Richard Clarke: China has hacked every major US company
Summary: Cybersecurity advisor Richard Clarke is warning the U.S. that its major companies are being regularly infiltrated by Chinese hackers employed by the Chinese government to steal R&D.
Richard Clarke, a former cybersecurity and cyberterrorism advisor for the White House, was a U.S. government employee for 30 years: between 1973 and 2003. He worked during the times of Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and even George W. Bush. He may not be working under current U.S. president Barack Obama, but that doesn't mean he doesn't have something to warning about. He says state-sanctioned Chinese hackers are stealing R&D from U.S. companies, threatening the long-term competitiveness of America. We've heard this before, but the way Clarke puts it makes the situation look even more dire.
"I'm about to say something that people think is an exaggeration, but I think the evidence is pretty strong," Clarke said during an interview with the Smithsonian. "Every major company in the United States has already been penetrated by China. My greatest fear is that, rather than having a cyber-Pearl Harbor event, we will instead have this death of a thousand cuts. Where we lose our competitiveness by having all of our research and development stolen by the Chinese. And we never really see the single event that makes us do something about it. That it’s always just below our pain threshold. That company after company in the United States spends millions, hundreds of millions, in some cases billions of dollars on R&D and that information goes free to China....After a while you can't compete."
Clarke notes that while the U.S. government is involved in espionage against other governments, it doesn't hack Chinese companies and then hand over intelligence to their American counterparts. He argues that the same cannot be said for the Chinese government.
Clarke's most famous warning came 10 weeks in advance of the events of 9/11: on July 5, 2001. The FAA, the Coast Guard, the FBI, the Secret Service, and the INS had gathered at the White House, where Clarke stated that "something really spectacular is going to happen here, and it's going to happen soon." For the sake of the U.S. economy, let's hope his warning about China doesn't eclipse the one from over 10 years ago.
See also:
- Chinese hacker arrested for leaking 6 million logins
- Hacktivists stole 100 million records in 2011
- Celebrity hacker to plead guilty
- Anonymous hacks Panda Security in response to LulzSec arrests
- Anonymous tricked into installing Trojan
- NASA: Hackers had 'full functional control'
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Talkback
Sure, there was never going to be an issue...
Owe ya one.
Source code availability and exploits
Proprietary
Open source is not less secure in ANY way because of being open.
@Natanael_L
But at the same time, stopping a motivated hacker is difficult. :(
If only the Russians had access to the Internet during the cold war...
Yep
Also, Any company dealing with the Govenrment should be on an isolated Network so we don't completely lose that advantage.
True
The outsourcing and short-sighted greed of the corporations that moved from Silicon Valley to Asia *had to have* seen the warning signs. And yet here we are ... after the horse has well and truly bolted, griping over the loss of R&D ... i mean really? So, so late in the piece? When all the damage has already been done?
It's like this: the corporations that deserted the U.S and Silicon Valley are as much the culprit here as any hacking group. We all need to step back, take a breath and look at the bigger picture.
Chinese hackers (and any other nationals) are a big issue, to be sure, but they are the thin edge of the sword. The guilty parties would have us all shift focus from those that really began the rot when off-shoring and outsourcing became the currency of greed in the U.S. (and Western society, in general), in the first place.
You are right ... unfortunately for us all in the West, so am i.
And yet congress can't stop the corporate welfare they still receive
http://www.businessinsider.com/ballmer-threatens-obama-says-hell-move-jobs-overseas-2009-6
Agree
Scissors!!
China
biggest customer?
foreclose
Oh yeah?
It is time to bite the bullet and remove most favored nation status. We also need to setup those economic zones that McCain was talking about so there are tax havens in the USA for manufacturing! Once we get at least 50% of the jobs back, yank away their status and throw tariffs on anything else coming in from China!
@Peter Perry .. run for office
They already have ...
Why do you think its current occupant is hellbent on destroying our economy? From his campaign pledge to raise gas prices to wasting billions on Solyndra, etc. ... China has called in their markers, friends.
Holding bonds isn't like owing the bank
@Peter Perry
Default on sovereign debt? Yes, you can either 1) default on all treasury bonds outstanding, sending the fiancial system to crawling stall, losing the nations coveted AAA credits rating to a D and have the world move away from the greenback as the universal currency and all the advantages that come with it. deluded. 2) selectively target all treasury bonds held by the PRC in specific; How about they confiscated all assets held by US interest over there in response? How many billions of dollars of FDI over the years now?
What is there to hack?