The new Cold War
Go Deeper.
Create an account or log in to save stories.
Like this?
Thanks for liking this story! We have added it to a list of your favorite stories.
While much of the nation was consumed with the hacker takeover of Burger King's Twitter account yesterday, the New York Times was busy dropping a bombshell that isn't getting anywhere near the attention: China has begun to hack into critical infrastructure in the United States.
The report, released today, from the security firm Mandiant (download here) exposes a unit of the Chinese army responsible for hacking into organizations and institutions.
"As we watch these progress, the most interesting element was that some of the attacks have begun to go to companies that control infrastructure," Times reporter David Sanger said today.
What kind of infrastructure? He says a company that designs the software for 70 percent of the gas and oil pipelines in North America, which dictate when valves are opened and closed, has been breached.
"They have all the tools in place to be destructive," Sanger says.
America is "totally outnumbered" in the war, Bloomberg News reported last week.
Turn Up Your Support
MPR News helps you turn down the noise and build shared understanding. Turn up your support for this public resource and keep trusted journalism accessible to all.