On Feb. 18th, 2012, Tom Gjelten wrote for NPR on the shift in the US view on Chinese cyber-espionage. US officials have long known that foreign nations hack into US networks to steal data; they've just been reluctant to name names. Now, that reluctance has dissipated.
According to the article, the recent trend in the media (i.e. the release of the ONCIX report, public statements from Congressional reps, and a flood of op-eds) indicates that the US government is willing to point the finger at China. In fact, the article said that Mike McConnell (a former director of national intelligence and the NSA) wrote an op-ed, titled China's Cyber Thievery Is A National Policy – And Must Be Challenged, in order to counter claims from apologists that there's no evidence of Chinese hacking.
The article quoted Richard Bejtlich, CSO at a company that deals with cyber-intrusions: "China does not care what other people think . . . Culturally, they are very interested in being seen as responsible, but when it comes to their actual work on the ground, if you try kicking them out of your network on a Friday, they're back on a Monday."
You can find the NPR source article here.
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