US Considering Taking Action Over China Cyber-Attacks
If you ever wondered what would happen if you started hacking the United States at large, here's a clue. A new report has stated that President Obama's administration is mulling "more assertive" action against China in order to put up an offensive attack against "a persistent cyber-espionage campaign it believes Chinese hackers are waging against U.S. companies and government agencies." What started out as reports that China may have hacked into a few U.S.-based news systems has spiraled completely out of control, and now there's something of a cold war brewing between the two nations when it comes to digital transmissions.
The FBI was already looking into the reports from the WSJ and NYT, but now that things are beginning to unfold internally, it's suggested that the problem is real -- and it could impact the U.S. economy. Furthermore, it's looking more likely that China's government, not just rouge civilians, had something to do with it. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton stated the following: "We have to begin making it clear to the Chinese -- they're not the only people hacking us or attempting to hack us -- that the United States is going to have to take action to protect not only our government, but our private sector, from this kind of illegal intrusions. There's a lot that we are working on that will be deployed in the event that we don't get some kind of international effort under way. Obviously this can become a very unwelcome and even dangerous tit-for-tat that could be a crescendo of consequences, here at home and around the world, that no one wants to see happen."
What's strange is that all of this is playing out in public court. You'd think that governments as large as these two could sort things out behind closed doors, but evidently not. We're certainly hoping that a remedy is found, and quick. Neither nation needs yet another thing on their plate in the form of cyber-hacking.
The FBI was already looking into the reports from the WSJ and NYT, but now that things are beginning to unfold internally, it's suggested that the problem is real -- and it could impact the U.S. economy. Furthermore, it's looking more likely that China's government, not just rouge civilians, had something to do with it. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton stated the following: "We have to begin making it clear to the Chinese -- they're not the only people hacking us or attempting to hack us -- that the United States is going to have to take action to protect not only our government, but our private sector, from this kind of illegal intrusions. There's a lot that we are working on that will be deployed in the event that we don't get some kind of international effort under way. Obviously this can become a very unwelcome and even dangerous tit-for-tat that could be a crescendo of consequences, here at home and around the world, that no one wants to see happen."
What's strange is that all of this is playing out in public court. You'd think that governments as large as these two could sort things out behind closed doors, but evidently not. We're certainly hoping that a remedy is found, and quick. Neither nation needs yet another thing on their plate in the form of cyber-hacking.
