China Calls US Culprit In Global 'Internet War'

On Wednesday we discussed news of Google's accusation that sources originating in China were interfering with Gmail using malware and phishing techniques, targeting Chinese political activists, US government officials, military personnel, and others. In response to the accusations, a Chinese official denied government involvement in the attacks, while the US government indicated they would investigate the matter. The attacks were more sophisticated than a typical phishing attempt, they involved Yahoo and Hotmail as well, and they have likely been going on for months. Now, according to a CBS report, "The Chinese military accused the US on Friday of launching a global 'Internet war' to bring down Arab and other governments, redirecting the spotlight away from allegations of major online attacks on Western targets originating in China."

Hilarious

[gubers33]

China got caught with their hand in the cookie jar and immediately creates a story about the US playing foul on the internet whether it is true or not, the only reason it was released by them is to avoid attention. China is not going to be able to avoid this they have been in the midst of internet controversy for the past few years from Green Dam software (Great Firewall of China) being created from stolen source code, to hacking Google and other countries to this newest event. They need to figure out if you start poking around in someone's backyard who has more advanced systems they are going to find out soon or later.

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But didn't China.....

[chrisj_0]

Reroute half the internet last year?

Re:Safe-Mail.net & Tor = better solution

[petteyg359]

Because I can use SSL with Gmail, and I trust Google more than I trust some random mail server I've never heard of. Also, safe-mail advertises 3Mb (I seriously hope they're just idiots and are actually offering 3MB, because 375KB isn't going to last long for anybody who actually uses their email account. 3MB isn't going to last long, either.). Gmail currently gives me almost 8GB.

If I'm really concerned about privacy, I can use one of my many email accounts on my own server. Then again, are you sure that all the intermediary servers your mail goes through are using SSL?

Business as usual in Beijing:

[Hartree]

Google traces targeted gmail password trawling attacks to China.

Reaction?

The "independent" (and presumably "fair and balanced") Global Times calls Google "snotty nosed". The equally "independent" Xinhua News Agency says that the acusation that China was behind the gmail phishing was "evil intentioned".

The Chinese military ups the ante and accuses the US of an undeclared cyber war on the whole world.

In other news, the Reichstag still appears to be vaguely smoldering.

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You can always unplug it

[Anonymous Coward]

Hey China, nobody here held a gun to your head and forced you to use the Internet. We invented it for our own use, and thought it would be a good idea for peers to connect worldwide.

We had a saying during the Cold War: If you don't like the US, you're free to leave. This contrasted our philosophy with that of the Soviet Union, where emmigrating was very difficult.

Likewise, if you don't like the Internet you're free to create your own local network which is partially what you're doing with your "great firewall". Trouble is, you want it both ways. Sorry. Not our problem. If you can't firewall out everything you don't like then that leaves you with a choice:

Deal with some things you don't like, or unplug it.

ha

[itchythebear]

I chuckle every time i read an article like this. Yes, I'm sure the United States is participating in electronic espionage (or whatever you want to call it), but does that surprise anyone? Seriously, is anyone surprised at this, like at all? As a United States citizen i would actually be very upset if my government wasn't doing this. The flip side to this is that I can really not be that upset at China for doing the same thing. So really this is a non story and the only one governments are fooling when they make claims like this are... no one.

Re:Hilarious

[Anonymous Coward]

Uhh...everyone lives by that standard...

If you think there is some true reality out there that people of a different ideological ilk than yours are ignorant of, you're just rejecting their reality and substituting your own. You can not perceive the world around you without personal bias.

You, sir, are guilty of classic us vs them thinking.

Re:Hilarious

[Anonymous Coward]

++

I can't wait for China to have a PMS moment and create their own internet. My SSH server will thank them. They can take the Koreas with them, as well as the old Russian Federation...