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The FBI investigating hacking of Covid research by “PRC-affiliated cyber actors”

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Re: The FBI investigating hacking of Covid research by “PRC-affiliated cyber actors”

#241

Post by free_rms »

throwaway_pdp09 wrote: post #234
free_rms wrote: post #151

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I mean, I'm not trying to say "china always good, USA always bad", either. I'm just trying to add some perspective. If I were to take that on as some sort of debate challenge, I'd point out the mass incarceration and the fact that we still have a bigger chunk of people in jail despite being so much freer. Of course, that's a bit of a rhetorical gambit. As far as the characterization of china, it depends. Han Chinese…

Less 'add perspective' than 'spinning' or 'trying to manage a situation'. > that we still have a bigger chunk of people in jail Provide a citation. I believe this figure is true for the US (you are saying you are in the US I take it?), so cite it. It's a strong and damning figure so bring it to the front. > Han Chinese don't go to prison just for criticizing the government Do other ethnicities? Why does ethnicity mat…

Wow, you know nothing yet you're completely invested in strong opinions.

Go do some reading, consider relaxing your opinions while you do it.

Re: The FBI investigating hacking of Covid research by “PRC-affiliated cyber actors”

#242

Post by free_rms »

throwaway_pdp09 wrote: post #233
free_rms wrote: post #158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not 'pro china' to have surface familiarity with some of the CIA's greatest hits. They tried to kill Castro with an exploding cigar, no joke, like Looney tunes.

[flagged]

No.

Re: The FBI investigating hacking of Covid research by “PRC-affiliated cyber actors”

#243

Post by throwaway_pdp09 »

free_rms wrote: post #241
throwaway_pdp09 wrote: post #234

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Less 'add perspective' than 'spinning' or 'trying to manage a situation'. > that we still have a bigger chunk of people in jail Provide a citation. I believe this figure is true for the US (you are saying you are in the US I take it?), so cite it. It's a strong and damning figure so bring it to the front. > Han Chinese don't go to prison just for criticizing the government Do other ethnicities? Why does ethnicity mat…

Wow, you know nothing yet you're completely invested in strong opinions. Go do some reading, consider relaxing your opinions while you do it.

Not patronising at all. Also did not provide any info viz.

1. I encouraged you to provide a citation to support your own point which I AGREED WITH. You have not.

2. I asked a question about whether different ethnicities are treated differently in chinese law. You avoided answering.

3. I gave an example of greater freedom under UK & US law. You have not acknowledged this presumably because it is inconveniently true.

4. I asked in good faith for some reading material on whatever was about Xinjiang. You have not provided this.

If I am "completely invested in strong opinions" then change my mind with facts. It was a worthless and pretty patronising reply. Provide relevant facts.

I presume the Xinjiang thing was this mass imprisonment thingy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xinjiang_re-education_camps

Re: The FBI investigating hacking of Covid research by “PRC-affiliated cyber actors”

#245

Post by free_rms »

throwaway_pdp09 wrote: post #243
free_rms wrote: post #241

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wow, you know nothing yet you're completely invested in strong opinions. Go do some reading, consider relaxing your opinions while you do it.

Not patronising at all. Also did not provide any info viz. 1. I encouraged you to provide a citation to support your own point which I AGREED WITH . You have not. 2. I asked a question about whether different ethnicities are treated differently in chinese law. You avoided answering. 3. I gave an example of greater freedom under UK & US law. You have not acknowledged this presumably because it is inconveniently true.…

Not my job. Go hire a tutor or something.

Re: The FBI investigating hacking of Covid research by “PRC-affiliated cyber actors”

#246

Post by EmilioMartinez »

thephyber wrote: post #111
smkellat wrote: post #39

If you’re doing research of any significance in today’s world and don’t have an active security program looking for harmful actions by foreign intelligence your organization opens itself up for all sorts of nasty liabilities. You don’t even have to have an electronic intrusion. The PRC’s government also pays people off as the case of this former Cleveland Clinic researcher shows: https://www.cleveland.com/crime/2020/…

I'm not sure I agree that it's the responsibility of the people doing research to protect against foreign nation state attacks (whether cyber or legacy intelligence). 1st: most people outside of government don't know how much they are expected/"required" to do to protect their work against foreign nation states. Except for heavily regulated sectors (government, military, heavy industry, banking, core telecom, and mor…

You conflate so many facets into an hopeless image. Yes, all research facilities are potential targets. Yes, it's wise to assume that no single one can realistically deflect a full frontal attack from a state agent. But each possibility doesn't happen all at once because resources are limited. It's like saying you can't defend a country because each of your soldiers is mortal.

A large part of cybersecurity is removing the low hanging fruit (eg. Gitlab's recent phishing test). The current stakes might probably target an unprecedented level of attention towards research facilities where people weren't concerned about all this stuff, and it's safe to assume aren't experts in the matter. So there's probably a lot that can be done to strengthen the security landscape, making life difficult to attackers, and generally consuming their attention and resources, resulting in a net positive. Even if each one would still succumb, maybe fewer will.

Re: The FBI investigating hacking of Covid research by “PRC-affiliated cyber actors”

#247

Post by jonnypotty »

elliekelly wrote: post #3

I appreciate that there’s probably a lot I don’t know or understand about the national security aspects of this but it seems wrong to not share as much information as possible with as many researchers as possible in order to help as many as people as possible. Protecting security interests is one thing but this press release specifically mentions protecting intellectual property and that seems kind of tone deaf. I al…

Thank you. I wonder what's really going on here.

Re: The FBI investigating hacking of Covid research by “PRC-affiliated cyber actors”

#248

Post by mcphage »

boomboomsubban wrote: post #18
mcphage wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To publicize the fact that these sort of attacks can be tracked. Similar to when they publish information about particularly crafty drug houses they bust: so that people planning on building a drug house think "well, if they got that house, then they'll definitely find out the one I'm planning, so maybe I'd better not."

This doesn't demonstrate that these kinds of attacks can be tracked though. If I were planning similar attacks, I'd just acquire a Chinese IP address and assume they'd take the blame.

That's true... the FBI probably never considered that possibility.

Re: The FBI investigating hacking of Covid research by “PRC-affiliated cyber actors”

#249

Post by cscurmudgeon »

croon wrote: post #230
cscurmudgeon wrote: post #207

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I think it is unethical to hide research when it could save lives Why are you assuming the US is hiding research? Are you aware that there are protocols in medical research against premature release of information as it will taint the results (placebo effects etc)? There are blackout periods etc. just to make sure that the analysis is valid and not tainted. Also a lot of research has lag time. Experiments can take…

Your parent specifically already covered #2 and #3. Even if they do it's better. Secondly, patent where? If they do it to limit the use I doubt many nations would respect that patent.

So you honestly believe that China will be more generous with a hacked cure than the US.

With #3 you are just arguing for a form of debt slavery.

Thanks for conveniently ignoring #1.

Re: The FBI investigating hacking of Covid research by “PRC-affiliated cyber actors”

#250

Post by La1n »

jorblumesea wrote: post #78
free_rms wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

First off, the west's covert activities are not limited to benign surveillance. Second off.. aside from the total lack of evidence, why would the Chinese be interested in sabotage here? American discovery of a vaccine means they can rip it off, they're definitely not gonna be paying anyone for it. If we're selling it at exorbitant prices while they give it away practically for free to African countries, that's a huge…

> the west's covert activities are not limited to benign surveillance. Compared to the CCP, it's fairly benign. The example you gave, Merkel's phone, is a textbook example. Spy all you want, but we're not stealing IP or sabotaging power grids (to my knowledge). We're not interfering with other countries' covid response or possibly corrupting medical records. > why would the Chinese be interested in sabotage here? Pre…

>Spy all you want, but we're not stealing IP

Provably untrue

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Industrial_espionage#Industria...

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/apr/30/airbus-coul...

https://www.bbc.com/news/25907502

https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20150629/16134031494/nsa-d...

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