Hackers have attacked the Web site of the Chinese defense ministry more than 2 million times since it was launched three months ago, state media said yesterday.
“From the first day the national defense ministry Web site went online, it received a large volume of uninterrupted attacks,” Ji Guilin, the editor-in-chief of the Web site, told the People’s Daily in an interview.
“In the first month of operations there were more than 2.3 million hack attacks,” Ji said.
Ji did not say whether the attacks were launched from inside or outside China, but the assaults were largely ineffective given Web site security and safeguard measures, he said.
The attacks either tried to infiltrate the Web site in search of military secrets, or sought to disrupt the Web site operations, he added.
The ministry launched the Web site — including an English version — on Aug. 20 as part of a charm offensive aimed at countering foreign fears about China’s robust military modernization efforts.
The site includes news reports, official photos and videos, facts and figures about the military, and explanations of the country’s national defense policies. China’s Great Wall features in the logo.
Ji said that in the first three months of operations, the Web site received 1.25 billion hits, with up to 40 percent of them coming from Beijing and the provinces of Guangdong and Jiangsu.
Hits on the English version of the Web site mostly came from the US, Australia and Britain, he said, while US web users logged the most overseas hits on the Chinese-language site.
The ministry earlier said the Web site was designed to “let the outside world have a better perception of China’s national defence policy” and promote the army’s modernisation drive.
China has roughly doubled its military budget since 2006, government figures show, but which some overseas analysts say vastly downplay what Beijing actually spends.
China has the world’s largest military, with 2.3 million troops.
The Pentagon in recent years has raised concerns about China’s development of cruise and ballistic missiles, its 2007 test of a satellite-striking weapon, an apparent rise in cyber-espionage by China’s
Also See: Security firm warns of ‘cyber arms race’
SEEKING CHANGE: A hospital worker said she did not vote in previous elections, but ‘now I can see that maybe my vote can change the system and the country’ Voting closed yesterday across the Solomon Islands in the south Pacific nation’s first general election since the government switched diplomatic allegiance from Taiwan to Beijing and struck a secret security pact that has raised fears of the Chinese navy gaining a foothold in the region. The Solomon Islands’ closer relationship with China and a troubled domestic economy weighed on voters’ minds as they cast their ballots. As many as 420,000 registered voters had their say across 50 national seats. For the first time, the national vote also coincided with elections for eight of the 10 local governments. Esther Maeluma cast her vote in the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was