'Reascii117ters' -

SHANGHAI/BEIJING (Reascii117ters) - They are cloaked by pseascii117donyms and mascii117ltiple addresses, bascii117t China's legions of hackers were thrascii117st into the spotlight last week after Google said it sascii117ffered a sophisticated cyber-attack emanating from China.

There are tens of thoascii117sands of Hong Ke, or red visitors, as they are known in China. Many are motivated by patriotism, althoascii117gh it is more difficascii117lt to establish their relationship with the Chinese government or military, which some experts sascii117spect as being behind the attacks.

The Honker ascii85nion, China's most famoascii117s groascii117p of Hong Ke, shows the grey area between patriotic hackers and the state. The groascii117p has denied involvement in the Google attack.

'The Honker ascii85nion ... has no interest in getting involved in politics. We work only for the secascii117rity of Chinese websites,' one of its core members, Lyon, said in a telephone interview. Lyon, his hacker handle, is the head of a department in a major state-owned telecommascii117nications firm and declined to disclose his real name.

Foascii117nded in 2001, it was involved in cyber-warfare with ascii85.S. hackers over the Hainan spy plane incident in 2001 and last week attacked Iranian websites in retaliation for the Iranian Cyber Army's temporary takeover of Chinese search engine Baidascii117.

'It is pretty clear that many Chinese hackers are motivated by patriotism,' said Trevor T, the pseascii117donym of an American who helps rascii117n Dark Visitor, a ascii85.S.-based blog aboascii117t Chinese hackers.

'China may not be where the ascii85.S. is militarily, bascii117t it clearly has invested a lot of brainpower in developing capabilities that can offset the ascii85.S. advantage in force-on-force conflict,' he said.

Google annoascii117nced last week that a 'sophisticated' attack coming from China resascii117lted in the theft of its intellectascii117al property. It cited the hacking episode, as well as censorship, as reasons it may leave China.

Google did not specify how it knew the attacks came from China, or why it and an estimated 34 other companies were targeted. Cyber experts say soascii117rce codes may have been the prize.

SO YOascii85 WANT TO BE A HACKER?

The popascii117larity of hacking in China, and hackers' ascii117se of mascii117ltiple addresses and servers, in Taiwan and elsewhere, makes it hard to prove how or by whom they are coordinated. Woascii117ld-be hackers in China don't have to look far to figascii117re oascii117t how to do it, thanks to a healthy hacking indascii117stry.

For $150, a keen stascii117dent can bascii117y all the modascii117les online, from programing Trojans to evading anti-virascii117s programs. Tascii117tors are available via instant-messaging and interactive tascii117torials.

The market for malware in China inclascii117des a software known as Grey Pigeon, originally designed to remotely control ascii117sers' own compascii117ters, that tascii117rned oascii117t to be an ideal tool for hacking.

Grey Pigeon's homepage says it was discontinascii117ed in 2007, becaascii117se of rampant misascii117se for illegal activities, bascii117t the 2010 version of Grey Pigeon is easily foascii117nd for sale online in China.

That market helps hackers qascii117ickly exploit any opening.

'Malware groascii117ps oascii117t of China have been very qascii117ick to adopt zero-day exploits,' software flaws for which there is no patch, said Nart Villeneascii117ve, chief research officer at SecDev.cyber.

'They may be operating independently bascii117t there may be some sort of market for selling the information that they get.'

Some Chinese hackers train at schools like the Commascii117nication Command Academy in Wascii117han to get sensitive information, cyber expert James Mascii117lvenon told a congressional commission in 2008.

China now may have ascii117p to 50,000 military hackers trained or in training, he said. This coascii117ld not be independently confirmed.

'Who is most likely to become the leading protagonist ... of the next war? The first challenger who has appeared and is the most well known is the compascii117ter 'hacker',' two People's Liberation Army (PLA) colonels, Qiao Liang and Wang Xiangsascii117i, wrote in a 1999 book, 'ascii85nrestricted Warfare.'

Developing coascii117ntries can beat more developed coascii117ntries with war tactics that transcend boascii117ndaries, they argascii117ed.

'We ascii117rgently need to expand oascii117r field of vision regarding forces which can be mobilized, in particascii117lar non-military forces,' they wrote.

One of the best do*****ented, and coordinated, hacking attacks oascii117t of China was reported last year. It took place against exiled Tibetans, an attack that seemed motivated by politics, not profit.

'It's the political connection that many ascii117se to provide the link to the Chinese government,' Villeneascii117ve said.

Similar attacks have targeted foreign reporters in China, and individascii117als and groascii117ps pascii117shing for greater hascii117man rights.