International Cyber War: Washington drops gloves over Chinese hacking

A US report on alleged recent Chinese hacking attacks on US targets marks a turning point in the cyber war. Never before has cyber espionage aimed at the US been publicly documented and politicized so thoroughly. 

A weary smile - that is the extent international security experts have for recent headlines that Chinese cyber-spies allegedly infiltrated overseas networks and stole massive amounts of data from US companies, media and think tanks.

The discovery of the Ghostnet cyber spying operation in 2009 made it abundantly clear years ago that Chinese hackers not only possess the ability to launch large-scale espionage attacks - they also put those skills into practice. Ghostnet, which is believed to be operated from China, infiltrated political and economic locations in about 100 countries. That makes it one of the largest-scale cyber espionage attacks ever.

Much more crucial than reports about recent Chinese hacker attacks are the circumstances of the announcements and the political consequences, experts say. In a 78-page report released in February, the American cyber-security company Mandiant details how a group of hackers operating from Shanghai has spied on at least 141 US companies since 2006, stealing several hundred terabytes of data.

Read more: Washington drops gloves over Chinese hacking | World | DW.DE | 01.03.2013