China hijacks US Government web traffic

Last Updated on Monday, 22 November 2010 14:45 Wednesday, 17 November 2010 14:17

China looks to have carried out something of a body blow in the US-China tech wars. Last April, web traffic that originated mainly in the US was rerouted to servers in China. The 'mistake' lasted 18 minutes and could have left highly confidential data exposed to Chinese prying. A report from the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission said the traffic should have gone the shortest route possible and not been rerouted through China.

China Telecom denied any covert reason behind the routing, saying, "it denied any hijack of internet traffic." The incident was reported in the annual report by the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review. Last year's report, which also heavily criticised China for hacking and spying on US commercial interests can be found here.

Traffic heading to the U.S. Senate, the office of the Secretary of Defense, NASA and the Commerce Department, the marine corps, the air force, the office of secretary of Defense, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the Department of Commerce, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration,were all diverted through China. Sites like IBM, Microsoft, Yahoo and Dell were also affected. The report couldn't definitively say if the rerouting was intentional or accidental, but did warn the "massive amount' of data (about 15 per cent of the world's traffic) could have concealed a more directed attack. The draft report, seen by Reuters, said "However, computer security researchers have noted that the capability could enable severe malicious activities."

Just what did China do with the data?

The report continues, "Although the Commission has no way to determine what, if anything, Chinese telecommunications firms did to the hijacked data, incidents of this nature could have a number of serious implications. This level of access could enable surveillance of specific users or sites. It could disrupt a data transaction and prevent a user from establishing a connection with a site. It could even allow a diversion of data to somewhere that the user did not intend."

Related: China - Rising Power

Earlier this week, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates warned cyber-attacks posed a huge risk to the military and critical infrastructure of the U.S. and he urged more 'joined-up' thinking between the military and U.S. interests.

The cyber wars between China and the West have provoked serious concern at top levels. China notoriously 'hacked' Google earlier this year, provoking Google's withdrawal from China. A Department of Defense report warned of the risk China posed via its control of rare earth materials, some of which were critical to the US military. More lately, China's space program and its claiming the title of the world's most powerful computer could all be taken as indications of China beginning to challenge American dominance in the technological arena - on which American power has traditionally rested.

The USCC Annual Report to Congress, 2010, can be found here.