A Chinese Hacker's Identity Unmasked
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Stewart didnt pursue Zhang. His job was done. He learned enough to protect his customers and moved on to the other countless bits of malware. But his report generated interest in the security world, because its so difficult to find any traces of a hackers identity. In particular, Stewarts work intrigued another researcher who immediately took up the challenge of unmasking Tawnya Grilth. That researcher is a 33-year-old who blogs under the name Cyb3rsleuth, an identity he says he keeps separate from his job running an India-based computer intelligence company. He asked that his name not be used to avoid unwanted attention, including hacking attempts on his company.
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A Chinese-language search on Google turns up a link to several academic papers co-authored by a Zhang Changhe. One, from 2005, relates to computer espionage methods. He also contributed to research on a Windows rootkit, an advanced hacking technique, in 2007. In 2011, Zhang co-authored an analysis of the security flaws in a type of computer memory and the attack vectors for it. The papers identified Zhang as working at the PLA Information Engineering University. The institution is one of Chinas principal centers for electronic intelligence, where professors train junior officers to serve in operations throughout China, says Mark Stokes of the Project 2049 Institute, a think tank in Washington. Its as if the U.S. National Security Agency had a university.
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As Stewart discusses this, his voice is flat. Hes realistic. Outing one person involved in the hacking teams wont stop computer intrusions from China. Zhangs a cog in a much larger machine and, given how large Chinas operations have become, finding more Zhangs may get easier. Show enough of this evidence, Stewart figures, and eventually the Chinese government cant deny its role. It might take several more years of piling on reports like that to make that weight of evidence so strong that its laughable, and they say, Oh, it was us, says Stewart. I dont know that theyll stop, but I would like to make it a lot harder for them to get away with it.
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A Chinese Hacker's Identity Unmasked - Businessweek
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Stewart didnt pursue Zhang. His job was done. He learned enough to protect his customers and moved on to the other countless bits of malware. But his report generated interest in the security world, because its so difficult to find any traces of a hackers identity. In particular, Stewarts work intrigued another researcher who immediately took up the challenge of unmasking Tawnya Grilth. That researcher is a 33-year-old who blogs under the name Cyb3rsleuth, an identity he says he keeps separate from his job running an India-based computer intelligence company. He asked that his name not be used to avoid unwanted attention, including hacking attempts on his company.
...
A Chinese-language search on Google turns up a link to several academic papers co-authored by a Zhang Changhe. One, from 2005, relates to computer espionage methods. He also contributed to research on a Windows rootkit, an advanced hacking technique, in 2007. In 2011, Zhang co-authored an analysis of the security flaws in a type of computer memory and the attack vectors for it. The papers identified Zhang as working at the PLA Information Engineering University. The institution is one of Chinas principal centers for electronic intelligence, where professors train junior officers to serve in operations throughout China, says Mark Stokes of the Project 2049 Institute, a think tank in Washington. Its as if the U.S. National Security Agency had a university.
...
As Stewart discusses this, his voice is flat. Hes realistic. Outing one person involved in the hacking teams wont stop computer intrusions from China. Zhangs a cog in a much larger machine and, given how large Chinas operations have become, finding more Zhangs may get easier. Show enough of this evidence, Stewart figures, and eventually the Chinese government cant deny its role. It might take several more years of piling on reports like that to make that weight of evidence so strong that its laughable, and they say, Oh, it was us, says Stewart. I dont know that theyll stop, but I would like to make it a lot harder for them to get away with it.
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A Chinese Hacker's Identity Unmasked - Businessweek
