Here’s How China’s Hacker Army Steals Up to $600 Billion from American Businesses Each Year

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Secret arms of the Chinese military have been tasked with stealing the secrets of American businesses using a variety of hacking methods, some off the shelf and some sophisticated. Evidence collected by the office of the U.S. Trade Representative suggests that the cost of all that theft could be between $225 billion and $600 billion. Bill Gertz reports at The Washington Times:

Beginning in the 1990s, the Chinese used large-scale cyberattacks in support of a larger industrial policy of building up the country’s science and technology business and military sector. 3PLA is China’s most aggressive technology collector by far, with at least 19 confirmed and nine possible cyber units under its command. The CIA identified Gen. Liu in a 2014 report as an encryption specialist and director of the Technical Reconnaissance Bureau, another term for 3PLA.

The general appeared in a 2013 PLA propaganda video called “Silent Contest,” which described the United States as the main target of Chinese cyberattacks, based on the country being the birthplace of the internet and having the ability to control its core resources.

A U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) report on Chinese technology theft provided some of the first clear evidence of the massive damage caused by cyber-economic spying attacks. Chinese unfair trade practices and Beijing’s intellectual property theft, according to the report, cost Americans a staggering $225 billion to $600 billion annually in lost information.

One of the businesses attacked was Boeing, where the Chinese stole the plans for America’s C-17 airplane. A few years later, presumably after studying the Boeing plans, China touted its own brand new plane.

I have regularly warned you against the possibility of a crippling cyber attack on American infrastructure. And I have cautioned you about attacks on the financial systems you use every day.

If you own a business with any sort of proprietary data, you must remain vigilant. Most of the Chinese attacks were perpetuated via falsified emails that purported to be from someone the recipient knew but instead contained links to malicious software. Similar attacks hit normal Americans every day. Always be vigilant online.

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E.J. Smith - Your Survival Guy

E.J. Smith is Founder of YourSurvivalGuy.com, Managing Director at Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd., a Managing Editor of Richardcyoung.com, and Editor-in-Chief of Youngresearch.com. E.J. graduated from Babson College in Wellesley, Massachusetts, with a B.S. in finance and investments. In 1995, E.J. began his investment career at Fidelity Investments in Boston before joining Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd. in 1998. E.J. has trained at Sig Sauer Academy in Epping, NH. His first drum set was a 5-piece Slingerland with Zilldjians. He grew-up worshiping Neil Peart of the band Rush, and loves the song Tom Sawyer—the name of his family’s boat, a Grady-White Canyon 306. He grew up in Mattapoisett, MA, an idyllic small town on the water near Cape Cod. He spends time in Newport, RI and Bartlett, NH—both as far away from Wall Street as one could mentally get. The Newport office is on a quiet, tree lined street not far from the harbor and the log cabin in Bartlett, NH, the “Live Free or Die” state, sits on the edge of the White Mountain National Forest. He enjoys spending time in Key West and Paris. Please get in touch with E.J. at ejsmith@yoursurvivalguy.com

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