Recently, the Chinese internet has been rocked by the release of confidential user data on the internet, ostensibly in the wake of high-profile hacks of CDSN, Tianya, and a number of other high-profile, high-traffic sites. Chinese media initially reported that the data released by the hackers was potentially worth millions, but now members of the Chinese hacking community are coming forward, and they’re telling an altogether different story.
The data released on the internet last week was already widely available in hacking circles, according to Wan Tao, the founder of a popular hacking online community. Wan told the Dongfang Daily that the reason the data looks so old (most of the information released involves pre-2009 usernames and passwords) is that it is old. Apparently, the databases have been floating around in hacker circles for some time, and hackers told the paper that whoever released the data must have done it for fun, as there is no way anyone could make money from such an old, widely-circulated database.
Fun, or to make a point about the increasing focus on real-name registration systems, which China’s biggest microblogs have already put into place. Wan told the Dongfang Daily that the release of the data could potentially be understood as a challenge to the emphasis on real-name registration systems; a (relatively) victimless way of demonstrating that storing people’s real identities on web servers might have unintended consequences. “Excessively emphasizing real-name registration has risks,” said Wan, “and at present, risk assessment has not been sufficient.”
Whether or not the release of millions of years-old usernames and passwords was intended to prove a political point, it has certainly created quite a stir in China. For some, the move seems reminiscent of Anonymous’s semi-political hacking projects, which have wreaked havoc on Western businesses and governments over the past several years. But since no one has yet taken credit for the release of the data from CDSN, Tianya, and other major sites, it’s impossible to be sure what motivated the leaks.
[Dongfang Daily via Sina Tech, Image Source]