August 5, 2007: In China,
foreign intelligence agencies are finding they have an increasingly difficult
time getting into government, and commercial computers. While better use of
computer security tools (firewalls, intrusion detection software, etc) has
something to do with this, the main reason is the 30,000 Ministry of Public
Security employees working for the Golden Shield Project (known unofficially as
The Great Firewall of China). The main job of these cops is to monitor Internet
use throughout the country, and prevent "troublesome" Internet data
from getting in, or out, of China. Since 1998, over a billion dollars has been
spent on this effort. This has inspired other police states, like North Korea,
Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Syria, Iran, Cuba, and Myanmar to do the same. All
this is not just to control Internet use by locals, but to provide a major tool
for protecting state secrets.
While the Great Firewall
cannot stop someone expert at how the Internet works, it does greatly restrict
the other 99 percent of Internet users. And it provides lots of information
about what is going on inside all that Internet traffic. Foreign intelligence
agencies are beginning to find the Great Firewall of China is going from
"nuisance" to "obstacle." This has put government intelligence organizations in
a difficult position. In the U.S., the feds feel compelled to seek assistance
from, and work with, hackers who are developing new ways to tunnel through the
Golden Shield. There are several non-governmental outfits that are involved
with this effort, and most are hostile to intelligence agencies. Nevertheless,
some relationships have been formed, to deal with mutual problems.
It's not only the intel
agencies who are keen to learn their way around, and through, the Great
Firewall. Cyber War organizations see
the Great Firewall as a major defensive weapon as well. The Chinese have a much
better idea of what is coming into their country via the Internet, and that
makes it easier to identify hostile traffic, and deal with it. Some American
Cyber War officials are broaching the idea of building something like Golden
Shield, just for military purposes. But that would be difficult in most Western
countries, because of privacy issues. But with Golden Shield, China could
unleash worms and viruses on the Internet, and use their Great Firewall to
prevent Chinese systems from becoming infected. China needs every advantage it
can get, because it has the worst protected, and most infected, PCs in the
world. This is largely the result of so many computers using pirated software,
and poorly trained operators. Meanwhile, the thousands of people running the
Golden Shield are gaining valuable experience, and becoming some of the most skillful Internet engineers on the
planet.
