Video: Should Americans worry about a Chinese cyber-threat?

By | August 23, 2011, 5:00am PDT

Summary: In this Q&A video, cyberwarfare expert David Gewirtz answers some common questions. Sadly, you won’t feel more secure (but you’ll have a better idea how to protect yourself).

I recently did a network interview that tried to answer the question, “Should Americans worry about a Chinese cyber-threat?”. The interview itself went long and there was a lot of interesting material that landed on the cutting room floor.

One of the hats I wear is as a director for the nonprofit organization U.S. Strategic Perspective Institute, which pulled together some of that material into a Q&A video that provides further background and perspective:

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Topics

David Gewirtz, Distinguished Lecturer at CBS Interactive, is an author, U.S. policy advisor, and computer scientist. He is featured in The History Channel special The President's Book of Secrets.

Disclosure

David Gewirtz

At various times during his adult life, David has voted for both Democrats and Republicans, and has been disappointed by both. He is deeply disturbed by how partisanship has come before patriotism in America, which gives him the freedom to pick on both sides.

David is a frequent guest on TV and radio stations across America and can usually be heard or seen on-the-air at least once a week. He writes weekly commentary and analysis for CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360 and has been interviewed by Fox News, CNN, various ABC and NBC affiliates, and Canada’s Global TV. He has been a featured guest on National Public Radio and has also been featured on Voice of America, Radio Free Europe, and Radio Liberty where his commentaries on technology, industry, and emerging nations have been broadcast into 46 countries (all in their own unique translations).

David is the executive director of U.S. Strategic Perspective Institute, a nonprofit research and policy organization. He is the Cyberterrorism Advisor for the International Association for Counterterrorism & Security Professionals, a columnist for The Journal of Counterterrorism and Homeland Security and a special contributor to Frontline Security Magazine. He is a member of the FBI’s InfraGard program, the security partnership between the FBI and industry. David is also a member of the U.S. Naval Institute and the National Defense Industrial Association, the leading defense industry association promoting national security.

David is an advisory board member for the Technical Communications and Management Certificate program at the University of California, Berkeley extension. He is also a member of the instructional faculty at the University of California, Berkeley extension.

David’s “day job” is as publisher and editor-in-chief of ZATZ publishing, an online publisher of technical magazines. Other than than his ownership stake in Component Enterprises, Inc. (the parent company of ZATZ), David has no additional industry investments.

ZATZ has many advertisers who do, in part, provide for David’s lush income and extravagant lifestyle. Most of them are IBM and Lotus aftermarket suppliers, some of them make goodies for Microsoft Outlook, and a few make all sorts of strange mobile devices and add-on products. David has been a regular judge of the IBM Awards, but has no formal financial interest in or with IBM.

Because the ZATZ online magazines often review products, David and ZATZ are sent an overwhelming stream of unsolicited, silly, and often useless products to review. Because they’re such a pain to track and ship back, these products often wind up in a dumpster or fill up the corner of a large closet. Although David has no plans to review products in connection to his ZDNet blog, if he does do a product review, he will disclose any relationship completely in that posting.

Both through ZATZ and independently, David derives a small income through various advertising and sales relationships with Amazon.com and Google. These are minor relationships and they will not impede his willingness or ability to chastise either company should they deserve it.

David has many other business relationships, but none of them relate to anything he covers in his ZDNet blog. David does have a bit of the sales-guy bug and if he’s not doing a sales deal with someone at least once a month, he goes through withdrawal. He has a number of consulting clients, but none of them relate to anything he covers for ZDNet (and if they ever do, he will either disclose that fact, or decline to write about them).

Back in the 1980s, David held the unusual title of “Godfather” at Apple. He has written and published 40 incredibly simplistic applications for Apple’s iPhone.

Although David is forbidden to disclose the terms of his iPhone developer agreement, he isn’t drinking the Apple Kool Aid, will never be confused with a metrosexual, and feels free to mock Apple, and Apple users, any time the occasion permits, on alternate Tuesdays, or if he’s bored.

Biography

David Gewirtz

In addition to hosting the ZDNet Government and ZDNet DIY-IT blogs, CBS Interactive's Distinguished Lecturer David Gewirtz is an author, U.S. policy advisor, and computer scientist. He is featured in The History Channel special The President's Book of Secrets, is one of America's foremost cyber-security experts, and is a top expert on saving and creating jobs. He is also director of the U.S. Strategic Perspective Institute as well as the founder of ZATZ Publishing.

David is a member of FBI InfraGard, the Cyberwarfare Advisor for the International Association for Counterterrorism & Security Professionals, a columnist for The Journal of Counterterrorism and Homeland Security, and has been a regular CNN contributor, and a guest commentator for the Nieman Watchdog of the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University. He is the author of Where Have All the Emails Gone?, the definitive study of email in the White House, as well as How To Save Jobs and The Flexible Enterprise, the classic book that served as a foundation for today's agile business movement.

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RE: Video: Should Americans worry about a Chinese cyber-threat?
visoot 24th Aug
As a neutral, I'd say that at the moment Americans should be worrying about repaying debts to the Chinese more than anything else. If China wanted to destroy the US, it could simply stop lending. Why both with cyber-warfare?
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Well
happyharry_z 23rd Aug
That was a lot of fluff.
Well, David, I almost had the urge to stand up and salute while listing to the opening musical soundtrack of your video. BTW, well done.

One question. How do I know if my Mac systems are part of a bot net? (Not that I suspect that they are but I don't know how to tell.)
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Wrong question
mrgoose Updated - 23rd Aug
After the Stuxnet fiasco, the question really should be:

"Should the rest of the planet worry about an American/Israeli cyber threat?"

Best wishes, G.
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Chinese Cyber Threat?
rmhesche Updated - 23rd Aug
On a 'national' level, country against country, I worry the least about China. If China did more than data mine they would only be cutting their own throats. Damage America and Damage their profit margin. On a governmental / country level there are numerous countries I worry allot more about, and then there are the freaks who would melt down a nuclear power plant just because they can. Worry about China itself? Not so much.

On a personal threat level you have reminded us how its each and everyone of us against the world. Everyone from anyone within range of my WiFi or computer thief to someone on a point of the globe located geographically opposite of me. I think about hostiles hacking my personal network or wifi equipped machines to physical theft to the syphilitic riddled realm known as cyber space.

Readers of your column are aware of these things so I think you've misidentified the audience. I think you should have put 'intro level' in the title of this particular blog entry.

And, I thought midi went out with high speed. ?
As a neutral, I'd say that at the moment Americans should be worrying about repaying debts to the Chinese more than anything else. If China wanted to destroy the US, it could simply stop lending. Why both with cyber-warfare?

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