Joint chiefs chair suggests Chinese hacking not necessarily a hostile act

02/15/12: CNN reports that General Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that should China's military be found to be behind hacks into the US infrastructure, it would not necessarily be a hostile act. General Dempsey  said he "believe(s) someone in China is hacking into our systems and stealing technology and intellectual property, which at this point is a crime." But Dempsey said in testimony to the Senate Armed Services Committee that he cannot attribute the Chinese hacking to China's military, the People's Liberation Army (PLA).

12/16/11: Bloomberg reports that Google and Intel were logical targets for China-based hackers, given the solid-gold intellectual property data stored in their computers. An attack by cyber spies on iBahn, a provider of Internet services to hotels, takes some explaining. Hackers might have used iBahn’s system as a launching pad into corporate networks that are connected to it, using traveling employees to create a backdoor to company secrets. The networks of at least 760 companies, research universities, Internet service providers and government agencies were hit over the last decade by the same elite group of China-based cyber spies.

12/12/11: The Atlanta Journal Constitution reports that as few as 12 different Chinese groups, largely backed or directed by the government there, commit the bulk of the China-based cyberattacks stealing critical data from US companies and government agencies, according to US cybersecurity analysts and experts.  The aggressive but stealthy attacks, which have stolen billions of dollars in intellectual property and data, often carry distinct signatures allowing US officials to link them to certain hacker teams. Analysts say the US often gives the attackers unique names or numbers, and at times can tell where the hackers are and even who they may be.

Thread: China-Based Cyberattacks on US Companies and Government Agencies