Interesting read, I know the US is really lacking when it comes to protecting the infrastructure.
Exclusive: Operation Shady RAT—Unprecedented Cyber-espionage Campaign and Intellectual-Property Bonanza | Culture | Vanity Fair
For at least five years, a high-level hacking campaign—dubbed Operation Shady rat—has infiltrated the computer systems of national governments, global corporations, nonprofits, and other organizations, with more than 70 victims in 14 countries. Lifted from these highly secure servers, among other sensitive property: countless government secrets, e-mail archives, legal contracts, and design schematics. Here, Vanity Fair’s Michael Joseph Gross breaks the news of Operation Shady rat’s existence—and speaks to the McAfee cyber-security expert who discovered it.
The list of victims, which ranges from national governments to global corporations to tiny nonprofits, demonstrates with unprecedented clarity the universal scope of cyber-espionage and the vulnerability of organizations in almost every category imaginable. In Washington, where policymakers are struggling to chart a strategy for combating cyber-espionage, Operation Shady rat is already drawing attention at high levels.
Last week, Alperovitch provided confidential briefings on Shady rat to senior White House officials, executive-branch agencies, and congressional-committee staff. Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, reviewed the McAfee report on Shady rat and wrote in an e-mail to Vanity Fair: “This is further evidence that we need a strong cyber-defense system in this country, and that we need to start applying pressure to other countries to make sure they do more to stop cyber hacking emanating from their borders.” McAfee says that victims include government agencies in the United States, Taiwan, South Korea, Vietnam, and Canada, the Olympic committees in three countries, and the International Olympic Committee.
Rounding out the list of countries where Shady rat hacked into computer networks: Japan, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Indonesia, Denmark, Singapore, Hong Kong, Germany, and India. The vast majority of victims—49—were U.S.-based companies, government agencies, and nonprofits. The category most heavily targeted was defense contractors—13 in all.
