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Current Affairs, Cyber Exploitation

Cyber war, China ‘key to security’, says Julia Gillard: The Australian

Paul Maley & Brendan Nicholson wrote an article for The Australian that caught my eye.  According to the authors, the Australian PM, Julia Gillard, “will this week identify the rise of China and a massive escalation in cyber attacks against government and industry as two of the key security issues facing the nation.  . . .”  This will take place during a speech on Wednesday.

The article goes on to say that Australian security planners are increasingly concerned about the rise of China and the “threat of cyber intrusions.”

When I first read the article, I began to get excited that a head of state might just call out China on its pervasive cyberespionage.  I understand there are political delicacies to all of this, but I just dream of the day when President Obama stands at a lectern and issues a stern rebuke to the Chinese government for vacuuming up US intellectual property.  That of course will never happen, and unfortunately Maley & Nicholson note that it will not happen here either: “the China section ha[s] been ‘carefully worded’ so as to avoid offence.”

I don’t profess to understand Australian politics, so I don’t know if this is that notable, but I’m interested to hear what PM Gillard will say.

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