From: InfoSec News (alertsinfosecnews.org)
Date: Fri Apr 11 2008 - 03:11:27 CDT

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http://www.telegraphindia.com/1080410/jsp/nation/story_9118691.jsp

By JAYANTH JACOB
The Telegraph
April 9, 2008

New Delhi: The foreign ministry’s computer networks have been broken
into and telltale tracks are pointing to the hand of Chinese hackers.

Government sources said the “worrisome security breaches” uncovered
during an audit last month had shown that the prime targets were systems
of officials handling sensitive communication from Indian missions
abroad.

The hackers may already have accessed mission plans and policy-related
exchanges, the sources cautioned.

“More than anything else, what should ring in caution is that there have
been breaches, including of some government sites maintained by the
National Informatics Centre, in the recent past,” a source said.

A ruffled government has decided to do a fresh audit of the “security
standards” of Indian missions in key countries.

The check will begin at the Indian embassy in Beijing later this month
and then move to London and the European countries.

The break-in was spotted in March by a team of Internet auditors from
intelligence agencies that was reviewing the security of the external
affairs ministry’s networks.

By a system of verification, the team discovered that the hackers’
“Internet protocol address” and the “media access control address”
originated from China, the sources said.

Although the IP address can be faked, it gives a “clear idea” of the
place of its origin. The MAC address is an “authoritative identification
number” (hardware) that helps trace the location or country of its
origin.

The sources refused to give out more details, saying it was a
“sensitive” matter.

Last year, there were reports of Chinese hackers breaking into computers
at the Pentagon, including that of US defence secretary Robert Gates.
There have been similar reports from London.

The Pentagon breach was reported last September by the Financial Times,
which cited former and serving US officials as saying hackers controlled
by China’s military were behind it.

China has, however, denied all the reports. “Some people make groundless
accusations against China.… China has all along been opposed to and
forbids criminal activities undermining computer networks, including
hacking,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Jiang Yu said after the
Pentagon episode.

“China is ready to strengthen cooperation with other countries,
including the US, in countering Internet crimes.”

Copyright © 2008 The Telegraph. All rights reserved.

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