Slashdot Mirror
China Crafts Cyberweapons
MitmWatcher writes to mention that a recent report by the Department of Defense revealed that China is continuing to build up their cyberwarfare units and develop viruses. "'The PLA has established information warfare units to develop viruses to attack enemy computer systems and networks,' the annual DOD report on China's military warned. At the same, Chinese armed forces are developing ways to protect its own systems from an enemy attack, it said, echoing similar warnings made in previous years."
Now we can buy millions of pirated copies of these weapons at almost nothing.
This is just a new battlefield, like between the world wars when everyone scrambled to get together some kind of airforce. Space hasn't been officially militarized yet because of cold war fears that led to a treaty banning that type of activity. It seems that certain powers in the world are changing their mind about that, but I digress...
Yeah, cyberspace (I know, played out term, but it's common vernacular now) is a place (kinda) where strategy can be applied to hamper an enemies war fighting potential. Not only that, it can be the equivalent to infrastructure destruction when targeted at the private sector. Yep, all that advantage without firing a shot, without having to wait for resupply of ammunition and without putting a single person within killing range of the target.
In other words, this is common sense.
Flash forward ten years ... a group of American military commanders are gathered around a conference table deep inside the pentagon to discuss the most recent Chinese cyber attacks on US infrastructure. Voices are raised, tensions are running high, and nobody can seem to reach agreement on the best way forward. But everyone knows that time is running short and that a response is needed.
Suddenly, the huge video conference screen on the wall springs to life. A stern Chinese communist party official appears in a smart beige chairman-Mao suit. The shouting and arguments stop and an eerie silence descends. All eyes turn toward the Chinese official.
He speaks.
"How are you today gentlemen? All your base are belong to us."
Honestly, I am so frustrated with this "its someone else's responsibility to make it work" and other finger pointing paradigms. Its MY stuff, I bought it with legal tender, and if I don't know how to maintain it, do I really have that much business having it?
If my dog made a mess, its obvious to me just what he did and where he did it. If termites made a mess, I can find and put back what they messed up. I feel exactly the same with my computing apparatus, and I highly resent efforts by others ( via DMCA like legal maneuvering ) to keep me ignorant of how my stuff works. It frustrates me to no end to have others make knowledge illegal, enforceable by police at gunpoint, only for the financial gain of blocking off alternative remedies I have for maintenance or customization needs.
Having ANY software vendor locking me in to their "support" is like having the contractor who built my house locking me in for anything I want to do to maintain or modify my house.
Not to say I would want to deprive him of his art of driving nails, but if he was too hard to get along with, or overprices himself, I strongly reserve what I feel is my right to pick up the hammer and saw and do it personally, if need be.
Ignorance is going to be the end of us (US).
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]
or off topic. When a country develops any sort of new military technology that creates increased competition with American military technology there is a political reappraisal. The dramatic example is nuclear technology, but many others exist. The parent poster is pointing out that these revelations of new military technology will not be handled with regard to China as they would with regard to many other nations.
His comment is not particularly insightful, but his assertions are defendable:
Slashdot has reported on attacks apparently coming from within China (titan rain), and attempts by China to disable U.S. spy sats (ground based laser something or other).
The U.S. government continues to grant China 'Favored Trade Nation' status and facilitate the offshoring of work... esecially in manufacturing despite continued resistance from China to enforce safety/humanitarian regulations in those industries (something we require from our other top trading partners, though not from the poorer ones).
The U.S. government continually ignores international organizations such as Amnesty International who attempt to open dialogue about human rights records.
So now China is creating systems designed to realign the BOP on the net. How will the U.S. react? If it's track record holds true, then the U.S. will not react... which is really puzzling. True, if we have it, then others should not be prohibited... but that is now how we treat the non-chinas of the world.
The only disputable or inflamatory statement made by parent is that he actually feels sick about this.
Regards.
# iptables -I INPUT -s 60.0.0.0/8 -j DROP