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Titan Rain was a series of coordinated attacks on
Titan Rain has also caused distrust between other countries (such as the United Kingdom and
Titan Rain was a series of coordinated attacks on computer
A computer is a machine that can be programmed to Execution (computing), carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations (computation) automatically. Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic sets of operations known as C ...
systems in the United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
since 2003; they were known to have been ongoing for at least three years. The attacks originated in Guangdong
Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020) ...
, China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
. The activity is believed to be associated with a state-sponsored advanced persistent threat
An advanced persistent threat (APT) is a stealthy threat actor, typically a nation state or state-sponsored group, which gains unauthorized access to a computer network and remains undetected for an extended period. In recent times, the term may ...
. It was given the designation ''Titan Rain'' by the federal government of the United States
The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States, a federal republic located primarily in North America, composed of 50 states, a city within a fede ...
.
Titan Rain hackers gained access to many United States defense contractor
The arms industry, also known as the arms trade, is a global industry which manufactures and sells weapons and military technology. It consists of a commercial industry involved in the research and development, engineering, production, and serv ...
computer networks, which were targeted for their sensitive information, including those at Lockheed Martin
The Lockheed Martin Corporation is an American aerospace, arms, defense, information security, and technology corporation with worldwide interests. It was formed by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta in March 1995. It ...
, Sandia National Laboratories
Sandia National Laboratories (SNL), also known as Sandia, is one of three research and development laboratories of the United States Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). Headquartered in Kirtland Air Force Ba ...
, Redstone Arsenal
Redstone Arsenal (RSA) is a United States Army post and a census-designated place (CDP) adjacent to Huntsville in Madison County, Alabama, United States and is part of the Huntsville-Decatur Combined Statistical Area. The Arsenal is a garrison f ...
, and NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research.
NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...
.
Attackers
The attacks are reported to be the result of actions byPeople's Liberation Army
The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the principal military force of the People's Republic of China and the armed wing of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The PLA consists of five service branches: the Ground Force, Navy, Air Force, ...
Unit 61398. These hackers attacked both the US government (Defense Intelligence Agency
The Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) is an intelligence agency and combat support agency of the United States Department of Defense, specializing in defense and military intelligence.
A component of the Department of Defense (DoD) and the I ...
) and the UK government (Ministry of Defence
{{unsourced, date=February 2021
A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...
). In 2006, an "organised Chinese hacking group" shut down a part of the UK House of Commons computer system. The Chinese government has denied responsibility.
Consequences
The U.S. government has blamed the Chinese government for the 2004 attacks. Alan Paller,SANS Institute
The SANS Institute (officially the Escal Institute of Advanced Technologies) is a private U.S. for-profit company founded in 1989 that specializes in information security, cybersecurity training, and selling certificates. Topics available for tr ...
research director, stated that the attacks came from individuals with "intense discipline" and that "no other organization could do this if they were not a military". Such sophistication has pointed toward the People's Liberation Army as the attackers.
Titan Rain reportedly attacked multiple organizations, such as NASA and the FBI
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...
. Although no classified information was reported stolen, the hackers were able to steal unclassified information (e.g., information from a home computer) that could reveal strengths and weaknesses of the United States.
Titan Rain has also caused distrust between other countries (such as the United Kingdom and Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
) and China. The United Kingdom has stated officially that Chinese hackers attacked its governmental offices. Titan Rain has caused the rest of the world to be more cautious of attacks not just from China but from other countries as well.
See also
*Cyberwarfare by China
Cyberwarfare by China is the aggregate of all combative activities in the cyberspace which are taken by organs of the People's Republic of China, including affiliated advanced persistent threat groups, against other countries.
Organization
Wh ...
*Red Apollo
Red Apollo (also known as APT 10 (by Mandiant), MenuPass (by Fireeye), Stone Panda (by Crowdstrike), and POTASSIUM (by Microsoft)) is a Chinese state-sponsored cyberespionage group. A 2018 indictment by the United States Department of Justice c ...
*Moonlight Maze
Moonlight Maze was a 1999 US government investigation into a massive data breach of classified information. It started in 1996 and affected NASA, the Pentagon, military contractors, civilian academics, the DOE, and numerous other American governme ...
*Operation Aurora
Operation Aurora was a series of cyber attacks conducted by advanced persistent threats such as the Elderwood Group based in Beijing, China, with ties to the People's Liberation Army. First publicly disclosed by Google on January 12, 2010, in a ...
*Shawn Carpenter
Shawn R. Carpenter is a cyber security analyst and whistleblower (previously employed by Sandia National Laboratories) who tracked down a Chinese cyberespionage ring that is code-named Titan Rain by the FBI. He came to national attention when his ...
* Stakkato
References
{{Hacking in the 2000s Hacker groups Espionage scandals and incidents Military intelligence National security Information sensitivity Data security 21st-century conflicts Electronic warfare Cyberattacks Cyberwarfare by China Hacking in the 2000s Chinese advanced persistent threat groups Chinese information operations and information warfare