A sharp new cyber case has put a Nanjing company at the centre of a much wider political row. The U.S. Justice Department says it has disrupted an alleged Chinese hacking operation penetrating NASA, the Senate, the Federal Reserve and other sensitive U.S. networks.
美国司法部近日公布的一起网络案件，将一家南京公司推到了更大范围的政治争议之中。美方称，其已挫败一起据称来自中国的黑客行动，目标涉及NASA、美国参议院、联邦储备系统以及其他敏感的美国网络。
According to the department, the operation used two platforms known as QScan and QTRouter. Court documents unsealed in California say both were operated by a PRC state-sponsored group called QTFY, which the Justice Department says was employed by Nanjing Xinjiuwei Network Technology. The FBI has seized domains connected to the platforms in an effort to cut off access.
据美国司法部介绍，这次行动使用了两个名为QScan和QTRouter的平台。加州公开的法庭文件称，这两个平台由一个名为QTFY、被美方认定具有中国国家背景的组织运作；美国司法部称，该组织受雇于南京鑫玖维网络科技有限公司。美国联邦调查局已扣押与这些平台相关的域名，试图切断其访问通道。
The target list is broad. NASA, the Federal Reserve, the Justice Department, the Energy Department, the Health and Human Services Department, the National Institutes of Health and the Senate are all named. Reuters also reported that military networks, hospitals, power companies and defence contractors were targeted, with victims in both the United States and South Korea.
被点名的目标范围很广。NASA、美国联邦储备系统、司法部、能源部、卫生与公众服务部、国家卫生研究院以及美国参议院都在其中。路透社还报道称，军事网络、医院、电力公司和防务承包商也成为目标，受影响对象遍及美国和韩国。
Officials said QScan scanned and infected thousands of internet-of-things devices around the world, then fed them into QTRouter, an obfuscation network made up of compromised devices, proxy services and leased servers. The aim, they said, was to make malicious traffic appear to come from somewhere else, sometimes even from inside or near the victim network.
官员表示，QScan会扫描并感染全球数以千计的物联网设备，再将这些设备接入QTRouter；后者由被攻陷设备、代理服务和租用服务器组成，是一个用于掩盖真实来源的混淆网络。美方称，其目的在于让恶意流量看起来像是来自别处，有时甚至像是从目标网络内部或附近发出。
An Awkward Moment for Nanjing
对南京而言，这不是一个轻松的时刻
Having lived and worked in Nanjing for more than 20 years as an international journalist, this correspondent has watched the city work hard to become a genuinely international metropolis; attracting foreign investment, building overseas links and trying to earn confidence as a place in which international companies can do business.
作为一名在南京生活和工作了20多年的国际媒体人，本文记者亲眼见证了这座城市为成为一座真正的国际化大都市所付出的努力；吸引外资、拓展国际联系，并努力建立一个值得国际企业信赖的营商环境。
Allegations of this scale, even when they involve only one Nanjing company, risk cutting against those efforts. That is not to suggest the city itself bears responsibility; rather, reputation is built slowly, while headlines linking the name “Nanjing” with allegations involving NASA, the U.S. Senate and other federal institutions can travel around the world very quickly.
即使此次指控只涉及南京的一家公司，如此严重的事件仍可能对这些长期努力产生负面影响。这并不是说南京这座城市本身应为此承担责任；只是城市声誉需要多年积累，而一旦“南京”这个名字因为涉及NASA、美国参议院等联邦机构的黑客指控登上新闻，这样的消息却可以在很短时间内传遍世界。
The diplomatic background remains tense. China’s embassy in Washington told Reuters it was not familiar with the specific allegations, but said Beijing opposes cyberattacks. Washington, meanwhile, is treating the seizures as part of a longer campaign to disrupt state-linked hacking infrastructure, rather than as a one-off action.
外交背景依旧紧张。中国驻美国大使馆对路透社表示，对具体指控并不了解，但强调中国反对网络攻击。与此同时，华盛顿方面则将此次域名扣押视为一项更长期行动的一部分，目标是破坏被指具有国家背景的黑客基础设施，而不是一次性的处置。
The seizure of a few domains may sound modest. In cyber conflict, it is not. The Justice Department says the domains were essential to communications involving QScan and QTRouter, and that their seizure rendered both platforms inoperable.
扣押几个域名听上去或许不算什么大事，但在网络对抗中并非如此。美国司法部称，这些域名对于QScan和QTRouter的通信至关重要，而此次扣押已使两个平台无法继续运行。
For the operators behind them, rebuilding that infrastructure may now be the next task. For Nanjing, meanwhile, the uncomfortable part is simpler; a company carrying the city’s name has found itself in an international story that the city would surely rather not be telling.
对于背后的操作者而言，重新搭建相关基础设施或许将成为下一步不得不面对的问题。而对于南京来说，不那么舒服的地方则更简单：一家带着“南京”二字的公司，如今出现在了一则这座城市恐怕并不希望与自己产生关联的国际新闻中。
