United States Will Retaliate Against China After Hacks


According to the New York Times, the Obama administration has decided to retaliate against China’s hacking of a U.S. government database. How the government will retaliate against the attack made by the Chinese hackers is not known.

As The Verge noted, the personal information of millions of current and former government employees was stolen after hackers broke into an Office of Personnel Management database. The attack on the government database is thought to have originated from China.

An anonymous senior administration official told the New York Times that whatever the government chooses to do, it will likely be a public move. The response may not happen anytime soon, though.

“One of the conclusions we’ve reached is that we need to be a bit more public about our responses, and one reason is deterrence.”

The official went on to suggest that the retaliation will involve the U.S. launching their own cyber attacks against China. Still, as the New York Times report mentioned, the response could simply be symbolic, such as a protest.

“We need to disrupt and deter what our adversaries are doing in cyberspace, and that means you need a full range of tools to tailor a response.”

A possible response to the hacks could involve the U.S. sabotaging the Chinese government’s massive firewall that censors what the people of China can access through the internet.

As previously reported by the Inquisitr, the Chinese hacking of U.S. systems extends far beyond this single incident. The Chinese hackers are also interested in more than just government employees, too. The NSA was able to determine which agencies and companies the Chinese were going after. According to secret NSA map obtained by NBC News, the Chinese are targeting private American companies like Google and Lockheed Martin, and a host of others.

Admiral Mike Rogers, head of the military’s Cyber Command and director of the National Security Agency, said he believes the U.S. can handle whatever threat it’s faced with, including cyber warfare.

“Just as we fashioned a formidable nuclear capability that served us through the Cold War and beyond, I am confident in our ability to keep pace with adversaries,”

Some have expressed concern over the U.S. engaging in a cyber war with China. Since government officials don’t want to make our relationship with China worse, they appear to be thoroughly thinking over their options.

[Photo by Alex Wong / Getty Images]

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