Cyberattacks Linked To Chinese Universities

Remember that one time when Chinese hackers attacked Google? The attacks have been linked to universities with close military and government ties and are thought to have begun months earlier than previously believed, so as Matt Browner Hamlin says:

... It’d be great if Chinese acts of cyber espionage and industrial espionage had the power to influence the course of talks between the US and Chinese governments in the same way as, say, President Obama’s decision to hold a brief meeting with the Dalai Lama. For now, that does not to seem to be the case.

IT industry leaders and security experts are warning the US government that they need to get serious about Internet security. Very serious, as reported in PC World:

... "If the nation went to war today, in a cyberwar, we would lose," Mike McConnell told a U.S. Senate committee. "We're the most vulnerable. We're the most connected. We have the most to lose."

McConnell, director of national intelligence from 2007 to 2009, predicted that the U.S. government would eventually get heavily involved in protecting cybersecurity and in regulating private approaches to cybersecurity. Testifying before the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, McConnell also predicted that the U.S. would make little improvements in its cybersecurity before a "catastrophic" attack will cause the government to get involved. ...

Sens. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) and Olympia Snowe (R-ME) have introduced the Cybersecurity Act to improve government responsiveness to what have become constant hacker attacks on private, institutional and government data. As more communication and economic infrastructure moves online, the potential for a cyberwar to bring commerce to a halt is significant.

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