Editor’s Note: In May 2011, the Wall Street Journal published an article titled “Pentagon: Cyber Attacks Can Count as Acts of War.” The article began, “The Pentagon has concluded that computer sabotage coming from another country can constitute an act of war, a finding that for the first time opens the door for the U.S. to respond using traditional military force.”
A U.S. report on cyber-terrorism and cyber-warfare says that China’s government and military have been behind multiple assaults on U.S. computer systems.
The attacks were on the diplomatic, economic and defense sectors. The targets all had some kind of benefit to China’s defense program.
“In 2012, numerous computer systems around the world, including those owned by the US government, continued to be targeted for intrusions, some of which appear to be attributable directly to the Chinese government and military,” the U.S. Defense Department report read.
China has long been suspected of cyber attacks on U.S. military systems and civilian defense contractors. The government has resisted making public claims against China but in the last few months a series of hacking attacks and reports from U.S. security firms have raised the level of criticism.
In February, U.S. cyber security firm Mandiant released a report documenting hundreds of cyber-attacks committed by a Chinese military unit based in Shanghai.
