AfterDawn: News

China shuts down large hacker ring

Chinese officials have announced this week the bust of a large hacking ring that was allegedly the nation's largest distributor of hacking tools.

The Black Hawk Safety Net, which used the site 3800cc.com as a front, allegedly made $1 million in income in 2009 from 12,000 subscribers.



Three admins were arrested as part of the raid. Strangely, the arrests are said to have taken place three months ago, but only reported this week.

Black Hawk was known more as a hacking "training" group, mainly through the sale of malicious software and instructions on how to use them. In 2007, the group made the news for helping create a virus that took down corporate and government systems in Hubei.

Along with the arrest of 29-year-old Li Qiang and 28-year-old Zhang Lei (the third man was not identified), 1.7 million yuan ($250,000 USD) in assets were seized, mainly in cash and computer equipment.

Written by: Andre Yoskowitz @ 8 Feb 2010 16:30

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• 8 comments

• kemaf

  Quote:the arrests are said to have taken place three months ago, but only reported this week.
  So they arrested them 3 months ago but only told the public now. Something is not right here if you ask me.

  8.2.2010 17:00 #1

• tatsh

  I stand by the argument: if Windows is hackable (and I WILL assume it was all Windows), then by all means hack it and destroy it good.
  
  People getting arrested for disseminating code that can hurt an OS that has never been/never will be secure? Only China would do that.
  
  These 'hackers' should smarten up as IP addresses and everything else is totally traceable in China, unlike other countries.

  8.2.2010 19:50 #2

• llongtheD

  Hey, maybe China can use these guys as a scapegoat for the Google hack?

  8.2.2010 21:14 #3

• KillerBug

  Originally posted by llongtheD: Hey, maybe China can use these guys as a scapegoat for the Google hack?I would not be suprised if the Chinese government forced them to do the job...they were arrested around the right time.

  8.2.2010 23:54 #4

• geestar20

  Quote:So they arrested them 3 months ago but only told the public now. Something is not right here if you ask me.China never displays their wrong doings so it might be U.S. pressure about the recent government hacks that happend.
  
  Quote:I stand by the argument: if Windows is hackable (and I WILL assume it was all Windows), then by all means hack it and destroy it good.Windows Phobia eh? Its ok...some people still don't know how to use windows correctly.
  Quote:I would not be suprised if the Chinese government forced them to do the job...they were arrested around the right time.Yup, sounds good to me.

  9.2.2010 10:32 #5

• pspweazl

  Quote:Originally posted by llongtheD: Hey, maybe China can use these guys as a scapegoat for the Google hack?I would not be suprised if the Chinese government forced them to do the job...they were arrested around the right time.Agreed, multiple reasons why China would waite three months to announce they arrested a hacker "ring", first and foremost it was their ring. They train them for "cyber terrorism" (or the hackers train the government) and they probably pulled profit on what the hackers were doing and still are pulling profits. I am pretty sure the Chinese government makes big bucks from the DVD counterfeiting trade over there. But hey just opinion.

  9.2.2010 10:38 #6

• domie

  It's what the chinese do best and what they seem to spend their lives doing
  - hacking
  - lying
  - counterfeiting
  - censoring
  - copying
  - stealing
  - cheating
  - trafficking
  In our societies it's a big problem - over there it seems to be a compulsory part of life.

  9.2.2010 12:35 #7

• NINVIN21

  you might as well put
  eating rice.
  and they can't drive
  on your list.

  10.2.2010 12:37 #8