TORONTO, CANADA — A stunning new plot to infect computers with spyware and malware worldwide, including those of Tibetan exiles and the Dalai Lama himself, has been revealed by computer researchers at the University of Toronto says the The Globe and Mail. At press time, YNOT News was unavailable to ascertain whether the plot was an effort to invade and interrupt the delivery of domestic government services through the infection of .gov computer systems.The network, based mostly in mainland China, attacked the computers of 103 nations, collecting information such as official documents, while initially being operated solely as an information conduit on the activities of the Tibetan exiles.
According to Investigator Greg Walton, the group “uncovered real-time evidence of malware that had penetrated Tibetan computer systems, extracting sensitive documents from the private office of the Dalai Lama,” noted theglobeandmail.com.
Malware, or malicious software, can be used in combination with phishing attempts to lure unsuspecting surfers to supply sensitive information including passwords, documents or other private information that can compromise the safety and security of a business organization or government office.
“At the very least, the large percentage of high-value targets compromised by this network demonstrates the relative ease with which a technically unsophisticated approach can quickly be harnessed to create a very effective spynet,” chief investigators Rafal Rohozinski and Ron Deibert told reporter and former hacker John Markoff.
According to the report, a combined effort by Ottawa-based SecDev Group and the University of Toronto Citizen Lab, compromised computers included those found at the embassies of South Korea, India, Indonesia, Portugal, Taiwan, Pakistan and Germany and the ministry of foreign affairs of Iran. Other computers involved in the spy syndicate include the Asian Development Bank, an open and unclassified computer at NATO headquarters, as well as some found at various news organizations.
The Chinese government resisted and rejected calls that the spy operation was part of any official military operation.
