China rejects US report that it is stealing trade secrets

CHINA HAS DISMISSED a US report claiming that it uses 'cyber espionage' to acquire trade secrets.

A US intelligence report claimed that China and Russia engage in cyber espionage - state sponsored hacking - to steal US trade secrets. According to the report, high value information sits on the internet allowing anyone who breaches its defences to have access to large amounts of data with little risk of detection.

China, which is often accused of taking part in state sponsored hacking, with or without evidence, rejected the report and said it wanted to help. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said, "Online attacks are notable for spanning national borders and being anonymous. Identifying the attackers without carrying out a comprehensive investigation and making inferences about the attackers is both unprofessional and irresponsible."

Interestingly, while the US report pointed the finger at China and Russia it did admit that it is difficult to pinpoint who exactly is behind an attack. However, since China and Russia are easy targets for blame, why not let the reflex reaction be to point the finger at them?

It is no surprise that China or any government would deny such allegations and the report should serve as yet another example of how governments are trying to lay blame rather than fix the underlying problem at hand. The fact is if the networks and data were secure in the first place, there wouldn't be any breaches or anyone to blame, which could be inconvenient for some people. µ