The details of these attacks have not been divulged to the public however we do know a few things. First, Google has said that the attacks were mainly aimed at stealing corporate source codes from these companies. Using these source codes, hackers could essentially write their own version of programs already used by these firms and sell them for huge profits. Along with the economic advantage, stolen source code could give hackers valuable insight as to the weaknesses of said programs. For these companies, most of which are in Silicon Valley and are highly electronically oriented, this is a huge problem. After these attacks, Adobe reported that it had been the victim of a security breach itself. It is not known if these events are related however the circumstances are eerily similar. Someone was able to identify a flaw in the programming of Adobe's software and attempted to infiltrate it with a virus that would deposit on someones computer every time they opened a PDF file. Luckily a catastrophe was averted and Adobe sniffed out the attacker and managed to fix the flaw.
The last attack I would like to mention was also aimed at Google. Details of the attack have been kept quiet however we do know that they are separate from the first attacks and that gmail accounts of several Chinese human rights activists have been comprised. We also know that these attacks stemmed from China itself. Every single program, file, webpage, and online interaction has whats known as a digital fingerprint, composed of a string of binary digits. Every fingerprint is completely unique. If two files have 10,000 binary digits exactly the same but one that differs, they have different fingerprints. Using this premise, investigators have been able to trace the security breach back to its own source. This source was a Chinese server and the virus was built using a unique algorithm published only in Chinese.
Anyway, this post is getting kind of long so I will post again before the weekend with updates as well as to discuss some societal connections of these events.
This is absolutely fascinating to me. I know I assume that large firms such as Google are safe from such attacks. Afterall, they have the money and the manpower to potentially stay ahead of the game when it comes to new technology. As our world turns more and more technology based, it seems as though while we become more protected to the masses, we become increasingly vulnerable to those who are more technologically savvy then us. It seems more important now then ever to make sure we are the leaders in the technological field.
ReplyDeleteI believe that history will continue to teach us that China strives more to hurt the world than any other country. The Chinese have been trying to overrun the world for centuries. I think Google has opened the "genie's lamp" to China. We should be very careful with our technology as it relates to China.
ReplyDeleteI was also shocked to see that such big firms as Google and Adobe can/have been hacked. I never wouldve thought it was possible. i disagree with the comment above, China doesnt TRY to hurt other nations, its just that China's population is SOO big that there are bound to be a few more bad seeds than other nations. And yes, China seems to have a larger proportion of citizens that are technically savvy compared to other places.
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