China Systematically Hacking

Published on Author peaseley

I know this is the second post on this subject but I think it is extremely relevant. The 2013 National Intelligence estimate says that China is systematically hacking nearly every sector of the United States economy. As stated in earlier posts, big name companies all across the nation have reported being attacked. Some sources say that this hacking has already accounted for loses of tens of billions of dollars.Other countries such as Russia and Israel are also suspected of hacking for economic gain. Another important thing to note is that it is difficult to detect hackers and so it is safe to assume their is more hacking that we do not yet know about.

This is an interesting representation of how technology effects and economy. Increases in technology push out the production function causing economic growth, and China is showing that advancements in hacking are having a similarly positive effect on their economy as other technological advancements like more efficient factories. However, the United States is absorbing huge negative externalities  as a result of the hacking. The United States can try diplomatic measures to end this, but they would be unlikely to work. Our government is unable to stop hackers through laws on our own soil so their is no reason to think we would have more success in China.

The best defense is to increase our cyber security. The Defense Department is ramping up their Cyber Command with 4,000 new jobs, which should add protection, but one can only assume China has more hackers working to systematically hack our economy than we have security measures.

My term paper will focus on why China is overcoming us on the cyber front, and what the United States needs to do in response.

http://www.fastcompany.com/3005719/fast-feed/national-intelligence-estimate-china-systematically-hacking-us-companies

5 Responses to China Systematically Hacking

  1. With china being in the news a lot for hacking, to what extent are they using it to maintain a censored presence on the internet? While there have been attacks on news sources such as NY times and washington post, how vulnerable are social networking websites such as Facebook, which maintain large databases of personal information. I think that this is a much greater concern presently than having news sources hacked. It would be interesting to find out what google and other large database holders have experienced in terms of security threats originating from China.

  2. If Chinese hacking has really cost U.S. businesses in the $billions,this is a great concern that needs to be swiftly dealt with by Washington. Efforts to improve our cyber-security are essential, but American diplomats must also be active in warning China of the potential fall-out from cyber attacks. Such attacks should be considered acts of war, with American military retaliation as a potential, but undesirable, outcome.

  4. While I agree that the Chinese hacking issue has become a major problem especially with estimated losses in the billions, I believe it would be rash to consider such attacks as acts of war. A recent article on the discovery website details some of the misconceptions about Chinese hackers. The majority of hackers do not seem to be coordinating with the government or the military, and instead appear to be mostly young, male citizens who are hacking for the sake of fame and glory. On the other hand, the Chinese government knows the leaders of certain hacking groups and has decided to look the other way and may even be learning from their techniques or buying information from them. This issue will not be diffused easily, and it appears that only time will tell if we will be able to curtail hacking attempts.

  5. Getting data on hacking is hard; companies seldom report white collar crime, and this is certainly in that subcategory. Now the DoD and security firms have a vested interest in highlighting this threat. But you all are too young to remember worms and other attacks (two by teenagers) that temporarily brought down much of the internet for a day or two.

    If technology consisted of blueprints, then we might worry a bit, but my guess is that such systems aren’t very vulnerable and the information is very hard to use. The main cost surely is the time lost by workers and executives.