Thomas W. Pauken II
Editor's note: Thomas W. Pauken II is the author of "U.S. vs China: From Trade War to Reciprocal Deal," a consultant on Asia-Pacific affairs and a geopolitical commentator. The article reflects the author's opinions and not necessarily the views of CGTN.
On Tuesday, China's National Computer Virus Emergency Response Center (CVERC) issued a groundbreaking report that disclosed more details about the prior alleged cyber attacks conducted by the United States' National Security Agency (NSA) and Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) on Chinese targets, including Northwestern Polytechnical University in Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, which is "a research-focused institution with disciplines in aeronautics and marine technology engineering" and affiliated with China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), according to media reports.
The NSA-led cyber attacks appear to have been ongoing for over 10 years while 45 nations and regions around the world were targeted in the cyber espionage surveillance campaigns. U.S.-friendly countries should also be alarmed. As reported by Xinhua, the NSA's TAO (Tailored Access Operations) hacker's unit had targeted 32 systems in Japan, 30 in South Korea, 16 in Germany while Sweden, Poland and Ukraine were also hit hard.
The world is learning with grave concerns how Washington has developed extensive IT (information technology) cyber espionage networks to track and attempt to sabotage China's IT infrastructure, as well as targeting its allied nations.
Nonetheless, such efforts will not only fail but fan more fears that the U.S. can't be a trusted member of the global cyber community. And what's more disconcerting is that Washington no longer cares about protecting its reputation as a proper role model for so-called rules-based governance.
Knowing the details
The NSA is believed to have stolen about 140 gigabytes of vital data from Northwestern Polytechnical University, while using "41 types of cyber weapons" to infect computers and mobile devices with malware, including Trojans, Bvp47, SuctionChar among others. Allegedly, more than 10,000 cyber attacks were connected to it.
Apparently, SuctionChar is very insidious since the malware can steal accounts and passwords by utilizing remote management to embark on file transfers on targeted servers, according to the CVERC report that was released in collaboration with the Chinese cyber security vendor, Beijing Qi an Pangu Laboratory Technology.
"Suctionchar can run stealthily on target servers, monitor in real-time users' input on the terminal program of the operating system console, and intercept all kinds of user names and passwords," according to the report, which also revealed that these credentials were used to breach other servers and network devices.
The Suctionchar serves as a crucial backdoor tool developed by the Equation Group, which reportedly was linked to TAO. The NSA's cyber espionage activities should set off alarm bells. Washington has hired teams of hackers and they are pushing forward on unprecedented cyber attacks that could literally destroy major IT infrastructure networks across the globe.
Should the NSA's TAO expand its activities, no country will be safe. This is one of the reasons why Beijing is publicly condemning it. China's Foreign Ministry's spokesperson Mao Ning said at an earlier press conference:
"Security of the cyberspace is a common issue facing all countries in the world. As the country that possesses the most powerful cyber technologies and capabilities, the U.S. should immediately stop using its prowess as an advantage to conduct theft and attacks against other countries, [and] responsibly participate in global cyberspace governance and play a constructive role in defending cybersecurity."
Washington Post's weird rebuttal
So far, the Biden administration has failed to respond to China's accusations, while not publicly denying such claims either. Washington has not shown any shame or made attempts to cover up as well.
Meanwhile, the Washington Post, a newspaper that is largely supportive of the U.S. foreign policy agenda that favors 'American exceptionalism' ambitions, published last Friday an article entitled, "China's complaints about U.S. spying are laughable to many." The author, Tim Starks, wrote with some awkward phrases such as "'No, duh,' China keeps alleging the U.S. is hacking it, confusing cyber analysts."
In case the reader is unfamiliar, the Online Slang Dictionary defines "no duh" as "a sarcastic response used when someone states the obvious."
So, the Washington Post has reaffirmed long-held suspicions about the NSA's worldwide cyber espionage activities and mocking any naive person who thought otherwise. The Washington Post goes on to say, "alleged targets like (last) week's Northwestern Polytechnical University are what most nations would consider 'fair game' for government-to-government espionage."
The Washington Post argues that the NSA's cyber espionage activities are morally justified, claiming that governments hold a sovereign right to spy on each other. Although, the Washington Post is the same newspaper that frequently denounces China over cyber espionage allegations.
The newspaper is acting very hypocritical after the NSA gets exposed as a rampant cyber spy on the world stage. The logic being: the U.S. can commit acts of villainy just because the U.S. is on our team. But this argument conflicts with the U.S. government calling for all nations to comply with a "rules-based world order." One would expect the U.S. to follow the same rules that Washington applies on other nations.
