Mark Kelly of Recorded Future, a cyber-security firm, says his company is aware of about 50 hacking groups in China, including private firms working for the mss or People\u2019s Liberation Army. There are undoubtedly many more. Mr Kelly describes China\u2019s cyber-espionage efforts as \u201corders of magnitude\u201d greater in scale than those mounted by Russia or North Korea.<\/p>\n
As the indictment shows, they are surprisingly devolved. Some of them specialise in spying on different parts of the world, says Nigel Inkster, a former deputy head of Britain\u2019s spy agency, mi6. They have considerable leeway to do as they wish, he says: \u201cI\u2019m not even sure that there is any kind of formal political clearance mechanism.\u201d Much of their work is subcontracted to private firms. Last month a huge online dump of documents from one such company, i-Soon, showed its involvement in large-scale cyber-snooping on behalf of a variety of government agencies.<\/p>\n
The West\u2019s anxieties, not least about the hackers\u2019 theft of corporate data, are becoming increasingly manifest. In January the head of the fbi, Christopher Wray, said that China\u2019s state-sponsored hackers outnumbered his agency\u2019s cyber-personnel by \u201cat least 50 to one\u201d. He added that China\u2019s hackers are laying the groundwork for a possible Chinese strike, \u201cpositioning on American infrastructure in preparation to wreak havoc and cause real-world harm to American citizens and communities.\u201d<\/p>\n
Read it all<\/a>.<\/p>\n The West\u2019s anxieties about Chinese cyber-espionage are becoming increasingly manifest. But if it hopes that naming, shaming and sanctions will dissuade the spooks, it is likely to be disappointed https:\/\/t.co\/MnQGij3lds<\/a> 👇<\/p>\n — The Economist (@TheEconomist) March 27, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n \n