The NSA's TAO has been hacking China for 15 years.

     The primary complaint against China's outift of military hackers has been dual pronged: the U.S. private sector is losing expensive proprietary information, and the public sector is having its sensitive weapons systems compromised.

     China's response has been, simply: yeah but the U.S. did it to us first, and worse.

     It turns out, China might just be telling it like it is this time.

     The deafening sound of internet aggregators shredding Edward Snowden's life into digestible pieces drowned out probably one of the most epic posts of the week: Matthew M. Aid's Foreign Policy piece titled "Inside the NSA's Ultra-Secret China Hacking Group."

     In it, Aid describes how the U.S. has a long history of penetrating China's systems — what they call "Computer Network Exploitation." The U.S. government, as we should have assumed, knows the most intimate details about the Chinese communist party and its People's Liberation Army.
From Aid's piece:

A highly secretive unit of the National Security Agency (NSA) ... called the Office of Tailored Access Operations, or TAO, has successfully penetrated Chinese computer and telecommunications systems for almost 15 years, generating some of the best and most reliable intelligence information about what is going on inside the People's Republic of China.

     TAO mirrors China's methods by first hacking into computer networks, then protecting themselves from being identified, and finally copying ALL communications and files from within that network.
If that sounds familiar, its because the process nearly matches the description Mandiant — the company that caught Chinese hackers red-handed — gave to explain the method the PLA uses to steal American information.

     Except America's system pre-dates that of China.

Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman, Geng Yansheng, recently said in a briefing:

“The team was set up to better safeguard the internet security of the armed forces. Cyber security was an international problem, affecting civil and military areas. China is still “relatively weak” in internet security protection, and vulnerable to cyber-terrorism.”

     It's not just China in the mix either — it's Israel, Singapore, Japan, Switzerland, the U.K. and others, British intelligence analyst Glenmore Trenear-Harvey told InfoSec.com.

     "This is not just conventional military powers. Put bluntly, everyone’s at it. It is a game anyone can play. But do remember that we – the U.S. and UK – are doing this in reverse and we are very successful," said Trenear-Harvey.

     Not only has Obama ordered the military to draw up a list of potential cyber targets around the globe, but most of the military academies now offer majors in Cyber Warfare.

     There's also been revelations that the cyber war is getting a big boost from the civilian side. Apparently, more than a third of the Marine Corps' cyber war will be fought by contractors.

     Hackers may be full of old tricks, but it's a new battlefield, and it looks like everyone is down to play the game.

"[Cyber Warfare] an incredibly potent weapon which will certainly be utilized,” said Trenear-Harvey.

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/us-nsa-unit-tao-hacking-china-for-years-2013-6#ixzz2Vvmhqlry

China Hacks Patriot Missile Blue Prints

     WASHINGTON- A hacker from China is said to have gained access to the design of more than two dozen major weapons systems in the United States. Quoting a report prepared for the Department of Defense by the Defense Science Board, the Washington Post said the successful hack included theft of blue prints for types of aircraft and ships, as well as the importance of missile defense for Europe, Asia, and the Gulf.



      Among the weapons listed in the report are a sophisticated system of Patriot missiles, ballistic missile defense system of the Navy, the F/A-18 fighter jet, the V-22 Osprey, Black Hawk helicopters, and F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.

      The report did not say when the cyber theft was done or who was involved. But the tactics used, such as the ability to paralyze and destroy data communications, refer to the origin of Chinese hackers.

      In a report to Congress this month, the Pentagon said that China uses cyber espionage to modernize its military and hacking because of serious concern. The U.S. government is said to be the target of hacking and is "directly attributable to the Chinese government and military."

      China has denied the report and has declared it unfounded.

      Previously, a computer security firm Mandiant says a Chinese secret military unit, 31698,  may be behind a series of hacking attacks in the U.S.. A total of 100 U.S. companies are rumored to have been the victims of these attacks.

This document http://www.kaskus.co.id/thread/51a67bc7db9248bf5d000003/hacker-china-berhasil-retas-blue-print-rudal-patriot/1 translated with google translator and edited for clarity.


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Chinese Hackers spied on U.S. military secrets

   The most valuable U.S. military secrets have spent years exposed to the curiosity of China. Hackers has been exploiting an Asian giant's service for years to uncover the security flaws of Pentagon data banks and many of its contractors to steal programming codes and copy protected technological secrets Washington experts say.
 
      This could mean that China is winning the battle on the to U.S. in matters of cybersecurity.  It is said that this may be for getting advantage in case of a direct war between the two powers, according to military experts.
 
     For the first time it is known that Chinese hackers appropriated the design details of a dozen sophisticated weapons that make the U.S. military industrial complex and form the "backbone" of the country's defense system for Asia, Europe and the Persian Gulf , according to The Washington Post as reported yesterday, citing a report by the Defense Science Board from the Pentagon.
 
      Among the artifacts compromised by Chinese cyber intrusion is complex defense F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, considered the most expensive system ever built, at a cost of $1.4 billion. The designs also include several ships stolen such as F/A-18 fighter and the V-22 Osprey.  Also the Black Hawk helicopter and a new combat ship specially designed for special operations. Details to improve air defense systems, such as Patriot missiles and the Aegis ballistic missile of the Navy, have been stolen by Chinese hackers.
 
      While the authors of the report, a group of military and civilian advisers did not identify when the theft occurred and its duration, nor identify Beijing directly, they make clear their concern that the information obtained grant the Chinese military the ability to incapacitate the most sophisticated U.S. weaponry.
It seems that electronic eavesdropping was the path chosen by China to bridge the gap that separates U.S. advanced military technology, saving billions of dollars and years of research and development.
 
     "There are suspicions that the design theft fo the Fighter F-35 has helped China develop a version much faster" a military expert claimed who estimated that Beijing could have taken a leap of 25 years thanks to the appropriation of secrets.
 
      This issue has outraged politicians and U.S. military. The Pentagon issued a report last month to Congress in which, for the first time, accuses China of being "by far the most active in the theft of U.S. intellectual property."
 
      The country has defended itself by saying that they have been victims of cyber attacks.
For President Barack Obama, cyber security has become an obsession, so this will be a priority in his meeting with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping in June in California.
 
      "It's an issue that we raised at all levels in meetings with our Chinese counterparts and I'm sure it will be a matter to be discussed", said White House spokesman, Jay Carney.

This page http://afondo.mx/2013/05/hackers-chinos-espiaron-los-secretos-militares-de-ee-uu/ has been translated with google and edited for clarity. Tweets by @covertbulletin

Chinese hackers stole the weapons design

     Washington. Cyber ​​War between China and the U.S. is staggering. First American companies, then the consumer, and this time go one step ahead.  Dragon hackers attacked the U.S. defense system. A U.S. report said that more than two dozen weapons systems designs have been put into the hands of Chinese hackers. Moreover, the new headquarters of Chinese hackers have stolen Blueprints of the Australian intelligence agency.
 
       A U.S. Defense Department report prepared by the Defense Science Board, according to the Washington Post, wrote that the thefts of fighter aircraft, ships and missile defense system designs are related. This defense systems in Europe, Asia and the Gulf countries are essential. Chinese hackers penetrated the security of government agencies and stole designs for missile defense systems, combat aircraft designs (FA -18, -22 V Osprey, Black Hawk helicopters and F-35 fighter jets) while being untraceable. The U.S. and Allied security is at stake.
 
     The report did not say when these cyber attacks occurred.  Neither the government, the Army or the Contractor victim's computer contain any forensic information. The Pentagon sent a report to Congress earlier this month.

This page http://www.jagran.com/news/world-chinese-hacker-hacks-us-arms-designs-10433717.html has been translated with google and edited for clarity. Tweets by @covertbulletin