Cyber spying
Cyber spying, or cyber espionage, is the act or practice of obtaining secrets and information without the permission and knowledge of the holder of the information from individuals, competitors, rivals, groups, governments and enemies for personal, economic, political or military advantage using methods on the Internet, networks or individual computers through the use of proxy servers,[1] cracking techniques and malicious software including Trojan horses and spyware.[2][3] It may wholly be perpetrated online from computer desks of professionals on bases in far away countries or may involve infiltration at home by computer trained conventional spies and moles or in other cases may be the criminal handiwork of amateur malicious hackers and software programmers.[2]
Details
Cyber spying typically involves the use of such access to secrets and classified information or control of individual computers or whole networks for a strategic advantage and for psychological, political and physical subversion activities and sabotage.[4] More recently, cyber spying involves analysis of public activity on social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter.[5]
Such operations, like non-cyber espionage, are typically illegal in the victim country while fully supported by the highest level of government in the aggressor country. The ethical situation likewise depends on one's viewpoint, particularly one's opinion of the governments involved.[4]
In response to reports of cyber spying by China against the United States, Amitai Etzioni of the Institute for Communitarian Policy Studies has suggested that China and the United States should agree to a policy of mutually assured restraint with respect to cyberspace. This would involve allowing both states to take the measures they deem necessary for their self-defense while simultaneously agreeing to refrain from taking offensive steps or engaging in cyber espionage; it would also entail vetting these commitments.[6] In September 2015, the United States and China agreed not to allow parties in their nations to cyberspy on each other for commercial gain, but did not prohibit government spying.[7]
Examples
- The Dukes: a well-resourced, highly dedicated and organized cyber espionage group that F-Secure believes has been working for the Russian Federation since at least 2008.[8][9][10]
See also
- Chaos Computer Club
- Chinese intelligence operations in the United States
- Computer security
- Computer surveillance
- Cyber-collection
- Cyber-security regulation
- Cyber spying on universities
- Cyber threat intelligence
- Cyberwarfare
- Employee monitoring software
- Espionage
- GhostNet
- Industrial espionage
- Proactive Cyber Defence
- Stalkerware
- Surveillance
- Titan Rain
References
- "Residential proxy network use cases". GeoSurf. Retrieved 28 September 2017.
- "Cyber Espionage". PC Magazine.
- "Cyberspying". Techopedia.
- Messmer, Ellen. "Cyber Espionage: A Growing Threat to Business". Retrieved Jan 21, 2008.
- "Five Ways the Government Spies on You". The LockerGnome Daily Report. 7 November 2011.
- Diplomat, Amitai Etzioni, The. "MAR: A Model for US-China Relations". The Diplomat. Retrieved August 31, 2019.
- Josep Steinberg (September 27, 2015). "Why the China-US CyberSecurity Agreement Will Fail". Inc. Retrieved September 27, 2015.
- "the Dukes, timeline". Archived from the original on 2015-10-13. Retrieved 2015-10-13.
- "The Dukes Whitepaper" (PDF).
- "F-Secure Press Room - Global".
Sources
- Bill Schiller, Asia Bureau (Apr 1, 2009), "Chinese ridicule U of T spy report - But government officials choose words carefully, never denying country engages in cyber-espionage", Toronto Star (Canada), Toronto, Ontario, Canada, retrieved 2009-04-04
- Kelly, Cathal (Mar 31, 2009), "Cyberspies' code a click away - Simple Google search quickly finds link to software for Ghost Rat program used to target governments", Toronto Star (Canada), Toronto, Ontario, Canada, retrieved 2009-04-04
- All about Chinese cyber spying, infotech.indiatimes.com (Times of India), March 30, 2009, archived from the original on April 2, 2009, retrieved April 1, 2009
- Cooper, Alex (March 30, 2009), "We can lead in cyber spy war, sleuth says; Toronto investigator helped expose hacking of embassies, NATO", Toronto Star (Canada), Toronto, Ontario, Canada, retrieved 2009-03-31
- Chinese-based cyber spy network exposes need for better security
- Steve Herman (30 March 2009), Exiled Tibetan Government Expresses Concern over Cyber-Spying Traced to China, New Delhi: GlobalSecurity.org, retrieved 2009-03-31
- "Chinese government accused of cyber spying", Belfast Telegraph, 30 March 2009
- Patrick Goodenough, International Editor (March 30, 2009), China Rejects Cyber Spying Allegations; 'Dalai Lama Propaganda', CNSNews.com, archived from the original on March 31, 2009, retrieved 2009-03-31
- Harvey, Mike (March 29, 2009), "'World's biggest cyber spy network' snoops on classified documents in 103 countries", The Times, London, retrieved 2009-03-30
- Major cyber spy network uncovered, BBC News, 29 March 2009, retrieved 2009-03-30
- SciTech Cyber spy network 'smoking gun' for China: expert, CTV Canada, March 29, 2009, retrieved 2009-03-30
- Kim Covert (March 28, 2009), "Canadian researchers uncover vast Chinese cyber spy network", National Post, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada, Canwest News Service
- US warned of China 'cyber-spying', BBC News, 20 November 2008, retrieved 2009-04-01
- Mark Hosenball (June 2, 2008), "Intelligence - Cyber-Spying for Dummies", Newsweek
- Walton, Gregory (April 2008). "Year of the Gh0st RAT". World Association of Newspapers. Archived from the original on 2009-08-11. Retrieved 2009-04-01.
- German court limits cyber spying, BBC News, 27 February 2008
- Rowan Callick; Jane Macartney (December 7, 2007), "Chinese fury at cyber spy claims", The Australian, archived from the original on August 13, 2009, retrieved March 31, 2009