Researchers at one of China’s top universities collaborated with a Chinese army unit accused of carrying out hacking attacks on the US, academic papers published online show.
The elite Shanghai Jiaotong University conducted network security research with China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Unit 61398, the co-authored papers accessed by media yesterday revealed.
A US security company last month said that the army unit, based in Shanghai, was behind serial hacking attacks on US firms, sparking a war of words between the two powers.
Photo: Reuters
POWER CLASH
A week ago, US President Barack Obama raised several cybersecurity issues with new Chinese President and Chinese Communist Party General Secretary Xi Jinping (習近平).
Beijing has denied that it engages in hacking and claims that its military is a victim of cyberattacks, most of which have originated in the US.
Several researchers at Shanghai Jiaotong’s School of Information Security Engineering published research with members of Unit 61938, with projects dating back to 2007, the easily accessed papers showed.
Subjects of the joint research include the design of an “intrusion monitoring system” for computer networks and ways to evaluate “attack graphs,” which show how an adversary can break into a computer system.
None of the papers described plans to carry out cyberattacks on foreign targets. The university was not immediately available for comment yesterday.
CYBERTHREAT
Xue Zhi, a co-author of one of the papers and vice president of the school, is the developer of China’s leading “cyberpenetration attack platform,” the university’s Web site says.
Shanghai Jiaotong University is one of China’s flagship educational institutions and has attracted members of China’s business and political elite, with former Chinese president Jiang Zemin (江澤民) among its alumni.
The US Department of Defense has approved a fivefold expansion of its cybersecurity force to include 4,900 troops and civilians over the coming years in response to growing online threats, the Washington Post reported in January.
The pledge by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi to “work, work, work, work and work” for her country has been named the catchphrase of the year, recognizing the effort Japan’s first female leader had to make to reach the top. Takaichi uttered the phrase in October when she was elected as head of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). Many were initially as worried about her work ethic as supportive of her enthusiasm. In a country notorious for long working hours, especially for working women who are also burdened with homemaking and caregiving, overwork is a sensitive topic. The recognition triggered a
Tropical Storm Koto killed three people and left another missing as it approached Vietnam, authorities said yesterday, as strong winds and high seas buffeted vessels off the country’s flood-hit central coast. Heavy rains have lashed Vietnam’s middle belt in recent weeks, flooding historic sites and popular holiday destinations, and causing hundreds of millions of dollars in damage. Authorities ordered boats to shore and diverted dozens of flights as Koto whipped up huge waves and dangerous winds, state media reported. Two vessels sank in the rough seas, a fishing boat in Khanh Hoa province and a smaller raft in Lam Dong, according to the
Sri Lanka made an appeal for international assistance yesterday as the death toll from heavy rains and floods triggered by Cyclone Ditwah rose to 123, with another 130 reported missing. The extreme weather system has destroyed nearly 15,000 homes, sending almost 44,000 people to state-run temporary shelters, the Sri Lankan Disaster Management Centre (DMC) said. DMC Director-General Sampath Kotuwegoda said relief operations had been strengthened with the deployment of thousands of troops from the country’s army, navy and air force. “We have 123 confirmed dead and another 130 missing,” Kotuwegoda told reporters in Colombo. Cyclone Ditwah was moving away from the island yesterday and
‘HEART IS ACHING’: Lee appeared to baffle many when he said he had never heard of six South Koreans being held in North Korea, drawing criticism from the families South Korean President Lee Jae-myung yesterday said he was weighing a possible apology to North Korea over suspicions that his ousted conservative predecessor intentionally sought to raise military tensions between the war-divided rivals in the buildup to his brief martial law declaration in December last year. Speaking to reporters on the first anniversary of imprisoned former South Korean president Yoon Suk-yeol’s ill-fated power grab, Lee — a liberal who won a snap presidential election following Yoon’s removal from office in April — stressed his desire to repair ties with Pyongyang. A special prosecutor last month indicted Yoon and two of his top
RSS