Chinese Virus Targets American Department Of Defense

It is widely believed that Chinese security agencies have started a cyber attack on the US Defense Departments Common Access Card. This sophisticated piece of code has the ability to quietly steal military secrets without the knowledge of the infected card holder.

The technique though is not new it targets the civilian workers in DoD through email with a PDF attached,once that PDF is opened this code infects the system and starts logging in your keystroke, it can easily acquire all kind of personal details.

This strain is modified to target the CAC technology of DoD and geared toward stealing military technology. To lure unsuspecting civilians into a trap this email often has information about the new drone technology or pictures of unnamed vehicle.

Pentagon spokeswoman Air Force Lt. Col. April Cunningham declined to comment on the details published by AlienVault.

“We are aware of reports regarding this matter and take these type of reports seriously. However, due to operational security, we are not able to provide further details,” she told Military Times.

Experts said the virus is linked to a “command and control server” that appears to be based in China; some flaws buried deep in the code revealed Chinese language characters, suggesting that only a Chinese speaker would be able to launch it.

Defense of any kind against this technology is quite bleak but the attack can be rendered useless by better training to troops and civilian employees. Teaching them not to open these emails and performing all the security checks needed.

Many military officials are eager to begin widespread use of smart phones, tablets and other wireless devices, but cyber security experts caution that such technology can be more vulnerable to cyber attacks.