US Narrows In On Chinese Cyber Security Threat

The Financial Times has reported that US investigators are narrowing their search for the author of malicious code which recently attacked a number of US companies, most notably Google. Reports describe the author of the code as a Chinese freelance security consultant in his 30′s who actually posted portions of the code on the web. The code exploited a weakness in Microsoft’s Internet Explorer Browser and was used to mine the email accounts of noted Chinese Human Rights Activists. Microsoft has since released a patch for Internet Explorer in response to these attacks.

Reports also suggest that Chinese officials had access to the source code of the attacks. Quotes from unnamed Chinese government researches have surfaced and demonstrate that the government may have known of the codes development and motivations. Additionally, two Chinese universities have been linked to the attack- Shanghai Jiaotong University and the Lanxiang School- however, both schools deny any knowledge and involvement. Read more here.