Chinese Internet censorship is a huge security risk
THE GLORIOUS Peoples Republic of China's mandatory Internet filtering software meant to protect users from porn is so full of security holes that it could leave every computer in the country vulnerable to hackers, a Chinese computer expert has charged.
The mainland Chinese authorities have decreed that all personal computers sold in the country must have the website screening software either preloaded or included on a CD shipped with the system, starting July 1st.
The Chinese filtering software is called Green Dam Youth Escort, which sounds rather like the name of a paedophiles dating agency. But it's not, it is a net nanny type application that's designed to prevent people from accessing websites that China's government thinks are harmful.
However, according to the BBC, Isaac Mao, who is a blogger and social entrepreneur in China as well as a research fellow at Harvard University's Berkman Center for Internet and Society, said he found several serious flaws in the filtering software could lead to a "large-scale disaster" in China.
He found that communications between the software and the servers at the company that developed the program are sent unencrypted, which means that hackers might be able to "steal people's private information" or "place malicious script" on many computers throughout China's Internet network.
A canny hacker could potentially recruit every computer in China into a botnet. Everyone knows that if everyone in China jumped at the same moment it would create a tidal wave, so imagine the power of such a huge Chinese botnet.
Amusingly the software can't block porn sites if you have Firefox, run Linux instead of Windows, or use a web proxy server or virtual private network. The BBC also mentioned the Mac OS X operating system but no one in China can afford a Mac so we guess that was just a free advertising plug for Job's Mob.
The system reportedly blocks legitimate as well as banned content. For example, it designed to calculate the proportion of skin colour in a picture to determine whether it is pornography.
Apparently a picture of a pig was sent to the blacklist, which could be darn inconvenient if you wanted to read a sweet and sour cooking recipe off the world wide wibble, unless you think Miss Piggy is a porn star. However, pictures of naked black people are not censored, apparently. µ
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"No one in China can afford a Mac"? What a patronising racist prat.
The average salary in China is about US $2025 which is about the cost of a Mac. Apple have been unable to enter the market either there, or in Russia because it will not drop its prices. I can't see how saying that people in China are too poor to buy one is racist.
"A canny hacker could potentially recruit every computer in China into a botnet. "
Skynet comes to mind... or was it "the borg"? So ... Maybe he just found the real aim of the software.. setting up a "spying@home" network by the Chinese secret service..
Why am I not surprised?
As usual this is what happens when the government takes control of things. In this case a totalitarian comunist one.
If you inquirer don't publish this...
You know what you are.
Feel free to delete the last 4 lines.
It's not really a security risk. It was designed that way so the government hackers will have sufficient testing before they try it on the western world.
I'm not the biggest Nick Farrell fan in the world, but come on - if you didn't recognize that as sarcasm, you wouldn't know humor if it walked up behind you and bit you on the ass.
He's specifically taking the piss out of stupid stereotypes, not perpetuating them!
Whats this article about again?
i agree with Sun Wu-Kung
Or write something interesting, like Nick does.
Have you seen the Chinese made "not-a-real-BMW" X5? Its like an X5, but it's 1/2 the price. Available now.
To Sun Wu-King and the fellow who claimed to agree with him:
The statement is OBVIOUSLY meant as a generalization and OBVIOUSLY meant to be sarcastic. GENERALLY speaking, based on a statistic like the average income in China a lower percentage of the populace can most likely afford a Mac. OBVIOUSLY the author wasn't being literal when he posted "no-one can afford one". So please, put your knee jerk political correctness back where it belongs. This site also had an article claiming that the USA bans foreign online gambling sites due to it's puritan roots. I am a US citizen. Was I offended? No. I did disagree with that assumption and thus replied that I disagreed, but I wasn't offended, just amused. If I can be amused by a slight jab at my nation simply meant to be sarcastic and/or humorous, I'd hope that SOMEONE in China can be also.
"no one in China can afford a Mac"
You dopey bastard I hope your whole family ends up naked, homeless, and eating out of garbage cans to survive.
You are either a trollfag or retarded. It was meant as a joke and if you can't get the joke and it's you who should end up "naked, homeless, and eating out of garbage cans to survive"
Joking or not, he crossed a line there.