Cyber warfare threat seen in China Internet attack

 

The disclosure of China Telecom's hijacking and redirection of Internet web traffic through China last April has opened a rare window into global cyber security and the unfolding, nefarious world of cyber warfare.

 

Cyber threats are rising across borders, across industries and across computers experts say.

 

The latest list of facilities and data centers under attack is extensive. Sites impacted included all branches of the U.S. military, the U.S. Senate and NASA. Unknown is whether the "diversion" was intentional or accidental.

 

What and how much sensitive data was compromised?

 

Did Beijing play a role? Both the Chinese embassy in Washington and China Telecom denied the charges.

 

According to recently published reports the growing importance of cyber warfare to China's armed forces is driving China "to develop more comprehensive computer network exploitation techniques to support strategic intelligence collection objectives and to lay the foundation for success in potential future conflicts."

 

So concludes the "Capabilities of the People's Republic of China to Conduct Cyber Warfare and Computer Network Exploitation," study released late last year by the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission.