U.S. Accuses China of Hacking Microsoft

Authored by nytimes.com and submitted by TheLeftSpeaks
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While there is nothing new about digital espionage from Russia and China — and efforts by Washington to block it — the Biden administration has been aggressive in calling out both countries and organizing a coordinated response.

But so far, it has not found the right mix of defensive and offensive actions to create effective deterrence, many outside experts say. And the Russians and the Chinese have grown bolder. The SolarWinds attack, one of the most sophisticated detected in the United States, was an effort by Russia’s lead intelligence service to alter code in widely used network-management software to gain access to more than 18,000 businesses, federal agencies and think tanks.

China’s effort was not as sophisticated, but it took advantage of a vulnerability that Microsoft had not discovered and used it to conduct espionage and undercut confidence in the security of systems that companies use for their primary communications. It took the Biden administration months to develop what officials say is “high confidence” that the hacking of the Microsoft email system was done at the behest of the Ministry of State Security, a senior administration official said, and abetted by private actors who had been hired by Chinese intelligence.

The last time China was caught in such broad-scale surveillance was in 2014, when it stole more than 22 million security-clearance files from the Office of Personnel Management, allowing a deep understanding of the lives of Americans who are cleared to keep the nation’s secrets.

President Biden has promised to fortify the government, making cybersecurity a focus of his summit in Geneva with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia last month. But his administration has faced questions about how it will also address the growing threat from China, particularly after the public exposure of the Microsoft hacking.

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Speaking to reporters on Sunday, a senior administration official acknowledged that the public condemnation of China would do only so much to prevent future attacks.

“No one action can change China’s behavior in cyberspace,” the official said. “And neither could just one country acting on its own.”

mabhatter on July 19th, 2021 at 16:29 UTC »

I think the difference between accusing Russia vs China is that Russia is relatively an open Internet vs China is locked down to heck.

Russia has plausible deniability because the hackers are part of the criminal mob. The government can let a few get arrested each year by Interpol and claim "they don't support it".

China's Internet is locked down to hell and back. People have to have their personal ID # tied to their Internet accounts. China plugs leaks in the Great Firewall within a few days. If there's criminal international hacking going on, the Chinese government is "de facto" allowing it to go on. That's the difference.

autotldr on July 19th, 2021 at 15:01 UTC »

This is the best tl;dr I could make, original reduced by 91%. (I'm a bot)

The United States accused China for the first time of paying criminal groups to conduct large-scale hackings, including ransomware attacks to extort companies for millions of dollars, according to a statement from the White House.

Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken said in a statement on Monday that China's Ministry of State Security "Has fostered an ecosystem of criminal contract hackers who carry out both state-sponsored activities and cybercrime for their own financial gain."

His administration has faced questions about how it will also address the growing threat from China, particularly after the public exposure of the Microsoft hacking.

Extended Summary | FAQ | Feedback | Top keywords: China#1 hack#2 government#3 State#4 Chinese#5

RelishSanders on July 19th, 2021 at 13:10 UTC »

You know it's fucked up when the F.B.I. needs to get a court order to fix the malicious code left by Chinese hackers