In rare move, Canada accuses Chinese of trying to hack govt network

[steve2470]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/07/29/china-canada-cybercrime-idUSL2N0Q40PC20140729

(Reuters) - Canada on Tuesday took the unusual step of singling out Chinese hackers for attacking a key computer network and lodged a protest with Beijing, raising tensions at a time when Ottawa wants to boost oil sales to China.

Officials said "a highly sophisticated Chinese state-sponsored actor" had recently broken into the National Research Council. The council, the government's leading research body, works with major companies such as aircraft and train maker Bombardier Inc.

Canada has reported hacking incidents before, but this was the first time it had singled out China.

China is often cited as a suspect in various hacking attacks on companies in the United States and other countries. Beijing dismissed the allegation as groundless.

[gcomeau]

1. But, but, but....

...I thought only the US government spies on anyone? It must have actually been a CIA frame-up of the Chinese.

[laundry_queen]

2. Not the first time and it won't be the last

It's pretty well known that the Chinese gov't sponsors this activity. Not too long ago, there was a building for a large private corporation here in Canada and that corporation went backrupt. When the gov't bought the abandoned building, they swept it for bugs as part of a routine sweep they do when they buy buildings. They found bugs everywhere. The corporation blamed the Chinese in that instance. Basically, there was information about the company that no one knew and they were able to bring that company (competition for them) down with that information. Chinese corporate espionage is rampant and it seems the media is scared shitless to talk about it in depth.

[Spazito]

3. The Canadian Government has been warned repeatedly it's cyber protection practices were full...

of holes, ripe for attack but this government would rather focus on tax breaks for the wealthy and pushing pipelines everywhere.

I saw where John Baird was in China for talks when this broke and he had a "full and frank exchange of views" but we aren't allowed to know what was said. My bet is it went something like this:

Baird: You shouldn't be hacking us, can we talk about trade now.

[Capt. Obvious]

4. Your excerpt left out their apology to China