The New China Syndrome: USA DOD Uses Google To Foil Hackers?!

The China Syndrome has taken on a whole new meaning. Not a movie with pretty faces, not a nuclear meltdown of molten material ripping through the earth’s core; it’s now the threat of World War Three in the form of a Hacker War, conducted in cyber space, that could happen in the course of a second without anyone knowing anything had occurred.

Believe it or not…in 2001, the White House web site was completely shut down thanks to a hacker war launched by thousands of people in China, then joined by people from other countries including Saudi Arabia, India and Argentina. These hackers turned the Navy website’s home page into the blaring phrase, “I Am Chinese!” Over at the Labor Department the main page screamed, “China Hack”. The National Business Center was dealt the worst blow with the proclamation, “Beat down Imperialism of American! Attack anti-Chinese arrogance!” Imagine how devastating this could all be if these hackers’ English grammar were as accurate as their computer acumen!

So why do Chinese hackers show such disdain towards America? It all started with an American spy plane crashing into a Chinese jet. The American pilot walked away unharmed while the Chinese pilot died, escalating the tension between the two countries. Many believe China is working towards world dominance in the electronics arena and sees the United States as their premier competitor. In the years following this initial Cyber War of the World, China has launched close to 100,000 computer attacks against the US. In 2005 alone, The Pentagon logged more than 79,000 attempted intrusions with a whopping 1300 successes.

Are these invasions orchestrated by the Chinese Government or the general populace of China? The PLA (People’s Liberation Army), is the unified military organization of all land, sea, and air forces of the People’s Republic of China. For years, it is believed that the PLA outsources its hacking efforts to individuals who are the winners of hacking competitions held throughout China. In Sichuan province, one such winner uses the nom de guerre Wicked Rose. He, or she, went on to set up a hacking business that penetrated computers at a defense contractor for the United States aerospace division. Wicked Rose is believed to be employed by The PLA. There’s no definitive proof which allows the Chinese Government to comfortably deny any involvement.

So how has the United States responded to this cyber espionage? Three years after the 2001 incident, the U.S. Government assigned ONE person to investigate.(He knew nothing about intelligence; his only qualification was that he could read and write in Mandarin.) None-the-less, he managed to retrieve names, photos, cell phone numbers, and the software used by the leaders of the hacker assault, after just one day on the job, by typing in the Chinese characters for “hacker” into Google. How Mickey Mouse is that!

The China Syndrome and its new meaning has brought on a new division of terror to our modern world. It can shut down a major corporation, derail a bank, and above all, it could start a New World War that could change the face of this earth. And you could be innocently sleeping when it all happens.

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