China's New And Powerful Weapon To Censor The Internet Is Called 'The Great Cannon'

The Great Cannon system was used to intercept web and advertising traffic intended for Baidu, China’s biggest search engine company, researchers said. Credit Reuters

New York Times: China Is Said to Use Powerful New Weapon to Censor Internet



SAN FRANCISCO — Late last month, China began flooding American websites with a barrage of Internet traffic in an apparent effort to take out services that allow China’s Internet users to view websites otherwise blocked in the country.


Initial security reports suggested that China had crippled the services by exploiting its own Internet filter — known as the Great Firewall — to redirect overwhelming amounts of traffic to its targets. Now, researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of Toronto say China did not use the Great Firewall after all, but rather a powerful new weapon that they are calling the Great Cannon.


The Great Cannon, the researchers said in a report published Friday, allows China to intercept foreign web traffic as it flows to Chinese websites, inject malicious code and repurpose the traffic as Beijing sees fit.



WNU Editor: The detailed report on China's new internet weapon is here .

More News On Reports That China Has A New And Powerful Weapon To Censor The Internet

China deploys new weapon for online censorship in form of ‘Great Cannon’ -- Washington Post

Revealed: China’s Cyberwar ‘Cannon’ -- Shane Harris, Daily Beast

China's 'Great Cannon' could hack anyone, researchers warn -- Wired

Meet “Great Cannon,” the man-in-the-middle weapon China used on GitHub -- Ars Technica

'Great Cannon' is widening China censorship, say researchers (Update) -- Phys.org

China's 'Great Cannon' Lets Internet Censors Hack Sites Abroad -- Just Ask GitHub -- IBTimes

The "Great Cannon": How China Turns Its Websites Into Cyberweapons -- Gizmodo

'Great Cannon' Is China's New Web Censorship Weapon -- Popular Mechanics

China's 'Great Cannon' Cyberweapon Can Target Websites And Computers Worldwide -- Tech Times

China's 'Great Cannon' shoots down websites it doesn't like -- Endgadget

China's 'Great Cannon' can intercept and redirect web traffic -- The Verge