinese state-linked hacking group 'leak'

[Maxmars]

Source article from HITBSecNews: Leaked docs reveal how Chinese state-aligned hackers spy on citizens, foreigners

I have some question, of course, maybe you all know the answers...
 

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A trove of leaked documents from a Chinese state-linked hacking group shows that Beijing’s intelligence and military groups are carrying out large-scale, systematic cyber intrusions against foreign governments, companies and infrastructure — exploiting what the hackers claim are vulnerabilities in U.S. software from companies including Microsoft, Apple and Google.

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Question 1 -
The term "Chinese state-linked" means what exactly?  Are they "hired" groups (mercenary-esque) who were simply engaged by representatives of the Chinese government?  Are they hacking groups who are somehow "loyal" to the Chinese government?  Is this sort of like how everyone who hates us in the Middle East is now reported as Iran-linked?  I only ask because I always thought of these 'hacking' groups as obtusely non-state-aligned... (except maybe for money.)

Question 2 -
These vulnerabilities they identify in the software of magnificent multinational super-elite software companies... how is it that they are not 'fixed?'  Too expensive? 

It seems unfair to post more of the content here, since it is a brutally short article, but if you are interested in the kind of "enterprises" that governments go to when they want this kind of work done... this might be a good starting place...  when you 'drill down' to their source, the Washington Post, you'll find...
 

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... The documents come from iSoon, also known as Auxun, a Chinese firm headquartered in Shanghai that sells third-party hacking and data-gathering services to Chinese government bureaus, security groups and state-owned enterprises.
 
The trove does not include data extracted from Chinese hacking operations but lists targets and — in many cases — summaries of sample data amounts extracted and details on whether the hackers obtained full or partial control of foreign systems.
 
One spreadsheet listed 80 overseas targets that iSoon hackers appeared to have successfully breached. The haul included 95.2 gigabytes of immigration data from India and a 3 terabyte collection of call logs from South Korea’s LG U Plus telecom provider. The group also targeted other telecommunications firms in Hong Kong, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Mongolia, Nepal and Taiwan...

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Interesting stuff, no?

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OK... OK...  I had to add these the articles I just found...  I'm sure you'll see why...

AT&T Says Outage Wasn't Cyberattack Despite Widespread Conspiracy Theories Online
((Subtitled - Social media users speculated it might have been caused by China or a "false flag" staged by "globalists."))

Law professor fears cyberattacks will 'increase, continue' in wake of pharmacy, AT&T outages  - (from FOX Business)
((Subtitled - Change Healthcare attack and AT&T cyber threat false alarm transpire on same day))

Just food for thought.

[Maxmars]

Just one more addendum... from Statista

[guyfriday]

Source article from HITBSecNews: Leaked docs reveal how Chinese state-aligned hackers spy on citizens, foreigners

I have some question, of course, maybe you all know the answers...
 

---

A trove of leaked documents from a Chinese state-linked hacking group shows that Beijing’s intelligence and military groups are carrying out large-scale, systematic cyber intrusions against foreign governments, companies and infrastructure — exploiting what the hackers claim are vulnerabilities in U.S. software from companies including Microsoft, Apple and Google.

---

Question 1 -
The term "Chinese state-linked" means what exactly?  Are they "hired" groups (mercenary-esque) who were simply engaged by representatives of the Chinese government?  Are they hacking groups who are somehow "loyal" to the Chinese government?  Is this sort of like how everyone who hates us in the Middle East is now reported as Iran-linked?  I only ask because I always thought of these 'hacking' groups as obtusely non-state-aligned... (except maybe for money.)

Question 2 -
These vulnerabilities they identify in the software of magnificent multinational super-elite software companies... how is it that they are not 'fixed?'  Too expensive? 

It seems unfair to post more of the content here, since it is a brutally short article, but if you are interested in the kind of "enterprises" that governments go to when they want this kind of work done... this might be a good starting place...  when you 'drill down' to their source, the Washington Post, you'll find...
 

---

... The documents come from iSoon, also known as Auxun, a Chinese firm headquartered in Shanghai that sells third-party hacking and data-gathering services to Chinese government bureaus, security groups and state-owned enterprises.
 
The trove does not include data extracted from Chinese hacking operations but lists targets and — in many cases — summaries of sample data amounts extracted and details on whether the hackers obtained full or partial control of foreign systems.
 
One spreadsheet listed 80 overseas targets that iSoon hackers appeared to have successfully breached. The haul included 95.2 gigabytes of immigration data from India and a 3 terabyte collection of call logs from South Korea’s LG U Plus telecom provider. The group also targeted other telecommunications firms in Hong Kong, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Mongolia, Nepal and Taiwan...

---

Interesting stuff, no?

---

OK... OK...  I had to add these the articles I just found...  I'm sure you'll see why...

AT&T Says Outage Wasn't Cyberattack Despite Widespread Conspiracy Theories Online
((Subtitled - Social media users speculated it might have been caused by China or a "false flag" staged by "globalists."))

Law professor fears cyberattacks will 'increase, continue' in wake of pharmacy, AT&T outages  - (from FOX Business)
((Subtitled - Change Healthcare attack and AT&T cyber threat false alarm transpire on same day))

Just food for thought.

From what I gathered from following this:

Q-1, The CCP is using companies such as I-Soon as a front for gathering intelligence on internal and external matters. In this case, it appears that some person/people in I-Soon decided to leak out information and the CCP decided that it must be a HACK done by other countries. In this case they seem to be blaming the US as that group. Calling the company a "Chinese-Linked" is just them playing on words. Every company ran in China is owned by China, the fact that they got called out by this leak, the CCP can throw I-Soon under the political bus and play the good guys so that the public doesn't grow more discontented over how lopsided the Chinese country has become. 

Q-2, Microchips coming out of China have backdoors built in so that Chinese Intelligence Committees can poke their noses into any system with those chipsets in them. Don't think that all those Apple Phones, Android Phones, Lap-Tops, and other such items are clean just because they are brand names. Evidence has shown that Chinese chipsets have been pulled out of iPhones and Laptops. 

Imagine those fears about how a Smart TV can keep an eye on you being true, but not in the way you want.

[BeTheGoddess]

I read this book The Hacker Crackdown in the early 90s, mentions WANK worm and a pre-wikileaks Assange, and it ends with "this wasnt the end of hackers, it was the end of armature's".

 book discusses watershed events in the hacker subculture in the early 1990s. The most notable topic covered is Operation Sundevil and the events surrounding the 1987–1990 war on the Legion of Doom network: the raid on Steve Jackson Games, the trial of "Knight Lightning" (one of the original journalists of Phrack), and the subsequent formation of the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hacker_Crackdown

It basically sets the scene for electronic warfare in the now, and as it was written pre-World Wide Web, it shows that the battle lines were drawn before http. (we did have the internet, just not the web until 94)

The Chinese systems were based on old western systems and of course they must have their own version of Echelon Programme. Or "Prizm" as it may have been rebranded as. NSA wanted full spectrum dominance, and of course the Chinese are trying to compete with that.

[ArMaP]

Question 1 -
The term "Chinese state-linked" means what exactly?  Are they "hired" groups (mercenary-esque) who were simply engaged by representatives of the Chinese government?  Are they hacking groups who are somehow "loyal" to the Chinese government?  Is this sort of like how everyone who hates us in the Middle East is now reported as Iran-linked?  I only ask because I always thought of these 'hacking' groups as obtusely non-state-aligned... (except maybe for money.)

Whatever they want to mean, from being directly under control of the Chinese government to ideologically related.

Question 2 -
These vulnerabilities they identify in the software of magnificent multinational super-elite software companies... how is it that they are not 'fixed?'  Too expensive?

To fix them first they have to find them. It's possible that some of those vulnerabilities are not known by the makers, so they cannot really fix them.

One thing articles like this never mention is that the most common point of failure in any system is the human using it, "social engineering" is the most common way of attacking any system.

[Maxmars]

At the risk of diluting the thread I offer one more source relating to "in light of the cyber attacks" angle to this story...

This week's cellphone outage makes it clear: In the United States, landlines are languishing

I wonder if this is "opportunistic journalism," or can it truly be said that landlines were among the few defenses against total decimation of the infosphere?  We seem hell bent on allowing ourselves to be completely dependent on 'wireless' tech with centralized access points.

[guyfriday]

At the risk of diluting the thread I offer one more source relating to "in light of the cyber attacks" angle to this story...

This week's cellphone outage makes it clear: In the United States, landlines are languishing

I wonder if this is "opportunistic journalism," or can it truly be said that landlines were among the few defenses against total decimation of the infosphere?  We seem hell bent on allowing ourselves to be completely dependent on 'wireless' tech with centralized access points.

Land lines have their pros and cons. but in the era of cyber-HACKing and the lost art of actual line tapping. Land lines might be a good idea. I have an old shed on the back side of my property that has a line running to the house. It's a great system to get ahold me if I'm out that side of things. Sometimes (as has been seen with Short-wave Radio) the older ways are becoming the best ways again.

[Nerb]

Land lines have their pros and cons. but in the era of cyber-HACKing and the lost art of actual line tapping. Land lines might be a good idea. I have an old shed on the back side of my property that has a line running to the house. It's a great system to get ahold me if I'm out that side of things. Sometimes (as has been seen with Short-wave Radio) the older ways are becoming the best ways again.

Some of us never lost the "old ways".

I love my landline, it may come with the odd spam call but it's how I keep things simple and under control and as human as can be. It does run on an ADSL system though so a powercut still knocks it out. I detest mobiles and the mentality of those who live by thumbs instead of a voice.

[Maxmars]

Here is a more informative article about the 'leak' itself...

I-Soon was playing i-Spy on western companies
 

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A shocking data leak has blown the lid off China’s secret cyber spying operation, which has targeted countries like the UK, India, and Taiwan.

The leak, which was posted on a website for computer geeks, reveals how a shady Chinese firm called I-Soon has been helping the communist regime to hack into the phones, emails and social media accounts of millions of people around the world.

The leak contains hundreds of files, including emails, chats, photos and documents, that show how I-Soon has been working with the Chinese government for eight years, snooping on at least 20 foreign governments and territories.

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While I don't doubt that these folks operate in full harmony with the Chinese sate.  I wonder if it because they are ideologically motivated, or is it just the money?

[OneStepBack]

Another way these servers are hacked is the people that manage them often have a 'set and forget' attitude when it comes to server security. It is a dynamic rather than a static task. Fifteen years ago I taught myself how to manage a Linux server, a web server and a mail server.  Along this journey security was at the forefront of my learning. It flabbergasts me when I read in the news about company servers being hacked for the most basic reasons.  A major internet provider in the UK was hacked 10 years ago solely because they failed had failed to update their  server software.  Something so basic and yet someone with formal IT training allowed this to happen.