China turns 'Great Cannon' on Hong Kong webforum
- 4 years ago
HONG KONG — A Chinese cyberweapon dubbed the Great Cannon is launching DDoS attacks on a Hong Kong webform after years of silence, AT&T Cybersecurity reported on Wednesday.
The internet security developer says analysis indicates that the Cannon begin attacking the webforum named LIHKG in August.
According to AT&T Cybersecurity, Hong Kong activists have been using the forum to coordinate protests.
The Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto reported previously that the Great Cannon represents a "significant escalation in state-level information control."
AT&T Cybersecurity states that the Cannon inserts malicious Javascript code into browsers when users access servers within China's Great Firewall.
The Great Cannon then uses the code to send numerous requests to overwhelm the targeted domain's resources and to make it unavailable.
According to AT&T Cybersecurity, Great Cannon caused global disruption in 2015, when it was deployed against Github and the online freedom group GreatFire.org.
The security firm says that the Chinese-language news website Mingjingnews.com was attacked from two years ago and that it expects more attacks against LIHKG.
The internet security developer says analysis indicates that the Cannon begin attacking the webforum named LIHKG in August.
According to AT&T Cybersecurity, Hong Kong activists have been using the forum to coordinate protests.
The Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto reported previously that the Great Cannon represents a "significant escalation in state-level information control."
AT&T Cybersecurity states that the Cannon inserts malicious Javascript code into browsers when users access servers within China's Great Firewall.
The Great Cannon then uses the code to send numerous requests to overwhelm the targeted domain's resources and to make it unavailable.
According to AT&T Cybersecurity, Great Cannon caused global disruption in 2015, when it was deployed against Github and the online freedom group GreatFire.org.
The security firm says that the Chinese-language news website Mingjingnews.com was attacked from two years ago and that it expects more attacks against LIHKG.