US probes hacker threat over WikiLeaks soldier

China blasts SKorea military hacking allegations
Beijing (AFP) March 8, 2011 - Beijing on Tuesday accused a South Korean lawmaker of being "irresponsible" for saying Chinese computer hackers gained access to secret military files on Seoul's planned purchase of US spy planes. "I want to emphasise that Chinese law prohibits any cyberattacks including hacking of any form and fights against these types of crimes in accordance with the law," foreign ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu told reporters. "It is irresponsible for some people to spread remarks that are not conducive to friendship between China and the ROK (South Korea) and are not good for the image of China, under the pretext of a so-called hacking issue."

Shin Hak-Yong, an opposition lawmaker and a member of the South Korean parliament's defence committee, says hackers in June accessed information in defence ministry computers on a plan to buy unmanned Global Hawk aircraft. He said in comments reported Monday that the government in Seoul had not yet raised the issue with China and was still debating how to handle it. Seoul last year earmarked 45.2 billion won ($40.4 million) to help pay for the spy planes following North Korea's alleged attack on a South Korean warship that left 46 sailors dead in March 2010.

Cross-border tensions escalated further after Pyongyang's shelling attack on a frontier island that killed four South Koreans including two civilians in November. The aircraft are capable of monitoring up to 200 kilometres (125 miles) north of the inter-Korean border. Last year, Google waged a high-profile spat with Beijing over government censorship and cyberattacks against it and more than 20 other companies, which it said were China-based. It eventually reduced its presence in the country. In December, Germany said it had detected a sharp rise in cyberattacks on official sites in 2010, many of them originating in China.

by Staff Writers
Washington (AFP) March 8, 2011
The Pentagon said Tuesday it had requested an investigation into a hacker group's reported cyber threat against a military base that is being used to hold a US soldier suspected of giving documents to WikiLeaks.

Pentagon spokesman Colonel David Lapan said the probe was requested after news that the hacker group called Anonymous was seeking to disrupt online activities at the Quantico, Virginia, base where Private Bradley Manning is incarcerated.

"The base at Quantico, including the brig, are aware of that and they have made law enforcement agencies aware of that as well," Lapan said.

The Financial Times reported that hackers known as "Anonymous," which had claimed credit for attacks supporting WikiLeaks in recent months, was seeking to disrupt communications at the US Marine base.

Manning, 23, has been held at the prison since July under a maximum security regimen because authorities say his escape would pose a risk to national security.

The army private faces numerous charges of stealing classified files and is suspected as the source of a trove of secret documents published on the WikiLeaks website in recent months, which have infuriated and embarrassed US officials.

US military authorities brought additional charges against Manning last week, accusing him of illegally downloading vast numbers of secret government files and "aiding the enemy."

His defense lawyers have filed a legal complaint over the conditions of his detention at Quantico, which include a "prevention of injury" watch, which his lawyer said includes being forced to sleep naked.

His supporters say the regimen is inhumane and has been deemed unnecessary by psychiatric experts.

The WikiLeaks website has yet to disclose its source for the US military and diplomatic documents published in recent months, but suspicion has focused on Manning, who worked as a low-ranking army intelligence analyst in Iraq.

Manning was arrested in May and authorities have yet to say when he will be put on trial. If found guilty, Manning faces up to 52 years in prison.

In December, the loose-knit group of hackers known as Anonymous staged cyber attacks on the websites of Visa, Mastercard, PayPal and others accusing them of withdrawing services to WikiLeaks.

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'Spectacular' cyber attack hits French government
Paris (AFP) March 7, 2011
The French finance ministry has shut down 10,000 computers after a "spectacular" cyber attack from hackers using Internet addresses in China, officials and reports said Monday. The hackers were hunting for documents relating to the Group of 20 (G20) developed and developing nations, which this year is led by France, said Budget Minister Francois Baron, adding that a probe was under way into ... read more

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