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Experts: Gov't websites coming under constant attack
Published on: 2009-06-17
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BEIJING, June 17 -- A green diagram moves across the computer screen until a short message pops up in red like an alarm.

"The scan shows some websites are being hacked at this very moment," said Professor Fang Binxing, a cyber security scientist, as he punched the URL of a government-run Web domain into his Internet browser.

The hacked website that appeared on screen is the State-owned asset administration of Shenyang, capital of Liaoning province. Hackers have planted a black-colored page above the official website and left a set of randomly selected English capitalized letters as their only trace.

"Hacks like this on government websites just aim to find the loopholes in sensitive websites in China," said Fang, whose online scan, which he designed while serving as director of the national computer network emergency response team between 2002 and 2006, trawls the websites of government at all levels in China.

He said it detects from dozens to hundreds of attacks each day.

As many as 60,000 hacks targeting the government are attempted each year, he said, while that are millions more on commercial and individual targets that cost owners billions.     

"China has benefited greatly from the world's biggest Web community, but its imbalance in Internet development makes its vulnerable to defend against countless cyber breaches," said Professor Yu Xiaofeng, of Zhejiang University in Hangzhou.

Fang Xingdong, an Internet technology expert, also warned the situation in China makes life easy even for the least-skilled hackers. He said: "It takes little for a hacker to launch an attack, but their assaults cost victims dearly, commercially and legally."

Without a strong cyber defense for government and military institutions, experts say the nation will remain vulnerable for years to come.

In one security breach, four hackers allegedly tried to sabotage rivals' servers, which offered access to illegal online gaming sites, on May 19. But they consequently disconnected Web users in more than 20 provinces for several hours.

It was the worst Internet incident in China after the service interruption caused by damaged undersea cables in the earthquake near Taiwan in 2006. The suspects were detained shortly after the breakdown.

According to an Internet security report on April 15 by Symantec, the California-based anti-virus software maker, of the computers hacked in the Asia-Pacific region during 2008, about 71 percent were in China.     

As a result of the sharp rise in hacks in China, its gaps in security have attracted international hackers who buy or rent hacked machines to use in other illegal projects, causing a multi-billion yuan black market to spring up.

A Shenzhen-based hacker, who declined to be named, said hacked computers costing as much as hundreds of yuan are so popular they are often sold or rented in groups.

"Even so, the prices in China are still seven to eight times lower than in the United States," said the hacker, who also added the practice is widely known throughout the information technology industry, with licensed companies also taking a piece from the pie.

The National People's Congress, China's top legislative body, listed hacking as a crime for the first time in February. But experts say more detailed measures and a long-term strategy for cyber security must be implemented.

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