China syndromeObama: at least some Chinese cyberattacks on U.S. are “state sponsored”

In an interview to be aired today on ABC News, President Barack Obama said that some, but not necessarily all, cyberattacks on U.S. firms and infrastructure originating in China were “state sponsored.”

Obama stressed the need to avoid “war rhetoric” when discussing cyberattacks, and renewed his calls for Congress to strengthen cyber security while protecting civil liberties.

Responding to a question that cited claims by lawmakers that recent cyber strikes on U.S. firms and infrastructure amounted to the United States being at “war” with China, Obama responded:

You know, there’s a big difference between them engaging in cyber espionage or cyber attacks and obviously a hot war. What is absolutely true is that we have seen a steady ramping up of cyber security threats. Some are state sponsored. Some are just sponsored by criminals. We’ve made it very clear to China and some other state actors that, you know, we expect them to follow international norms and abide by international rules. And we’ll have some pretty tough talk with them. We already have.

Obama highlighted the fact that billions of dollars and industrial secrets were lost to the consequences of cyber hacking.

Last month a detailed report from security firm Mandiant offered incontrovertible evidence that a unit of China’s People’s Liberation Army had stolen hundreds of terabytes of data from at least 141 organizations, mostly based in the United States (see “Chinese government orchestrates cyberattacks on U.S.: experts,” HSNW, 19 February 2013).

A US congressional report last year named China as “the most threatening actor in cyberspace” (see “Congressional panel says two Chinese telecom companies pose ‘national security threat’ to U.S.,” HSNW, 9 October 2012).