Did The Digital Cold War Already Begin?

Pentagon e-mail system breached

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon on Tuesday said computer hackers gained access to an unclassified e-mail system in the office of Defense Secretary Robert Gates, but declined comment on a report that the Chinese army was responsible.

Now, it's only former officials saying under deep background that the Chinese army is capable of doing this, so that's still a lot of missing dots to connect. Plus, China has denied it is responsible for the attacks, with many experts saying that China is home to a lot of insecure networks, which any criminal element could use to raise a zombie army for spam or other malicious behavior.

However, trade and economics are how China is exerting its influence these days, and the U.S. butting heads with China over product safety would be seen by the Chinese as a matter of national security. Anytime the U.S. even hints at doing something about the trade deficit, the Chinese diplomats make a lot of noise about the U.S. being the bad guy in many international issues. With China trying to look like a major international player with hosting the Olympics, launching so-called communication satellites, and advertising its intentions to join the space race, it appears that the old Soviet playbook is being translated into chinese characters.