Cyber attacks: new weapon in state arsenal

“A state can use these tools to exert its power. States are beginning to understand that, and in a lot of ways the Chinese are taking the lead, and the Russians as well,” said Ned Moran of the Terrorism Research Centre.

“A country like China is realising that instead of building a robust espionage network, based on people in a country and recruiting spies, they can do the same thing at a very low cost by executing cyber attacks, Moran said.

The expert at the Virginia-based Terrorism Research Center, a branch of Total Intelligence Solutions — a firm founded by former CIA officials — said it was clear the recent spate of hacking came from China.

“You can detect patterns, coming from the same country, the same network, with the same type of techniques,” he said. “That gives you a sense that it’s probably coming from the Chinese, based on what I’ve seen. The Chinese government either is doing it, or is looking the other way as Chinese citizens are doing it.”

Operating quietly and methodically, the cyber attackers identify key people in an organisation and then send them e-mails to penetrate the network, he said.

“They send you an e-mail that looks like it comes from your boss, with a link that they ask you to click on. Once they are in your computer they can get into your network and they start looking for information and very quietly copying it and moving it out,” Moran said.

The e-mails target two to three people “to stay under the radar”, he said. “They are very patient.”

The Pentagon reportedly suspects Beijing of preparing a plan to disable the US aircraft carrier fleet.