A report released by the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission established by Congress says the Chinese military is ramping up its cyber warfare and espionage capabilities and has infiltrated U.S. networks to steal military secrets.The report cited an unnamed U.S. company that was hacked by Chinese spies in 2007 for stealing large volumes of data using sophisticated techniques that point to involvement of the Chinese government.
“The case study is absolutely clearly controlled and directed with a specific purpose to get at defense technology in a related group of companies,” said Larry Wortzel, vice chairman of the commission, according to the Wall Street Journal. “There’s no doubt that that’s state-controlled.”
The Journal reported that U.S. intelligence agencies estimate $40 billion to $50 billion worth of U.S. intellectual property is stolen each year by hackers from China.
The report brought a rebuke from Chinese diplomats. “The commission has always played up the China threat,” said Ma Zhaoxu, a foreign ministry spokesman. “It has arisen out of a Cold War mindset.”
A previous report published in March by security researchers concluded that a cyberespionage network called GhostNet was based on servers in mainland China.
Report says Chinese cyberspies infiltrate U.S. networks
Published: October 24, 2009