The Chinese government has acknowledged that it operates a cyberwarfare unit. While the news itself doesn’t surprise anyone, the United States has accused the unit of conducting cyberattacks against American businesses and government agencies, this is the first time that China has actually acknowledged the existence of the unit. The United States, on the other hand, has acknowledged its cyberwarfare capabilities for over a decade.
A high-level Chinese military organization has for the first time formally acknowledged that the country’s military and its intelligence community have specialized units for waging war on computer networks. China’s hacking exploits, particularly those aimed at stealing trade secrets from U.S. companies, have been well known for years, and a source of constant tension between Washington and Beijing. But Chinese officials have routinely dismissed allegations that they spy on American corporations or have the ability to damage critical infrastructure, such as electrical power grids and gas pipelines, via cyber attacks. Now it appears that China has dropped the charade. “This is the first time we’ve seen an explicit acknowledgement of the existence of China’s secretive cyber-warfare forces from the Chinese side,” says Joe McReynolds, who researches the country’s network warfare strategy, doctrine, and capabilities at the Center for Intelligence Research and Analysis.
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