Even though whatever ongoing cyber war between the United States
and Mainland China may seem piecemeal, will there ever be a great Sino-American
cyber war truce?
By: Ringo Bones
The recent visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to the
United States managed to produce a fruitful cooperation with President Barack
Obama when it comes to long-term ways of tackling climate change, the two world
leaders – more or less – managed to reach a truce when it comes to the ongoing
cyber war between the two countries. Even though the ongoing cyber war between
the United States and The People’s Republic of china may seem piecemeal in
comparison to the cyber war between Estonia and Russia a few years back, the
estimated damage on the affected corporate and federal government entities in
the United States since the Sino-American cyber war began had been estimated to
be in the billions of US dollars. Even though the two world powers have shown
enough restraint that has prevented their piecemeal cyber war from blowing up
the worldwide web, will there ever be a “great Sino-American cyber war truce”?
Even if the United States manages to mount an effective
firewall against the ongoing cyber war, many a private corporate entities in
the United States have since became a victim of cyber espionage launched from
the Chinese Mainland as far back as before the 9/11 terror attacks. During the
launch of the Green Dam Youth Escort internet censorship firewall by the
Beijing government, Hollywood had complained that the Green Dam Youth Escort’s
color-coded censorship scheme had “censored” or blocked the online promotional ads of Garfield
A Tale of Two Kitties promotional trailer from running in Mainland China
because the Green Dam Youth Escort cannot differentiate between the color of
Garfield’s fur from the vestments of the Dalai Lama.
Even though Unit 61398 – the famed cyber warfare unit of
the People’s Liberation Army – have since outsourced its cyber attacks and
cyber espionage jobs to the Beijing 50-Cent Cyber Army a few years ago, the
damage done by the cyber warfare incidences over the years cannot be easily
overlooked. A cyber war truce is needed between the United States and The
People’s Republic of China but it won’t come easy for now.