China Hackers Hit U.S. Chamber Of Commerce Last Year

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Hackers in China broke through the computer defenses of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce last year and were able to access information about its operations and its 3 million members, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.


In Beijing, China dismissed the report.


The Journal, citing unidentified people familiar with the matter, reported the operation against the top American business lobbying group involved at least 300 internet addresses and was discovered and shut down in May 2010.


The newspaper reported it was not known how much information was seen by the hackers, or who may have had access to the network for more than a year before being discovered.


The group behind the breach is suspected by the United States of having ties to the Chinese government, one of the sources told the newspaper. The FBI informed the Chamber of Commerce that servers in China were pilfering its information, the source said.


Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Weimin dismissed the report.


"There's nothing to be said about the baseless whipping up of so-called hacking and it won't come to anything," he told a daily news briefing in Beijing. "Chinese law bans hacking."


The Chamber of Commerce employs 450 people and represents business interests in Congress, including most of the largest U.S. corporations.


The newspaper reported that the emails revealed the names of companies and key people in contact with the Chamber, as well as trade-policy documents, meeting notes, trip reports and schedules.


"What was unusual about it was that this was clearly somebody very sophisticated, who knew exactly who we are and who targeted specific people and used sophisticated tools to try to gather intelligence," the group's chief operating officer, David Chavern, told the Journal.


China is often cited as a suspect in various hacking attacks on U.S. targets. In August, the Pentagon warned in a report to Congress that hacking from China could one day be used for overt military means.


(Additional reporting by Ben Blanchard in BEIJING; Editing by Paul Tait)

Copyright 2011 Thomson Reuters. Click for Restrictions.

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Comments

[CouponSal]

11:31 PM on 12/25/2011

Is the Huffington Post trying to incite cyberwar fears? Fie!
Evidence, please, or lay off.

[ZeraLee]

02:10 PM on 12/22/2011

After years of opposing government regulations to force utility companies to protect our critical infrastructure from cyber attack, this is pure Karma.

[StopThePlanet]

01:37 PM on 12/22/2011

For once they use their powers for good, not evil.

[Aerobat]

12:05 PM on 12/22/2011

The US Chamber of Commerce supports and assists the GOP attacks on the US middle class. The Chamber of Commerce wants to export All the labor jobs from the US to China as well as move All our manufacturing off shore.

I doubt the Chinese were "Attacking" the US Chamber of Commerce. I'll bet they were in there doing maintenance on their computers to help make them more efficient. We know the Chamber wouldn't spend money on infrastructure maintenance themselves. It's against GOP dogma.

Wouldn't it be funny if this all happened because the Chamber of Commerce actually DID outsource their system or database maintenance??? Many companies out source that work offshore.

[corte33]

01:49 AM on 12/22/2011

Does this mean China has the names of lobbyists and other corrupt officials dealing with Congress?

[CouponSal]

11:32 PM on 12/25/2011

What, like they didn’t already?

[vampyreincubus]

12:37 AM on 12/22/2011

china russia and iran are going to band together and smite us. unless we better our relationships with them or watch our backs.

[WHEELS221]

12:09 AM on 12/22/2011

Nothing original ever comes from China. If we took better care of hackers Chia would be out of business selling goods in a year..everything we buy from them is American or Japanese technology

[obamathegreat235]

11:42 PM on 12/21/2011

"As China Grows, So Does Its Appetite for American-Made Products"

SHANGHAI — America’s huge trade deficit with China has raised concerns about American competitiveness and jobs moving overseas. But a new study offers a glimmer of hope to Americans: Last year, American exports to China soared 32 percent to a record $91.9 billion.

A study by a trade group called the U.S.- China Business Council says China is now the world’s fastest-growing destination for American exports.

While United States exports to the rest of the world have grown 55 percent over the past decade, American exports to China have jumped 468 percent."

So what does that imply in terms of commerce I wonder? It seems to me China needs America more than ever!
http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/04/07/as-china-grows-so-does-its-appetite-for-american-made-products/

[Realrelief01]

11:28 PM on 12/21/2011

How do the Chineese know they have real info instead of counter intel? We may have been feeding them bull for years.

[Realrelief01]

11:25 PM on 12/21/2011

Nice job Panetta. You were all over this one.

[zzsutton]

11:21 PM on 12/21/2011

This just sounds like capitalism and free markets at work in the absence of government regulation. I assume Republicans are cheering the Chinese on...

[bbbot]

11:17 PM on 12/21/2011

Well, gee, let's see here....the Chamber of Commerce used to be a public service organization, presumably to ensure the integrity of business, both for the businesses and the public....then they supported the Republicans in the last election....so, um, what is their revised description of what it is they do?

[natureman44]

10:57 PM on 12/21/2011

Think illegals don't take jobs away from American citizens ? Think again.
When Alabama first enacted their tough anti-illegal immigration laws, opponents to the laws were quick to point out that a number of businesses and farmers felt an immediate negative impact as thousands of illegals left their jobs and the state. They said that the illegal workforce had become a vital necessity in the business world.

But the latest figures to come out of Alabama are demonstrating the negative impact of illegal immigration. In September, Alabama’s unemployment rate was at 9.8%. In October, the unemployment rate fell to 9.3% and in November, it plummeted below the national average to 8.7%. That’s a 1.1% drop in the state’s unemployment rate in just two months, and it’s not over yet.

When researched, it was discovered that employers were hiring American citizens to fill many of the jobs vacated by illegals. Plain and simple, no sugar coating, as the number of illegals decreases the number of US citizens getting jobs increases.

[CouponSal]

11:33 PM on 12/25/2011

And this is relevant to this article, how?

[jhrooney]

10:50 PM on 12/21/2011

All this hacking is practice for a future war with China. I bet the US does the same thing, but the Chinese don't publize it.

[NUWAYNER]

12:16 AM on 12/22/2011

Chinese Logic...Make it illegal & it will cease to exist...like Freedom