Chinese hackers: No site is safe

["Richard M. Smith" <rms () computerbytesman com>]

http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/03/07/china.hackers/index.html


Chinese hackers: No site is safe


By John Vause
CNN

ZHOUSHAN, China (CNN) -- They operate from a bare apartment on a Chinese
island. They are intelligent 20-somethings who seem harmless. But they are
hard-core hackers who claim to have gained access to the world's most
sensitive sites, including the Pentagon.

In fact, they say they are sometimes paid secretly by the Chinese government
-- a claim the Beijing government denies.

"No Web site is one hundred percent safe. There are Web sites with
high-level security, but there is always a weakness," says Xiao Chen, the
leader of this group.

"Xiao Chen" is his online name. Along with his two colleagues, he does not
want to reveal his true identity. The three belong to what some Western
experts say is a civilian cyber militia in China, launching attacks on
government and private Web sites around the world. VideoWatch
<http://cnn.site.printthis.clickability.com/pt/cpt?action=cpt&title=Chinese+
hackers%3A+No+site+is+safe+-+CNN.com&expire=-1&urlID=27020787&fb=Y&url=http%
3A%2F%2Fwww.cnn.com%2F2008%2FTECH%2F03%2F07%2Fchina.hackers%2Findex.html&par
tnerID=211911#cnnSTCVideo>  hackers' clandestine Chinese operation >

If there is a profile of a cyber hacker
<http://topics.cnn.com/topics/hackers> , these three are straight from
central casting -- young and thin, with skin pale from spending too many
long nights in front of a computer.

One hacker says he is a former computer operator in the People's Liberation
<http://topics.cnn.com/topics/china>  Army; another is a marketing graduate;
and Xiao Chen says he is a self-taught programmer.

"First, you must know about the Web site you want to attack. You must know
what program it is written with," says Xiao Chen. "There is a saying, 'Know
about both yourself and the enemy, and you will be invincible.'"

CNN decided to withhold the address of these hackers' Web site, but Xiao
Chen says it has been operating for more than three years, with 10,000
registered users. The site offers tools, articles, news and flash tutorials
about hacking.

Private computer experts in the United States from iDefense Security
Intelligence, which provides cybersecurity advice to governments and Fortune
500 companies, say the group's site "appears to be an important site in the
broader Chinese hacking community."

.

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