Posted on Jun 7, 2015
With a series of major hacks, China builds a database on Americans. In your opinion, how serious is this?
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China is building massive databases of Americans’ personal information by hacking government agencies and U.S. health-care companies, using a high-tech tactic to achieve an age-old goal of espionage: recruiting spies or gaining more information on an adversary, U.S. officials and analysts say.
Groups of hackers working for the Chinese government have compromised the networks of the Office of Personnel Management, which holds data on millions of current and former federal employees, as well as the health insurance giant Anthem, among other targets, the officials and researchers said.
“They’re definitely going after quite a bit of personnel information,” said Rich Barger, chief intelligence officer of ThreatConnect, a Northern Virginia cybersecurity firm. “We suspect they’re using it to understand more about who to target [for espionage], whether electronically or via human recruitment.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/in-a-series-of-hacks-china-appears-to-building-a-database-on-americans/2015/06/05/d2af51fa-0ba3-11e5-95fd-d580f1c5d44e_story.html?tid=hpModule_04941f10-8a79-11e2-98d9-3012c1cd8d1e&hpid=z10
Groups of hackers working for the Chinese government have compromised the networks of the Office of Personnel Management, which holds data on millions of current and former federal employees, as well as the health insurance giant Anthem, among other targets, the officials and researchers said.
“They’re definitely going after quite a bit of personnel information,” said Rich Barger, chief intelligence officer of ThreatConnect, a Northern Virginia cybersecurity firm. “We suspect they’re using it to understand more about who to target [for espionage], whether electronically or via human recruitment.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/in-a-series-of-hacks-china-appears-to-building-a-database-on-americans/2015/06/05/d2af51fa-0ba3-11e5-95fd-d580f1c5d44e_story.html?tid=hpModule_04941f10-8a79-11e2-98d9-3012c1cd8d1e&hpid=z10
Cybersecurity
China
International Affairs
Espionage
National Security
Edited >1 y ago
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 8
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Very interesting read. I think there's even more to it than espionage. As warfare evolves, this would be the next logical step. Imagine stopping a military or country for that matter by turning it off - literally from within. These could be "war games" designed to see how effectively they can get in. A personnel database, strategically, may not be that important but if it can be breached, what's next?
The internet for better or worse has become a public utility in terms of its usefulness, It's no longer a hacker's playground or gee whiz luxury, it's an essential communications network and an unregulated one that allows for anonymity. The LAST thing I want to see is government/FCC regulation of the internet, but w/o it, can we truly secure it? Then again if regulated internally, will it prevent external entities from getting in - probably not. Let the conundrum begin...
The internet for better or worse has become a public utility in terms of its usefulness, It's no longer a hacker's playground or gee whiz luxury, it's an essential communications network and an unregulated one that allows for anonymity. The LAST thing I want to see is government/FCC regulation of the internet, but w/o it, can we truly secure it? Then again if regulated internally, will it prevent external entities from getting in - probably not. Let the conundrum begin...
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I doubt that they are doing it to actually obtain and use the data. They are using these attacks to sow fear and insecurity, and to get us to spend a lot more energy on cyber-protection (instead of working on the other "conflicts" we will have with China.
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As a person who recently separated from the military and one who currently holds an active high level security clearance, I am definitely concerned about this.
More so I have to ask, what the hell is the NSA and other government organizations/military branches charged with cyber security doing about it???
More so I have to ask, what the hell is the NSA and other government organizations/military branches charged with cyber security doing about it???
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PO2 Skip Kirkwood
Unfortunately, it sounds like they have devolved to what has become the norm in American defense - outsourcing to private contractors who are more concerned about making money, and taking direction from political leaders who are more concerned about their individual social agendas than they are about keeping our country safe and secure.
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PO1 John Miller
Hey now PO2 Skip Kirkwood, I'm one of those contractors! LOL... Though I'm a systems administrator, not a cyber security specialist.
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