http://thediplomat.com/2015/11/us-cyber-commands-veiled-threat-china-vulnerable-in-cyberspace/
Speaking at this year's Halifax Security Forum, the head of U.S. Cyber Command, who also is the director of the National Security Agency (NSA), Admiral Michael Rogers, issued a vicious warning to China should it not change its behavior in cyberspace.
The U.S. admiral pointed out that China is as vulnerable to cyberattacks as any other nation, according to Defense News. "To my Chinese counterparts, I would remind them, increasingly you are as vulnerable as any other major industrialized nation state. The idea that you can somehow exist outside the broader global cyber challenges I don't think is workable," he said.
By openly pointing to Chinese vulnerabilities, the admiral issued a veiled threat cautioning that China itself may be target of cyber intrusions in the future should Beijing not change its behavior in cyberspace, although Rogers cautioned: "None of us wants behavior on either side that ends up accelerating or precipitating a crisis. That's in no one's interests."
Despite the September 25 joint statements, issued in parallel by the Chinese government and the White House, on how to strengthen bilateral relations in cyberspace–the most positive development between the two countries in this field since the June 2013 Sunnylands summit—tensions between the two countries remain. As a result, the United States has increasingly toughened its stance vis-à-vis alleged Chinese state-sponsored cyberattacks.
For example, in April 2015, U.S. President Barack Obama signed an executive order establishing the first-ever sanctions program specifically designed to deter state-sponsored malicious activities in cyberspace on a strategic scale, declaring such activities a "national emergency."
In addition, already in March 2015, Admiral Mike Rogers said that the United States will step up its active cyber defense postures in order to deter attacks on U.S. critical information infrastructure. He emphasized that hackers will "pay a price" that "will far outweigh the benefit" should they target U.S. critical information infrastructure.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Friday November 27 2015, @11:27AM
Oh, PLEASE. The only people who are not vulnerable to a cyber attack, are those poeple who don't cyber. That is, if your electrical grid lacks any cyber controls, then your electrical grid is safe from a cyber attack. If your automobiles have no computers, they are safe from cyber attacks. If your hydroelectric plants are operated manually, then they are safe from cyberattacks. If you live in a cave without electricity or communications, then you are perfectly safe from cyber attacks.
North Korea is probably safer from cyber attacks than any developed country. The more developed the country, and the more that developed country decides to rely on electronic control, the more vulnerable it becomes.
Maybe we should stop connecting everything we own to the WWW?
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Thexalon on Friday November 27 2015, @12:51PM
There have been several efforts by Mike Rogers to publicly lobby for the NSA to be allowed to go on the offensive against China. This is just yet another excuse.
But imagine this occurring for real war: "Bangalore is practically undefended. Why can't we go in there and attack it, just for fun?"
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 2) by aristarchus on Friday November 27 2015, @11:47PM
So it has come to this: East India Company shills right here on SoylentNews! I never thought I'd see the day, and I've seen more days than most. But then again, the CIA has never met a regime it would not like to change, even domestically.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Friday November 27 2015, @05:09PM
Almost. See: Stuxnet, which made it to machines NOT connected to the Internet.
The U.S. may have looked bad after the Office of Personnel Management hack, but "cyber" offense is always easier than defense. Given the reluctance to treat hacking as an act of war or even acknowledge breaches, we are seeing the opposite of mutually assured destruction (MAD)... assured sustained strikes (ASS).
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Friday November 27 2015, @05:23PM
Yes, and no. Above I mentioned manual control. Manual, as opposed to electronic, digital control. We had televisions before we had digital. We had radio before digital. We had factories before we had digital. We even had automation, before we had digital. Where I work, I still have to work on analog controllers, primarily on dryers that were obsolete 25 years ago.
The centrifuges targeted by stuxnet were electronically and digitally operated, from central computers. Those cyber capable computers were infected. The Iranians are saying, "If only we had disabled and removed the USB ports . . . " And, that brings me back to the idea of disabling and removing all ports from computers that aren't essential to the computer's intended mission.
For instance, there are no desktop machines at work that have floppy drives, or optical drives. So far, so good, right? Well - USB is still enabled on all of them. Pure stupid. Any schmuck can walk up to a computer, and copy anything accessible to a USB stick. Or, he can just install a root kit, or whatever he likes. Equally bad - all of those computers are directly connected to the internet. Firewall? About the only thing that is blocked by our firewall are porn sites, and well known malware sites. Emphasis on "well known" - if I had some desire to download and install malware on the company's computers, it would be several minute's work from home, and just a couple minute's work from work. One thoroughly infected network, coming right up!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 27 2015, @06:08PM
Assured Sustained Strikes... I gotta remember this!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 27 2015, @06:05PM
Oh, PLEASE. The only people who are not vulnerable to a cyber attack, are those poeple who don't cyber.
Why you gotta pick on Kiribati?
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Friday November 27 2015, @06:22PM
I pick on everyone - you think I should refrain from kicking Pacific Islanders? The only people I don't argue with, are those that I don't respect - or those who haven't come to my notice. Actually, that's redundant, isn't it?
(Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 27 2015, @11:41AM
this is a good sign. it used to take one guy in a basement to lay waste to the internet. now it takes a whole country to take down a windows machine. ^_^
(Score: 2) by isostatic on Friday November 27 2015, @02:07PM
Reonel Ramones had an apartment, not a basement
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 27 2015, @11:45AM
it definitly pays to break in to a lock and key manufacturer to steal blueprints for the lock you just broke to get the blueprints.