China Suspends Cybersecurity Cooperation With U.S.

[Vikrant]

Is China moving away from the US?

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China suspended its involvement in a cybersecurity working group and threatened further retaliation after the U.S. indicted five Chinese military officials for allegedly stealing trade secrets.

The indictment is a “serious violation of the basic norms of international relations and damaged China-U.S. cooperation and mutual trust,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said in a statement. China urged the U.S. to “revoke the so-called prosecution,” according to the statement.

Qin’s sharply worded statement reflected how the charges, which accused China of a vast effort to mine U.S. technology through cyber-espionage, added new strains to a relationship already tested by past allegations of hacking. Former U.S. National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden claimed last year that the U.S had been hacking into computers in China since 2009.

The cybersecurity working group was established last year when U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry visited Beijing and the two sides tried to patch up ties.

China will take countermeasures “if the United States goes its own way,” the Xinhua News agency said hours after the U.S. announced the indictment, citing a spokesperson for China’s State Internet Information Office.

The spokesperson said the U.S. is the biggest attacker of China’s cyberspace and China is a “solid defender of cybersecurity,” according to Xinhua. It said that between March 19 and May 18, 1.18 million Chinese host computers were under the control of servers in the U.S.

“China has repeatedly asked the U.S. to stop, but it never makes any statement on its wiretaps, nor does it desist, not to mention make an apology to the Chinese people,” Xinhua said, The spokesperson called the hacking charges “groundless,” according to Xinhua.

China Suspends Cybersecurity Cooperation With U.S. After Charges - Bloomberg

 

[HenryBHough]

Will one deep bow and a heartfelt apology "get it done" this time?

Or will it take physical groveling?

 

[Vikrant]

^ I think US is finally waking up to Chinese cyber threat. Listen to Eric Holder's statement.

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http://www.independent.co.uk/life-s...als-and-solar-product-industries-9397661.html

 

[RoadVirus]

Aww...the poor CHICOMS are upset that we punish their people for committing crimes that target our interests!

Here's the world's smallest violin just for them

 

[Vikrant]

China has a history of sabotaging US companies. They hacked an Oregon based solar company's database just to find out their export pricing. After that, Chinese firms started contacting the customers of the Oregon based solar firm with offers that were priced way lower than the production cost. That poor company suffered serious loss due to that.

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China warns US of retaliation after accusations of cyberspying - The Economic Times

 

[waltky]

Granny says, "Dat's right - dem Chinamens is hackin' into our trade secrets...

China's Cyber Espionage Case a Guide to Hacking
May 24, 2014 WASHINGTON — The alleged hacking of U.S. corporate computers by elements of China’s military wasn’t in and of itself all that unique. As cyber attacks go, it was moderately sophisticated in technique. But that raises a more troubling question.

How could major international corporations — such as U.S. Steel, Alcoa and others with millions of dollars of intellectual property — get robbed by a small, low-cost group of hackers working from China? The answer: It’s surprising it doesn’t happen more often. Over its 48 pages and 31 counts of criminal misconduct, the U.S. Justice Department’s indictment details how five Chinese army officers, with Internet identities such as “Ugly Gorilla”, “Kandygoo” and “WinXYHappy,” went about infiltrating computer networks of six large U.S. corporations. Sections of the indictment are so detailed that they read like a primer, a virtual "how-to manual" for anyone interested in how hackers do what they do.

Social engineering

While some of the terms such as “spearphishing,” “beacon” or “hop-points” may need a little technical explaining, it’s clear from the indictment that the defendants generally employed something security analysts call social engineering. In essence, social engineering is a tactic where hackers pretend to be somebody else to try and trick the target into trusting them. The aim is getting them to reveal information directly (such as a password) or infect their computers by clicking on malicious links and attachments. Social engineering, in the end, is just a fancy label for little more than a con job. There are many different tricks a hacker might employ to earn their target’s trust. But once they have it, it’s relatively easy to fool unsuspecting targets into releasing sensitive information.

A common example: if someone you believe is a trusted co-worker sends you an email urgently asking for a password they’ve forgotten, you’re probably much more likely to send it to them without thinking twice than someone you don’t know, analysts say. “Given that these types of attacks can be attempted with very little consequence if they don't succeed,” said Mike Auty, senior security researcher at the firm MWR Infosecurity, “It allows the attacker to launch a number of attacks, over a long period of time, and the chances are high that there will be a mistake, and someone will grant them access,” he said. Which, as the indictment details, is what the Chinese are alleged to have done. One particular social engineering trick allegedly used by the defendants was “spearphishing” — sending links or attachments via email that, if clicked, would infect the target’s computer system without them knowing. Once infected, the malware would create what’s called a “back door” or secret entrance into the system that could likely go undetected for prolonged periods.

In the recent indictment papers, U.S. prosecutors say that, defendant “SUN” — short for Sun Kailiang — “sent spearphishing e-mails purporting to be from two U.S. Steel e-mail accounts to approximately eight U.S. Steel employees, including U.S. Steel’s Chief Executive Officer. “The e-mails had the subject line “US Steel Industry Outlook” and contained a link to malware that, once clicked, would surreptitiously install malware on the recipients’ computers, allowing the co-conspirators backdoor access to the company’s computers,” the indictment said. “Further...an unidentified co-conspirator sent approximately 49 spearphishing e-mails to U.S. Steel employees with the same subject, “US Steel Industry Outlook,” according to the indictment. But it didn’t stop with basic spearphishing. Researcher Auty said successful social engineering hacks often require more than just bad emails. And the indictment lays out another, more sophisticated attack strategy that required much greater planning, research and patience.

Persistence over technology

 

[Politico]

Moving away lol.

 

[Unkotare]

China has a history of sabotaging US companies. ]

So does the democrat party.

 

[waltky]

A catch-22 situation...

HACKING CASE BELIES PROFITABLE US LINKS WITH CHINA
May 26,`14 WASHINGTON (AP) -- China may be trying to steal trade secrets from U.S. businesses, as federal prosecutors allege. Yet for many U.S. companies, China's vast market remains an irresistible source of business.

The Justice Department's indictment last week of five Chinese military officials accused them of trying to pilfer confidential information from American companies. But even some of the alleged U.S. corporate victims of the hackers have little incentive to cheer any trade rupture with China. One, Westinghouse, is building four nuclear reactors in China. Another, specialty steelmaker Allegheny Technologies, operates a joint venture in Shanghai. A third, Alcoa, is the biggest foreign investor in China's aluminum market. Indeed, Alcoa went so far as to downplay Justice's charges: "No material information was compromised during this incident which occurred several years ago," the company said.

American companies are in a delicate position. They want to maintain good relations with China, the world's second-biggest economy and a market where U.S. firms' earnings grew nearly 50 percent last year. But they're also increasingly fearful of Chinese hackers stealing their trade secrets. Looked that way, the hacking case is "going to be positive in opening up the conversation," said Jamian Ronca Spadavecchia, founder of the Oxbow Advisory, which advises companies about risks in China and other emerging markets. "It's bringing into the open some of the issues U.S. companies are facing." A U.S.-China Business Council survey has found that cybersecurity is a growing threat for U.S. companies in China: It jumped from to No. 14 last year from No. 23 in 2012 on a list of gripes about the Chinese market. American companies are also increasingly irritated by China's attempts to censor the Internet, according to a survey by the American Chamber of Commerce in China.

The confrontation over hacking - China rejects the charges as based on "fabricated facts" - highlights the often-awkward relationship between China and the United States. They're frenemies in a globalized world - rivals and partners in both politics and economics. U.S. companies complain that China is becoming less hospitable to foreign companies. They cite policies that give Chinese firms an edge over foreign competitors, cumbersome licensing requirements and endless struggles to protect their intellectual property - from software to music to clothing design - from theft. For all the complaints and tensions, U.S.-China business ties are tight and getting tighter. Last week, even as the hacking controversy raged, former U.S. ambassadors to Beijing rang the closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange to mark the 35th anniversary of U.S.-China diplomatic relations. After all, 77 Chinese company stocks now trade on the NYSE. Another big one - e-commerce giant Alibaba - plans to list its stock in the United States, either on the NYSE or NASDAQ.

Trade in goods between the U.S. and China last year hit a record $562 billion. American companies earned nearly $10 billion last year in China, another record. American direct investment in China exceeds $50 billion. General Motors sells more cars in China than in the United States. General Electric sells China clean power plants that run on methane. Wal-Mart has 390 stores across China. Starbucks runs hundreds of cafes in China. In a big turnabout, Chinese companies have begun to invest in America, too. Chinese investment in the United States reached $14 billion last year, up from virtually nothing a decade ago.

MORE

 

[waltky]

I say potato, you say patato...

US, China Have Dueling Definitions of Cybersecurity
October 06, 2015 | WASHINGTON DC — One of the most-anticipated outcomes of the president of China’s recent state visit to the United States was an agreement between the two countries on beefing up cybersecurity and putting a halt to economic espionage. But analysts question whether the deal actually can deliver.

In a September 25 ceremony on the White House lawn, Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged that China would not participate in cyber espionage. U.S. President Barack Obama announced that both leaders had promised their respective countries’ increased cooperation in fighting corruption, money laundering and terrorist financing online. "This is progress,” Obama said of the agreement, “but I have to insist that our work is not yet done."

Yet less than a week after Xi’s departure, James Clapper, the top U.S. intelligence official, appeared to throw cold water on the agreement. When asked at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing whether the framework agreement could prevent Chinese hacking, Clapper gave a one-word answer: “No.”

A growing number of analysts are questioning whether the framework is substantive enough to improve cybersecurity cooperation between China and the U.S. – or whether any such agreement is even possible, particularly when it comes to the theft of intellectual property.

Dueling definitions of cybersecurity