Chinese hackers preparing attack on US carrier fleet: Pentagon
Chinese military hackers have reportedly prepared a detailed plan to disable America's aircraft battle carrier fleet with a devastating cyber attack.
By Agencies |
LONDON: Chinese military hackers have reportedly prepared a detailed plan to disable America's aircraft battle carrier fleet with a devastating cyber attack.
According to a Pentagon report obtained by The Times, the blueprint for such an assault, drawn up by two hackers working for the People's Liberation Army (PLA), is part of an aggressive push by Beijing to achieve "electronic dominance" over each of its global rivals by 2050, particularly the US, Britain, Russia and South Korea.
China's ambitions extend to crippling an enemy's financial, military and communications capabilities early in a conflict, according to military documents and generals' speeches that are being analysed by US intelligence officials.
Describing what is in effect a new arms race, a Pentagon assessment states that China's military regards offensive computer operations as "critical to seize the initiative" in the first stage of a war.
The plan to cripple the US aircraft carrier battle groups was authored by two PLA air force officials, Sun Yiming and Yang Liping.
The revelation of this new plan comes in the wake of reports that Chinese hackers have already hacked key government institutions in Germany, the US and Britain, a charge that Beijing denies.
President Bush, without referring directly to Beijing, said this week that "a lot of our systems are vulnerable to attack," and indicated that he would raise the subject with Hu Jintao, the Chinese President, when they met in Sydney at the APEC Summit.
Hu is in a state of denial about the hacking allegations.
Larry M. Wortzel, the author of the US Army War College report, said: "The thing that should give us pause is that in many Chinese military manuals they identify the US as the country they are most likely to go to war with. They are moving very rapidly to master this new form of warfare."
The two PLA hackers produced a "virtual guidebook for electronic warfare and jamming" after studying dozens of US and NATO manuals on military tactics, according to the document.
The Pentagon logged more than 79,000 attempted intrusions in 2005, of which about 1,300 were successful, including the penetration of computers linked to the Army's 101st and 82nd Airborne Divisions and the 4th Infantry Division.
Chinese hackers also disrupted the US Naval War College's network in November 2005, forcing the college to shut down its computer systems for several weeks.
The Pentagon uses over five million computers on 100,000 networks in 65 countries.
Jim Melnick, a recently retired Pentagon computer network analyst, told The Times that the Chinese military holds hacking competitions to identify and recruit talented members for its cyber army.
He described a competition held two years ago in Sichuan province, southwest China. The winner now uses a cyber nom de guerre, "Wicked Rose".
According to a Pentagon report obtained by The Times, the blueprint for such an assault, drawn up by two hackers working for the People's Liberation Army (PLA), is part of an aggressive push by Beijing to achieve "electronic dominance" over each of its global rivals by 2050, particularly the US, Britain, Russia and South Korea.
China's ambitions extend to crippling an enemy's financial, military and communications capabilities early in a conflict, according to military documents and generals' speeches that are being analysed by US intelligence officials.
Describing what is in effect a new arms race, a Pentagon assessment states that China's military regards offensive computer operations as "critical to seize the initiative" in the first stage of a war.
The plan to cripple the US aircraft carrier battle groups was authored by two PLA air force officials, Sun Yiming and Yang Liping.
The revelation of this new plan comes in the wake of reports that Chinese hackers have already hacked key government institutions in Germany, the US and Britain, a charge that Beijing denies.
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President Bush, without referring directly to Beijing, said this week that "a lot of our systems are vulnerable to attack," and indicated that he would raise the subject with Hu Jintao, the Chinese President, when they met in Sydney at the APEC Summit.
Hu is in a state of denial about the hacking allegations.
Larry M. Wortzel, the author of the US Army War College report, said: "The thing that should give us pause is that in many Chinese military manuals they identify the US as the country they are most likely to go to war with. They are moving very rapidly to master this new form of warfare."
The two PLA hackers produced a "virtual guidebook for electronic warfare and jamming" after studying dozens of US and NATO manuals on military tactics, according to the document.
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The Pentagon logged more than 79,000 attempted intrusions in 2005, of which about 1,300 were successful, including the penetration of computers linked to the Army's 101st and 82nd Airborne Divisions and the 4th Infantry Division.
Chinese hackers also disrupted the US Naval War College's network in November 2005, forcing the college to shut down its computer systems for several weeks.
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The Pentagon uses over five million computers on 100,000 networks in 65 countries.
Jim Melnick, a recently retired Pentagon computer network analyst, told The Times that the Chinese military holds hacking competitions to identify and recruit talented members for its cyber army.
He described a competition held two years ago in Sichuan province, southwest China. The winner now uses a cyber nom de guerre, "Wicked Rose".
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