Who has the best cyber warfare? Is it Russia or China?
Cyber warfare is the act of using computers to gain or deny control over other computer systems. The term was originally coined in 1983. In 2014, the United States Department of Defense defined cyber operations as “the employment of electronic warfare, cyber operations and cryptologic capabilities to defeat enemy military forces.”
The US government defines cyber warfare as the war waged through cyber techniques. This means that every country uses cyberweapons against another country.
The Third Contender
While Russia and China are the two biggest countries in cyber warfare, America is a close third.
The accusation of America being the best at cyber warfare is a bit ironic. Other countries accused the United States of many cyber-attacks. In 2012, Iran accused the US of being behind Stuxnet, a computer worm that infected their nuclear infrastructure.
President Barack Obama has been very active in cyber intelligence and cyber warfare. He has set up a new military command for cyber security. He also signed an executive order that would allow him to take control of any computer network during a crisis.
The executive order
This executive order was in order to protect the nation from attacks like Stuxnet. It gives the President emergency powers to take control of any network deemed to be under attack. It also allows him to shut off that network from the rest of the world in order to stop any viruses from spreading.
In 2013, Obama also signed an executive order that would help companies fight off future cyber attacks. This order would allow those companies to share information with each other and with the government so they could all learn how to defend themselves against future threats.
A Well known Country
China is famous for hacking into big US companies like Apple Inc., Microsoft Corporation and Google Inc., according to The New York Times. These attacks have been going on for years but the Chinese government continues not to comment on them at all.
China is “the world’s most active and persistent perpetrators of economic espionage,” according to the Office of National Counterintelligence Executive.
Countries suspect China of everything from theft of personal information about specific employees for corporate espionage purposes to monitoring foreign communications for national security information and insights into business plans that might give Chinese firms an advantage over their foreign competitors.
The problems
The problem with this kind of theft is that it’s almost impossible to prove who did it so it’s hard to defend against it or retaliate against it effectively since we don’t know what they are after or how they are going after it or where they are getting their information from..
Another problem is that the internet is not bound by any country’s laws. So it is hard to know if a cyber attack is even on its way by a country. But, China is generally the biggest source of cyber attacks on American companies and government sites.
The accusation
China also accuses America of being the best at cyber warfare. In 2014, the Chinese government accused the US of hacking into its military computer networks. The Chinese government said that their military sites have been under constant attack for years.
This attack came just after the U.S. indictment of five Chinese military officials for stealing trade secrets from major U.S. companies like Westinghouse Electric, United States Steel Corporation and Alcoa Inc.
According to The New York Times, China actually seems to do this in order to find out what they are up against when they go into battle with America or another country so they can be ready. Also, countries accuse China of using cyber attacks on its own people to gather information and silence dissenters.
Moreover, many are blaming China for many cyber attacks as well. China has been accused of hacking into American banks and stealing millions of dollars worth of information and money.
In 2014, China was also accused of trying to hack into government computers in Australia and New Zealand as well as Britain, Canada, France, Germany, India, Japan, South Korea and Russia.
Cyber warfare
Cyber warfare is a very complex issue and it’s hard to tell who has the upper hand right now or who will have it in the future. But, one thing is certain: cyber warfare will continue to grow as hackers get more sophisticated and technology increases and so it seems safe to say that every country has a hand in cyber warfare in some way whether they want to admit it or not.