US blasts China, Russia over 'extensive' cyberspying

China is in the spotlight again after a US intelligence report accused the country of cyber espionage. The country is using the data stolen as a result to strengthen its own economy, and is a threat to both American progress and the economy overall, the report says.

"Many states view economic espionage as an essential tool in achieving national security and economic prosperity", the report reads. "Their economic espionage programs...could give these states a competitive edge over the United States and other rivals".

While China is accused of the majority of cyberspying, the report also states that Russia has set up an "extensive and sophisticated" network on its own. China is likely using its efforts to bolster an already booming economy, however, Russia's reasons for cyber espionage stem out of a need to diversify its economy and fight back against an economic system it sees as Western-biased.

Spies turn to the Internet for several reasons. There is a lower risk of detection than attempting to collect the data in person. Spying becomes much faster and far cheaper as a result, because broadband networks allow for the instantaneous transfer of massive amounts of data in just seconds, instead of delivering the files in physical form.

Finally, it's much easier for the spy to hide his or her physical location through using a complex system of proxies and the like, hiding their true identity from the victim. With so much of our world's business now on the Internet, it's just there for the taking, the report says.

"Losses of sensitive economic information and technologies to foreign entities represent significant costs to US national security", it argues. The theft of military technology could endanger the US military, the theft of government economic data could harm the country's affairs, and the theft of trade secrets could hurt our businesses efforts to remain competitive in a global marketplace.

The report expects both Russia and China to remain major players in cyber espionage, although it warns that new threats may be on the horizon, and there is an increasing threat from decentralized players.

A great example of this would be the hacktivist group Anonymous, which is affiliated with no government body but has broken into government servers worldwide and published the information it has found on several occasions.

China slammed the report for targeting the country for spying. "Identifying the attackers without carrying out a comprehensive investigation and making inferences about the attackers is both unprofessional and irresponsible", Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said at a news briefing. "I hope the international community can abandon prejudice and work hard with China to maintain online security".

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