http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6AG08T20101117China telecom briefly hijacked U.S. Web traffic: panel
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - China Telecom sent incorrect routing information last April that resulted in Internet traffic to major corporate websites and U.S. military and government sites being sent through China for 18 minutes, according to a report by a congressional advisory group. The incident was one of several discussed by the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission. Reuters obtained a copy of the draft report, which will formally be released on Wednesday.
In the hijacking incident, the Web traffic, much of which originated in the United States and was directed toward U.S. corporate and government websites, should have gone the shortest available route and not through China. Some of the traffic was headed to sites owned by the U.S. Senate, the office of the secretary of defense, NASA and the Commerce Department, the draft said.
The commission said it was unclear whether the hijacking was intentional or whether any data was collected or stopped, or if the massive amount of data affected concealed a targeted attack. "Evidence related to this incident does not clearly indicate whether it was perpetrated intentionally and, if so, to what ends. However, computer security researchers have noted that the capability could enable severe malicious activities," the report said.
In all, the report said that 28 percent of all targeted phishing emails, a type of scam, originate in China. "Anecdotal reports about the success of these activities continue to surface, some with compelling links to the Chinese government," the report said...
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