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Woods Hole, MIT Targeted By Chinese Hackers

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In this 2015 file photo, students walk on the Massachusetts Institute of Technology campus in Cambridge. (Michael Dwyer/AP, File)
In this 2015 file photo, students walk on the Massachusetts Institute of Technology campus in Cambridge. (Michael Dwyer/AP, File)

The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday that MIT and more than two dozen other universities have been targeted by Chinese hackers. Almost all of the schools have been working with the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution on Cape Cod.

The hackers' apparent goal was to steal maritime technology being developed for military use — for example, a submarine program code named Sea Dragon.

Woods Hole says it's seen no evidence of a security breach.

We explore what kind of technology the Chinese government might be interested in, and just how vulnerable these research institutions are to cyber attacks.

Guest

Howard Marshall, intelligence director for cyber threat intelligence services at Accenture.

Joel Brenner, former inspector general of the National Security Agency and head of U.S. Counterintelligence in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and currently a senior research fellow at MIT.

This article was originally published on March 05, 2019.

This segment aired on March 5, 2019.

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