Is this an April Fool joke?
http://www.scmp.com/portal/site/SCMP/menuitem.2…
Hackers tap Wen’s work report
State Council official punished for computer security lapse;
premier said to be furious
Hackers broke into a senior State Council official’s computer
containing drafts of Premier Wen Jiabao’s government work report
for this year and were found copying it and other top-secret
documents, according to mainland sources.
“The documents included comments from Politburo members who
wanted to change this or that in the government report. These are
regarded as top state secrets, even more sensitive than the
government report itself,” one source said. “Mr Wen was said to be
furious when told about the case.”
The hacking was carried out from Taiwan, this source, and
another source, said.
Regulations stipulate that senior officials have at least two
computers – one for the internet, and the other to process
sensitive information. “The fellow violated the regulation by using
the sensitive computer to browse websites. As soon as he showed up,
guys in Taiwan … broke into his system,” the first source said.
Both sources said the official, a deputy head of a department
too sensitive to be named, was severely punished after secret
service agents monitoring internet data flow detected the hackers
as they were downloading the files.
The first source said the official had been placed under
shuangkai, a party disciplinary measure under which he will be
stripped of his government and party posts. The other source said
he was demoted to entry-level rank.
The government work report attracted widespread interest before
its release during the National People’s Congress in March,
following speculation it would contain details of a new economic
stimulus plan. The speculation sent ripples through the world’s
stock markets.
As a result, the report was kept under even tighter secrecy than
usual.
In previous years, members of the NPC and
the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference were given a
preview of the report a day before Mr Wen delivered it. This year,
the premier kept the contents to himself until he read the report
to the NPC on March 5.
The sources said the infiltration prompted the central
government to tighten security measures in relation to internet
access.
“It is not an accident, really. Overseas secret services have
always been monitoring the government’s IP [internet protocol]
addresses. Government-backed infiltrators are particularly
ferocious. As long as one stays online, you are naked in their
eyes,” the first source said.
Both sources spoke before researchers at the University of
Toronto’s Munk Centre for International Studies said on Sunday that
mainland-based hackers had infiltrated at least 1,295 private and
government computers in 103 countries.
The central government has rejected their findings.
An internet security expert said any computer could be
hacked.
“You can try to defend your system with patches and firewalls
and software, but the attacker always has the advantage because you
only realise your weaknesses and loopholes after you are
attacked.
“To ordinary people, the firewalls and software on the market
provide sufficient armour,” the expert said. But trouble starts
when someone has a particular interest in your computer.
“It is possible that for some business or political purposes
some people or organisations would launch such attacks. The best
thing to do, in this case, is to stay as far away from the internet
as possible.”
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