China's Cybertooth Tigers

IBD Editorials ^ | April 17, 2009

[Kaslin]

National Defense: America's electrical grid may have been implanted with cyber-"bombs" waiting to go off. Russia and China are preparing for a new kind of warfare. Where will you be when the lights go out?

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On April 1, as part of our "Inside The Stimulus" series, we said the proposed "smart grid" designed to monitor electrical use and distribution would make it easier for hackers to break in and possibly disable parts or all of it. Turns out this was no April Fool's joke.

A few weeks ago the Pentagon released its 2008 report to Congress titled "Military Power of the People's Republic of China." It dealt with more than tanks, planes and missiles. It also dealt with China's capabilities in what's known as "asymmetrical" warfare, specifically cyberwarfare.

The report noted that China's armed forces and other entities "continue to develop and field disruptive military technologies, including those for . . . cyberwarfare." Chinese military doctrine has long emphasized exploiting opponents' weaknesses as much as attacking their strengths.

Since then, Homeland Security has acknowledged reports that foreign hackers had in fact penetrated the U.S. electrical grid and other systems and had left behind embedded software programs that could later be activated to disrupt these systems.

These reports come while the Obama administration is conducting an extensive review of the nation's cybersecurity situation. That report was due April 17 and expected to repeat the recommendations of a study done by the Center for Strategic and International Studies at the request of President Bush.

The Pentagon review listed several examples of Chinese hacking into foreign systems.