07.01.09
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Last week, DD wrote about Chinese journalists finally catching up with the practices of western cybersecurity beat reporters.
[This] year, for the first time, [DD began] to field questions from Chinese journalists, who are returning the favors long administered by their counterparts in the western English-speaking newsmedia. One could view it as a bit of tit-for-tat. That is, instead of wanting to talk about how their country is menacing US cyber-interests, paradoxically, they want to know about the US menacing the rest of the world’s cyber-interests.
“China has been the focal point of many U.S. cyber fears,” wrote a reporter at Federal Computer Week today. “We are concerned about our vulnerability to attacks — not only on government databases but also on our electrical grid and financial system — and many articles have highlighted the threat from China. Many Americans also fear that the government’s use of software created in China and other nations creates a risk … ”
“In that context, the article I came across in the English-language China Daily was an eye-opener. The title was ‘China at the mercy of global hackers.'”
The FCW reporter adds that a Chinese report opines: ” . . . President Barack Obama’s efforts to ‘find back doors into the digital fortresses of potential enemies’ could pose a risk.
“In other words, it sounds like China is afraid of the United States in about the same way the United States is afraid of China.”
From last week:
Chinese journalist: Will US wage cyber warfare against its enemies?
SITREP: Rule Number One: Always Blame China
Excerpt from the mails: I read this article and was appalled by what [you have] implied. That being that China and Russia pose little threat and claims that they do are ‘sexed up.’