Great Cannon of China

The title of this article is ambiguous. See cannon , cannon

The Great Cannon of China (translation from English : Big cannon of China ) is an attack tool , which is used to distributed denial-of-service to start attacks on websites by the largest possible number of web traffic (IP Packets) and redirects them specifically to the websites to be attacked. According to researchers at Citizen Lab, the International Computer Science Institute, and Princeton University's Center for Information Technology Policy , who coined the term, the Big Cannon is hijacking foreign traffic for Chinese websites. The aim of the attack is to flood the attacked web server with enormous amounts of traffic, which can lead to a "widespread denial of service" ( Distributed Denial of Service DDoS ). While technically close to China's Great Firewall, the Great Cannon is "a separate offensive system with different capabilities and designs."

In addition to starting denial-of-service attacks, the tool is also able to monitor web traffic and distribute malware in targeted attacks like the Quantum Insert System of the US secret service NSA does.

The Big Cannon's first known targets (in late March 2015) were websites that provided censorship- free tools, including GitHub , a web-based code hosting service, and GreatFire, a service that monitors which websites are being blocked in China and helping Chinese internet users bypass internet censorship in the People's Republic of China .

See also

• Golden Shield project
• Internet censorship in the People's Republic of China

Web links

• Der Spiegel , Netzwelt from April 10, 2015: China is going on the offensive in the fight for sovereignty on the Internet, researchers from the USA and Canada fear. According to one report, censors in the People's Republic not only block unpleasant content, but also have a new cyber weapon at their disposal.
• Handelsblatt of April 28, 2015: Is China opening the “big cannon” on the Internet? Or is it a bad configuration? The Chinese internet is misleading masses of traffic.
• golem.de from April 29, 2015: Programming errors, incorrect configuration or state protective wall? The Chinese internet is misleading masses of traffic. The trouble starts with the little blue Facebook button.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Nicole Perlroth: China Is Said to Use Powerful New Weapon to Censor Internet . In: The New York Times . The New York Times Company. April 10, 2015. Retrieved January 17, 2017.
2. ↑ Bill Marczak: China's Great Cannon . In: The Citizen Lab . Munk School of Global Affairs, University of Toronto, Canada. April 10, 2015. Retrieved January 17, 2017: "a separate offensive system, with different capabilities and design"
3. ↑ Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai: The 'Great Cannon' is China's Powerful New Hacking Weapon . In: Motherboard - VICE . Vice Media LLC. April 10, 2015. Retrieved January 17, 2017.
4. ↑ Jeff Stone: China's 'Great Cannon' Lets Internet Censors Hack Sites Abroad - Just Ask GitHub . In: International Business Times . IBT Media Inc. April 10, 2015. Retrieved January 17, 2017.
5. ↑ Andrea Peterson: China deploys new weapon for online censorship in the form of 'Great Cannon' . The Washington Post . April 10, 2015. Retrieved January 17, 2017.