Friday, February 5, 2010

Chinese hackers are behind an escalating number of global attacks

Hacking for Fun and Profit in China’s Underworld

Internet security experts say Chinese hackers are behind an escalating number of global attacks to steal credit card information, commit corporate espionage, and wage online warfare against other nations. In China, and in some parts of Eastern Europe and Russia, computer hacking has become a lucrative hobby for skilled hackers.

"They make a lot of money selling viruses and Trojan horses to infect other people's computers," says author Scott Henderson, who has spent years tracking Chinese hackers. There are conferences, training academies, and magazines all devoted to providing information about hacking.

In China, there is a loosely defined community of hackers who work independently, but who also sell their services to corporations and the military. One such hacker, going by the code name Majia, says he does not work for a major Chinese technology company because it would limit his freedom, so he must remain underground.

Majia and other hackers keep a tight hold on their hacker secrets, including knowledge of software flaws such as zero-day vulnerabilities, for future use.

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