China Accused of Computer Espionage

(Berlin, Germany) Presumably marring German-Chinese relations, a news source has reported that computers in the offices of Chancellor Angela Merkel, as well as computers in the foreign, economy and research ministries, have been infected with Chinese spy software.

The so-called "Trojan" espionage programs were concealed in Microsoft Word documents and PowerPoint files which infected IT installations when opened, SPIEGEL reported. Information was taken from German computers in this way on a daily basis by hackers based in the north-western province of Lanzhou, Canton province and Beijing.

German officials believe the hackers were being directed by the People's Liberation Army and that the programs were redirected via computers in South Korea to disguise their origin.

German security officials managed to stop the theft of 160 gigabytes of data which were in the process of being siphoned off German government computers. "But no one knows how much has leaked out," a top official told SPIEGEL.

The Chinese government has vehemently denied the allegations, saying there is no evidence. However, Germany's domestic intelligence agency, the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, uncovered the hacking operation which gives credence to the accusations. Statistically, one domestic intelligence agent estimates that 60 percent of alleged espionage cases involve China.

German companies now are fearing that China may have infiltrated their company computers to steal trade secrets. Concern has been expressed by the Economics Ministry.

Investigators caution that businessmen should not leave their laptop computers in hotel rooms while at official functions because of the risk of data theft. And all information transferred from China to German corporate headquarters should be encoded. "I have become really worried about Chinese espionage in the technology area," says Hartmut Schauerte, parliamentary minister in the Economics Ministry and a China specialist.

The suspicions are now so deep that the motives of Chinese researchers at German universities are being questioned.

Heh. The same suspicions should apply to foreign researchers at American universities.

Companion post at The Jawa Report.