14 DAY TRIAL // A recently aired Chinese TV program showed a piece of software designed to launch cyber attacks that was developed by an university with strong ties to the People's Liberation Army (PLA).
According to Epoch Times, the footage is shown during a propaganda documentary about military strategy and the tool is developed by the Electrical Engineering University.
The graphical user interface reads "Select Attack Target" and has fields to select both the source IP address and target.
The source IP used in this case was one from the University of Alabama in Birmingham (UAB). This suggests that the program launches attacks from already compromised servers.
The target list is hardcoded into the software and includes dozens of Falun Gong websites. In the video, the software operator chooses Minghui.org and hits attack.
Falun Gong is a spiritual movement banned in China despite having a large number of followers in the country. It's websites are known to be attacked regularly.
The airing of this segment was most likely accidental, considering that the Beijing government strongly denies being involved in cyber attacks.
Whenever the Western media blames China for cyber espionage the government calls the reports irresponsible and claims that it too is a victim like anyone else.
That last part might be true, but here is video proof that the Chinese military is also engaging in cyber attacks. Earlier this year, the People's Liberation Army (PLA) officially launched a cyber security defense program that involves creating a team of experts that will educate officers in this field.
The 21-minute long documentary can be seen on the China Network Television (CNTV) website as well as on YouTube. "This is the first time we see clearly that one of the top Chinese military universities is doing this research and developing software for cyber-attacks. There's solid proof of it in this video," Jason Ma, a commentator for New Tang Dynasty Television, said.
