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Dalai Lama's Chinese-language website hacked

by on13 August 2013

Infecting users with spyware

The Dalai Lama's Chinese-language website has been hacked and is infecting visitors' computers with viruses in what may to be an effort to spy on human rights activists. Kaspersky Lab researcher Kurt Baumgartner warned web surfers away from the Chinese-language site of the Central Tibetan Administration, or CTA, until the organization fixes the bug.

It appears that the group behind the campaign was also responsible for previous breaches on that site as well as attacks on groups that focus on human rights in Asia, Baumgartner said. What was used was a two-stage attack technique known as "water holing." Hackers infect a site that is frequently visited by people whose computers they want to control. That site automatically infects the PCs of all visitors, downloading malicious software that the hackers can use to take control of their computers.

Beijing considers the Dalai Lama a violent separatist and Chinese state media routinely vilify him. The Dalai Lama says he is merely seeking greater autonomy for his Himalayan homeland.

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