The White House has said it will step up diplomatic pressure overcybercrime and intellectual property theft from US businesses and security interests, in an announcement that indirectly cast China as one of the biggest perpetrators, reports today’s edition of The Guardian.
“The US attorney general, Eric Holder, said the plan included working with like-minded governments to tackle offenders using trade restrictions and criminal prosecutions. There would be a 120-day review to see whether new US legislation is needed.
“A hacker in China can acquire source code from a software company in Virginia without leaving his or her desk,” Holder said.
“The report stops short of blaming the Chinese government itself but a study released this week by a private security firm accused the Chinese military of orchestrating numerous cyber attacks against US businesses, a charge Beijing has denied.
“The White House report listed 17 cases of trade secret theft by Chinese companies or individuals since 2010, far more than any other country mentioned in the report.
The Obama administration has said its strategy aims to counter what Holder called “a significant and steadily increasing threat to America’s economy and national security interests”.
“President Barack Obama introduced a cybersecurity executive order in his state of the union address that offered a broad outline of how the government plans to deal with cyber threats.
“As new technology has torn down traditional barriers to international business and global commerce, they also make it easier for criminals to steal secrets and to do so from anywhere, anywhere in the world,” Holder said.”
More at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2013/feb/21/white-house-war-cybercrime-trade