IT: China-based electronic spy operation stole information from government and private offices around the world - including the Dalai Lama

Canadian researchers say they have discovered a large China-based electronic spying operation that infiltrated computers and stole information from government and private offices around the world, including the Dalai Lama.

The New York Times and the Associated Press quote researchers at the University of Toronto as saying close to 1,300 computers in 103 countries were affected.

The article says embassies, foreign ministries, government offices and Tibetan exile centers in several countries were affected, but that there is no evidence that U.S. government offices were breached.

The researchers say they were able to track the hacking effort to computers in China, but were unable to identiffy exactly who was behind the operation. The spy system appeared to be focused on governments of South Africa, Southeast Asia and the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader.

Published by Mike Hitchen, Mike Hitchen Consulting
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