This report documents the GhostNet - a suspected cyber espionage network of over 1,295 infected computers in 103 countries, 30% of which are high-value targets, including ministries of foreign affairs, embassies, international organizations, news media, and NGOs.

The capabilities of GhostNet are far-reaching. The report reveals that Tibetan computer systems were compromised giving attackers access to potentially sensitive information, including documents from the private office of the Dalai Lama. The report presents evidence showing that numerous computer systems were compromised in ways that circumstantially point to China as the culprit. But the report is careful not to draw conclusions about the exact motivation or the identity of the attacker(s), or how to accurately characterize this network of infections as a whole. The report argues that attribution can be obscured.

The report concludes that who is in control of GhostNet is less important than the opportunity for generating strategic intelligence that it represents. The report underscores the growing capabilities of computer network exploitation, the ease by which cyberspace can be used as a vector for new do-it-yourself form of signals intelligence. It ends with warning to policy makers that information security requires serious attention.

On average, 740 000 people die as a result of armed violence each year. This publication will help the international community to understand the dynamics of armed violence and outlines what can be done to reduce it.

Armed Violence Reduction identifies a number of significant emerging trends. Firstly, conflict and crime are increasingly linked. Secondly, levels of armed violence are a severe challenge in many non-conflict countries. Thirdly, increasing youth populations in the global South and the emergence of ungoverned urban spaces and youth gangs are a growing reality in many parts of the world. Alongside this, there are increasing links between local, national, regional and global security issues, for example through the trafficking of drugs, arms or people.

Armed Violence Reduction presents a number of well-researched avenues that can help respond to the above challenges and ultimately help enable development.

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©The SecDev Group  2009