Pentagon accuses Chinese government of hacking and hacking again
The Pentagon pointed an accusing finger at China today in its annual report to Congress, saying the country and its government are trying to gain insight into U.S. secrets.
Specifically, the report says China wants to improve its own technology and is also looking to get a read on how the U.S. government feels about China internally, according to the Wall Street Journal. It’s a strong statement for the Pentagon, which is very direct about the use of hacking in its report.
“China is using its computer network exploitation capability to support intelligence collection against the U.S. diplomatic, economic, and defense industrial base sectors that support U.S. national defense programs,” said the report. Security firm Mandient identified a group of hackers from China’s People’s Liberation Army called PLA 61398 that has been launching a number of damaging cyber attacks on the U.S. It has been linked to hacks on a number of technology companies as well as media such as the New York Times.
