China has more sophisticated spying apparatus than KGB had, Chinese military units are responsible for 80% of cyber-attacks on US entities. If you're a law firm working on a trade case with China, they'll strip your computers. But Chinese have seen no repercussions from Washington-11/14/2014, Rep. Frank Wolf

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Wolf chaired House Commerce-Justice-Science Subcommittee. His own computer had been hacked by the Chinese.
 
11/14/2014, "Rep. Wolf: Chinese Hackers ‘Literally Taking Whatever They Want’," CNS News, Barbara Hollingsworth

"Washington is not doing nearly enough to stop Chinese hackers, who reportedly broke into the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) computer system in September, from stealing critical information from U.S. government agencies and American businesses, says Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA).

“They have a more sophisticated spying apparatus than the KGB had,” Wolf told CNSNews.com.

“We’re losing jobs, technology, everything is leaving. It’s like they’re coming in and literally taking whatever they want to take. 

And so sometimes you find out about it and sometimes you don’t, but there needs to be a coordinated effort [to stop them],” Wolf continued. “And you don’t see a coordinated effort either from the Congress or from the administration.”

Wolf told CNSNews.com that he believes special Chinese military units are responsible for roughly 80 percent of the cyber-attacks on American businesses, foundations and government agencies.

“If you are a major law firm and you’re working on a trade case with China, they’ll strip your computers,” said the Virginia Republican, who is retiring this year after serving in the House since 1980. 

“We fund the FBI on my committee. I’ve looked at the list. They’re hitting major law firms. They’re hitting all the companies,” said Wolf, who chairs the House Commerce-Justice-Science Subcommittee and whose own computer was previously hacked by the Chinese. 

“The fact is, the saying was there’s two kind of companies: Those that have been hacked and know it and those who have been hit and don’t know it. This isn’t the first time. They just got [data on] 800,000 postal employees.”

“I consider them a big threat. They have tremendous capability. They have [Red Army] units that do nothing but this,” Wolf told CNSNews.com. But there have been “no repercussions” from Washington, he pointed out.

“Until the administration speaks out and tells China to stop, and there is a penalty, it will continue.”

Wolf characterized the Obama administration as “particularly weak” in dealing with the Chinese. On Wednesday in Beijing, President Obama announced specific targets to cut U.S. greenhouse gas emissions up to 28 percent by 2025, while Chinese President Xi Jinping would only commit to an effort to start reducing emissions by 2030, a deal hailed as a “breakthrough” by Secretary of State John Kerry.

Wolf noted that NOAA did not report the cyber-attack to the Commerce Department’s inspector general, as required by law, until nearly a month later.

“They didn’t tell anybody. I think they were hoping that people would not know it and they could cover it up. And they were saying that the computers were down for a couple of days for maintenance, [so] they were not telling the truth there.”

“Maybe this [NOAA] thing didn’t come out because they didn’t want to upset the Chinese because they wanted to go to Beijing and have that deal. I don’t know that’s the case, but maybe it is the case,” Wolf speculated, adding that the Obama administration also has “one of the weakest records on human rights and religious freedom.”

“I don’t think the secretary [of Commerce] knew, and if they’re not going to tell the secretary, they’re not going to tell Congress,” Wolf said in reply to a question from CNSNews.com on whether Congress had been notified of the security breach.

However, he pointed out that the cyber-attack on NOAA may have affected national security because the weather agency shares a satellite with the Pentagon and NASA.

“What may not appear important initially may be very significant as you add it in with something else. If they were looking at what NOAA’s doing, at rocket launches, at military maneuvers, who knows? What if they are able to shut down the grid? What if they are able to shut down the banking system?” he asked.

Wolf also pointed to the Oct. 20 indictment of Xiafen “Sherry” Chen, a Chinese-born naturalized U.S. citizen and NOAA hydrologist in Ohio who was accused of downloading “sensitive files from the National Inventory of Dams.”

Wolf was quick to point out that the Chinese people are also victimized by their government.

“Probably more Chinese dissidents come through this office than any office on the Hill. The Chinese people are wonderful people, Christianity is growing dramatically, the Catholic Church is growing, so I don’t want to criticize the Chinese people,” he added.

“They have problems with their own government. Look at the crackdown taking place now in Hong Kong.”

“But part of the [Chinese] government is a Mafia operation. So do I believe what they say when they meet with the president? Do I trust the Chinese (government)? No, I don’t trust the Chinese,” Wolf said."



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