Vast Spy System Loots Computers in 103 Countries

[angelfire]

Source: NYT

March 29, 2009

Vast Spy System Loots Computers in 103 Countries
By JOHN MARKOFF

TORONTO — A vast electronic spying operation has infiltrated computers and has stolen documents from hundreds of government and private offices around the world, including those of the Dalai Lama, Canadian researchers have concluded.

In a report to be issued this weekend, the researchers said that the system was being controlled from computers based almost exclusively in China, but that they could not say conclusively that the Chinese government was involved.

The researchers, who are based at the Munk Center for International Studies at the University of Toronto, had been asked by the office of the Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan leader whom China regularly denounces, to examine its computers for signs of malicious software, or malware.

Their sleuthing opened a window into a broader operation that, in less than two years, has infiltrated at least 1,295 computers in 103 countries, including many belonging to embassies, foreign ministries and other government offices, as well as the Dalai Lama’s Tibetan exile centers in India, Brussels, London and New York.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/29/technology/29spy.html?_r=1&hp

So is it the Chinese government behind this, or random Chinese hackers?
(Have to admit -- the thought of the Dalai Lama using computers never occurred to me!)

[justy]

nice post. chinese hackers are slick. they use botnets. amazing stuff. lmao @ lama.