Chinese crackers bring down US commerce department

According to AFP, the attacks have been targeting the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) which supervises US exports of software and technology for commercial and military uses.

So far BIS has been forced to replace hundreds of computers and set up a new computer system in a bid to see off the attackers. It thinks that nothing has been stolen.

Washington bigwigs seem to fear the Yellow Peril claiming that the attacks must be officially sanctioned by the Chinese government to be that effective.

In May they banned the use of Lenovo computers in the State Department out of fears that the Chinese manufacturer might install listening devices on board.

However companies outside China have been known to hire hackers from that country to spy on their rivals. The sort of information the hackers are after is exactly the data that would be extremely valuable anywhere in the world.

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