By Tremayne Gibson
Some important new trends emerged in Chinese cyber policy this year.
In 2015, media reports attributing data breaches to China exceeded by a wide margin those of any other state-sponsor of cyberattacks in consistency, volume and severity. From Anthem, to Premera, to the Office of Personnel Management, Chinese hackers are widely suspected of having compromised the sensitive data of well over 100 million people in the United States alone. Cyberattacks of varying scale and sophistication were launched against targets spanning nearly every industry.
Though this year’s seemingly relentless bombardment against American computer systems may seem to be just another in a decade-long campaign, events both within and outside China suggest this year may have been the start of something new. To date, Chinese cyberespionage against Western targets has largely been motivated by the pursuit of economic advantage. Events throughout 2015 suggest that a pivot toward more security-focused interests is underway. The Chinese government, it seems, has begun to repurpose a formerly loose collection of state-controlled hacking units into a more centrally controlled tool for traditional state espionage and politically-motivated cyberattacks.
Throughout 2015 Chinese authorities took a number of steps to professionalize their cyber warfare forces. This process began with a series of frank admissions by the Chinese of not only their cyber capabilities, but also their future plans for their cyber forces. For one thing, following a decade of blanket denials, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) have now explicitly confirmed the existence of both civilian and military network warfare units within the Chinese government. In May this year, China’s Ministry of National Defense expressed its desire to reorganize its forces to win “informationized local wars” in its first published white paper on military strategy.
Toward the end of the year Chinese President Xi Jinping seemed to engage in a flurry of diplomacy and deal making aimed at further telegraphing China’s non-hostile intentions for its cyber forces.
Read the full story at The Diplomat