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| Several of the hackers from the Third Department of the General Staff Department of the People’s Liberation Army (3PLA) wanted by the FBI |
When U.S security is breached, authorities often look to Chinese espionage. Those who are behind such offenses are hackers in the private sector, although it is sometimes suggested that these are under orders from the state. Often times, these hackers will work in groups for mutual benefit. They infiltrate computers to access private, and supposedly secure information the government and other related agencies hold. Even NGO’s that deal with human right campaigns have fallen victim to cyber espionage. Axiom is a featured Chinese hacking group that attacks with embedding malicious software in computers. They are a subgroup of a larger cyber espionage group known to have been operating for about six years.
There have been many indictments by both governments for domestic cyber espionage charges, but never before have indictments been directed at any states until now. Most recently on May 19 2014, the U.S. charged five Chinese military hackers for cyber espionage against U.S. corporations. These five individuals were charged for crimes in offenses relating to computer hacking, economic espionage, and other offenses targeting in the U.S. nuclear power, microtechnology, and solar sectors. Prosecuted individuals registered and hosted domains that their accomplices then used to hack into U.S. sources, send fraudulent emails to gain access to information, and steal the credentials of workers at rivaling organizations. “This is a case alleging economic espionage by members of the Chinese military and represents the first ever charges against a state actor for this type of hacking,” U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said.
The increased use of technology between nations in the practice of international relations has led to an intense competition between rising world powers to expand their technological capabilities and prove which entity has the most cyber control. The Chinese execute attempts to infiltrate the systems of a wide array of governmental agencies. In July, the US Office of Personnel Management, an office dedicated to the storage of hundreds of thousands of potential government employees, reported that they had been infiltrated by Chinese hackers and a large amount of sensitive information had been put at risk. Later in that same month, the Department of Justice announced that Chinese business interests had tapped into Boeing’s private database, stealing documents related to military aircraft and weapons. 
The recent digitization of everything from banking transactions to classified documents means that everyone is vulnerable to cyber attacks. Moreover, the ability for actors to launch such attacks instantaneously against millions of targets across the globe poses a serious challenge to governments and firms trying to contain this threat. Much confusion arises from trying to determine the origin of cyber attacks because often their perpetrators utilize a number of proxies which also makes countering them incredibly difficult. Because the hardware needed to initiate such measures and countermeasures is accessible on the open market, the possibility that they will be used increasingly by non-state actors is rather high. This foments instability in the sphere of cyber relations as it is still unclear which cyber attacks the Chinese perpetrated seeing as they never acknowledge any of their espionage activities. Ultimately, there is no greater risk of Chinese cyber attacks than attacks by these non-state groups such as LulzSec we have seen proliferate in recent years.
China's repeated altercations involving cyber espionage have brought up larger issues within the field of international politics. Especially critical in this discussion is the idea of sovereignty, or a state's or institution's authority to rule within its given jurisdiction, free from interference from international intervention (of course, within certain parameters). When the Chinese government or its citizens illegally break into the technologically stored information of a foreign entity, this is a clear breach of the victim's sovereignty. To what degree the state abets these actions demonstrates Likewise, the issue of sovereignty reappears in the international response to aggressive Chinese cyber-espionage. Our reaction, while firm, must also not violate international parameters set forth by the UN--that is to say, they must be legal internationally.
The issues involving Chinese cyber-espionage seems to question the very premise of state sovereignty. In our technologically connected world where communication and information can be shared in an instant, the physical borders between nations become less and less relevant, while the lines we draw in their scopes of information online have become increasingly critical. In Max Weber's traditional interpretation of a state, territory is referred to as "being another defining characteristic" of the state. Yet, how does this concern online territory, and how can we redefine the state to encompass this new aspect of territoriality? These questions are especially critical in the statist system which has become the basis of contemporary international politics.
#ChinaintheWorld
By Miles Bierylo, Imani Sherrill, Luca, Difronzo, Sophie D., Corey Norell, Kevin H.
Works Cited:
U.S. Charges Five Chinese Military Hackers with Cyber Espionage Against U.S. Corporations and a Labor Organization for Commercial Advantage. (2014, May 19). Retrieved November 3, 2014.
Stone, J. (2014, July 16). Chinese Hackers: Cyber-Espionage Increasing Between US, Beijing, As US Government Agencies Targeted. Retrieved November 1, 2014, from http://www.ibtimes.com/chinese-hackers-cyber-espionage-increasing-between-us-beijing-us-government-agencies-1630040
LulzSec hacker helps FBI stop attacks. (2014, May 26). Retrieved November 1, 2014, from http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-27579765
Minnick, W. (2014, July 19). Chinese Business Man Charged with Hacking Boeing, Other Arms Companies. In DefenseNews. Retrieved November 2, 2014
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