[AfrICANN-discuss] China, a Country which has turned into a Rogue State

Sun Jan 17 16:39:28 SAST 2010

 --- On Sun, 1/17/10, Anne-Rachel Inné <annerachel at gmail.com> wrote:
>I am very worried about that aspect of story for the African region. What do you think?

>

Rachel,
Your concerns here are genuine, but i would like to bring your attention to the fact that Linux (among other open source) software has code available on an on going basis as opposed to the MS code that was a one off (Chinese don't have the most recent).

My point here is that just because the code is available openly, is not necessarily tantamount to all these problems..........the real problem is what the vendors like Microsoft are doing to design inherently secure systems - They need to embrace secure models and if they can't do that users especially we the African's need to find alternative secure systems and practices.

Let me use this incident as an example. This targeted attack banked on people clicking links on IE6 which is two versions behind the latest IE - If they had security at the core, they would have updated their browsers or even change to Firefox - and the whole "link clicking" thing would have been something they should have been advised against hence taking the Chinese back to the drawing board and ensuring they come up with a less reliable attack like the case of the "underwear bomber"

PS: Just incase your wondering how you can keep yourself safe while you use the Internet i wrote this note a little while back and i am sure will be helpful http://www.delta-itsolutions.com/?q=Staying%20Safe%20on%20the%20Internet

Regards,
Douglas Onyango +256(0712)981329

Life is the educators practical joke in which you spend the first half learning, and the second half learning that everything you learned in the first was wrong.

--- On Sun, 1/17/10, Anne-Rachel Inné <annerachel at gmail.com> wrote:

From: Anne-Rachel Inné <annerachel at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [AfrICANN-discuss] China, a Country which has turned into a Rogue  State
To: "Douglas Onyango" <ondouglas at yahoo.com>
Date: Sunday, January 17, 2010, 2:20 PM

I agree with you Douglas and especially on the ICANN side.

My worry comes more from the use of computers and software which source codes were given to the chinese government ...

I have been victim of the CC fraud in UK and South Africa. Where at first I could not understand how it could have happened, given that I had taken all necessary precautions when using them and the card were in my possesion!!!

When you think of how many Governement computers in our countries are 'open' to piracy (not to mention networks, etc.) in general and how information is becoming a critical asset, I am very worried about that aspect of story for the African region. What do you think?

ar

On Sun, Jan 17, 2010 at 10:41 AM, Douglas Onyango <ondouglas at yahoo.com> wrote:

>As a part of this strategy, India should move for isolation of China from Cyber Space by working thorugh ICANN so that China is prevented from tapping into any Internet data from outside its borders without surveillance from the global alliance.

>

I believe in so doing, India will be denying benign Chinese users access to information which is a fundamental human right, and if seen from a neutral view point will be considered moot by any court - Indian or International.

Also connecting(isolation) of China or any other country is outside ICANN's purview and hence the later will not give much more than advise which i believe they have plenty of already.

Regards,
Douglas Onyango +256(0712)981329

Life is the educators practical joke in which you spend the first half learning, and the second half learning that everything you learned in the first was wrong.

--- On Sat, 1/16/10, Anne-Rachel Inné <annerachel at gmail.com> wrote:

From: Anne-Rachel Inné <annerachel at gmail.com>
Subject: [AfrICANN-discuss] China, a Country which has turned into a Rogue State

To: africann at afrinic.net
Date: Saturday, January 16, 2010, 11:08 PM

China, a Country which has turned into a Rogue State

http://www.bloggernews.net/123545

Posted on January 15th, 2010 

by naavi in All News

Read 222 times.

The recent incidents that have indicated
that the Chinese Government is behind attacks on the Indian Prime
Minsiter’s Office, trying to steal sensitive information is yet another
indication that China poses a serious risk to the Global order through
its pursuance of the “Cyber Super Power” doctrine.
It is now revealed that in the attack on Google, China appears to
have exploited a vulnerability in Internet Explorer which enabled a
remote code execution.
In this context, we need to recall that in 2003, China forced
Microsoft to part with its OS source code to the Chinese Government in
order to run its business in China. It now appears that Chinese
Government could have  misused the trust placed on it by Microsoft by
running an organized hacking research on the basis of the knowledge it
must have gained by having the access to the Windows source code.
It is not clear if Adobe has also shared any part of its application
source code with the Chinese Government since exploitation of Adobe
application is also alleged in some of the attacks emanating from China.
We can now therefore expect that the global information community is
in grave danger due to the possible exploitation of windows and adobe
products by the Chinese Government.
Adobe’s PDF is almost the global document standard just as much as
what Windows OS is to the OS market. While the intention of sharing the
source code with the Chinese Government by the software giants was in
fact acceptable from the point of view of the security of Chinese
soverign interest, it is unfortunate that the Chinese Government could
have betrayed the trust imposed on them.
If it is proved that the Chinese Government used the privileged
access it gained to the source code to plan and execute exploits,
Microsoft must be regretting its decision for having handed over its OS
to a master hacker. Now China is even in a position to just push
Microsoft out of the market by pirating the entire Windows software
itself.
It is also necessary to remember that Chinese suppliers of Credit
Card swiping machines to UK have been caught having doctored the
microchips so that copies of Credit card information are sent to
Chinese hackers. We have also seen Chinese intrusion into Indian IT
companies through which they have planted key loggers to steal
information from World Bank.
If one takes a comprehensive look at these developments, and also
observe how China is flooding the global market with computer hardware
manufactured in China, one gets a feeling that Chinese Cyber Spies are
already well entrenched in the globe. We donot know if backdoors exist
in laptops of chinese origin either to disable the computers on a
remote call or extract information from the computer from time to time.
India is aware of the exploits of China in Tibet, Arunachal Pradesh,
Ladak and other areas in its borders where they show scant regard to
the accepted international norms of behaviour.
As security experts point out, China has a specific road map  to
dominate the Cyber World and is therefore working overtime to become a
champion in Cyber Wars. The developments appear to be similar to the
ambitions that Hitler pursued before the Second World War.
Even US may not be able to counter this development unless there is
a global alliance of democratic countries to fight the rogue state that
China is developing into.
We therefore need to develop a comprehensive Cyber Security Strategy
to meet the threat of Cyber Warfare from China. Since the threat is
global, India should take the lead in developing a Global Cyber Safety
Alliance against Chinese Cyber Aggression.
As a part of this strategy, India should move for isolation of China
from Cyber Space by working thorugh ICANN so that China is prevented
from tapping into any Internet data from outside its borders without
surveillance from the global alliance.
The alliance should also put appropriate checks on imports of
hardware from China and employment of Chinese nationals in IT firms so
that all forms of hardware, software and people oriented risks likely
to emanate from China are monitored and mitigated.
While I do admire the ingenuity of China to safeguard its interests
for which they have every right, what is objectionable is its
aggressive tendencies to encroach on the freedom of other countries.  I
consider that it is the right of other countries to defend themselves
and when it is suspected that China has been supporting “State
sponsored Cyber Attacks” on other nationals, the response has to be in
the form of a counter strategy by a global alliance. The time appears
to be ripe for the formation of such an alliance under the leadership
of India.
The first step in this direction is for the Indian Govenment to
register a case of Cyber Terrorism for the attack on the PMO’s office,
pursue its investigation and demand support from Chinese Government.
I urge Mr Chidambaram, the Union Home Minister to take the lead and
develop a “Strategy to protect Indian Cyber Space from Chinese
Aggression”.
I also urge CERT-In to assure the Indian Cyber Society with an
appropriate action plan to protect Indian Cyber Space from possible
Chinese Intrusion.
Probably Mr Shashi Tharoor should be placed in special charge of
this assignment under a separate ministry of “Indian Cyber Space
Security”.
Naavi

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Anne-Rachel Inne

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