RealSecurity

I vividly recall the movie in 1979 about a nuclear power plant on the verge of self-annihilation that upon catastrophic failure would melt a hole to China. Of course, adding to the movie’s popularity was its ominous reflection of life as the Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station in Pennsylvania suffered a cooling system failure twelve days after the movie was released. Interestingly, the device that ultimately failed was called the “12 valves” that controlled coolant flow to the core. For reasons I cannot fully explain, every time I read another story about China hacking other countries, especially the US, I think about that movie and the fear that resonated with the public so deeply for decades. If China doesn’t change their policy on how they approach other nations concerning these attacks, it will dramatically change their future and undermine their potential.

China has been positioned as the next world power placing a great deal of responsibility on the shoulders of the Chinese government and how they interact with other world leaders. How they respond and collaborate with other counties over the next several years will become the foundation of their global identity for the next century. I believe China is experiencing a great deal of growing pain as they attempt to navigate the fine line between social structure preservation and economic growth pressures. They give the appearance of wanting to meet the expectations of the world, but tend to operate in a manner that sends conflicting signals to those carefully seeking a relationship.

Over the last couple of years China has been identified as the source of comprehensive and sophisticated attacks against a number of nations and companies. While cyber criminals establish Mafia-like international rings focused on stealing products, money, and identities, the attacks attributed to China are far more reflective of cold war activities. Initially materializing as targeted attacks against governments and their providers to steal military and other secrets concerning capabilities, operations, and technology, it now appears much more sinister. Massive digital spy rings have surfaced representing an infiltration of multiple governments, universities, and organizations that make other similar hacker-nets appear tiny by comparison. On the heels of GhostNet, we of course have the ongoing battle between China and Google.

What strikes me as most interesting is after a long and uncomfortable silence the Chinese government has vehemently denied they are the source of the world’s cyber troubles and doing so with a strong insulting tone, as if to say, “How dare you.” I suspect what brought them out was a combination of events. Most notably was the Secretary of US State Mrs. Clinton’s speech on Internet freedom and diplomacy and her comments directly to Beijing to investigate the attacks on Google in late January. Of course, all this is happening while a vast number of global councils, committees, and congresses have been formed to globalize and harmonize laws and policies to address cybercrime, and China appears very often as the reason for this global collaboration. Not the most enviable position.

Nevertheless, the Chinese government’s reaction to the rest of the world is coming off as combative and does not bode well for a country that is poised to be a dominating force. They are effectively digging a political hole they will regret. There is little question that the Internet will continue to be the foundation for the global economy and become increasingly ingrained into the human social make up. As such, it would be virtually impossible for a country to be an effective participant, much less a world power if they do not embrace the Internet. Within in this context, China is getting it all backwards. They are censoring the Internet, attacking those who may stray too close to the line, and are virtually sanctioning the cyber attacks on other nations. While one can argue if the Chinese government is actively involved in the attacks, one cannot not deny their absence in addressing the issue in a proactive and collaborative manner. Politically speaking, they are setting themselves up for failure and rapidly becoming the political target of other nations.

This is a time when China must become deeply involved with the global community on the fight against cyber crime and cyber espionage, and not doing so only draws negative attention disrupting their ability to evolve effectively. They need to become an active participant as opposed to the thinly veiled position of a victim. Assume for the moment China has invested in cyber espionage and have obtained vast amounts of information from other nations. Fine, but the jig is up, you’ve been discovered, and continuing the cold war cat and mouse game of the 60’s does not work to your long-term benefit in the 21st century.

I almost feel sorry for the Chinese. They have a fascinating heritage, but in many ways their resistance to change and interaction in protection of that heritage is creating a political wall that has the potential to isolate them. Granted, there are many other political domains beyond the cyber attacks over the last years that contribute to China’s challenges. In some ways it could be argued that it is quite small in comparison. However, I disagree. The attacks that are being attributed to China have become the political white elephant in the room and the only way China can move forward is to not simply deny these allegations, but take the next step and become actively involved with the global community.