Hacking America's Future

Chinese hackers and American R&D. Is this country’s future being stolen?

Heir apparent top leader of China, Xi Jinping, in Iowa this morning, visiting old friends.  We hope he had a great country breakfast, a nice chat, a warm reunion.  We really do.  This US-China relationship really matters.  But we’ve got some things to talk about, Mr. Xi, when it comes to China and hacking.  Computer hacking.

The theft in particular of American trade secrets – American R&D, the fruits of American ingenuity.  We’re told it is happening on a vast scale.  A scale so great it could change America’s future.  Steal it.

This hour, On Point:  Chinese hackers and American R&D.
-Tom Ashbrook

William Wan, diplomatic correspondent for the Washington Post.

Nicole Perlroth, reporter for the New York Times.

Dmitri Alperovitch, is a former vice president, threat research, for McAfee Labs.

Scott Borg, Director and Chief Economist for The United States Cyber Consequences Unit.

CNN "The U.S. top military officer said that, should China's military be found to be behind hacks into the U.S. infrastructure, it would not necessarily be a hostile act."

Businessweek "China-based hackers looking to derail the $40 billion acquisition of the world’s largest potash producer by an Australian mining giant zeroed in on offices on Toronto’s Bay Street, home of the Canadian law firms handling the deal."

New York Times "What might have once sounded like the behavior of a paranoid is now standard operating procedure for officials at American government agencies, research groups and companies that do business in China and Russia — like Google, the State Department and the Internet security giant McAfee. Digital espionage in these countries, security experts say, is a real and growing threat — whether in pursuit of confidential government information or corporate trade secrets. "