University of Toronto research shows that at least 1,295 computers in 103 countries have been hacked. It’s also reported that close to 30 per cent of the infected computers “are considered high-value political and economic targets”. The cyber spy network named Ghost-net was focused on hacking into classified government documents of South Asian countries. The GhostNet targeted embassies, media groups, NGOs, international organizations, government foreign ministries and the offices of the Dalai Lama etc. NATO computers were monitored by the spy ring and Indian embassy in USA was compromised. Hackers were able to take control of the computers and controlled the camera and audio devices.

The research started when the office of the Dalai Lama asked an internet-based research group to examine its computers for signs of malicious software or Malware. Though the research point out that the hacking attempts were made from within China, researchers could not conclusively say if the Chinese government was involved or not. 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.

Read the report “Tracking GhostNet: Investigating a Cyber Espionage Network”

An amendment to the Computer Misuse Act 1990 made ethical hacking legal and is possible since 1994, but such intrusive surveillance was closely regulated under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act.

Opposition MPs and civil liberties groups have raised concerns over the move.

Attack on al-Qaeda (September 2008)

Al-Qaeda’s main online forums have been taken offline apparently by government agencies or funded by them. The forum was removed online on September 10th and they couldn’t even restore it back online. They have issued a statement saying that there are some technical issues and not to trust any look alike sites.

Attack on Georgia (May-September 2008)

“Emerging Cyber Threats Report for 2009” reports attack on Georgia by Russian technical experts during their recent military action to support their ground troops. The report indicates that the Russians blocked the internet traffic from Georgia though Turkey and slowed down the traffic through Russia making it unusable. Rostelecom controlled by Russian government and COMSTAR blocked traffic to Georgian IP space. Researched observed that route hijacking, brute force server compromise, data theft, DDoS attacking, cache poisoning attacks, defacement and hosting of fake Georgian web pages etc were also carried out.

US –China cyber cold war (2006-2008)

The cold war which lasted for decades between Russia and USA is now in its new form. USA and China are blaming each other for numerous cyber attacks that happen in both countries in the last two years. Chinese hackers are successful enough to intrude into many of the critical US operations and launch small to medium scale attacks. Though it’s not clear if it’s a government sponsored attack or by a group of technical junkies, it’s eminent that a full blown cyber war is just around the corner.

The low cost of cyber warfare, lack of regulations and defense less encourage countries to move to cyber warfare than physical. As the world moves ahead in moving all the critical infrastructure under computer control, a cyber war in 21st century could be more destructive than the nuclear war of the last century.

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