An unnamed senior US official has declared to the Financial Times that the Whitehouse computer network was victim to numerous cyber attacks from China. According to the same official, the attackers had access to e-mails for short periods of time[1].
The unclassified network of the Whitehouse was breach numerous times by the attackers, which may have stole information. The sensibility of the information accessed is not specified, but since it was on the unclassified network, no data of value should have been viewed by the hackers. The attacks were detected by the National Cyber Investigative Joint Task Force, an agency created in 2007 and under the FBI[2].
No one from the American and Chinese sides commented on this event. This declaration comes amid many cyber attacks performed in previous years also and every time, blamed on the Chinese or Russians. In 2007, the Pentagon claimed to have been hacked by the cyber division of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA)[3]. It has been known for a while not that China has developed advanced cyber warfare capabilities and has gain a lot of experience.
[1] “Chinese hack into White House network”, Demetri Sevastopulo, The Financial Times, November 6, 2008, http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/2931c542-ac35-11dd-bf71-000077b07658.html?nclick_check=1 (accessed on November 7, 2008)
[2] “New US National Cyber Investigative Joint Task Force Will Be Led by FBI”, ILBS, April 28, 2008, http://www.ibls.com/internet_law_news_portal_view.aspx?id=2044&s=latestnews (accessed on November 6, 2008)
[3] “Pentagon: Chinese military hacked us”, Lewis Page, The Register, http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/09/04/china_hack_pentagon_leak/ (accessed on November 6, 2008)