De la Redacción
Una vasta operación de espionaje electrónico mediante un complicado sistema de intervención de computadoras a larga distancia robó documentos de 103 gobiernos y oficinas en todo el mundo, incluida la del Dalai Lama, descubrieron investigadores del Centro Munk de Estudios Internacionales de Toronto, Canadá.
El diario The New York Times afirmó que el sistema está controlado desde computadoras localizadas principalmente en China, pero no pueden asegurar que Pekín esté implicado. Se supone que mil 289 computadoras en un total de 103 naciones fueron infiltradas, lo que involucra a las oficinas del Dalai Lama, en su exilio en India, sitios en Bruselas, Londres, Nueva York, embajadas, ministerios y oficinas gubernamentales.
Los investigadores localizaron también infiltraciones en varios países del sur y sudeste asiático.
Los analistas del Centro Munk afirman que no es raro que gobiernos como los de Estados Unidos, China y Rusia usen complejos programas de computadora para robar información, pero este sistema en particular, bautizado como GhostNet por sus descubridores, es por mucho el más grande que se ha localizado hasta la fecha, simplemente por la cantidad de países que logró cubrir.
Aseguraron que no hay evidencia de que oficinas estadunidenses hayan sido infiltradas, aunque sí ocurrió en las redes de computación de la Organización del Tratado del Atlántico Norte (OTAN) y de la embajada de India en Washington.
Información específica
Otra cosa que sorprendió a los investigadores es que al parecer el sistema está programado para captar y robar información específica y no al azar, como suelen hacer las compañías que buscan direcciones de correo electrónico para enviar publicidad.
El GhostNet puede encender las funciones de cámara y audio en una computadora infectada y escuchar y ver lo que ocurre en una habitación, lo que los expertos de Munk no logran explicarse.
El centro en Toronto alertó ya a agencias y autoridades internacionales sobre la operación de espionaje e insistieron en que no hay pruebas de que China esté implicada. Dijo que posiblemente ciudadanos chinos hayan formado una organización independiente, ya que ha habido casos de “hackers patrióticos” en China.
El consulado de China en Nueva York afirmó en un comunicado que es una tontería
la versión sobre la operación de espionaje. “El gobierno chino está estrictamente opuesto y prohíbe todo tipo de ciberdelito”, señaló el vocero Wenqi Gao.
- The Observer, Sunday 29 March 2009
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A mystery electronic spy network apparently based in China has infiltrated hundreds of computers around the world and stolen files and documents, Canadian researchers have revealed.
The network, dubbed GhostNet, appears to target embassies, media groups, NGOs, international organisations, government foreign ministries and the offices of the Dalai Lama, leader of the Tibetan exile movement. The researchers, based at Toronto University's Munk Centre for International Studies, said their discovery had profound implications.
"This report serves as a wake-up call... these are major disruptive capabilities that the professional information security community, as well as policymakers, need to come to terms with rapidly," said researchers Ron Deibert and Rafal Rohozinski.
After 10 months of study, the researchers concluded that GhostNet had invaded 1,295 computers in 103 countries, but it appeared to be most focused on countries in south Asia and south-east Asia, as well as the Dalai Lama's offices in India, Brussels, London and New York. The network continues to infiltrate dozens of new computers each week.
Such a pattern, and the fact that the network seemed to be controlled from computers inside China, could suggest that GhostNet was set up or linked to Chinese government espionage agencies. However, the researchers were clear that they had not been able to identify who was behind the network, and said it could be run by private citizens in China or a different country altogether. A Chinese government spokesmen has denied any official involvement.
GhostNet can invade a computer over the internet and penetrate and steal secret files. It can also turn on the cameras and microphones of an infected computer, effectively creating a bug that can monitor what is going inside the room where the computer is. Anyone could be watched and listened to.
The researchers said they had been tipped off to the network after having been asked by officials with the Dalai Lama to examine their computers. The officials had been worried that their computers were being infected and monitored by outsiders. The Chinese government regularly attacks the Tibetan exile movement as encouraging separatism and terrorism within China. The researchers found that the computers had succumbed to cyber-attack and that numerous files, including letters and emails, had been stolen. The intruders had also gained control of the electronic mail server of the Dalai Lama's computers.
"The investigation was able to conclude that Tibetan computer systems were compromised by multiple infections that gave attackers unprecedented access to potentially sensitive information, including documents from the private office of the Dalai Lama," the researchers concluded in their report. They have now notified various law enforcement agencies, including international groups and the FBI.
The news also comes as researchers at Cambridge University prepare to release a report today called Snooping Dragon, which looks at suspected Chinese cyber-monitoring of Tibetan exile groups. The report is expected to detail the unexpected scale and sophistication of such efforts by a government against a private body.
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News and Media Limited 2009
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