China’s Cyber Advantage and it’s Potential Impact in a U.S. – China Conflict

Last Updated on Sunday, 21 December 2008 01:33 Written by admin Thursday, 20 November 2008 06:47

The U.S. – China Economic and Security Review Commission released its 2008 Annual Report to Congress today. 

The Commission cites Chinese cyber attacks, authoritarian rule, and trade violations as impedments to U.S. Economic and national security interests, and offers 45 recommendations to Congress. 

Here’s an excerpt from the chapter on China’s Cyber activities: 

China’s government is devoting a great deal of attention and resources to developing outer space and cyber space capabilities. China’s military strategists view the U.S.’ dependence on space assets and information technology as its ‘‘soft ribs and strategic weaknesses.’’ These investments by China’s military potentially could provide it with an asymmetric * capability enabling it to prevail in a conflict with U.S. forces.

The Commission reported a 31% increase from 2007 figures of cyber incidents on DOD networks.

Recommendations include the following:

• The Commission recommends that Congress assess the adequacy of and, if needed, provide additional funding for military, intelligence, and homeland security programs that monitor and protect critical American computer networks and sensitive information, specifically those tasked with protecting networks from damage caused by cyber attacks. 
• The Commission recommends that Congress urge the administration to engage in consultations with its allies on an alliancebased approach to dealing with cyber attacks originating in China.  In order to maintain the security of computer networks used by U.S. government agencies and defense contractors, the Commission recommends that Congress assess the security and integrity of the supply chain for computer equipment employed in those government and contractor networks—particularly those used by the Department of Defense—and, if necessary, provide additional funding to ensure the acquisition of equipment from trustworthy sources. 
• The Commission recommends that Congress urge the administration to engage China in a military dialogue on its actions and programs in cyber and space warfare, including threat reduction mechanisms, transparency initiatives, and international laws of conflict as they apply to the cyber and space domains.