http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/08/29/news/cyber.php By David Lague August 29, 2007 BEIJING: Diplomatic tension this week over reported Chinese computer attacks on German government networks comes as security experts warn that China is expanding its capacity to wage cyberwar as part of its rapid military buildup. U.S. and other foreign military analysts say that Chinese defense planners have identified the heavy dependence on computers of most modern military forces as a potential weakness that could be exploited in a conflict. They cite articles and reports in Chinese military journals and magazines that suggest attacks aimed at extracting intelligence from enemy computer networks or disrupting communication and signals processing could deliver a decisive military advantage. "It is part of China's concept of unlimited war," said Philip Yang, an expert on the Chinese military and professor of international relations at the National Taiwan University. "The idea of unlimited war means employing all possible means including nontraditional or nonconventional means in the aim of winning the war." While sharp increases in annual defense outlays over much of the past two decades have allowed China to increase the firepower of its conventional and nuclear forces, it has also improved the People's Liberation Army's capacity to exploit information technology, experts say. "Chinese capabilities in this area have evolved from defending PRC networks from attack to offensive operations against adversary networks," Richard Lawless, deputy under secretary of defense for Asian and Pacific affairs, told the House Armed Services Committee in June. As part of its response to the threat of computer attack, the Pentagon last year created a new cyberspace command to coordinate offensive and defensive operations. In a June report to Congress, the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission said that China's top military priority was preventing Taiwan from declaring independence and deterring or delaying the arrival of any intervening forces from the United States or even Japan in the event of conflict. Chinese defense planners also view cyber warfare as a means of undermining the technological edge of American forces, the report said. The report also cited testimony from General James Cartwright, commander of the U.S. Strategic Command, that China was actively mounting cyber reconnaissance of official and private American computer networks in an effort to collect a wide range of important intelligence. "General Cartwright testified that this information is akin to that which in times past had to be gathered by human intelligence over a much longer period of time," the report said. Cartwright, who will next month become vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, also warned that the disruption and chaos arising from a cyberattack could be as psychologically damaging as a weapon of mass destruction, the commission report said. Taiwan government agencies regularly complain of attack from mainland hackers. And, senior Taiwan government officials acknowledge that cyber warfare could threaten the self governing island's security in the event of a conflict with the mainland. Some military experts believe the People's Liberation Army could unleash a concerted offensive against Taiwan's computer and communications network aimed at undermining the island's defenses and morale before a conventional attack or blockade. "Cyberattack would probably be quite useful in terms of economic and psychological impact," Yang said. Some analysts argue that Taiwan's advanced computing and information technology industry would allow the island's military to resist cyberattack more readily than countering China's mounting conventional firepower. Cyber warfare is one of the few areas of conflict where Taiwan could be confident of maintaining an edge over the mainland, senior Taiwan government officials say. Tension over the suspected hacking, first reported Sunday in the German news magazine Der Spiegel, dominated the three-day visit to China by Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, which ended Wednesday. Without directly accusing the Chinese military or confirming the computer espionage, the German leader signaled that ties between the two countries were at risk after meeting Monday with Prime Minister Wen Jiabao. "We must together respect a set of game rules," Merkel said, referring to the reported hacking at a joint news conference with Wen. "We need mutual respect and we need to respect intellectual property rights." In a sharp departure from the strident official denials that normally follow accusations of spying, China was almost contrite in offering to work with Germany to stamp out hacking. Der Spiegel reported that German security experts in May had discovered spying software, so-called spyware, infecting computers in government departments including the Foreign Ministry, the Research and Development Ministry, the Economics Ministry and Merkel's office. A group of hackers believed to be linked to the Chinese military had infiltrated these computers and the spyware was sending data back to China, the report said, citing an investigation by German intelligence services. At their joint news conference, Merkel and Wen declined to say if they had discussed the report. Without denying the computer attack, Wen attempted to distance the Chinese government from any hacking. "When the Chinese government ascertained there were reports saying hackers were breaking into the German computer system, we in the government took it as a matter of grave concern," he said. "Hackers breaking into and sabotaging computers is a problem faced by the entire world," he said. "We are willing to maintain cooperation with the German government and take firm and effective action to prevent all hacking acts that threaten computer systems." The Chinese Foreign Ministry was even more explicit. "The Chinese government has always opposed and forbidden any criminal acts undermining computer systems including hacking," a Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Jiang Yu, said in a statement posted on the ministry's Web site. "We have explicit laws and regulations in this regard. Hacking is an international issue and China is a frequent victim." Some military analysts say it is possible that amateur or so-called "patriotic hackers" in China were responsible for the attacks, but they also note that it would be difficult to operate a large-scale operation against a foreign government without alerting China's vigilant cyberpolice. Visit signals thaw with Japan The Chinese defense minister kicked off a five-day visit to Japan on Wednesday, the first such visit in nearly a decade and a sign of thawing relations despite concerns in Tokyo over rising Chinese military spending, The Associated Press reported from Tokyo. The Chinese defense minister, Cao Gangchuan, will inspect and address Japan's self-defense troops, and meet his Japanese counterpart, Masahiko Komura, to discuss bolstering defense cooperation, according to the Japanese Defense Ministry. Cao and Komura will consider setting up a defense hot line to bolster communication between the countries' militaries, as well as reciprocal port calls by navy ships, the ministry said. International Herald Tribune Copyright 2007 ____________________________________ Attend HITBSecConf2007 - Malaysia Taking place September 3-6 2007 featuring seven tracks of technical training and a dual-track security conference with keynote speakers Lance Spitzner and Mikko Hypponen! - Book your seats today! http://conference.hitb.org/hitbsecconf2007kl/
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