Yesterday, the Financial Times reported:
"The Chinese military hacked into a Pentagon computer network in June in the most successful cyber attack on the US Defence Department, say American officials.
"The Pentagon acknowledged shutting down part of a computer system serving the office of Robert Gates, defence secretary, but declined to say who it believed was behind the attack.
"Current and former officials have told the Financial Times an internal investigation has revealed that the incursion came from the People’s Liberation Army."
Does this mean that China (along with Pakistan and Iran) will be added to the list of nations the Bush Administration wants to attack? Dyre Portents urged caution on several fronts:
"We really need to get our ducks in a row when it comes to national network security. I know why the problem hasn't been fixed and thats cost and lack of political will. Nothing will be done until after something major happens... Needless to say a company that can provide a significantly more secure OS or an adaptive and/or reactive firewall stands to make billions...."
"Additionally its too easy to paint China as the villain here. Anyone capable of cracking our network could have just as easily cracked theirs and launched their attack from a compromised Chinese govt computer. Without inside confirmation that the hacking was by the PLA we'll never be one hundred percent certain. (However we have to treat the attack as though the information downloaded is in the hands of China.) We have in essence moved into an IT cold war in which an individual or group can be as much of a threat to our networks, financial sector, or infrastructure as any state."
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