Diverse group of Chinese hackers wrote code in attacks on Google, U.S. companies

[InfoSec News <alerts () infosecnews org>]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/19/AR2010021902643.html

By Ellen Nakashima
Washington Post Staff Writer
February 20, 2010 

Some of the computer codes used in the recent attacks on the networks of 
Google and dozens of other major U.S. companies were developed by a 
diverse group of Chinese hackers, including security professionals, 
consultants and temporary contractors, according to an industry source.

The series of attacks, disclosed Jan. 12 by Google, were routed in part 
through servers at technical schools in China, a commonly used tactic 
that allows hackers to obfuscate their identity, said the source, who is 
familiar with the investigation into the security breaches.

The source said that some of the contractors involved in the attack were 
based at Chinese and U.S. tech companies in China. He and another 
industry source said other servers in China were also used.

The two schools whose servers were used are Shanghai Jiaotong 
University, a prestigious institution in China akin to Caltech, and 
Lanxiang Vocational School, both of which have links to the top ranks of 
information security specialists in China, said one of the sources. 
Neither source was authorized to speak on the record. The connection to 
the schools was first reported Thursday night on the New York Times Web 
site.

[...]


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