Shawn Carpenter

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Shawn Carpenter is an American Navy veteran (previously employed by Sandia National Laboratories) who tracked down a Chinese cyberespionage ring that is code-named Titan Rain by the FBI. He came to national attention when his story was reported on in the September 5, 2005 issue of Time magazine.

Carpenter was an employee of Sandia National Laboratories, investigating security breaches in its networks. However, upon tracking several breaches of Sandia, Lockheed Martin Corporation, Redstone Arsenal, and even NASA, dating back to 2003, Carpenter noticed patterns that began to appear to link the attacks to a single group. He was also impressed by the meticulous, voracious, and incredibly fast manner (sometimes completed in less than 30 minutes) in which the hackers operated. Such observations led him to alert the federal government of his findings.

His employment was later terminated due to Sandia's strict policy of confidentiality. Carpenter reportedly felt betrayed by the termination, as he viewed his actions were a service to his country, similar to that of his previous military service.

The Titan Rain hacking operation was first reported in an August 25, 2005 Washington Post article by Bradley Graham, which didn't mention Carpenter. Graham listed anonymous governmental officials as his sources.

[edit] External links

• Washington Post article "Hackers Attack Via Chinese Web Sites"
• Time article "The Invasion Of The Chinese Cyberspies (And the Man Who Tried to Stop Them)"
• Time article "China's New Game"
• The Straits Times article "Seaports Face Twin Threat of Attack and Cyber Terrorism"
• Time article "Inside the Chinese Hack Attack"
• CNN article "FBI probes for Chinese cyber spies"
• ZDNet "How the undermining of US intelligence continues in cyberspace"
• Albuquerque Journal "Battle Against Hackers Costs Employee Job"
• Searchsecurity.com article "The Case of Shawn Carpenter: A Cautionary Tale"
• Computerworld article "Guard Against Titan Rain Hackers"
• Five Magazine article "Track a Spy, Lose Your Job"
• National Security Whistleblowers Coalition website
• ZDNet article "Security Experts Lift Lid on Chinese Hack Attacks"
• The Guardian article "Smash and grab, the hi-tech way"
• Arabnews.com article "America Facing a Widespread Crisis of Confidence"
• Breitbart.com article "Hacker attacks in US linked to Chinese military"
• SecurityProNews.com article "Chinese Hackers Attack U.S. Military"
• SFGate.com article "Waging war through the Internet"
• Newsweek article "High-Tech Hunger"
• Taipei Times article "China suspected of using hackers to spy on the UK"
• Government Computer News article "Red Storm Rising"
• Washington Post article "State Department Probes Computer Attacks"
• Washington Post article "Computer Systems Under Attack - Commerce Department Targeted; Hackers Traced to China"
• November 30, 2006 Washington Times article "Chinese Hackers Prompt Navy Site Closure"