No. 2106
February 8, 2008
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Trojan Dragon: China’s Cyber Threat
John J. Tkacik, Jr.
America’s counterintelligence czar, Dr. Joel F.
Brenner, painted an alarming picture of economic
espionage in 2006, albeit in the objective tones and
neutral parlance of the intelligence community. He
reported to Congress that “foreign collection efforts
have hurt the United States in several ways”:
• Foreign technology collection efforts have
“eroded the US military advantage by enabling
foreign militaries to acquire sophisticated capa-
bilities that might otherwise have taken years
to develop.”
• “[M]assive” industrial espionage has “undercut
the US economy by making it possible for for-
eign firms to gain a competitive economic edge
over US companies.”
Dr. Brenner characterizes China as “very aggres-
sive” in acquiring U.S. advanced technology. “The
technology bleed to China, among others, is a very
serious problem,” he said in March 2007, noting
that “you can now, from the comfort of your own
home or office, exfiltrate information electroni-
cally from somebody else’s computer around the
world without the expense and risk of trying to
grow a spy.”
On November 15, 2007, the bipartisan, congres-
sionally chartered U.S.–China Economic and Secu-
rity Review Commission (USCC) put a finer point
on it: “Chinese espionage activities in the United
States are so extensive that they comprise the single
greatest risk to the security of American technolo-
gies.” Cyberpenetration is by far China’s most effec-
tive espionage tool, and it is one that China’s spy
agencies use against America’s allies almost a