Chinese Electronic Spy Ware Effects Google Search Results on Shugden

The New York Times and other media have reported about a Ghostnet which infected the computers of the Tibetan Government in Exile (TGIE).

The electronic spy game has had at least some real-world impact, they said. For example, they said, after an e-mail invitation was sent by the Dalai Lama’s office to a foreign diplomat, the Chinese government made a call to the diplomat discouraging a visit. And a woman working for a group making Internet contacts between Tibetan exiles and Chinese citizens was stopped by Chinese intelligence officers on her way back to Tibet, shown transcripts of her online conversations and warned to stop her political activities.

There are also some practical implications related to the Dorje Shugden Controversy. If someone googles “Western Shugden Society” one will get on page 6 the warning massage:

Google’s detailed explanation states “You can choose to continue to the site at your own risk …” I hope the TGIE is able to remove these problems soon.

A research on the Spynet has been provided by the Computer Laboratory, University of Cambridge:

• The snooping dragon: social-malware surveillance of the Tibetan movement

A rather strange discussion took place on Tricycle Blog:

• Who’s Spying on the Dalai Lama?

 
More about China and Cyberwar:

• “Tracking Ghostnet” – Investigating a Cyber Espionage Network
• “Capability of the People’s Republic of China to Conduct Cyber Warfare and Computer Network Exploitation” (PDF)

Update 16 March 2013

• Latest Adobe PDF exploit used to target Uyghur and Tibetan activists

Updates February 2019

• Spy Campaign Spams Pro-Tibet Group With ExileRAT – ThreatPost
• Pro-Tibet groups targeted with ExileRAT in spy campaign – ZNet