Security experts have uncovered the biggest series of cyber attacks to date - infiltrations of the networks of 72 national and global organizations.  Security company McAfee discovered the intrusions, which apparently took place over a 5-year span. 

The long list of victims included:  the United Nations, governments and companies world-wide, said it believed that one "state actor" was behind the attacks - the identify wasn't revealed, but one security expert briefed on the hacking said the evidence points to China. 

The long list of victims in the five-year campaign includes:  (i) governments - the U.S., Taiwan, India, South Korea, Vietnam, Canada;  (ii) the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN);  (iii) the IOC (International Olympic Committee);  (iv) the World Anti-Doping Agency;  and, (v) numerous companies, ranging from defense contractors to high-tech enterprises.

Regarding the attack on the U.N., McAfee learned that hackers broke into the computer system of the UN Secretariat in Geneva in 2008, and hid there unnoticed for nearly 2 years.  During that time they quietly combed through reams of secret data.   

"Even we were surprised by the enormous diversity of the victim organizations and were taken aback by the audacity of the perpetrators. 

"What is happening to all this data ... is still largely an open question. However, if even a fraction of it is used to build better competing products or beat a competitor at a key negotiation (due to having stolen the other team's playbook), the loss represents a massive economic threat." 

-- Dmitri Alperovitch, McAfee VP of Threat Research, in his 14-page report released Wednesday.

Dubbed "Operation Shady RAT."   McAfee first realized the extent of the hacking campaign in March of this year - when researchers discovered logs of the attacks while reviewing the contents of a "command and control" server that they had discovered in 2009 as part of an investigation into security breaches at defense companies.  The earliest breaches date back to mid 2006, although there might have been other intrusions as yet undetected.   N.B.  "RAT" stands for "remote access tool," a type of software that hackers and security experts use to access computer networks from afar.

Some of the attacks lasted just a month.  The longest lasted on and off for 28 months, and focused on the Olympic Committee of an unidentified Asian nation. 

China Connection?   All 72 victims of the attacks have been notified, and law enforcement agencies around the world are investigating.  Jim Lewis, a cyber expert with the Center for Strategic and International Studies, who was briefed on the discovery by McAfee, said China was very likely behind the campaign because some of the targets had information that would be of particular interest to Beijing.  The breaches all took place during the approach to the 2008 Beijing Games.  Another clue is that Taiwan, one of the victims, is viewed by China as a renegade province;  political issues between

For further details, go to:   [Reuters, 8/3/11]