Wednesday, February 20, 2013
A British PM, Russian gun smugglers and a Chinese government hacker walk into a bar...
David Cameron travels to India for an historic visit to acknowledge and pay respects to victims of a 1919 massacre. A two-for-one COGOPO story about Nigerian trials of alleged Russian arms dealers in an intriguing diplomatic conflict between the two countries. Also, the United States accuses China of hacking US targets and China responds "Who? Us? Cyberwhat?? Naaaww."
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" It had hacked into 141 companies across 20 industries, stealing information including blueprints, business plans, pricing documents, user credentials, emails and contact lists." This is alarming to me because personal information should not be in the hands of someone who is not given the permission to have it. The article also reported a news outlet being hacked, many people trust news accounts and could have been bad in the US. I saw this story as a kind of surveillance, as China is looking into the business of American businesses
ReplyDeleteIt is an interesting conundrum the Chinese government is in. If the hackers are government funded they would likely not tell the truth anyway. If they were not government funded the Chinese government would probably be acting with some urgency to bring these hackers to justice as these activities are illegal and the Chinese government does not like to show signs of public weakness (in this case, the inability to catch and stop these hackers). For the Chinese government, this story is not one that will be easy to handle.
DeleteInformation seems to be the new gold. There is such a high premium on information technology. Back in the 60s the premium was on satelites and scientific research, now that information ranks a measly 4th and 5th respectively. Although aerospace is a close second still I think it foreshadows the future wars to come that will not be fought on any actual battlefields but in cyberspace.
ReplyDeleteI find it interesting that just as China is suspected of surveillance in its own country with influential people such as Won Kerwai, (?) it is also suspected on international surveillance. Cyber espionage and hacking is a powerful tool in modern age, everything in connected and stored in the inter-webs; making it a great method to control national, as well as international affairs.
ReplyDeleteOne question I have is why China is hacking our computers but that aside I'm not cool with the secrecy or the passive aggressive relationship that seems to be going on here. The article kind of made it seem like US officials are tentatively asking China to stop hacking American computers and they just keep doing it because we aren't being very strict about stopping it. Also Chinese companies complaining that the US is hacking them kind of seems like a distraction from their misbehavior. I'm thinking the whole hacking thing is to get a leg up in the economy which I don't get because China pretty well off so I don't know what they hope to steal from us. Also I don't doubt that Americans are hacking Chinese computers so personally I think neither side can ask each other to stop until they are both willing to be open and honest and deal with this situation like adults.
ReplyDeleteTechnologically and economically, despite the recent downturn, the US is still on the cutting edge, which is a big reason why other countries would want our information. We are still an economic powerhouse because of the freedoms we are afforded to do as we please. Believe me, there is a lot to be gained by trying to pilfer information. I don't necessarily think they are trying to 'take us down' by any means as they depend on us to buy things they make, but gain a competitive edge to prove that their system works? Definitely. All in my humble opinion
DeleteThat definitely clarifies the whole idea of the article but I still think it's petty. Just saying.
DeletePeople will do petty things to advance their standing in the world.
DeleteThe PM's visit to the site of an Indian massacre serves not only as a respectful gesture but also as a symbol of the openness of the UK's system of liberal democracy. Instead of denying the event occurred or was caused by British forces, Cameron attempts to express sorrow for its happening and portrays a spirit of honesty that illiberal democracies and other nondemocratic regimes attempt to repress in order to avoid misgivings of the public. Nations like China refuse to acknowledge the failings of their government (possibly illustrated by the hacking charge if that is in fact valid) in order to appear more powerful to both their own people and countries apart from their own.
ReplyDeleteWell put! Great example of how liberal democracies can take blame for bad moments in their history and move on from it. I think an important gesture for the healing process.
DeleteIt appears that China is simply making excuses to make the communist pay look better and the US to appear nosy. Just by the BBC reporter being detained is enough evidence to show something fishy is going on in that high-rise. Also it is now very difficult to hide things online nowadays and it will be very challenging to handle the issue.
ReplyDeleteThe resources for cyberspace attack are so different that it is probably one of the most important reasons why a state should focus on education to improve them. I was interested where it said that 140 companies were hacked because it seems that none of those 140 realized it which shows the lack of cyber defense and how vulnerable information actually is. The surveillance team that did the hacking in China is just doing their job to maintain their countries legitimacy.
ReplyDeleteThere is a lack or corporatism between the Nigerian government and Russian firms. While in Tanzania the government may overlook some illegal activity of a Chinese natural resource company in order to maintain a good economic relationship, in Nigeria the government isn't that cozy with Russian businesses, which shows Nigeria's commitment to thwarting encroachment upon its laws, sovereignty, and security.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Sharria's comment and believe that Nigeria's government is doing what they can to maintain legitimacy. Even though it might not be clear whether the Russians had the right to stop at Lagos with weapons or not it is a plus for the Nigerian government because the press will probably report it as a success and the people will agree because there would be less arms.
Delete"It was staffed by hundreds of proficient English speakers." While China plays innocent to the US's accusations, they make no denial against the allegations of "proficient english" speaking personal. So in a sense they are pledging guilty but trying to assert that they were a scapegoat, that they too also had been the victim of cyber hacking by the US. But I still question where the initial hacking had originated since both countries are saying they were victims of hacking.
ReplyDeleteGood point! At some point it becomes a finger-pointing game. Like two kids in the back of the car arguing. "China hacked me!" "Well the USA did it first!"
DeleteIt's frightening to think how authoritarian regimes could use emergent technology to maintain their power over civilians. Given the inequitable distribution of wealth in an authoritarian society the government can very easily maintain surveillance and control over individual
ReplyDeleteThe article about China sheds light on the dynamic issues that our world faces today. Much of our information is currently stored online and hacking can now potentially be extremely dangerous. I think the reason that this is an issue is because there can be no way to prove that China is the one hacking. However, I also think that this incident will cause us to improve our security and prevent such attacks in the future, in a way this can be seen as mirroring the conflict with Russia in the Cold War where the countries sought to build up their arms. In this new age china and the US will attempt to build up their Internet security instead.
ReplyDeleteNot quite sure what to think on this one, however I am leaning more on the US side (go figure). As Mr. Sharpe said, information is gold. The information that China has allegedly hacked/obtained does hurt the US in both its national security and its economic interests. If someone has the blue prints to various industries, such as Apple, who claims to be a victim of a Chinese hacking in a separate article, whoever took the information can benefit from knowing the specs, hardware and various other elements used in products. The hacking was also allegedly done to the New York Times after they posted about China. Whether or not this is simply a coincidence is up for speculation, however, there is no question that these hacking attempts can become very dangerous or the fact that many companies have come to the same conclusion that these hacking attempts originated from China. In other words, there's some explaining to do.
ReplyDeleteThe hacking story with China seems to illustrate the complex relationship between China and the US. Even if the charges are true, we are so dependent on China's products and manufacturing that I'm curious to see what actions the US could even realistically take. I think this serves to show how political and economic tensions are created by the differences in our two systems, and that even when these tensions manifest in conflicts like this, they are trumped by our reliance on China's goods. I think this also serves to illustrate China's huge and vast technological power and how it can be used by the regime for surveillance to maintain their legitimacy.
ReplyDeleteThe issue in Nigeria is very confusing and my I add there is a huge difference between the Cook Island flag and the Dutch flag. Illegal weapons dealing is going to be difficult to control in Nigeria if it is connected to their relationship with other nations. It reminds me of the situation in Mexico....they problem was addressed but nothing came out of it
ReplyDelete