back to article MI5 warns over China hacking menace

MI5 has warned UK businesses of the threat posed by state-sponsored Chinese hackers. The UK security service has sent an advisory to banks and law firms warning them to guard against attack from "Chinese state organisations". Jonathan Evans, the director-general of MI5, took the highly unusual step of writing to 300 UK chief …

COMMENTS

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  1. Shakje

    So it couldn't just be...

    That China offers untraceable proxies.

  2. Matt
    Thumb Down

    So what now.....

    Which of my freedoms do they want to take away today then? I can only think that the reason for dropping this information into the public area is to provide evidence for their budget negotiations or scare me into giving up my freedom.

    In my experience the majority of malware can be tracked back to the US, not that I'm claiming the government is behind it!

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Paris Hilton

    You have been warned....

    Beware malware from the PLA !

    Do not open attachments such as;

    Paris_Hilton_video_PLA-version.pif

    Make sure that you haven't left a hole in your firewall for Chinese IP blocks. It's an easy mistake to make.

    Thank goodness for over-paid civil servants. We are safe in their hands.

  4. Steve Browne
    Coat

    Windows ...

    ... can be traced back to the US

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I remember

    I remember thinking MI5, MI6 and the CIA were stealthy, secret, intelligence gathering machines that operated in the shadows and had a mysterious sinister air about them. They had smart guys working the numbers and daring "advisors" working in cesspits the world over.

    Now they appear to be a bunch of clowns and middle managers who fail harder then symantec.

  6. Slaine
    Flame

    25 million anyone?

    Free to first bidder. Intricate identity details pertaining to 25 million individuals currently resident in the United Kingdom - guaranteed up-to-date; constantly renewing source. Why worry about anyone gaining access to YOUR data when YOU can have a copy of even more interesting stuff about 25 million others.

    Just send a SAE to HM government, any department.

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Flame

    Pseudo cold-war against China

    Every few weeks/months some new method to isolate and attack China by the West.

    Forment disorder and revolution in Burma (China's prefered local supplier of Oil/Gas).

    Similar activities in Pakistan to destablise a govt that is friendly with China and providing China with a deep-sea port in the Arabian Sea (easier and cheap access the to various other economies).

    Japan and South Korea are already keeping China at arms length.

    Constantly supporting India in every way possible (from preferential trade agreements to nuclear help).

    And no doubt there are a bunch of other activities that don't make the headlines.

    But don't worry, they're (the West) only trying to export caring sharing democracies to the rest of the world just like the successes of Iraq and Afghanistan. The fact that their own nations are turning into Stasii Police States, living in fear of the police is a small matter of little concern.

  8. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    let's add

    Columbia and several other South American nations that are propped up by the West.

  9. The Other Steve
    Black Helicopters

    A new demon, how very.

    Oh deary me, so the UK populace has rumbled that the terrorist 'threat' amounts to little more than a few nutters who've read "The Anarchist's Cookbook" and a woman who writes exceptionally bad poetry and owns some obscure literature ?

    Well, let's remind them that the ruskies and the damn chinee are still out to get us.

    Of course, we won't have to mention immigration, but I think we can safely assume that demonising Ivan and the Chinks will bolster an agenda in that direction as well, I mean, who can tell the difference between the eastern euros anyway ? Used to be all the same country didn't they, KGB the lot of them.

    I really don't see how this can be anything other than a play in someone's hidden agenda. Since the security advice the SS are likely giving will be effective against all ITsec (or non IT specific, come to that) threats there is no need for them to specify China as the perpetrator.

    To do so publicly is clearly politically motivated, I fail to see how it could have anything to do with security. MI5 are in serious danger of loosing their credibility, IMO, as all we hear from them at the moment are unsubstantiated scare stories and finger pointing.

    The 2k terrorists soundbite for instance, if they *really* knew of 2000 people hatching terrorist plots, guess what ? Those jails would be even more overcrowded and we'd never be seeing the back of Shami Chakrabarti, because lets face it, we've happily banged people up for truly trivial acts of stupidity, never mind actually plotting terrorist acts.

    Why can't they just STFU and get on with their jobs like they did in the good old days of the Cold War proper, before the wall came down and we pretended it was all over and we had won ?

    Seems to me they have become bum boys of the fear agenda. They came in out of the cold and gained a public voice only to feed us this tired line of government approved bullshit. "Fear Thy Neighbour!"

    Shame on them, or rather, shame upon whoever is driving this agenda forwards, I imagine that the ordinary SS staffer just wants the best for their country, and that as with all large organisation all the real twats are at the top end of the management scale talking about "strategic direction" and similar such cobblers.

  10. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Less than even handed

    My guess is the PRC just wants to know exactly how much it stands to lose when the $ finally collapses shortly, and since it can't believe the propaganda any more than the rest of us, it's simply decided to have a look for itself.

    Strange that the USA has been eavesdropping on British business for years from their installations here and nobody gives a damn. One day we will be told we're the 51st state and have been for years.

  11. Turbojerry

    EWMD?

    So China has Electronic WMD or is this another dodgey dossier? Will the El Reg staff be the new Dr. David Kelly? BOFH the next John Charles De Menezes? Tune in next week to find out...

  12. Gordon Fecyk
    Pirate

    Obvious Question: Does MI5 use Symantec / McAfee / Trend Micro...

    ...and does MI5 know that all of the above have admitted to giving virus technology to the People's Republic of China?

    http://www.theregister.co.uk/2001/04/03/chinese_feds_demand_computer_virus/

    Oh, the irony! If MI5 used software from turncoats who supply China with electronic weapons of mass destruction...

    Come on El Reg. This one's in your own archives. Where's the related link? And to think you linked to the CIA "can't keep up with China" article from 2001 but didn't link this one from only three months earlier.

  13. amanfromMars Silver badge

    4Spooks2InterNetional Rescue ..... Dial M for MonIE$

    "Strange that the USA has been eavesdropping on British business for years from their installations here and nobody gives a damn. One day we will be told we're the 51st state and have been for years."

    AC,

    Do you think the tail should be wagging the dog in this particular case? It certainly needs something a little bit ESPecially different...... what with all of this below par/sub-prime toxic performance threatening their credibility as suitable guardians/parents. Failure to resolve that must surely have dire consequences in the comfort of their existence.

    Do you think they are bereft of Viably Imaginative Programs/Innovative Ideas? And there is no need to waste any time of a reply to a Rhetorical Question

  14. Daniel B.
    Coat

    EWMD

    ... but EWMD wouldn't stand for E-Weapons of Mass Destruction ... it would be Electronic Weapons of Mass Deletion!

    .... coat... taxi....

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