| Hackers Embed Virus in Mandiant Report Posted: 25 Feb 2013 11:30 PM PST ZDNet's Eileen Yu reported on Monday that hackers have distributed virus-infected versions of a report released last week by security firm Mandiant which linked the Chinese army to cyberattacks on U.S. corporations: When downloaded, the tainted versions would allow hackers to remotely control infected computers after users attempted to read the report which was released last week by U.S. IT security vendor, Mandiant. A blog post by Symantec said hackers used the report as "bait", embedding a malware called, Trojan.Pidief, into fake reports which displayed a blank PDF document when opened. Unbeknownst to users, the tainted report would trigger the exploit code for Adobe Acrobat and Reader Remote Code Execution Vulnerability. Symantec highlighted an e-mail in Japanese purported to be from someone in the media industry which contained a PDF attachment of the fake Mandiant report.
Cybersecurity has become a wedge in Sino-U.S. relations in recent years, and lately the two sides have traded accusations of hacking. The New York Times' David Sanger reported earlier this week that the Obama administration is more willing than ever to call out the Chinese directly over the hacking issue: Defining "enemies" in this case is not always an easy task. China is not an outright foe of the United States, the way the Soviet Union once was; rather, China is both an economic competitor and a crucial supplier and customer. The two countries traded $425 billion in goods last year, and China remains, despite many diplomatic tensions, a critical financier of American debt. As Hillary Rodham Clinton put it to Australia's prime minister in 2009 on her way to visit China for the first time as secretary of state, "How do you deal toughly with your banker?" In the case of the evidence that the People's Liberation Army is probably the force behind "Comment Crew," the biggest of roughly 20 hacking groups that American intelligence agencies follow, the answer is that the United States is being highly circumspect. Administration officials were perfectly happy to have Mandiant, a private security firm, issue the report tracing the cyberattacks to the door of China's cybercommand; American officials said privately that they had no problems with Mandiant's conclusions, but they did not want to say so on the record. … In the next few months, American officials say, there will be many private warnings delivered by Washington to Chinese leaders, including Xi Jinping, who will soon assume China's presidency. Both Tom Donilon, the national security adviser, and Mrs. Clinton's successor, John Kerry, have trips to China in the offing. Those private conversations are expected to make a case that the sheer size and sophistication of the attacks over the past few years threaten to erode support for China among the country's biggest allies in Washington, the American business community. "America's biggest global firms have been ballast in the relationship" with China, said Kurt M. Campbell, who recently resigned as assistant secretary of state for East Asia to start a consulting firm, the Asia Group, to manage the prickly commercial relationships. "And now they are the ones telling the Chinese that these pernicious attacks are undermining what has been built up over decades."
Meanwhile, Ezra Klein of the Washington Post reports that Chinese hackers may be wrong to focus on the U.S. capital as much as they do: The Chinese look at Washington, and they think there must be some document somewhere, some flowchart saved on a computer in the basement of some think tank, that lays it all out. Because in China, there would be. In China, someone would be in charge. There would be a plan somewhere. It would probably last for many years. It would be at least partially followed. But that's not how it works in Washington. What the Chinese hackers are looking for is the great myth of Washington, what I call the myth of scheming. You see it all over. If you've been watching the series "House of Cards" on Netflix, it's all about the myth of scheming. Things happen because the Rep. Frank Underwood has planned for them to happen. And when they don't happen, it's because someone has counterplanned against him. … I almost feel bad for the Chinese hackers. Imagine the junior analysts tasked with picking through the terabytes of e-mails from every low-rent think tank in Washington, trying to figure out what matters and what doesn't, trying to make everything fit a pattern. Imagine all the spurious connections they're drawing, all the fundraising bluster they're taking as fact, all the black humor they're reading as straight description, all the mundane organizational chatter they're reading. They're missing our real strength, the real reason Washington fails day-to-day but has worked over years: It's because we don't stick too rigidly to plans or rely on some grand design. That way, when it all falls apart, as it always does and always will, we're okay.
© Scott Greene for China Digital Times (CDT), 2013. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Barack Obama, cyber attack, cyber espionage, cyber security, hackers, hacking, Mandiant, People's Liberation Army, PLA, Washington
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| TV Documentaries to Need SARFT Pre-Approval Posted: 25 Feb 2013 04:16 PM PST Chinese filmmakers and media experts have expressed skepticism about the practicality and motives of a new requirement for pre-approval of T.V. documentaries by the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television. From Liu Dong at Global Times: The new policy, which comes into effect immediately, stipulates that all television documentaries for public broadcast, produced by television stations, commercial studios and social organizations, should submit a content summary, cast list and shooting plan to SARFT before filming starts. SARFT will then review all the information and publish the approved list of documentaries to TV stations. According to the announcement, the purpose of the new policy is to avoid subjects overlapping and resources being wasted. […] "I don't know why they made this policy. Imagine the huge number of documentaries China produces each year, I doubt if they have enough manpower to fulfill this task. It's almost mission impossible to carry out this policy," Shu Haolun, professor at the School of Film and Television Arts of Shanghai University, told the Global Times. […] "Many documentaries involve sensitive topics which might upset the government. Now they can more easily reject such story ideas through this policy which I think harms our freedom of speech," the CEO of an independent film production, who asked not to be named, told the Global Times. The SARFT-unapproved but Oscar-shortlisted documentary Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry will be shown on P.B.S. tonight (Monday, February 25th).
© Samuel Wade for China Digital Times (CDT), 2013. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: censorship, documentaries, film censorship, SARFT, television, TV
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| Photo: Wall, by Mark Hobbs Posted: 25 Feb 2013 05:34 PM PST |
| China Uses Passports as Political Cudgel Posted: 25 Feb 2013 04:18 PM PST The Chinese made a record 83 million trips abroad last year, reflecting the increasing prosperity of the country's growing middle class. But at least 14 million people, mostly Tibetans and Uyghurs, are denied the chance to leave China by apparently politically motivated rejections of passport applications. Others outside the country, meanwhile, are denied the right to return. From Andrew Jacobs at The New York Times: Sun Wenguang, a retired economics professor from Shandong Province, was not among those venturing overseas, however. And not by choice. An author whose books offer a critical assessment of Communist Party rule, Mr. Sun, 79, has been repeatedly denied a passport without explanation. "I'd love to visit my daughter in America and my 90-year-old brother in Taiwan, but the authorities have other ideas," he said. "I feel like I'm living in a cage." […] "It's just another way to punish people they don't like," said Wu Zeheng, a government critic and Buddhist spiritual leader from southern Guangdong Province whose failed entreaties to obtain a passport have prevented him from accepting at least a dozen speaking invitations in Europe and North America. China's passport restrictions extend to low-level military personnel, Tibetan monks and even the security personnel who process passport applications. "I feel so jealous when I see all my friends taking vacations in Singapore or Thailand but the only way I could join them is to quit my job," said a 28-year-old police detective in Beijing. Chen Guangcheng's brother and mother have both recently had passport applications rejected, according to Lin Jing at Radio Free Asia. Chen Guangfu and Wang Jinxiang still hope to be able to visit the legal activist in New York, where he went to study following his dramatic escape from illegal house arrest last April. "The authorities wouldn't accept our application, and of course we are very disappointed," Chen Guangfu said in an interview this week, after the family's request was rejected earlier this month. "My mother knows that she won't have many more opportunities to go and see her son in the U.S., and she wanted to go while her health still allowed it," he said. Chen Guangfu said the authorities had told the family that it was very hard to get visas to the United States, and that the family were unlikely to be issued a visa without an invitation letter. […] Beijing-based rights lawyer Jiang Tianyong said the reasons given by police, who must approve all applications for passports in the first instance, were ridiculous. […] "The reasons given by police were laughable…It's for U.S. consular officials to decide whether or not to issue a visa." See also an interview at The Atlantic with Columbia University's Robert Barnett on denial of passports to Tibetans, via CDT.
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Post tags: Chen Guangcheng, Jiang Tianyong, passports, Tibetans, travel, Uyghurs, wu'er kaixi
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| Ai Weiwei: Nothing to Hide, Always Under Watch Posted: 25 Feb 2013 03:16 PM PST Famed artist and activist Ai Weiwei was profiled in an acclaimed documentary, "Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry," which followed him as he documented the names of children killed in the 2008 Sichuan earthquake. The film, which has been honored at Sundance and made the Oscar shortlist, will be broadcast on PBS' Independent Lens tonight in the U.S. (Check listings here). Ahead of the televised screening, the New York Times talks to Ai about his continued activism and how it intersects with his artwork: Q. The movie shows you approaching state security surveillance agents assigned to tail you and trying to talk with them. Why do that? A. I always think we have nothing to hide, so I want them to know that. Normally people, when they are being followed, are being intimidated or they are scared. So I always say: "If you are looking for me, we can sit down to talk. You can even come to my office, I'll just give you a table. You'll see whoever I see, and if I travel, I will name you as my assistant, so whoever I meet, you will also meet. So tell your boss that this is an opportunity to get a close look at this very dangerous guy named as a subversive of state power." Q. Here in the West confrontations like that, just like everything else you do, are seen as a type of performance art. Is this an accurate assessment? A. I wouldn't say it's a form of performance art. It is expression, but not one designed for a show. It's dangerous, it's very frustrating, and it's real life. It's a way to survive, and it's a way to announce yourself to those people. Because you don't want them to look at you as scared. Most people would just give up, and that makes the power unshakably strong. I'm trying to tell the workers or the young people you can insist on your own rights. Q. So at this juncture do you consider yourself to be primarily an artist or a political activist? A. I'm not very conscious of or think about either position. I lead my life, which is quite dense, with all kinds of political and social concerns and a lot of so-called cultural or art activities. They integrate with each other, that's always kind of necessary for me. It's like when you walk, you breathe, but you're not necessarily concerned about breathing. But when you walk under difficult conditions, like climbing a mountain, then you realize you have to catch your breath. So my activities are more or less like that.
Watch a trailer of the documentary:
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Post tags: 2008 Sichuan earthquake, activists, Ai Weiwei, documentaries
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| Frustrated “Lower-class” Parent Calls Out Classism Posted: 25 Feb 2013 02:00 PM PST After a child in Shanghai received detention at school for failing to turn in a notice for a health insurance program his or her family did not qualify for, one of the child's parents turned to the Internet to vent frustration with what the parent and many hukou-less residents of China's big cities have decried as institutionalized classism in society. The parent had a few choice words for the school, which he or she wrote on the insurance notice before sending it back in to the teacher. The parent posted a photo of the notice and a short description of the situation online under the title "We Live in a Country of Strict Hierarchy." CDT has provided a translation of the parent's story and photo below: We Live in a Country of Strict Hierarchy This morning, I was utterly irate over a notice my kid brought home from school. Yesterday, my child came home from school with a notice from the Shanghai Education Bureau about registering for Shanghai Residents Health Insurance at our own expense. It dictated that only three categories of people could register their kids. The first category was for kids with Shanghai hukou [residence permits]. The second was for children whose parents hold a Residential Permit A for nonnative talented individuals. The third was for kids whose parents hold a Residential Permit B for nonnative talented individuals–in other words, those with foreign citizenship. I threw the notice away immediately because we didn't belong to any of those three categories. As a consequence, my kid was held by his teacher after school, and we had to go pick him up. The reason was because my child did not return the health care program notice back to the teacher. This morning, I wrote several sentences on the notice and gave it to my child to turn in to the teacher. 
(image text, printed:) I) For those who will take part in the residential health insurance program, please check the box that corresponds to your circumstances: 1. Student is registered with a local residential permit. 2. Child's parents are "Nonnative Talents" (beginning with CW9) 3. Child's parents are "Nonnative Talents Type B" (beginning with CR, FR, etc) II) If not participating in the 2013 residential health insurance program, please specify the reasons below: (handwritten text from image:) Ridiculous policy! This purposefully categorizes people into different classes. We are low-class people, none of the above. We are Chinese, but we aren't even qualified to have our kids registered for residential health insurance–not even at our own expense! How can this school still go about educating our kids to love the party and love our mother country?
Via CDT Chinese. Translation by Mengyu Dong.
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Post tags: health insurance, household registration, hukou, urban life
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| Outspoken General Loses First Weibo Battle Posted: 25 Feb 2013 01:45 PM PST People's Liberation Army General Luo Yuan, who has gained a reputation as a blunt speaker on international affairs, has taken his views to Sina Weibo. There, he has been treated to a heavy dose of netizen skepticism and humor. From The Border Mail: Major General Luo Yuan, whose recent suggestions include turning the Japanese-administered Islands, known as Diaoyu in China and Senkaku in Japan, into a Chinese target range, entered the microblogging internet fray to debate a university professor who argued he was "crazy" to advocate bombing Tokyo. [...] In less than a week he has attracted 237,000 weibo followers and his first post alone has attracted more than 33,700 comments and been forwarded 37,800 times as of 2pm Sydney time. But efforts by propaganda authorities to delete negative comments could not hide that his foray has been a bruising one. "If weibo is the battlefield between pro-state voices and civil society, then it looks like General Luo has hopelessly lost his first encounter," said Xiao Qiang, an adjunct professor at the University of California, Berkeley, and founder of China Digital Times.
Luo's appearance on Weibo was a surprise as usually military officers are discouraged from joining the microblogging service. But Luo reportedly gained permission first. From the New York Times blog: Mr. Luo also wrote in what appeared to be his first post Friday that he had received "permission" (Chinese media reported that it came from the People's Liberation Army) to set up the account. In the past, members of the military have been barred from opining online, reports said (though some do, including an air force colonel, Dai Xu, who has a microblog). Some person or persons, possibly high up in the security or propaganda system, seem to have had a change of heart about that general policy, and the man who reportedly said last September that China should cooperate with Taiwan's military in a "people's war at sea" — blasting the disputed Diaoyu, or Senkaku, islands "Monday, Wednesday, and Friday," while the Taiwanese could do it "Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday" — is back, and characteristically vocal. General Luo is believed to be close to the incoming Chinese president, Xi Jinping, and his father, Luo Qingchang, was an early member of the Communist Party and a senior official and intelligence officer, according to Chinese and overseas Web sites.
But whoever granted him permission to join Weibo may now be regretting it, considering the response from netizens. Caixin reports: Other Weibo users asked whether it was appropriate for military officials to be involved in the country's internal affairs and whether the army should serve the Communist Party's interests first. Questions were also raised about Luo's family background and his relatives' businesses activities. Luo's father, Luo Qingchang, was a former deputy secretary general of the State Council, China's cabinet. Luo's Weibo account had a bit of a hiccup on February 24. A comment supporting him appeared on the account, but oddly referred to him in the third person. Afterward Sina, the company that operates Weibo, published a statement that said the account was briefly hacked, but was back to normal.
The third-person "hacked" comment supporting Luo called him "a soldier and a scholar," a catchphrase that netizens quickly latched onto in mocking Luo. From Quartz: But this, too, may have backfired. First of all, a meme have have been born: Weibo users have already grabbed on to the "Luo Yuan is a soldier and a scholar" quote such that many are typing it into the comments sections of Luo's new posts. Then there's the larger problem with the hacking defense. As the Sydney Morning Herald pointed out, Kai-fu Lee—former head of Google China and major Weibo personality—summed it up this way: "If the national security professional can't even change his password then the people really should be worried."
OffBeat China has more on netizens' reactions to Luo's posts: Instead of being excited about a top military officer showing up on Weibo and sharing views on possible strategies, Chinese netizens denounced Luo's attempt to get the hang of Weibo: "How, in a normal country, is an active military officer allowed to openly discuss politics?" Luo's choice of words has been the primary target of criticism. Netizen 徐昕, a law professional as his Weibo profile describes, asked: "General Luo, welcome to Weibo. Your willingness to communicate is worth some applause, but here are a few questions for you. 1. Is it "under the leadership of Xi", or "under the leadership of the Party led by Xi"? 2. Who are the country's traitors? Do you have a name list? We netizens are happy to help [if you don't]. 3. A military officer talking about fighting corruption. It may be effective, but how do you do it? Does this count as the military's interference in politics? 4. Why [you put] beloved people behind beloved country, beloved Party and beloved army?" This is just the beginning, the highlight is when netizens started to question Luo's credentials as a general and his family wealth.
More netizens' comments on General Luo Yuan's posts are here on the CDT Chinese.
© Sophie Beach for China Digital Times (CDT), 2013. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Luo Yuan, online public opinion, People's Liberation Army, sina weibo, weibo
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