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The leap to blame the Chinese government for this attack reminds me of the leap to attribute the Sony attack to North Korea. It's possible that North Korea was

The leap to blame the Chinese government for this attack reminds me of the leap to attribute the Sony attack to North Korea. It's possible that North Korea was responsible, but the primary evidence the FBI held up was that the malware used was similar to malware used by DPRK in previous attacks. As many researchers pointed out[1], that malware has been widely available outside DPRK for years. Certain 3-letter agencies have claimed to have additional intelligence pointing towards North Korea[2], but don't go into significant detail. "We're the NSA, so just trust us" In both cases, it's possible the attack was carried out by a state actor, but I'm personally unwilling to point a finger without better evidence than what I've seen. [1] http://www.cnn.com/2014/12/27/tech/north-korea-expert-doubts-about-hack/ http://www.cnn.com/2014/12/27/tech/north-korea-expert-doubts... [2] http://recode.net/2015/01/18/how-the-u-s-knew-north-korea-was-behind-the-sony-hack/ http://recode.net/2015/01/18/how-the-u-s-knew-north-korea-wa...

criley2 12y ago
Considering that the USA has similar cyberweapon capacities that are publicly known, I believe it's naive to assume that China isn't developing similar weapons. How can we link this weapon with China? I don't know, but it requires deep access to the colocation of major servers in China for sophisticated man-in-the-middle hijacking, so it seems like the number of organizations that can, in an intentional fashion, compromise a Chinese baidu colocated server is very small. When one considers the sophistication and access required for this attack, and the reality that China is developing cyberweapons, and the reality that China openly uses cyberweapons against the west in various capacities, it seems improbable to suggest that a third party is more likely the culprit than the state. It isn't as if accusing China is outlandish- we're merely saying that they're striving for cyberweapon parity with the USA...
- moe 12y ago
  it seems like the number of organizations that can, in an intentional fashion, compromise a Chinese baidu colocated server is very small. As it happens the organizations who could do either that, or who could make it look as if the attack originated from a chinese baidu colocated server, are just the same and the only ones who have any stake in this game. I agree with your notion that China is developing "cyber weapons" just as every other large nation. I just remain skeptical about the idea of them using their guns so incompetently and aimlessly as in this case.

criley2 12y ago

Considering that the USA has similar cyberweapon capacities that are publicly known, I believe it's naive to assume that China isn't developing similar weapons. How can we link this weapon with China? I don't know, but it requires deep access to the colocation of major servers in China for sophisticated man-in-the-middle hijacking, so it seems like the number of organizations that can, in an intentional fashion, compromise a Chinese baidu colocated server is very small. When one considers the sophistication and access required for this attack, and the reality that China is developing cyberweapons, and the reality that China openly uses cyberweapons against the west in various capacities, it seems improbable to suggest that a third party is more likely the culprit than the state. It isn't as if accusing China is outlandish- we're merely saying that they're striving for cyberweapon parity with the USA...

moe 12y ago
it seems like the number of organizations that can, in an intentional fashion, compromise a Chinese baidu colocated server is very small. As it happens the organizations who could do either that, or who could make it look as if the attack originated from a chinese baidu colocated server, are just the same and the only ones who have any stake in this game. I agree with your notion that China is developing "cyber weapons" just as every other large nation. I just remain skeptical about the idea of them using their guns so incompetently and aimlessly as in this case.