Most developed countries are engaged in internet attacks - electronic spying on other countries. They are also preparing for cyber warfare - for both destructive attack and defence. In the last decade, as a key step in its strategic objective of becoming a military, industrial and financial superpower and transform from a near mediaeval society, China instigated a series of programs, the results of which are making the news on a regular basis.
Structure and Size
In the Chinese global intelligence infrastructure organisation, the basic component of the military and economic/political intelligence 'vacuum cleaner' as they call it is the so-called 'deep water fishes'. The term goes back to the early 1980's, and refers to the ten thousand or so intelligence operatives that China has in place in nearly two hundred cities around the world. China's internet intelligence gathering and cyberwar operations are even more insidious and pervasive.
Mission
Under the direction of the then President Jiang Zemin, a vast army of so-called cyberwarriors was set up by General Dai Qingmin to organise for infowar. These information systems graduates design spam, malware, distributed denial of service and viruses to penetrate and paralyse their enemy's military, civilian infrastructure and commerce in a war situation. They also control the internet in China and its links to the rest of the world, and run the so-called 'Golden Shield' program which monitors all civilian and commerical electronic communication in the country.
Activity
Recently, there have been massive and well-coordinated cyberassualts on commercial websites worldwide. Many commentators believe that China is behind some of these attacks, though those in the Western intelligence services who know the truth are keeping quiet. Certainly, there are experts in commercial computer security companies who see the evidence, but they avoid publicising their knowledge.
Certainly, any country which prepares for warfare of any kind has to test its arsenal, and the Chinese are not the only culprits here. Cyberwarfare is underway 24 hours a day, from simple intelligence gathering by hacking military, political and commercial databases, right through to assault software used for destructive purposes, including by Western governments.
Example
One such example of a software assault is - 'malware'. Insidious, dangerous and highly effective, and illustrated very clearly by the Stuxnet worm. This is thought by some to have been developed jointly by Israel and the USA. The worm wandered freely on the web and apparently had several authors on several continents - the trail was well disguised and hard to follow, but clearly false. Finally, in 2010, the virulent worm found its way into the German company Siemens's control programs for the gas centrifuges used in the Iranian uranium enrichment program. Many centrifuges spun uncontrolled and about twenty percent were wrecked. This attack is said to have set back the Iranian program for a nuclear bomb by several years.
This hidden war will intensify.
Infowar Is Not New
Wherever there was conflict in the 20th century, there was infowar (Winston Churchill said that 'truth is the first casualty of war'), from false news broadcasts to propaganda leaflets dropped from planes. In the 21st century, wherever there is conflict - even asymmetric - there is cyberwar, and arguably, the Chinese army of cyberwarriors is the most numerous and most active such army in the world.
Author Resource:
James Marinero writes topical techno-thrillers in a global political context. His latest, 'Gate of Tears' looks at Chinese cyberwar, naval growth and financial power, set in the political hotspot of the Yemen and Red Sea. It is now available on Kindle too. www.jamesmarinero.com
![[Valid RSS feed]](http://www.articlecoop.com/images/icon_Rss.png "XML Feed For RSS"){kind=icon}
Category Rss Feed
Print This Article
Add To Favorites