China, Computers, U,S. Oil - SHTF.

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Other Sections **Front Page** Automotive Business Commentary Culture, etc. Daybook Editorials Embassy Row Entertainment Help How to Contact Us International Investigative Letters Media Links Metropolitan Nation Opinion Photo Gallery Politics Real Estate Resources Sports Subscribe Technology Weather ------------- Advertiser Index Advocacy Advt. Classifieds Int'l Supplements Marketplace Special Sections China plots winning role in cyberspace -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- By Bill Gertz THE WASHINGTON TIMES -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- hina is preparing to carry out high-technology warfare over the Internet and could develop a fourth branch of the armed services devoted to information warfare, according to a Chinese military newspaper. An article in Thursday's Liberation Army Daily, the official daily newspaper of the People's Liberation Army General Political Department, said Internet warfare should be equated with combat operations for air, land and sea forces. Finance, commerce, communications, telecommunications and military affairs all rely heavily on the use of cyberspace and are key targets, it stated. The article, "Bringing Internet Warfare Into the

-- Continued from Front Page -- Military System Is of Equal Significance with Land, Sea, and Air Power," was published by the daily in Beijing and was translated by U.S. intelligence agencies. "It is essential to have an all-conquering offensive technology and to develop software and technology for Net offensives so as to be able to launch attacks and countermeasures on the Net, including information-paralyzing software, information-blocking software, and information-deception software," the newspaper stated. "Some of these are like bombs, they are electronic bombs which saturate the enemy's cyberspace," the article stated. "Some are like paintings, they are electronic scrawls which appear and disappear on the enemy's pages in chaotic fashion. Some are like phantoms and electronic flying saucers which come and go on the Net and disrupt the enemy's systems, and it is also possible to develop masquerade technology to steal the Internet command power." A senior Pentagon official said he was notified about the article, which has raised concerns among defense officials who see China's information warfare capabilities as a potential threat to U.S. civilian infrastructures -- computer-run communications, transportation, finance, electrical power networks and other critical services. Chinese information warfare capabilities also threaten the U.S. military's dominance in high-technology weapons and war fighting. The Clinton administration recently expressed its concern about the threat of attacks from cyberspace. The administration submitted a budget amendment in September adding $39 million to protect computers. "The threats to the national information infrastructure from hostile states, terrorists, and hackers continue to increase," the White House said in a Sept. 21 statement. The Chinese military daily said violation of a nation's cyberspace is as serious as violations of national sovereignty by land, water or air. "A 'Net force' is very likely to become another military branch following the army, air force and navy, and it will shoulder the formidable task of protecting Net sovereignty and engaging in Net warfare," the paper said. To be victorious in the field of information warfare, China will need to obtain "the best technology," the article said. The tools will include "scanning technology" that "scan the Net, including breaking codes, stealing data, and taking anti-follow-up measures," the report said. "To ensure that Net warfare can play the maximum role in war, it is essential to integrate it with other combat actions," the newspaper said. "Modern high-tech warfare cannot win without the Net, nor can it be won just on the Net. In the future there must be a coordinated land, sea, air, space, electronic and Net warfare, and the state's determination will be fully expressed in this mysterious theater space." The report said that during a U.S. military exercise several years ago, the Pentagon tested information-warfare technology and demonstrated that "a young lieutenant used an ordinary computer and modem purchased in a shop to successfully break into the Pacific Fleet . . . and also issued orders, masquerading as the fleet commander, without the fleet being at all aware of this and obediently carrying out his orders." The FBI in May sent out a memorandum warning of Chinese-origin hacker attacks on U.S. systems, including White House, State Department and other government computer networks. "Much of this activity traces back to Chinese addresses, and much of the reporting of this activity comes from official Chinese news sources," the FBI said in the memorandum sent to private security managers. The cyber-attacks followed the May 7 bombing of China's embassy in Belgrade and were viewed by some U.S. national security officials as possible government-sponsored information-warfare attacks on the United States. William Triplett, co-author of a new book on the PLA, said the Liberation Army Daily article appears to be the first time Beijing officially acknowledged having offensive computer-warfare capabilities. Mr. Triplett, a longtime China specialist, said the article on information warfare appeared shortly after a Chinese air force general's public comments last week saying China will take the offensive in air power. "All of this offensive-warfare talk, when China is not threatened by anyone, shows that the dragon is at the point where it doesn't have to hide its claws," Mr. Triplett said. In his book, "Red Dragon Rising," Mr. Triplett said Chinese information-warfare efforts were boosted after President Clinton relaxed controls on supercomputers in 1996. China has since obtained more than 600 machines. The PLA also uses Chinese students trained at American universities for expertise in the field, he said. According to the book, China could launch a devastating computer-run sabotage operation by attacking U.S. oil refineries, many of which are grouped closely together in areas of Texas, New Jersey and California. A PLA computer attacker could penetrate the electronic "gate" that controls refinery operations and cause fires or toxic chemical spills that would "cascade" to other refineries in the area, he said.

-- goldbug (goldbug@mint.com), November 17, 1999

Answers

Lovely, just lovely. There goes the (cyber) neighborhood!

-- ** (karlacalif@aol.com), November 17, 1999.

OTOH, the most recent edition of Media magazine claims that the majority of TV stations in China are not Y2K compliant, and are likely to experience problems.

If you are interested, I can post the article.

-- Midas (midas_mulligan_2000@yahoo.com), November 17, 1999.


Geeeeezzz...and you know where they learned their craft?

IN AMERICAN UNIVERSITIES, COMPANIES AND GOVERNEMENT AGENCIES!!!!!

The chikens..or in this case, the chicoms, come home to roost!

Kook

-- Y2Kook (Y2Kook@usa.net), November 17, 1999.


That should make all of us feel warm & fuzzy as we buy all that Commie Chinese footware, toys, etc, etc. Won't it be fun if supply chain problems prevent all that crap from getting here! We might even have to re-open American factories and re-hire American workers...Oh My!, How Politically Incorrect of Me to mention this!!!

-- Sceptic (buy@madein.usa), November 17, 1999.

----Kook, you are SO right. This idea of the US being wide open willy nilly to any person to come in and do business, live here, visit here, go to school, get jobs in very sensitive hi tech companies is so nuts it ain't worth debating. One of many reasons I moved from atlanta was seeing all the middle eastern and chinese students at georgia tech. I also was living INSIDE the 285 perimeter belt.(think a bio weapon being sprayed one night, ring around the perimeter) I was supposing in my mind one night, wonder how many of these "students" are sleeper agents, especially the nuts moslem kind that think suicide is a great way to get into heaven? Not being racist, just going by historical fact. And how many computer science students have installed trapdoor system administration tools like "Back orifice" in who knows how many networks and individual machines. How hard would it be for a kid growing up in china or iraq to be blackmailed by threats to his family back home to do ANYTHING that "they" tell him or her to do? That answer is easy. We should HIGHLY regulate folks coming and going in this country, for any reason. the threats are real, and the thirty pieces of silver universities and companies get for these students and businessmen contributions are not worth sacraficing our security. If we as a society would just de-Godify professional sports, for one example, we just MIGHT have more of our own students interested in the hard sciences and engineering. Also, KICK THE DANG UN OUT, AND GET THE US OUT OF IT! neo-isolationist zog

-- zog (zzoggy@yahoo.com), November 17, 1999.


So if we know this then why is the Clinton administration trying to move heaven and earth to ramrod China through to MFN (Most Favored Nation) trading status?

Huh????

Inquiring minds are sick of Clinton?

SDB

-- S. David Bays (SDBAYS@prodigy.net), November 17, 1999.


"We might even have to re-open American factories and re-hire American workers...Oh My!, How Politically Incorrect of Me to mention this!!! "

No, just really, really naive. Do you have even the slightest clue of how much the cost of goods would shoot up if we used American workers to produce some of the stuff they do in China. Let's see, pay a Chinese kid $.60 an hour, pay an American worker $15.00 an hour. Gee...who you gonna hire?

Do you also realize what a drain on the whole world it would be if those Chinese folks weren't making this stuff? Think of the unemployment rate and poverty level in a nation that size and see what it does to the economy.

And btw, discounting the speculated at repercussions of Y2K, just where do you suggest we get the workers for these American factories? Unemployment is currently 2.4%. Not a real large base of workers to draw from folks.

-- whatever (yeah@sure.com), November 17, 1999.


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