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Cyber security a challenge to U.S.-China ties: White House aide
U.S. National Security Advisor Tom Donilon (center L) talks with China's Vice President Xi Jinping (center R) during a meeting at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing July 25, 2012.
Credit: Reuters/Andy Wong/Pool
NEW YORK |
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Cyber security has become a growing challenge to the economic relationship between China and the United States and Beijing should recognize the scope of the problem, White House national security adviser Tom Donilon said on Monday.
U.S. businesses have been increasingly concerned about the targeted theft of confidential business information and proprietary technologies through cyber intrusions emanating from China, Donilon said in a speech to The Asia Society.
"The international community cannot afford to tolerate such activity from any country," he said, noting that President Barack Obama had vowed in his State of the Union speech last month to protect the U.S. economy against cyber threats.
Donilon's comments were among the most direct by a senior U.S. official, citing China by name as the source of cyber threats, although he did so by referring to the concerns of U.S. businesses rather than the government.
Still, the remarks indicated that Washington has decided to be more public in its condemnation of China for cyber attacks on U.S. companies and rampant cyber espionage.
Donilon said from Obama on down, concern over cyber attacks had become a "key point of concern and discussion" with China at all levels of the two governments. He said the United states would do everything in its power to protect national networks, critical infrastructure and public and private sector property.
He spelled out three requests for China, saying Beijing should recognize the urgency and scope of the problem and the risk it poses to international trade as well as the reputation of Chinese industry and to overall U.S.-China relations.
"Second, Beijing should take serious steps to investigate and put a stop to these activities," Donilon said. "Finally, we need China to engage with us in a constructive direct dialogue to establish acceptable norms of behavior in cyberspace."
Last month, a private U.S. computer security company issued a study accusing a secretive Chinese military unit of being behind a series of hacking attacks on a wide range of American industries.
China has denied the accusations and said it is one of the biggest victims of cyber assaults.
(Reporting by Deborah Charles and Daniel Trotta. Editing by Warren Strobel and Christopher Wilson)
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“Second, Obama should take serious steps to investigate and put a stop to these activities,” Ahmedinajad said. “Finally, we need Obama to engage with us in a constructive direct dialogue to establish acceptable norms of behavior in cyberspace.”
I don’t understanding, hacking from China is unacceptable as comparing to hacking from UK, Europe, Africa or even from within local America is acceptable? I thought hacking had been a growing problem since before Y2K. It is a bigger problem now and with only one country? Obama openly asked for money as penalty, is this another money scam? Or America is having a “growing” concern as they are telling us that technology advantage in America is fading away?
I don’t understanding why the CIA, FBI and the likes activities were never a challenge to US-China ties, or US-non-US ties.
At the same time, in the line of these “US-China accusation news” we should pay attention that public interest in the threats posed by cyber espionage and cyber warfare has grown exponentially over the last six months, due to both powerful rhetoric and some alarming examples like this.
The media also got a rude awakening following the revelations that Chinese hackers have been infiltrating the New York Times and Wall Street Journal over several months. Furthermore, recent cyber attacks that have brought U.S. banks’ websites down hit home pretty hard – people will start to take notice when cyber threats begin to impinge upon their lives, and that includes when it affects where they keep their money. And when the White House itself gets hacked, it’s understandable that Joe Public will sit up and take notice.
Presumably then, many people breathe a sigh of relief when they read in the pages of the Washington Post that the US Cyber Command intends to hire 4,000 new recruits, quintupling its current force. Should this be enough to set the American public’s minds at rest though?
The debate could yet benefit from a more detailed exploration of the extremely powerful reasons why transparency is needed.
First and foremost is the need for America to flex its muscles. It is important to accept that in cyber warfare, offense is typically a step or two ahead of defense. There is no such thing as a cast iron defense strategy when new threats and exploits emerge continually. It is therefore essential that the U.S. candidly communicates the ferocious power of its offensive capabilities as a deterrent. Akin to the scenario of mutually assured destruction at the hands of nuclear weapons during the cold war, the threat of vastly destructive retaliatory capabilities is a powerful deterrent for prospective cyber enemies.
Another reason for an open approach is the danger of mistaken identity. Due to the intricate workings of the cyber threat landscape, misconstrued actions and intent is all too common, and can have drastic consequences. If wrongly suspected of a cyber attack due to ignorance about its capabilities, America could see retaliation from a major world power based on an attack that the U.S. cyber force didn’t even perpetrate.
Finally, a prospective cyber attack might be more pertinently compared to September 11 than to Pearl Harbor because the impact is likely to be felt by civilians. Cyber warfare shifts the military paradigm to make civilian targets a priority over military. Cyber attacks have the potential to bring down critical infrastructure with terrifying ease, crippling water and power supplies, causing the maximum amount of damage to a nation or region.
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