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Chinese Police Bust Hacker-Training Business

Cops accuse website of recruiting thousands of students

By the Associated Press

Posted Feb 8, 2010 4:19 AM CST

(AP) – Police in central China say they have shut down a hacker-training operation that openly recruited thousands of members online and provided them with cyberattack lessons and malicious software. Police in Hubei province arrested three people suspected of running the hacker site known as the Black Hawk Safety Net, which disseminated hacking techniques and Trojan software. The crackdown comes amid growing concern that China is a center for Internet crime and industrial espionage.

The site recruited more than 12,000 paying subscribers and collected more than $1 million in membership fees, while another 170,000 people had signed up for free membership, reports the China Daily. It's not clear if the case is related to the recent trouble with Google, which said last month its e-mail accounts were hacked from China. The assault hit at least 20 other companies.

Chinese police say they've busted up a hacker-training ring.
Chinese police say they've busted up a hacker-training ring.   (Shutter Stock)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 5 comments
Zero
Feb 9, 2010 5:26 AM CST
They weren't really good hackers if they got caught anyway
2-bits
Feb 8, 2010 11:46 AM CST
This is just the Chinese government trying to deflect blame for their obvious role in hacking the email accounts of Tibetan activists.
Illuminated_One
Feb 8, 2010 7:29 AM CST
They report they stop hackers. get good world press for stopping the chinese hacking problem, they won't admit to. and then they get hacker out of the deal. it's a win win for them.

Copyright 2012 Newser, LLC. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. AP contributed to this report.

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