4 August 2015

HACKING MAP: Watch live as 'China launches countless hack attacks on UK and USA'

Jul 29, 2015 

It LOOKS like laser warfare with China and the USA blasting each other with Russia and Europe caught in the middle.


It's cyber warfare as hundreds of NORSECORP
It's cyber warfare as hundreds of "live attacks" blast across globe

But this is more like the plot of a modern version of 1980s Hacking movie War Games.

According to self-proclaimed "spooky company" Norse Corp, which is staffed by ex-NSA (National Security Agency) and US military staff, this is how global cyber warfare plays out on a daily basis in 2015.

The "shady" corporation has developed a realtime interactive map that shows users hacking attempts and cyber attacks from the four corners of the Earth as they happen.

The map today showed the bulk of attacks - which are portrayed like laser beams blasting across the atlas of the world before striking their target which emits a wave of cyber ripples - were coming from rising superpower China.

If the Norse Corp data is right as it claims, it seems it has everything to fear.

The USA appears to be the biggest target, with it sustaining from 500 to more than 2,200 at any one time while www.expresss.co.uk watched the site today.

China was allegedly the main aggressor with more than 800 attacks being launched at one stage with Hungary close behind at more than 770
One attack that popped up came from the Israeli Government Network, the site claimed.
You need to be quick to follow the data is it is updated every second.

A Norse spokesman said; "Norse maintains the world’s largest dedicated threat intelligence network. With over eight million sensors that emulate over six thousand applications – from Apple laptops, to ATM machines, to critical infrastructure systems, to closed-circuit TV cameras - the Norse Intelligence Network gathers data on who the attackers are and what they’re after."

Of course Norse Corp is US based so it has been accused of bias, and it is also promoting its own security systems, so allegations of scaremongering have also been made.

Its website said: "Norse is dedicated to delivering live, accurate and unique attack intelligence that helps our customers block attacks, uncover hidden breaches and track threats emerging around the globe."

It also said the mysterious organisation was: "kind of spooky." 
It added: "A bunch of our folks cut their teeth at one or another of those three-letter government agencies, or proudly served in the armed forces

Norse Corp has targeted ex-NSA staff
Chasing the known threats is easy. It’s the unknown that’s hard. That means we can’t just react – we have to pre-empt. We have to smash the attack chain before it gets built
Norse Corp spokesman
"We know this business, from the front-lines application of human counterintel, to signals intelligence to the vanguard of cyber intelligence collection from the darkest corners of the Internet.
"We believe you have to be at least as aggressive and entrepreneurial as your digital adversaries in order to defeat them. 
"Chasing the known threats is easy. It’s the unknown that’s hard. That means we can’t just react – we have to pre-empt. We have to smash the attack chain before it gets built.
"We believe in taking the hits so our customers don’t have to. That’s why we wander the worst neighbourhoods of the Internet, looking for trouble, just asking to be attacked. That’s why we’ve built the biggest dedicated threat detection network in the world, and populated it with millions of honeypots, agents, sensors and crawlers."
Norse Corp lists NORSECORP
Norse Corp lists "live attack" data with its map
But according to a probe into Norse Corp by US news site Fox2now, Norse Corp has admitted its map could at times be misleading.

The news site asked why so many attacks appeared to be on St Louis in Louisiana, where Norse Corp's HQ is.

It reported: "For those following the rumours of a concentrated cyber attack on St. Louis via China, reporter Paul Schankman has information from the company causing the stir. 

Because of that (it's HQ location), a disproportionately high number of the electronic “honeypots” they use to find suspicious activity are in the area. 

"The company also says that the attacks appearing to come from China may just be internet traffic routed through the country. It is difficult to be sure where the sources of the threats are coming from, it added."

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