China: Police Shutter Hacker Site

Training Site Said to Be China's Largest The Chinese government, accused by experts in the West of fostering attacks on foreign commercial and government IT systems, has shuttered that country's largest hacker training site and arrested three people, according to China Daily, a government-backed English language newspaper.

According to the report, the three individuals who ran Black Hawk Safety Net that operated out of central China's Hubeau province are suspected of offering online attacking programs and software.

The revelation of the arrests comes a month after virtual assaults Western experts contend originated in China on Google and other business sites. Many of these experts believe the Chinese government had at least tacitly approved or were aware of these attacks, an accusation Beijing denied.

The Chinese press account characterized the customers of Black Hawk as amateurs and con artists, not hackers aimed at damaging foreign commercial and government systems. Indeed, the press report - citing a study released by the National Computer Network Emergency Response Coordination Center of China - said the hacker industry caused losses of 7.6 billion yuan ($1.1 million) in China in 2009.

Provincial officials reportedly named Black Hawk Safety Net as China's largest hacker training site, which openly recruited members and disseminated hacker techniques through lessons, trojan software and online forum communications. Since its establishment in 2005, the site had recruited more than 12,000 VIP members, collecting more than 7 million yuan ($1 million) in membership fees, with at least another 170,000 people registering for free membership, the paper said.





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