China's state-run broadcaster, CCTV, may have proven that the Chinese regime engages in Cyber warfare. The station aired a program in July that appears to show that the regime's military is actively involved in attacking dissident websites hosted overseas.
The Chinese regime has long denied any involvement in Cyber attacks, but a recent program by state-run CCTV may prove otherwise. A mid-July segment about the Chinese military reveals a top military university is engaged in Cyber attacks against U.S.-based entities. The telling footage may have been easily missed. It only lasts for several seconds as b-roll between 11:04 and 11:10 minutes.
It shows a custom-built software, apparently launching a Cyber attack through a compromised IP address belonging to a United States university. The targets are websites of Falun Gong — a spiritual practice persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party.
The footage shows that the Electrical Engineering University of China's People's Liberation Army built the software. It incorporates a list of Falun Gong websites appearing in a drop-down list. The computer operator chooses Minghui.org — one of Falun Gong's main websites hosted in the United States. The operator then clicks on "Attack," before the screen cuts away to another shot.
[Jason Ma, NTD commentator]:
"This is an attack system. The entire software targets Falun Gong websites. While the CCTV talks about Cyber attacks, it's revealed that [the regime] is researching this. CCTV is showing this, they can't claim someone is making this up right? This is in fact the first time China has admitted it's researching this type of attacks, and it's done by a military university."
Others say the attacks show the Chinese regime's persecution of Falun Gong has an impact worldwide.
[Erping Zhang, Falun Gong spokesman]:
"It's actually extended this Cyber warfare overseas. Because Falun Gong is practiced in more than 100 countries around the world by people of different nationalities, so in fact, this persecution is directly threatening citizens of other countries."
In July, Cyber security company McAfee announced a "state-actor" has been carrying out an unprecedented campaign of Cyber espionage affecting dozens of organizations and governments around the world.
The Chinese regime has deflected accusations it's behind the attacks. This apparent CCTV slip-up could be a blow to those denials.