U.S. intelligence officials called China the world’s biggest
perpetrator of economic espionage in a report that says the theft
of sensitive data in cyberspace is accelerating.
Hackers and illicit programmers in China and Russia are pursuing
American technology and industrial secrets, jeopardizing an
estimated $398 billion in U.S. research spending, according to the
report released today by the National Counterintelligence
Executive, the agency responsible for countering foreign spying on
the U.S. government.
The report went beyond previous U.S. official assessments in
blaming the two countries for stealing sensitive economic and
commercial information. Areas cited as most targeted include
pharmaceuticals, information-technology, military equipment and
advanced materials and manufacturing processes.
“China and Russia view themselves as strategic competitors of
the United States and
are the most aggressive collectors of U.S. economic information and
technology,” according to the findings. The report drew on
2009-2011 data from at least 13 agencies, including the Central
Intelligence Agency and the Federal
Bureau of Investigation.
The report emphasized the two countries’ use of cyberspace to
conduct espionage against U.S. corporations, government agencies
and universities. Storage of business records, research results,
and economic data in digital form makes it possible for foreign
hackers to “gather enormous quantities of information quickly and
with little risk,” the report said.
“The nations of China and Russia, through their intelligence
services and through their corporations, are attacking our research
and development,” Robert “Bear” Bryant, the U.S. National
Counterintelligence Executive, said at a news conference unveiling
the report. “If we build their economies on our information, I
don’t think that’s right.”
Representative Mike Rogers, the chairman of the U.S. House
Intelligence Committee, said last month that hacker attacks by
China had reached an “intolerable level” and called on the U.S. and
its allies to “confront Beijing.”
China’s “continued theft of sensitive economic information is a
threat to our national security, hurts American businesses and
workers, and causes incalculable harm” to the world economy,
Rogers, a Michigan Republican, said in an e-mail today. “This once
again underscores the need for America’s allies across Asia and
Europe to join forces to
pressure Beijing to end this illegal behavior.”
U.S. corporations and computer security specialists have
reported an “onslaught” of network intrusions originating from
Internet Protocol addresses in China, according to the findings.
The report highlights the technical difficulties in determining
whether such attacks were state-sponsored.
“China’s rapid development and prosperity are attributed to its
sound national development strategy and the Chinese people’s hard
work as well as the ever enhanced economic and trade cooperation
with other countries beneficial to all,” Wang Baodong, a
Chinese embassy spokesman, said in an e-mail. “We are opposed to
willfully making unwarranted allegations against China as firmly as
our opposition to any forms of unlawful cyberspace activities.”
A former senior U.S. intelligence official, speaking on the
condition of anonymity because intelligence matters are classified,
said in a telephone interview that China regards cyberspace as a
free-fire zone where it can steal secrets and plant malware,
sometimes embedded in computers and other equipment before it is
sold to Western companies.
The $398 billion in spending on research and development
occurred in 2008 by U.S. industry, government agencies,
universities and nonprofits, according to National Science
Foundation data cited by the report.
The pace of economic espionage will accelerate in the next
several years, according to the report by the National
Counterintelligence Executive, part of the Office of the Director
of National Intelligence. Increased use of technologies such as
smart phones and cloud computing, which lets users access data and
applications over the Internet, creates vulnerabilities hackers can
exploit, the report found.
The new report faults American companies for not taking the
threat seriously enough.
“Only 5 percent of corporate chief financial officers are
involved in network security matters, and only 13 percent of
companies have a cross-functional cyber risk team that bridges the
technical, financial, and other elements of a company, according to
a 2010 study,” the authors wrote.
The Obama administration issued a cyber security
proposal in May that would require companies to report data
breaches, toughen penalties for computer crimes and direct the
Homeland Security Department to work with banks, utilities and
transportation operators to develop cyber-security plans.
A Republican House task force recommended last month boosting
cyber security for the nation’s critical infrastructure through the
use of voluntary industry standards, incentives and limited
regulation.
from bloomberg