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China waging a cyber-war, lawmaker says

The chairman of the House Intelligence Committee accused China on Tuesday of industrial cyberespionage against the U.S., calling it “brazen and widespread theft of intellectual property from foreign commercial competitors.”

“China’s economic espionage has reached an intolerable level,” said Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Mich. “Beijing is waging a massive war on all of us, and [the U.S. and its allies] should band together and pressure them to stop.”

Many companies have attributed computer attacks to China, but Rogers’ accusations at the committee hearing marked a new level of direct, public address from a senior U.S. official.

Rogers also said other companies that privately acknowledge having been victims of China’s cyber-spying remained quiet “for fear of provoking further Chinese attacks.” Many companies, including Google, have been breached in recent years.

Former CIA Director Michael Hayden agreed with Rogers’ pointed claims in his testimony, then argued for more transparency and sharing of cyberdefense strategies, as well as a consistent view of what U.S. cyber policies need to be.

The agencies are reluctant to talk about any cyber issues, Hayden said, adding: “I think this information is horribly overclassified inside the government.”

After pointing his finger at the government, Hayden was quick to say the private sector is not doing its part, either.

“Industry is also reluctant to share information left to right — within industry — and north to south — between industry and government,” he said. “This lack of transparency prevents us from getting to consensus.”

The Defense Industrial Base Cyber Pilot, a new program recently extended by the Defense Department, was mentioned several times in the hearing. The program helps the government share cyber-threat intelligence with private-sector companies through a voluntary information-sharing agreement.

Hayden had both critiques and congratulations for Cyber Pilot.

“We really do have to keep in mind, as successful as this has been — as hopeful as this seems to be — this was a small group of companies, they were the companies most threatened by the cyber attacks we have been describing,” he said. “And all of these companies are very accustomed to working in an intimate way with the federal government.”

Whether this model will work for addressing the problem on a wider scale is unclear, Hayden said.