Report: Chinese espionage is the biggest threat to US technology

A report published this afternoon by a Congressional panel states "Chinese espionage activities in the United States are so extensive that they comprise the single greatest risk to the security of American technologies."

This is the conclusion of the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC), a 12-person bipartisan panel whose members are selected by Congress. The Commission is responsible for advising Congress how to handle major economic and technological issues with China.

State-operated media control over cyber dissidents is a major issue with the United States, and reached a new level after Yahoo and other Internet search engine companies began turning over information to the Chinese government.

"By demanding stiff penalties for dissent on the Internet as well as rewards for journalists who play by the rules," wrote USCC Chairman Carolyn Bartholomew, "Beijing has created one of the most effective information control regimes in the world." Its state-controlled media could lead to a dangerous situation where a minor international problem could transform "a misunderstanding into a conflict," she said.

The fear of a possible "cyber war" between China and its adversaries, or even its allies - the United States among either or both - have led to a number of accusations in recent months. Cyber warfare is described in the report as "disruptive warfare," a "form of non-traditional warfare with the aim of undermining the qualitative advantages of an opponent."

Chinese hackers are probing US networks to gather intelligence on possible weak points to exploit networks, steal data on the networks, understand how the chain of communication works in the US government, and classified projects in which the DoD is engaged, the report states.

Before the Internet became available to everybody, methods to gain the same type of intelligence traditionally took long periods of time; it now takes minutes. One of the report's conclusions is that the Chinese army - formally known as the People's Liberation Army (PLA) - has become increasingly interested in obtaining the skills to launch cyber attacks to acquire foreign intelligence. Meanwhile, the PLA also is working to ensure its own networks are secure to counter attacks.

"The PLA has established information warfare units to develop viruses to attack enemy computer systems and networks," according to a Department of Defense report published last spring.

The report states China also has the ability to launch a cyber proxy war, using servers in Taiwan and Japan to get direct knowledge of American technologies. "A Chinese attack on Taiwan could entail special operations and cyber attacks on US regional bases in Japan and South Korea, and might even include cyber attacks on the US homeland that target the US' financial, economic, energy, and communications infrastructure."

"I think that we should start to consider that regret factors (cyber attack) associated with a cyber attack could, in fact, be in the magnitude of a weapon of mass destruction," said General James E. Cartwright, Commander of US Strategic Command (STRATCOM) and an advisor to the USCC.