China syndromeChinese cyber attacks hit U.S. law firm which is suing China for stealing Web filtering code form a U.S. company
The Los Angeles-based law firm Gipson Hoffman & Pancione sued China for lifting Web-filtering code developed by U.S. company Cybersitter; Chinese companies and government agencies stole the code in order to use it in the Chinese government’s effort to create tighter Web censorship and tracking system (China’s Orwellian name for the project” “The Green Dam Youth Escort monitoring program”); on Monday, Chinese hackers began to hack the law firm’s computer systems, in a manner strikingly similar to the attacks by Chinese intelligence operatives on Google, Adobe Systems, and 32 other Western companies
A law firm that filed a lawsuit against the Chinese government says it was hit by a cyber attack that looks strikingly similar to one that targeted Google, Adobe Systems, and thirty-two other large companies.
On Monday, attorneys at Gipson Hoffman & Pancione began receiving trojan-laced e-mails made to appear as if they were sent by other members of the firm, according to a release. The e-mails, at least some of which originated in China, attempted to trick the target in to clicking on a link or attachment,” Information Week reported.
Dan Goodin writes that last week, the Los Angeles-based firm said it sued the People’s Republic of China and two Chinese software developers over allegations the Green Dam Youth Escort monitoring program lifted code from Web-filtering software made by Cybersitter.
The attacks follow Google’s announcement on Tuesday that hackers it believed were acting on behalf of China penetrated the defenses of thirty-four large companies, including Google and Adobe Systems. Google has pledged to stop honoring the Chinese government’s demands to filter search results on Google.cn and has threatened to exit the world’s biggest Internet market altogether.
At time of writing, Google.cn continued to filter results related to the Tiananmen Square massacre and other topics considered taboo by the Chinese government.
On Thursday, anti-virus maker McAfee said the attackers targeted at least three of the companies by exploiting a zero-day vulnerability in Internet Explorer. It is possible they used other exploits as well.
The attacks against Gipson Hoffman & Pancione have been reported to the FBI and members of the House Intelligence Committee.
