It's admirable that the Justice Department expended so much time and energy and showcased such skill in obtaining indictments against Chinese hackers alleged to have targeted a number of U.S. companies, including local giants U.S. Steel, Westinghouse and Allegheny Technologies. The practical effect, however, likely will be nil if this is all the Obama administration does.
Five members of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) were indicted by a federal grand jury in Pittsburgh on Monday. Surprise, surprise, the PLA was rifling through computer networks to do what the Chinese do best — steal American technology, reverse design our own inventions, then sell them at great profit, maybe even to us.
But given that this is a government-sanctioned enterprise, it is an aggression by the Chinese state that demands more than unenforceable indictments resulting in no one being brought to justice.
Some will argue that the United States made a bold statement with the indictments, clearly putting the Chinese on notice that “we know.” Well, we've known for a very long time how our Chinese “frenemies” operate. And the only thing that will get their attention is a response with some guts. Think of stepped-up private cyber countermeasures that include the dissemination of bogus information to hoist the Chinese by their own petard. Think of the federal government imposing swift, severe and continuing sanctions.
While Monday's indictments certainly will serve to further raise Americans' consciousness about the threat, they alone will do little, if anything, to seriously confront it.
