Cyber Warfare: News Feed - US and China accuse each other of cyber warfare

US security experts claim a 12-story office building outside of Shanghai is the headquarters of a hacking unit in China established to attack international computer networks. Beijing has rejected the allegations, calling the reports “unreliable”.

Source: http://rt.com

Please click on each of the summary content for further details.

Mandiant Exposes APT1 – One of China’s Cyber Espionage Units & Releases 3,000 Indicators

Highlights of the report include:

• Evidence linking APT1 to China’s 2nd Bureau of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) General Staff Department’s (GSD) 3rd Department (Military Cover Designator 61398) 
• A timeline of APT1 economic espionage conducted since 2006 against 141 victims across multiple industries 
• APT1′s modus operandi (tools, tactics, procedures) including a compilation of videos showing actual APT1 activity 
• The timeline and details of over 40 APT1 malware families 
• The timeline and details of APT1′s extensive attack infrastructure

Source: https://www.mandiant.com/

Chinese military never supports cyberattacks: defense ministry

• China's laws ban any activities disrupting cyber security, Geng Yansheng said at a briefing.  
• Chinese government always cracks down on cyber crimes, the spokesman said. 
• The spokesman further said China actually is a major victim of cyber attacks.

Source:  http://news.xinhuanet.com

China opposes hacking allegations: FM spokesman

• A FM spokesman on Tuesday said allegations of Chinese hacker attacks are groundless. 
• Hong said cybercrime is an international problem and should be solved through int'l cooperation. 
• China has been a major victim of cyber attacks and opposes all forms of such activity.

Source: http://news.xinhuanet.com

China steps up defence on hacking allegations

Chinese state media stepped up the war of words Thursday over allegations of sophisticated cyberattacks on US firms, branding the accusations a "commercial stunt" and accusing Washington of ulterior motives.

American Internet security firm Mandiant earlier this week said that a Chinese military cyberspy unit is targeting US and other foreign firms and organisations with hacking attacks.

Source: http://thestar.com.my

Please click here for: APT1 Exposing One of China’s Cyber Espionage Units Report in PDF

Cyber Crime: Crimes involving Facebook

The police receive a report on Facebook related crime every 40 minutes, according to a news article published in Mail Online on 4 June 2012. The authorities recorded 12,300 cases in 2011, involving from fraud and death threats to child sex offences, rape and murder, with the most cases on cyber bullying. A separate news article on Couriermail.com.au reported that Queensland, Australia alone had 5,000 crime cases linked to social networks in 2011, a 50% increase from 2010. The article went further reporting that Facebook was linked in the police reports of 19 murders, 12 attempted murders, 728 assaults, 542 sexual offences and 379 fraud cases amongst others. Another report from WorldNetDaily indicated that Facebook hosts quite a number of child pornography groups and predator profiles. It is shocking to know that one of the sites located on Facebook filled with images, postings and content with pedophilia suggestions has almost 20,000 likes. However, Facebook announced that they scan through every single image uploaded daily to prevent and remove any child pornography content. 

One of Facebook’s conditions is that the account owner has to be 13 years old and above but unfortunately, there is no way to govern anyone from lying about their age on Facebook or any other social networks. The responsibility falls on the parents to again “Always know what your child is doing” and to educate the child on cyber protection such as not giving out private information and to practise prudence towards sharing photos.

For further reading about crimes on Facebook, click Facecrooks and Top Ten Facebook Scams to Avoid.

Sources: Jack Doyle, Mail Online, 4 June 2012; Thomas Chamberlin, Couriermail.com.au, 4 November 2012

Cyber Bullying: It happens to one in three!

In 2006, a 13-year old girl committed suicide after receiving nasty messages including the final one being “the world would be a better place without you”, from a boy she befriended with online through her MySpace account. It was found later that the boy never existed and “he” was fictionally created by her friend’s mother who lived a few houses away and knew the girl well. The mother was only convicted of violating the Computer Fraud and Abuse act for assessing a computer without proper authorization. The girl was one of the many victims of cyber bullying.

Cyber bullying refers to bullying a.k.a. deliberately harassing someone continuously in a hostile manner, which takes place online using electronic technology such as computers, smartphones and tabs, and applications like social networks, emails and instant messaging. There are many types of cyber bullying including:

• Sending nasty messages or threats via emails, instant messaging or even text messages to mobile phone 
• Spreading wicked rumors about someone or posting malicious messages online for e.g. on Facebook, Twitter, public forums, etc.
• Hacking into someone’s account and using that account to post harmful/hurtful messages
• Posting indecent photos or messages online about someone

According to Cyber Bullying statistics obtained from the i-SAFE foundation, more than one out of three persons experienced some form of cyber bullying online with over 25% of teenagers being bullied recurrently online or on mobile phones, and more than half of these victims did not disclose the cyber bullying to their parents. In Malaysia too, one in three children were cyber-bullied, as found by a Global Youth Online behaviour survey released by Microsoft.com in 2012 which was conducted in 25 countries worldwide.

Cyber bullying has become a serious issue globally since the spread of internet and social networking tools which have made it easy for one to post nasty or threatening messages or pictures publicly online or through private messaging and emails, especially when the victim is a child. Parent, teachers/educators and in fact any adult should be aware of cyber bullying and educate children about practising online safety.

Sources: The New York Times, 7 September 2009, Vague Cyberbullying Law; Stop CyberBullying; Cyber Bullying Statistics; Microsoft.com, Online Bullying Among Youth 8 – 17 Worldwide; Rozana Sani, 3 September 2012, Stop the bullying, News Straits Times.

Child grooming: Preparing safety nets

Parents play the most important roles in a child’s safety and development. Yet, it is most unfortunate that parents today, the Moms and the Dads, are involve in the rat race of earning more money to increase their standards of living and status. Who then is left to raise their children? It is so common to have one family owning a few cars and houses, with young children having their own computers, mobile phones, smart phones and tabs. Most of the time, they are left alone to play on their own or in the hands of their grandparents or maids. Parents assume that their children would be safe as long as they do not leave the house. Of course that is partly correct, given the number of child abduction cases on the rise recently. However, as we mentioned in our previous posts, being at home does not mean they are safe.

Children today spend a lot of time online, especially on social networks communicating with “friends”. There is an informative article on “How do predators groom kids” on Internet Safety 101 that describes the tactics that online predators use to befriend children, gain their trust, manipulate them for their sexual vices and ultimately to get these children to meet them in person.

To prevent this horrendous crime from happening, the No. 1 rule for parents is to always be aware of what their children are doing on the internet especially what social networks they use and who their friends are. MySecure Cyberspace posted an article about OnlineGrooming and listed protective measures that parents should follow:

• Always know what your child is doing on the internet
• Have an open discussion with your child about online grooming and what they should and should not do.
• Monitor your child’s phone calls, expenses and any presents received
• Observe your child especially in terms of communication and behaviour
• Block the IM accounts of online groomers or any suspicious characters online

Parents usually teach their children not to talk to strangers; this should most definitely be applied online as well! There are no cyberlaws yet in Malaysia that prohibits adults with malicious intentions from communicating with children online although we can fall back on Section 15 of UK’s Sexual Offences Act 2003, it is ultimately the responsibility of parents to ensure the safety of their children.

Sources: Internet Safety 101 on “How do predators groom kids”; MySecure Cyberspace on “OnlineGrooming”; SafeKids.com on “How to recognize grooming”