A Pakistani wrote the original e-mail requesting assistance from his Chinese friend, claiming that his group, which has 42,000 members, was under constant assault from Indian hackers.  His Chinese friend then reposted their correspondence with a list of reasons why Chinese hackers should come to their aid.  The posting hit a cord with the Chinese and it has gone viral.

This looks very similar to the warning signs we saw during the run up to the CNN attack.  However, we have not found specific targets or groups organizing/planning attacks.

(The following post is very long but should give you an idea why the letter has appealed to the Chinese sense of nationalism and calls for assistance.)

Our Pakistani brothers hope that the Chinese Red Hacker Alliance will reach out their hand in mutual assistance

I am a normal Chinese citizen and due to a lucky coincidence, have become acquainted with several Pakistani friends. After knowing them for a short period of time, I have come to the profound understanding that even though the Chinese and Pakistani people have different religions, there is an ingrained friendship.

Perhaps you are all aware that China and Pakistan established diplomatic relations more than half a century ago and the relationship has always been one of intimate friends and brothers. Even during the crisis of ’89, Pakistan was the only country in the world to stand by China (North Korea and Cuba abstained from voting on UN sanctions against China).

During the time when India occupied our Tibetan territory and supported separatist activities, Pakistan and China signed a border agreement. You need to know that every inch of the Pakistani controlled section of Kashmir land that was turned over to China, required the Islamic fighter’s blood to snatch it back from India. Furthermore it is the only country in the entire world that has a children’s elementary textbook which has expressly written, “China is our staunch ally.”

During the earthquake on May 12th, I was in the disaster stricken area and saw the homeless suffering in the torrential rains. The Pakistani strategic reserve continuously brought streams of tents to the disaster stricken area, even though they are not wealthy. (fuzzy here) When we wanted to pay for these materials, Pakistani officials declined saying, “During this time when our Chinese brethren need help, we would charge them?!” Similarly during the earthquake, a group of South Koreans on Youtube were taking delight at our misfortune and insulting the Chinese people. It was our Pakistani internet friend who rose up in mass against it. While there have been changes in the government due to Pakistan’s turbulent political situation, their friendship with China has not been altered. Moreover, they have done their utmost to fight terrorism (they have allowed China’s military forces to cross the border for counter-terrorism operations…in addition, Pakistan beheaded the East Turkestan Liberation Organization bandit Hasan Mahsum.)

I remembered in ’06, participating in the reception for Pakistani premier’s visit to Chengdu and after planting a Sino-Pakistani friendship tree, he said sentence, “Deeper than the oceans higher than the mountains.” Even now, this was unforgettable. Our Pakistani brothers don’t merely talk, they do what they say. For independently researching and developing the nuclear weapon after the mid-90s, they were isolated and sanctioned by the United States. However, Pakistan’s rival India also developed the nuclear weapon but was tolerated by the United States.

After 9/11, even though tensions between the US and Pakistan eased, the US requested that Pakistan end its alliance with China. Just like India, the US wanted Pakistan to become a bridgehead for containing China. However, the Pakistani president at that time, Musharraf, declined and conversely increased military cooperation with China. We jointly developed the FC-1 fighter with Pakistan, and when the “Fierce Dragon” flags of China and Pakistan were unfurled during the Pakistani troop review, it clearly gave the US an explicit answer of –NO! We have also received a lot of Western technology through Pakistan and Pakistan has no reservations about this at all. Our pilots can fly their F-16s at anytime. Isn’t this enough?

======The following is the important content========

Today, I came here to put up this post but not merely to tell you that Pakistan is our ally but because Pakistan has recently become stuck in a predicament. India, after the last terrorist abduction incident, even though its own response was detrimental blamed it on Pakistan. Not only are they massing troops on the border, they are using network attacks on Pakistan’s large-scale websites in order to provoke an incident. Below is an e-mail sent to me by a Pakistani friend:

(Text is in English)
Re: Special regards in this special day 2008/12/29
bro i need ur help infact i need china’s help…. at ORKUT(social networking site) indians hack our community ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF PAKISTAN “IRP” this community has 42,000 members and now hindus pentrate and start abusing…plz do somthing plzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz am waiting for ur help and reply..

(Text in Chinese)
======The meaning is that their social network has been attacked and hope that I/we can help them counter-attack====

The following is my reply mail:

(Text in English)
Re： Re: Special regards in this special day 2008/12/31
hi bro!
Happy New Year!
I know now Pakistan is facing difficulties. I assure you that we will at any time in the same boat. If the Indians need a war, we will give it,but the losers must be Indians.

Now we are on the Indian provocation,OK,PLZ wait a while. Needn’t a long time, Indians will know how stupid they are.
If the allies are in deep distress, we will use force to defend the dignity of the allies, Plz believe it.58 years ago, China had been established for ONE year. When the U.S. invasion of North Korea, we are duty-bound to send the army. To friends, we are never afraid of the enemy, no matter how powerful.
If China declare war to India, I will join the army, I am willing to fighting for brother.

BTW, I’m not a hacker, so sorry.

(Text in Chinese)
===Speaking truthfully, my letter is very half-hearted because there is little I can do to help them. Hacker attack and defense is all Greek to me. All I can do is console them but I always remember that they view us as very trustworthy people. However, when we do nothing, how can I tolerate that I am personally such a coward. Be aware that on the first day of the new year, replied to my e-mail. Below is the reply from my Pakistani friend:

(Text in English)
hi bro..
happy new year i’ve read in my books chinese people celebrate this event for 15days..hmmm long celebrations thanks a lot bro…we believe u and in case of any war i will fight along wid u brother in arms…hehe brother plz i know chinese hackers are best in the world as they r best in KUNG-FU i need help plz do somthing for me..

(Text in Chinese)
In their eyes, Chinese friends are very loyal and powerful but I have no way to help them at all. So I put up this post today hoping that all friends will help our Pakistani brothers (fuzzy) Okay? I can’t do anything but I can help everyone understand the situation. In Pakistan, people believe that all Chinese are good at Kung-Fu. I told them that everyone is good at Kung-Fu, that the justice in everyone’s heart is the power, if you are righteous, you have Kung-Fu. If you are an able knight, please help out our true friends, I know you all can!

benbenyw

“A group of patriotic youth active on the net engaged in attacks on Indonesian government web sites, under the alias ‘China Redhackers.’ This patriotic action received a great deal of reporting and praise in the domestic and overseas media. The name China Redhackers began here.”

Chu Tianbi’s historical account claims that it was after the 1999 US bombing of the Chinese Embassy in Yugoslavia that created the alliance and when their first web site appeared:

“The second day after the bombing of the Chinese embassy, the first Chinese Red Hacker web site appeared, and a new type of hacker was born – the Red Hacker.”

While there is room for argument about the conceptualized birth date of the Red Hacker Alliance, Sharp Winner and Chu Tianbi are in agreement that it predates Lion’s founding of the Honker Union of China in 2000. Studying Chu Tianbi’s words carefully also reveals that the alliance is not made up of one entity/web site, he clearly tells us that this was when “the first Chinese Red Hacker web site appeared,” not the only, just the first.

The Years 1995-2006

The years 1995 and 1996 were far too tenuous for the neophyte hackers to be declared anything close to an alliance and there is nothing to suggest that communications and links were taking place with other hackers. Linkage between individual cells must be established in order to satisfy one of our primary preconditions for establishment of the Red Hacker Alliance. The only fixed web site we are told about during this time is Gao Chunhui’s homepage that was dedicated to cracking software code. It is also difficult to cast them ideologically as an alliance in these formative years. Individuals from 1995 to 1996 likely held the same nationalistic views as current members but those views cannot be applied to a shared group mentality. The thinking was still “I” am a Chinese hacker not “we” are patriotic Chinese hackers.

Two key elements that disqualify the year 1997 as the birth date of the Red Hacker Alliance are once again the inability to definitively state that there is unifying nationalism and linkage. We are aware Goodwill has founded the Green Army and that there are at least seven other rudimentary hacker sites operating but little else is known about the relationship between these groups. Wan Tao has also registered the site Chinawill under the name “Voice of the Dragon.” At this point in their history, there has not been that one galvanizing event that would spark their sense of “National Humiliation” and transform them into a collective organization.

By 1998 all the elements that define the current organization are present and functioning. The Jakarta riots have produced unity of spirit, which embodies the Red Hacker Alliance and the “Chinese Hacker Emergency Conference Center” was used as a conduit for communications. The emergency conference center provides us with further proof that additional hacker web sites existed at this time, as it would have been unnecessary to establish it for internal communications among its members. Therefore, we can only presume that the purpose of its construction was for external coordination with outside elements; perhaps the seven rudimentary sites that had been set up in 1997.

From 1999 to 2005, we see an expansion of the Red Hacker Alliance with the addition of the Honker Union of China, the reinvention of Chinawill to China Eagle, Javaphile, and the Ultra Right-Wing Chinese Hackers Opposed to Japan Alliance. Not only are more names added to the roster but the frequency of attacks increases along with the publicity that the group attracts. It is highly likely that the actual number of Chinese hacker sites enlarges well beyond what is reported in the open press during this seven-year period. This is practically certain, given that by the middle of 2005 over 250 web sites were linked directly to the Red Hacker Alliance. What is also likely is that the Chinese hackers themselves are somewhat unaware of the extent and numbers of web sites making up the alliance. No information to date suggests that there has ever been a census performed by the Red Hacker Alliance on the composition of their group.

Hopefully, the arguments presented here will convince readers that this is the evolution of a movement and an organization, that there is merit in understanding the intrinsic nature of the body. Just as the moral contained in the ancient saga of the Blind Men and the Elephant, in which each man touches a different part of his body and comes away with a different view of the character of an elephant, we must look at the whole of a thing to fully understand it.