Chinese Military hacked into Pentagon

1:56 pm on September 3, 2007 by Infidelesto

WOW, this is alarming.

The Chinese military hacked into a Pentagon computer network in June in the most successful cyber attack on the US defence department, say American ­officials.

The Pentagon acknowledged shutting down part of a computer system serving the office of Robert Gates, defence secretary, but declined to say who it believed was behind the attack.

Current and former officials have told the Financial Times an internal investigation has revealed that the incursion came from the People’s Liberation Army.

One senior US official said the Pentagon had pinpointed the exact origins of the attack. Another person familiar with the event said there was a “very high level of confidence…trending towards total certainty” that the PLA was responsible. The defence ministry in Beijing declined to comment on Monday.

Angela Merkel, Germany’s chancellor, raised reports of Chinese infiltration of German government computers with Wen Jiabao, China’s premier, in a visit to Beijing, after which the Chinese foreign ministry said the government opposed and forbade “any criminal acts undermining computer systems, including hacking”.

“We have explicit laws and regulations in this regard,” said Jiang Yu, from the ministry. “Hacking is a global issue and China is frequently a victim.”

George W.?Bush, US president, is due to meet Hu Jintao, China’s president, on Thursday in Australia prior to the Apec summit.

The PLA regularly probes US military networks – and the Pentagon is widely assumed to scan Chinese networks – but US officials said the penetration in June raised concerns to a new level because of fears that China had shown it could disrupt systems at critical times.

“The PLA has demonstrated the ability to conduct attacks that disable our system…and the ability in a conflict situation to re-enter and disrupt on a very large scale,” said a former official, who said the PLA had penetrated?the?networks?of US defence companies and think-tanks.

Hackers from numerous locations in China spent several months probing the Pentagon system before overcoming its defences, according to people familiar with the matter.

There Are 5 Responses So Far. »

  1. Comment by Debbie on 3 September 2007:

    Thanks for the hat tip on this. Wow.

  2. Pingback by NoisyRoom.net » Blog Archive » Chinese Military hacked into Pentagon on 3 September 2007:

    [...] From Infidels Are Cool: [...]

  3. Trackback by Right Truth on 3 September 2007:

    Pentagon Hacked By China

    The Chinese military hacked into a Pentagon computer network in June in the most successful cyber attack on the US defence department, say American ­officials. (Financial Times Big Southern hat tip to Infidels Are Cool. Here’s the story: The Pentagon

  4. Pingback by Hsu-nami News: Norman Hsu Linked to China Missile Trader | No Hillary Clinton on 4 September 2007:

    [...] The Chinese military hacked into the Pentagon in [...]

  5. Pingback by Chinese Military hacked into Pentagon | No Hillary Clinton on 4 September 2007:

    [...] Source: Infidels are Cool [...]

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