from Hacker News

How China Spied on the African Union’s Computers

by KumarAseem on 1/31/18, 6:48 AM with 41 comments

• by anvandare on 1/31/18, 8:26 AM

  I'd tear down the whole building; as I'd be very surprised if the walls weren't full of bugs as well, similar to the American Embassy case.

  http://www.nytimes.com/1988/11/15/world/the-bugged-embassy-c...

• by hueving on 1/31/18, 8:30 AM

  >China built and paid for the African Union’s computer network

  I guess the old saying applies, "if you aren't paying for it, you are the product."

• by toomanybeersies on 1/31/18, 11:19 AM

  There were concerns with using Huawei equipment in New Zealand for the UFB Network (New Zealand's national fiber optic network) for similar reasons.

  I can't remember what equipment they ended up using. But all I could think of at the time was that if Huawei and the Chinese weren't spying on us, then Cisco and the US government would be spying on us. Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

  Of course, after Snowden, it was revealed that they were spying on us the whole time, with the NZ government being an enthusiastic participant as one of the Five Eyes nations. They had actually tapped the (only) submarine internet cable running out of New Zealand.

• by delta1 on 1/31/18, 9:34 AM

  Seems silly to exfiltrate the data during a quiet time instead of a busier time of day where it should go unnoticed? "Hidden in plain sight"

• by dhx on 1/31/18, 11:57 AM

  Here's a quick sample of some of China's computer donations to parliaments, defense and foreign affairs departments and police and immigration departments in recent years:

  PNG: http://pg.china-embassy.org/eng/zbgx/t849942.htm

  Fiji: http://www.fiji.gov.fj/Media-Center/Press-Releases/CHINESE-G...

  Botswana: http://bw.china-embassy.org/eng/sbgx/t541543.htm

  Maldives: http://www.foreign.gov.mv/index.php/en/mediacentre/news/2786...

  Samoa: http://www.samoagovt.ws/2017/01/china-donates-new-computers-...

  Cambodia: http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2015-11/03/c_134779443.htm

  Mozambique: http://clubofmozambique.com/news/china-donates-100-computers...

  Sri Lanka: http://www.colombopage.com/archive_17B/Aug05_1501907095CH.ph...

  Ghana: https://www.ghanabusinessnews.com/2017/06/07/chinese-embassy...

  Pakistan: http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2017-09/22/c_136627663.htm

  Liberia: http://mofa.gov.lr/public2/2press.php?news_id=880&related=7&...

  Zimbabwe: https://bulawayo24.com/index-id-news-sc-national-byo-16364-a...

  Laos: http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2017-04/12/c_136202934.htm

  Macedonia: http://arhiva.vlada.mk/?q=node/5196

  Serbia: http://eng.mod.gov.cn/news/2017-06/21/content_4783395.htm

  Afghanistan: http://www.gov.cn/misc/2007-01/11/content_493797.htm

  Kyrgyzstan: http://en.people.cn/90001/90776/90883/6776679.html

  Dominica: http://news.gov.dm/index.php/news/536-china-donates-equipmen...

  Barbados: http://www.caribbean360.com/news/china-gives-barbados-over-u...

  Guinea Bissau: http://en.africatime.com/guinee_bissau/articles/china-donate...

  Moldova: http://www.army.md/index.php/duhovniceti/img/userfiles/info/...

  Guyana: https://www.stabroeknews.com/2017/news/stories/11/07/457430/

  Nigeria: http://www.spa.gov.sa/299126

  Malawi: http://en.africatime.com/malawi/articles/malawi-china-donate...

  Yemen: http://ye.mofcom.gov.cn/article/jmxw/201309/20130900303426.s...

  Syria: http://sy.china-embassy.org/chn/xwfb/t790038.htm

  http://china.aiddata.org/geospatial_dashboard and https://www.lowyinstitute.org/chinese-aid-map/ are interactive maps (albeit using older data) showing where donations and aid have ended up.

  These are just the overt instances where press releases are issued with prime ministers, senior officials and ambassadors shaking hands in front of donated computers and laptops. There has also been research such as https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GhostNet which is relevant to this discussion.

  Also very telling is how Western countries are responding. Some recent articles:

  Verizon no longer selling Huawei phones: http://www.afr.com/news/world/verizon-is-said-to-drop-plans-...

  AT&T no longer selling Huawei phones: http://www.afr.com/news/world/north-america/att-told-to-stee...

  Australia funding a PNG-Solomon Islands-Australia undersea fiber optic cable project to prevent Huawei from getting the contract: http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/austra...

• by gopz on 1/31/18, 8:49 AM

  > The organisation acquired its own servers, and began encrypting its communication

  yikes, sounds pretty sloppy from all sides

• by flurdy on 1/31/18, 11:15 AM

  Not sure what going public with this benefits anyone. They could have covertly leaked missinformation or gain benefits by being in control what is leaked.

• by tekkk on 1/31/18, 10:21 AM

  Seems such a small gain with potentially huge downside with African countries distancing themselves from China. And so sloppily done too...

• by whisk on 1/31/18, 9:03 AM

  It's really embarrassing... for who always call Africans "old friends"

• by M_Bakhtiari on 1/31/18, 9:52 AM

  When will Africa realise that they have to learn to look out for themselves because no-one else will?

  They declined Europe's "offer" (though realistically Europe really didn't have anything to offer its colonies after being devastated by WWII), but where they that much better off under Soviet influence and are they that much better off under China? It's time they started working towards real independence instead of always trying to chase the next free lunch.

• by itpanda123 on 1/31/18, 9:18 AM

  Why don't the reporter reveal more details about the "strange peak in data usage"?

  The news could be less lame if published from a non-formal-colonizer country.