The internet
Great walls of fireA wave of internet attacks points to an
attempt to hobble foreign websitesApr 4th 2015 | BEIJING | From the
print edition
ON MARCH 26th GitHub, an American-based website for programmers,
began tosuffer what it says is its biggest ever denial-of-service
attack. The means and apparentmotive were just as noteworthy: the
Great Firewall, Chinas web-filteringinfrastructure, was used. The
assault seems to have been intended to persuade GitHubto drop
content the Chinese authorities object to, including the
Chinese-languageedition of the New York Times. The attackers
identities will probably never beconfirmed. But the rules of online
engagement with China have taken a nasty turn.
As its nickname suggests, the Great Firewall is a defensive
barricade against foreign web content which officials see as
undesirable.Until now internet users outside China have been little
affected. That changed on March 17th, security analysts say, when
thefirewall began to be used by unidentified hackers to hijack
traffic and redirect it to sites set up by Greatfire.org, an
activist outfit thathelps users in China to access content that is
normally blocked (including the Chinese-language New York Times).
The assault onGitHub was similar. Both attacks intercepted foreign
traffic entering China that was meant for Baidu, Chinas largest
search engine,and sent it to the targeted American sites. (Baidu
has said it was not involved and is determined to prevent a
repeat.)
The immediate aim of such attacks is to bring down the targeted
website, depriving Chinese users of access to copies of blocked
sites(at least until new ones are set up). In the longer term, it
may be to discourage foreign internet firms from hosting such
mirrorsites. Amazons cloud service, for example, hosts the
Greatfire.org sites that were attacked. On March 27th GitHubs
administratorssaid they believed the purpose was to convince them
to remove a specific class of content.
Whoever was behind the attacks, they are part of a wider Chinese
challenge to the existing online order. Since the 1990s, whenChina
first connected to the internet, its officials have been concerned
both about Americas influence over it and about the difficultyof
maintaining control of online content. The first systematic
filtering of foreign websites began in 1996, after which the
GreatFirewall was built and repeatedly upgraded. For years it has
blocked access to Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and the sites of
someforeign news organisations, notably those that have
investigated the finances of leaders families. Since Xi Jinping
became theCommunist Partys general secretary in late 2012 the
authorities have clamped down even more, much as they have on
voicesoffline.
This year officials have stepped up attempts to disrupt the use
of virtual private networks (VPNs), which can be used to
circumventfirewalls. They have become more assertive about what
they regard as national sovereignty online, and have called on
othercountries to respect it. Breaches of online sovereignty might
well include a foreign website giving Chinese users an alternative
routeto blocked content. In January the Cyberspace Administration
of China (CAC), the regulator, said Greatfire.org was run by
anti-China foreign forces. (The site does not disclose who or where
its founders are.)
On March 31st Greatfire.org pinned the blame for the recent
attacks on the CAC, saying that the Great Firewall could not have
beenused without its approval or that of Lu Wei, the minister in
charge. But attribution is hard to prove. According to Nathan
Freitas ofthe Berkman Centre for Internet & Society at Harvard
University, there is no smoking gun implicating the Chinese
governmentbut the authorities should be asked how they allowed
critical internet infrastructure to be compromised by criminals.
The
The internet: Great walls of fire | The Economist 03/04/2015
http://www.economist.com/node/21647656/print 1 / 2
Economist sought comment from CAC via its preferred means of
communication, the fax, but has received no reply.
From the print edition: China
The internet: Great walls of fire | The Economist 03/04/2015
http://www.economist.com/node/21647656/print 2 / 2
The internetGreat walls of fire
A wave of internet attacks points to an attempt to hobble
foreign websites
