Military computers attacked from Chinese computers - but who's doing the hacking?

Defense officials admitted that cyberattacks launched from Chinese computers have been targeting systems across the government. But it's still not clear who's doing the hacking.

Someone - or many someones - using computers based in China is launching a large-scale attack on nonclassifed US government computers - including the Defense, State, Energy and Homeland Security departments. But government officials told the Washington Post, it's not clear whether that's the Chinese government, other governments, or just unrelated hacking.

"The scope of this thing is surprisingly big," said one official about the incidents, which investigators call Titan Rain. "It's not just the Defense Department but a wide variety of networks that have been hit. This is an ongoing, organized attempt to siphon off information from our unclassified systems."

Or not.




Still, a DOD report notes that the Chinese government is heavily invested in cyberwarfare. "The PLA has likely established information warfare units to develop viruses to attack enemy computer systems and networks, and tactics to protect friendly computer systems and networks," the report said. "The PLA has increased the role of CNO [computer network operations] in its military exercises. Although initial training efforts focused on increasing the PLA's proficiency in defensive measures, recent exercises have incorporated offensive operations, primarily as first strikes against enemy networks."