Thread: China's hackers stealing US defence secrets, says congressio

China's hackers stealing US defence secrets, says congressional panel
Owen Bowcott
guardian.co.uk, Thursday November 20 2008 17.45 GMT

China is stealing sensitive information from American computer networks and stepping up its online espionage, according to a US congressional panel.

Beijing's investment in rocket technology is also accelerating the militarisation of outer space and lifting it into the "commanding heights" of modern warfare, the advisory group claims. The strident warning, which may have a chilling effect on relations between the two Pacific powers, comes in the annual report of the US-China economic and security review commission due today.

A summary of the study, released in advance, alleges that networks and databases used by the US government and American defence contractors are regularly targeted by Chinese hackers. "China is stealing vast amounts of sensitive information from US computer networks," says Larry Wortzel, chairman of the commission set up by Congress in 2000 to investigate US-China issues.

The commission, consisting of six Democrats and six Republicans, says in its unanimous report that China's military modernisation and its "impressive but disturbing" space and computer warfare capabilities "suggest China is intent on expanding its sphere of control even at the expense of its Asian neighbors and the United States."

The commission recommends that the US upgrade its intelligence and homeland security systems protecting computer networks. It quotes the Chinese military strategist, Wang Huacheng, as describing US dependence on space assets and information technology as its "soft ribs".

There are 250 hacker groups in China, the report says, including some whose members have been trained at Chinese military academies.

"China is aggressively pursuing cyber warfare capabilities that may provide it with an asymmetric advantage against the United States," the commission says.

"In a conflict situation, this advantage would reduce current US conventional military dominance ... in 2007 the 10 most prominent US defense contractors, including Raytheon, Lockheed Martin, Boeing, and Northrop Grumman, were victims of cyber espionage through penetrations of their unclassified networks."

China's space programme is "steadily increasing the vulnerability of US assets", the report says. Technical improvements in satellite imagery enable China to locate US aircraft carrier battle groups more accurately, faster and from further away.

The People's Liberation Army officer and author Cai Fengzhen is quoted as saying that the "area above ground, airspace and outer space are inseparable and integrated. They are the strategic commanding height of modern informationalised warfare".

"If this becomes Chinese policy," the report says, "it could set the stage for conflict with the United States and other nations that expect the right of passage for their spacecraft."

"China could use laser technology to blind temporarily a US reconnaissance satellite operating over international waters. This action could be viewed by many as purely defensive. However, China also could use its ASAT capability to destroy a US satellite operating over its territory."

"China has significant anti-satellite capabilities. The capabilities go far beyond those demonstrated in the January 2007 'test' that destroyed an obsolete Chinese weather satellite. They include co-orbital direct attack weapons and directed energy weapons for dazzling or damaging satellites, both of which currently are under development."

Relations between China and the United States are businesslike and have not been under severe strain recently. During the presidential election campaign, Barack Obama said: "China is rising, and it's not going away," adding that Beijing was "neither our enemy nor our friend; they're competitors".

Allegations that Chinese hackers penetrate US defence computers have been made before, including reports of attacks on the Pentagon supposedly backed by China's army. US intelligence gave the assaults the codename Titan Rain. In Britain last year, Chinese hackers were said to have breached networks used by the foreign office, the House of Commons and Whitehall departments.

China has said it is not trying to undermine other countries' interests and wants to maintain good relations with the US.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/no ... rity-obama

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
guardian.co.uk, Thursday November 20 2008 18.30 GMT

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.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/20 ... ry-hacking

And to think that we as consumers have handed the communists all the money they need to carry out their military buildup.Maybe all of our politicians have retirement homes in china.