Chinese defense official blasts hacker accusation
- Source: The Global Times
- [01:41 May 14 2009]
- Comments
By Qiu Wei
An anonymous Chinese defense official yesterday dismissed an accusation made in a publication by the Republic of Korea (ROK) Air Force that claims the Chinese military attempted to hack into computers at the ROK embassy in the United States last year.
According to the Yonhap News agency’s annual publication on the defensive capabilities of global powers, China operates a “Red Hacker” unit that mainly attacks countries such as the ROK, the US and Japan. The report was published yesterday.
Chinese hackers targeting ROK government computers gained access to classified information and financial policies in April, according to officials quoted by Yonhap.
The hackers, including those recruited from US institutes such as MIT, attempted to hack systems at the ROK embassy in March of last year, the publication said, citing military intelligence.
“It was concluded based on the tracing of the Internet protocol address that the attempt came from a Chinese military hacking unit,” it said.
The case marks the first time the ROK has made it public that it believes the Chinese military has tried to hack into its diplomatic office abroad.
Last year, an ROK ruling party lawmaker said that China had hacked at least five times into South Korean military units as of October.
The attempts were made through the use of e-mails that spread hacking viruses once opened by users, Kim Dong-sung said, citing a report by the Defense Security Command.
Kim also raised the possibility that the People’s Republic of Korea could be behind such activities via China.
Meng Xiangqing, a professor at the PLA University of National Defense, told the Global Times yesterday that by imitating the West to hype up Chinese hackers, the ROK is just fabricating another version of the China-threat theory.
Meng said that a variety of the China-threat theory is aimed at tarnishing the image of the Chinese government.
“It is true that there are a lot of savvy hackers in China, but they are not backed by the government and have no military background,” Meng said, adding that if they break any law in China, they will be held responsible.