U.S. Grills China About Cyber Attacks

Inside DHS' Classified Cyber-Coordination Headquarters

In another sign that the United States government is concerned with the threat of cyber attacks originating from China, a top State Department official recently raised the case of a hacked U.S. political site directly with the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, according to a letter released by the political group Change.org.

The site, which offers tools for online political campaigns, began to be victimized by distributed denial of service (DDOS) attacks in mid April, soon after it carried a petition for China to release Chinese artist Ai Weiwi, who helped design the centerpiece of the 2008 Summer Olympics, the "Bird's Nest" National Stadium, and who was imprisoned earlier this year in the midst of a Chinese crackdown on political dissent.

The attacks raised the ire of congressional leadership, as both House minority leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., condemned the attacks and called on the State Department to take action and bring the hackers to justice.

In response, the State Department not only condemned DDOS attacks, like the one Change.org experienced, that are "designed to stifle free speech on the net," but also raised the issue directly with the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs in late April, according to a letter from the State Department to Rep. DeLauro that was released by Change.org. The letter indicates that deputy assistant secretary of state Dan Baker raised the issue of the attack with the Chinese government during a dialogue on human rights.

"The Department will continue to press China on the importance of an open and unrestricted Internet," says the letter, written by acting assistant secretary of state for legislative affairs Joseph Macmanus. "As part of the State Department's Internet freedom initiative, we support efforts to protect groups and individuals from such attacks."

The attack is only one of a number of recent attacks said to originate from China. Google in late May announced that hundreds of its Gmail users, including senior U.S. officials, had been the targets of a spear-phishing campaign that originated in China. A February attack on the G-20 was similarly traced to Chinese IP addresses, and China has also been reportedly eyed in recent attacks on the International Monetary Fund. Leaked State Department cables indicate that the Chinese have been attacking U.S. government agencies and companies since at least 2002.

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