Chinese hackers not as capable as US believes

• Source: The Global Times
• [08:49 May 21 2009]
• Comments

By Wang Anna

One of the country’s leading experts on Internet security has spoken out against accusations that Chinese computer hackers attacked unclassified networks of agencies in the United States.

“If an attack comes directly from an Internet address in China, it is definitely not from a Chinese hacker, because anyone serious about hacking would cover their tracks,” Fang Binxing, president of the Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, told the Global Times.

“Tracking the source of a cross-border attack is difficult due to the lack of international cooperation, so hackers use websites and computers in different countries to avoid being caught,” he said.

He cited two reasons why China is used as a stepping stone for hackers from outside the country.

First, although China has more Internet users than anywhere else in the world, most of them have a low level of awareness of online security, he said.
Second, there is no cyber-investigation agreement between China and the US.

“It is very easy to become a hacker these days,” Fang said.

“Even schoolkids can download tools and scan networks around the world.”

Individual hackers in China are usually very active when there is a conflict between China and another country, like during the US spy plane incident of 2001, when there was a huge spike in the number of attacks targeting the United States, he said.

“They think that having a political intonation justifies their behavior and will provide a buffer if they’re caught.”

But the reason the US always accuses China of organizing hackers to carry out attacks on US agencies is because China is an easy target, Fang said.

“My intrusion detection software system shows that Turkish hackers are very active, and also that China is a victim of hundreds of thousands of attacks, just like the US,” he said.

“But the US is not accusing them.”

In reality, the expertise of Chinese hackers lags far behind their Russian counterparts, he said.

Also, the information capacity of the country’s military is unable to pose a threat to a country like the US.

“The basic requirement for information warfare is a cyber command, but the PLA doesn’t have such a unit, even at a low level,” he said.

“It certainly doesn’t have anything that compares to the Joint Task Force for Global Network Operations under the US Strategic Command.”

When asked to comment on US Air Force General Kevin Chilton’s statement that the US would consider using military force against an enemy that attacked or disputed its vital networks, Fang said it was “an empty threat” designed to get more attention and funding from the US congress.

“With the US’s cyber capacity, it would be impossible to paralyze their network in the way Georgia’s was last year,” he said.

“Unlike the United States, China does not complain about others scanning unclassified networks, because no government keeps important information on the Internet,” he said.

“It would be like leaving your secrets in a restaurant.”