Fergie's Tech Blog

Chinese See Military Dependence on Computers as Weakness

David Lague writes in The International Herald Tribune:

Diplomatic tension this week over reported Chinese computer attacks on German government networks comes as security experts warn that China is expanding its capacity to wage cyberwar as part of its rapid military buildup.

U.S. and other foreign military analysts say that Chinese defense planners have identified the heavy dependence on computers of most modern military forces as a potential weakness that could be exploited in a conflict.

They cite articles and reports in Chinese military journals and magazines that suggest attacks aimed at extracting intelligence from enemy computer networks or disrupting communication and signals processing could deliver a decisive military advantage.

"It is part of China's concept of unlimited war," said Philip Yang, an expert on the Chinese military and professor of international relations at the National Taiwan University.

"The idea of unlimited war means employing all possible means including nontraditional or nonconventional means in the aim of winning the war."

posted by Fergie @ 8/30/2007 02:53:00 PM