[BITList] Fwd: [From: Mike Feltham] China winning cyber war, Congress warned

[Michael Feltham]

Begin forwarded message:

From: "guardian.co.uk" <noreply at guardian.co.uk>
Date: 20 November 2008 20:39:58 GMT
To: mj.feltham at madasafish.com
Subject: [From: Mike Feltham] China winning cyber war, Congress warned

Mike Feltham spotted this on the guardian.co.uk site and thought you  
should see it.

To see this story with its related links on the guardian.co.uk site,  
go to http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/nov/20/china-us-military-hacking

China winning cyber war, Congress warned
Panel says China in a position to delay or disrupt the deployment of  
America's military forces around the world
Ed Pilkington in New York
Thursday November 20 2008
guardian.co.uk


China is aggressively developing its power to wage cyber warfare and  
is now in a position to delay or disrupt the deployment of America's  
military forces around the world, potentially giving it the upper hand  
in any conflict, a panel of the US Congress has warned.

The panel's report discloses an alarming increase in incidents of  
Chinese computer attacks on the US government, defence companies and  
businesses. It notes that China now has both the intent and capability  
to launch cyber attacks "anywhere in the world at any time".

The conclusions reached in this year's US-China Economic and Security  
Review are far more dramatic than before. In 2007, it says, about 5m  
computers in the US were the targets of 43,880 incidents of malicious  
activity ? a rise of almost a third on the previous year.

China's ability to wage cyber warfare is now "so sophisticated that  
the US may be unable to counteract or even detect the efforts", the  
report warns.
Given the dependence on the internet of key sectors of US public life,  
from the federal government and military to water treatment, social  
security and the electricity grid, "a successful attack on these  
internet-connected networks could paralyse the US".

The review's six Democrat and six Republican commissioners travelled  
to China, Taiwan, South Korea and Japan, and heard testimony from US  
intelligence agencies for their 393-page report.

There has been concern about Chinese computer espionage since 2002,  
when a large-scale series of cyber intrusions was launched on US  
military and government computer systems. In that attack, codenamed  
Titan Rain by the US, the Chinese downloaded up to 20 terabytes of  
data ? twice the amount stored in the entire print collection of the  
Library of Congress.

Much of the activity is likely to emanate from groups of hackers, but  
the lines between private espionage and government-sponsored  
operations are blurred. Some 250 hacker groups are tolerated, and may  
even be encouraged, by Beijing to invade computer networks. Individual  
hackers are also being trained in cyber operations at Chinese military  
bases.

"China is stealing vast amounts of sensitive information from US  
computer networks, said Larry Wortzel, the commission's chairman.

According to the report, Beijing is investing huge resources in cyber  
and space missions because it sees America's computer networks and  
space assets as its "soft ribs and strategic weaknesses". The extent  
of its activities gives it the potential to beat the US in military  
conflict. Technologically, China has improved its range of satellites,  
so it can now accurately locate US aircraft carrier battle groups  
quickly, and from a great distance. Such information could be used to  
guide Chinese missiles to their targets.

The Chinese government has given no response to the accusations, but  
in the past has complained of cyber attacks coming in the opposite  
direction.

In addition to cyber warfare, the panel warns that Beijing is taking  
an increasingly aggressive stance in its rapidly developing space  
programme. The panel believes China has concluded that space will in  
future be an essential arena of warfare.

It notes that China tested an anti-satellite weapon last year, giving  
it the ability to destroy US satellites, in addition to its existing  
capability to "blind" them by using lasers. So far this year, 15  
rockets and 17 satellites have been put into space.

China became the third country to explore space in 2003, after the  
Soviet Union and the US. Until 2002 Beijing opposed the militarisation  
of space, but it has quietly dropped its opposition since.

China's growing military power, running parallel to its increasing  
economic might, is likely to present challenges to the incoming  
administration of Barack Obama. The president-elect has said that  
"China is rising and it's not going away", although he prefers to  
characterise the US-Chinese relationship as one between "competitors"  
rather than enemies.


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