Chinese hackers break in to White House military office network!
The network is one of the U.S. government’s most sensitive computer networks.
That White House State Dinner for Chinese President Hu worked wonders for Sino-US relations, huh? (WSJ)
The Washington Free Beacon reported:
Hackers linked to China’s government broke into one of the U.S. government’s most sensitive computer networks, breaching a system used by the White House Military Office for nuclear commands, according to defense and intelligence officials familiar with the incident.
One official said the cyber breach was one of Beijing’s most brazen cyber attacks against the United States and highlights a failure of the Obama administration to press China on its persistent cyber attacks.
Disclosure of the cyber attack also comes amid heightened tensions in Asia, as the Pentagon moved two U.S. aircraft carrier strike groups and Marine amphibious units near waters by Japan’s Senkaku islands.
China and Japan—the United States’ closest ally in Asia and a defense treaty partner—are locked in a heated maritime dispute over the Senkakus, which China claims as its territory.
U.S. officials familiar with reports of the White House hacking incident said it took place earlier this month and involved unidentified hackers, believed to have used computer servers in China, who accessed the computer network used by the White House Military Office (WHMO), the president’s military office in charge of some of the government’s most sensitive communications, including strategic nuclear commands. The office also arranges presidential communications and travel, and inter-government teleconferences involving senior policy and intelligence officials.
So how long before the state-run media blames Romney?
Related… Canada said late on Friday it was aware of an attempt by hackers to target a domestic energy company.
More… At least 19 Japanese websites, including those of a government ministry, courts and a hospital, have come under cyberattack, apparently from China.
