Online Attacks Traced to China

A new report is suggesting that more attacks on computer networks at US agencies, including the Defense Department, are being launched through Internet sites in China.

The Washington Post’s Bradley Graham is reporting that several US officials say the breaches are coming from China, and while no classified systems have been compromised as of yet, “authorities remain concerned because, as one official said, even seemingly innocuous information, when pulled together from various sources, can yield useful intelligence to an adversary.”

Graham says all of the officials he spoke with asked to remain anonymous, but analysts are “divided on whether the attacks constitute a coordinated Chinese government campaign to penetrate US networks and spy on government databanks,” he says. While some analysts in the Pentagon might believe in official Chinese involvement, many others say it could just be hackers using Chinese networks to disguise the origin of the attacks.

One unnamed source cautioned against exaggerating the severity of the intrusions, Graham says. The attacks were of a large volume, the source told Graham, but were “not the biggest thing going on out there.”

The FBI did not comment on whether or not it had opened an investigation into the incident.