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China Denies Responsibility For US Government Data Breach

schwit1 writes: On Friday, Beijing responded to allegations from Washington that China was responsible for a cyberattack on the U.S. Office of Personnel Management that compromised the personal data of some 4 million government employees. The accusations, China's foreign ministry said, are "irresponsible" and "groundless." The OPM breach is the latest in a string of cyber 'incidents' that have coincidentally occurred in the wake of the Pentagon's new cyber strategy.

ZeroHedge argues, "Whether or not the most recent virtual attack on the U.S. did indeed emanate from China or one of Washington's other so-called "cyberadversaries" (the list includes Iran, Russia, and North Korea) will likely never be known the public, but rest assured the blame will be placed with a state actor so as to ensure the DoD has some precedent to refer to when, for whatever reason, the Pentagon decides it's time to deploy an "offensive" cyberattack later on down the road."

Irrespective of where the attack originated, it appears obsolete technology was ultimately to blame, because as Bloomberg reports, "Einstein" wasn't much help in preventing the intrusion: "It's behind schedule, the result of inter-agency fights over privacy, control and other matters, and only about half of the government was protected when the hackers raided OPM's databases last December. It's also, by the government's own admission, already obsolete. Over the last several months, U.S. officials have said that perimeter-based defenses such as Einstein, even backed by the National Security Agency's own corps of hackers, can never prevent break-ins."

2 of 144 comments (clear)

  1. Re:It doesn't matter matter who did it by Karmashock · · Score: 0, Troll

    Did you have anything specific you wanted to cite as being untrue or are you too afraid to engage in a real discussion where your baseless insults can be shredded for the moronic drek they are?

    Grow a pair you spineless AC shitstain. Try to sustain an argument against me in anything but a cowardly one off comment followed by you running away with your tail between your legs.

    Try me.

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    I've decided to stop wasting my time responding to AC trolls/sockpuppets... so if you want a response from me... login.
  2. Re:what does this have to do with weather by Opportunist · · Score: 1, Troll

    It's an honest mistake. He comes from a country where the news are basically the government's mouthpiece.

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    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.