Comments on: The botnet threat in China's censorship software

Programming errors in the Beijing-mandated Green Dam filtering software could let bad guys take control of PCs using it.

[fmcentire]

You can bet that citizens of China aren't able to read this article right now. lol

[Michichael]

Chinese computers being part of a huge botnet? Wait, isn't this old news?

Come on, 80% of Chinese systems are pirated, trojan/botnet infected slag-heaps. Almost every skiddie that knocks on our network is using a machine so out of date I don't even need to /try/ to take them down. Hell, nine times out of ten the username is "Neo" and the password is "Teh0n3"

I say we need to have smart gateway routing at the major intersections of the 'net - keep generic traffic cordoned unmonitored and freely within a country/ip region, however there should be IDS/IPS monitoring of traffic targetting another country - especially from such a prolific ******** as China.

[Vegaman_Dan]

Wait a sec...

"Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said Tuesday must be preinstalled on all new computers in the country, are at the root of the flaws,"

Is this software only available on one OS platform? Or is it available for all the current popular flavors?

If it's just one, then the government will not only dictate what sites you visit, but also what OS you are running?

Wow.

[Seaspray0]

I think it would be ironic if all those computers were turned into a huge botnet doing a DDOS against China's own websites.

[Dalkorian]

The paranoid in me fears that's the goal of the Chinese government - to have a huge botnet to control for attacking computer networks (foreign most likely, but I wouldn't put anything past them either - wouldn't they love to attack college kids blogging about Tiananmen Square).

I would think this censorshipware would be available on all major platforms Dan, unless they're not only blocking all *nix related websites but also preventing Apple from doing business within it's borders (not to mention the clones of course). It would simply be far easier to hack this junkware onto other platforms and force it down everyone's throats.

[pentest]

Pretty funny coming from an MS shill.

[knolte]

Nice Default screen might as well been a giant finger with the phase HA HA NO PORN!!!

[Lerianis3]

Personally, if I was living in China, I would IMMEDIATELY delete this software after I got the computer back to my home.

[Dalkorian]

Right Lerianis, I'm betting they'll block any sites telling you how to do that, but let's assume you're smart enough to figure it out yourself. Sleep tight while you can, now the police are raiding your house at 2AM to arrest you for "civil disobedience" or some such junk like that.

[Vegaman_Dan]

@lerianis3:

It's likely going to be a sort of proxy firewall client that requires you to connect through an approved server that can monitor/filter what you have access to. Attempt to connect without this server and you don't get any routing of traffic at all.

It's the same idea as many company network setups, just on a bigger scale. And when all the ISP's are controlled by the government, you can't really easily bypass them. Not without going through something like a satellite uplink or such.

[jpap93]

Well, its bound to be cracked after a while.

I'm glad I live in democracy.

[jake3373]

"Currently, Green Dam is only optimized for Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser"

Do they block downloading Opera, Chrome, Firefox, etc.?

And, let me guess... Windows only?

[mraandthebigbrother]

That Green Wall Filter Dam is a Sttt! It cannot browse International websites.
That will be it's BIGGEST BLOOPER on this software and is developer.