Washington Post: Mass cyber espionage campaign underway against the USA

A recent report by the US intelligence said that the United States is the object of a long-term massive cyber espionage campaign that threatens the country's economic competitiveness, writes the Washington Post.

It is alleged that China seeks to most aggressively penetrate the computer systems of American companies and institutions in order to gain access to data that can be used for economic gain.

The report, which represents the unanimous opinion of the US intelligence community, describes a wide range of sectors that have been the focus of hackers for the past five years: energy, finance, information technology, and the aerospace and automotive industries.
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According to third-party experts, the economic damage from espionage can be tens of billions of dollars. Publications sources in the administration say that cyber espionage has taken on such a scale that it becomes a matter of national importance.

The report also refers to three other countries — Russia, Israel, and France — like those involved in economic cyber espionage, but, according to the document, their efforts are pale against the background of China’s activities.

Chinese cyber espionage is mainly aimed at commercial purposes related to military equipment. In 2011, when Chinese hackers attacked RSA Security, the stolen technology was used to penetrate military-industrial facilities. Shortly thereafter, Chinese hackers infiltrated the networks of defense giant Lockheed Martin, who used RSA Security tokens.

Companies in other sectors have also been targeted. For example, recently the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post have stated that their networks were the targets of attacks originating from China.

Back in 2010, Google announced the hacking of its networks, China was again named the source of attacks. Then the purpose of the attacks were the email accounts of Chinese human rights activists.

In his new book, Google Chairman Eric Schmidt said that China is the “most experienced and active” hacker in the world, adding that we are already living in the era of state cyberwar.