China: We’re the ones being hacked

China’s information network and “especially the military has
long been a victim of overseas hacking,” spokesman Huang Xueping said Thursday
in a press release.

The comments were first reported by China Daily, an official
news outlet of the government.

China’s military has come under fire from the U.S., which
believes it is linked to hacker attacks on Google and other companies. Two
Chinese schools have been connected to the attacks on Google, one of which has
close ties to China’s military.

China has repeatedly said it had nothing to do with the
cyber attacks, something Xueping emphasized on Thursday.

“China’s law forbids any form of cyber attack,” he said. “China
attaches great importance to fighting cyber crimes and has been trying to enhance
cooperation with other countries and international organizations on it.”

The Google attacks have highlighted growing worries in
Washington about U.S. vulnerabilities to hackers.

Michael McConnnell, a former director of national
intelligence under President George W. Bush, this week told a congressional
panel that the U.S. would lose a cyber war if it had to fight one today.

He compared the threat of sophisticated cyber attacks to the
dangers the U.S. faced during the Cold War.