cross-posted from: mander.xyz/post/50213195
A hacker claims to have stolen more than 10 petabytes of data from the National Supercomputing Center (NSCC) in Tianjin, China.
The NSCC is a centralised hub which provides infrastructure services for approximately 6000 clients across China, including the science and defence agencies. Among the stolen data are defence documents and missile data.
An account called FlamingChina posted a sample of the alleged dataset on an anonymous Telegram channel in early February. The post claimed that the dataset included “research across various fields including aerospace engineering, military research, bioinformatics, fusion simulation and more.”
Online samples of the hacked data appear to show internal folders, login details, technical manuals and schematics linked to weapons testing and aerospace work.
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If the data is genuine and the hackers really did siphon out 10 petabytes of data without anyone noticing, it would be more than embarrassing for an administration for which security is paramount.
Because the stolen data apparently includes military and aerospace research such as data from fighter jets and hypersonic missile testing, it could give China’s geopolitical rivals visibility of some of China’s most covert activity.
It may also cause questions to be asked about a policy which has seen vast resources channelled into China-owned and developed supercomputing specifically to reduce dependence on technology (mainly chips) manufactured in the West – a policy which would have seemed more important in light of Trump’s changeable policy of chip export controls.
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According to U.S.outlet CNN reporting on the incident, cyber security experts who have reviewed the data say the group is offering a limited preview of the alleged dataset, for thousands of dollars, with full access priced at hundreds of thousands of dollars. Payment was requested in cryptocurrency.
The Tianjin center — the first of its kind in China when it opened in 2009 — is one of several supercomputing hubs located in major cities including Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Chengdu.
According to Marc Hofer, a cybersecurity researcher and author of the blog NetAskari, the size of the dataset would make it attractive to adversarial state intelligence services.
“Only they probably have the capacity to work through all this data and come back with something useful.”
To put the scale in perspective: one petabyte equals 1,000 terabytes, and a high-spec laptop typically holds around one terabyte.
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