NYC Times Hacked

How fitting that just after yesterday's post on the dangers of hacking, BBC News reveals that the NYTimes has been under hacking attacks from Chinese hackers since running their piece criticizing Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao's family fortunes.

Beijing has been accused by several governments, foreign companies and organisations of carrying out extensive cyber espionage for many years, seeking to gather information and to control China's image.

Online Hacking

Online hacking may appear to be larger than mere individuals, affecting corporate and government websites. Even the Chinese government's websites can't protect against global hackers. But what many readers may not know is that online hacking and personal attacks against individuals is rampant on today's internet. Netizens need to be aware of the dangers of online hacking and the threat hacking can have on their personal email, banking, and social accounts.

In today's digital environment, there is nothing more dangerous or scary than having your identity stolen on the internet.

To learn more about the danger of online hacking and the benefits of having a secure password, check out this great inforgraphic produced by OnlineCollegeCourses.com:


Some personal notes on hacking: I recall as far back as 2006 being an undergrad at UMass Amherst and receiving notices from the IT department to beware of email phishing scams and password theft. Similarly, I have received emails numerous times from Facebook and other social networking websites informing me that unsuccessful attempts were made at logging into my account and to ensure that I strengthen my password.

Hacking is a serious threat that deserves any netizen's full attention. A tip I learned from a friend to ensure a strong password is to create a nifty phrase, example: The quick brown fox jumps high (or one more personal to you) and create the password from the first letters of said phrase, example: tqbfjh. To ensure strength, add some numbers or symbols, example: tqbfjh90!.

I was amazed at the above infographic's statistics on how fast a hacker's computer software can ascertain your password. That's why it is essential to create a strong combination of letters, numbers, and symbols!

I'm not particularly well-versed in hacking occurring in mainland China, but I do recall news stories in the past year or so in which American government-run websites have been hacked and sources have placed Chinese hackers at the root of the hacking.

Scholarworks Update

Posting a huge thank-you to all the readers who have helped make my undergraduate thesis a well-read paper on the Scholarworks database! This past month had 39 new downloads, for a total of 318 since the paper was uploaded to the system late last spring. Last month, my paper was one of the top Asian Studies-related papers on the database.

Knowing that my research is attracting readers is helping me to chug along through my graduate thesis, which I'm currently in the process of writing.

Thanks everyone!