Chinese government-backed hackers continue to penetrate and steal information from  large US personnel data repositories. Our government gnashes its teeth and may issue a statement. These attacks are not about grabbing credit cards or frequent flyer miles, creating mayhem with political messaging, or pure mischief. These infiltrations by the Chinese are all about an industrial scale preparation… Keep reading →

NEWSEUM: After more than a year of saying that the United States is losing its relative edge in military technology to China and Russia, the Pentagon’s top weapons buyer upped the ante today and said that the top American advantage — space — “is particularly bad” because both Russia and China are fielding a suite of anti-satellite capabilities.… Keep reading →

The Chinese just walked out of Anthem’s enormous data warehouse (though without encrypting their data it might as well have been a troop of Girl Scouts) with personal data on a quarter of America’s population. Assuming that the pro forma outrage and denial is a confirmation of culpability, the People’s Liberation Army and its various subsidiaries will… Keep reading →

WASHINGTON: If you want to understand why President Obama spoke so much about terrorism in his widely panned West Point speech, the head of Pentagon intelligence explained it pretty well today. Terrorism is and remains the top threat to the United States, Defense Undersecretary for Intelligence Mike Vickers said this morning at the Center for… Keep reading →

WASHINGTON: The Justice Department’s indictment of five People’s Liberation Army officers on charges of cyber-espionage may prove to be a double-edged sword for the US military. The Department of Justice announced the indictments for cyber espionage on Monday. While the Justice Department accused the five of stealing things, the Chinese have a very different view.… Keep reading →

PENTAGON: The kabuki of high-level international press conferences often successfully softens the sharp divisions that may lurk beneath the surface of the relationship between two countries. When those countries are a burgeoning China and a wary United States it’s almost impossible to hide all the differences and so it was at today’s press conference featuring… Keep reading →

WASHINGTON: The United States military will meet next week with People’s Liberation Army officials to begin the challenging process of hammering out cyber rules of the road, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Martin Dempsey, said today. So far, Dempsey told an audience of several hundred at the Brookings Institution, Chinese officials… Keep reading →

OK — before anyone gets grumpy because they can’t understand the Arabic, this is just a bit of shameless promotion on a Friday about a skein of very serious subjects — hacking, cyber espionage and cyber warfare. Sky News Arabia interviewed me recently after reading my piece on how China recruits hackers to cast the… Keep reading →

WASHINGTON: Cyberspace is an inherently unstable realm where traditional strategic concepts of deterrence and defense break down – and it’s the United States that has the most to lose from that instability, warns a forthcoming report from the Cyber Conflict Studies Association. “The Cyber Conflict Studies Association’s two-year study has lead to the sobering conclusion… Keep reading →