Initial investigations by the U.S. Intelligence and law-enforcement officials on the cyber attacks on Google and as many as 33 other companies have found many evidence pointing to an Asian hacking group that is likely Chinese.
U.S. investigators “have noticed familiar hallmarks, suggesting the group that attacked Google and others may have been involved in previous attacks they have tracked,” according to the Wall Street Journal.
The group that many investigators are focusing on uses Chinese computer systems to mount its attacks and has a history of primarily attacking corporations not the U.S. military or other government agencies.
Investigators have found clues that can trace the intrusions to computers in Shanghai Jiaotong University and Lanxiang Vocational School in Shandong Province, an institution with ties to the Chinese military.
It is still unclear if the hacking group has any connections to the Chinese government or if it is a patriotic hacking group. The Chinese government has rejected any connection to the attacks.
Still with all these clues, U.S. investigators can’t identify the person behind the attacks without the Chinese government involvement.
“The U.S. would not be able to trace this” back to the source, said O. Sami Saydjari, the founder of the Cyber Defense Agency, a private Web security firm based in Wisconsin. “We cannot trace it beyond borders. We’d need the cooperation of the Chinese.”
Tariq Ali is an avid follower of the search engine and Internet marketing industry for the past 10 years. When he is not working or playing with tech gadgets, you will find him swimming, biking or running.
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Tags: cyber attacks, Google China, Lanxiang Vocational School, Shandong Province, Shanghai Jiaotong University
