China's cyber warfare dangerous to U.S. military - report

PanARMENIAN.Net - China's cyber warfare capabilities would pose a danger to U.S. military forces in the event of a conflict over Taiwan, according to a report by a U.S. congressional advisory panel, AFP reported.

The report by defense contractor Northrop Grumman for the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission said China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) has placed great emphasis on what is known as "information confrontation."

The 135-page report outlined a possible scenario in the event of a U.S. defense of self-governing Taiwan - which Beijing considers to be a part of its territory awaiting reunification - from Chinese military attack.

The PLA would target U.S. systems with "electronic countermeasures weapons and network attack and exploitation tools, likely in advance of actual combat to delay U.S. entry or degrade capabilities in a conflict," it said.

Difficulty in attributing responsibility for a cyber attack could hamper the U.S. response, the report warned.

The report also said that Chinese companies, some with foreign partners supplying critical technology, were giving the PLA access to cutting-edge research and technology.

The report warned that the PLA's ties with large Chinese telecommunications firms "creates an avenue for state sponsored or state directed penetrations of supply chains for electronics supporting the U.S. military, the U.S. government, and civilian industry." This has the potential to cause the "catastrophic failure of systems and networks supporting critical infrastructure for national security or public safety," it said.

Michael Wessel, a member of the commission, said the report "highlights China's extensive development of cyber tools to advance the leadership's objectives.