China has named three individuals working at the National Security Agency it claims hacked computer systems for the Asian Winter Games earlier this year. The country rarely publishes the names of alleged nation-backed hackers, even though the United States routinely outs actors linked to China.
On Tuesday, police in Harbin, where the games took place, named three alleged NSA agents as culprits in the hack—Katheryn A. Wilson, Robert J. Snelling, and Stephen W. Johnson. It claims the group also targeted Huawei, one of China’s leading telecommunications companies that was the target of trade restrictions imposed by the United States.
It is well known that the United States, like most major powers, participates in global espionage and hacking operations. The NSA famously hoovers up and analyzes information from telecommunications and internet systems around the globe, a practice made famous by whistleblower Edward Snowden. Countries conduct surveillance for many reasons including combating terrorism and gaining an advantage over foreign military activities. But China does not typically name suspected foreign hackers targeting its domestic infrastructure, perhaps because the country tries to clamp down on any signals of weakness.
Experts told Bloomberg that the change in strategy is likely in retaliation to ongoing tariffs. By signaling that it can identify the perpetrators of intrusions, China is telegraphing that the United States is not as covert in its operations as it might think, and will need to change strategy to continue effective intelligence-gathering operations. This might be referred to as “simple sabotage,” a concept coined by the CIA that in any war with a foreign adversary, small interference can disrupt enemy efforts and create inefficiencies. Attacks on undersea cables and other infrastructure—like train lines—are another form of simple sabotage. It is less about significant physical attack and more so displaying minor aggression, and is just one pillar in broader geopolitical maneuvering.
Hacking operations can also be used as a stick in negotiations, telling countries like the United States that they should be careful not to stoke the bear, as an adversary could respond through means like knocking out infrastructure.
Bloomberg reports that China has been ramping up its efforts to call out hacking efforts:
The identification of the alleged NSA operatives followed a report released on April 3 by China’s CVERC, which said that the country had faced more than 270,000 cyberattacks during the winter games, the majority coming from computers located in the US. The report was illustrated by an image of a man typing on a keyboard dressed in an Uncle Sam outfit, with crosshairs fixed on his head.
“Most of Beijing’s reprisal for the trade war won’t come with tariffs,” said Isaac Stone Fish, chief executive officer of Strategy Risk, in an interview with the outlet. “It will come with actions that seemingly have very little to do with trade tensions,” he added. “The outing of alleged NSA hackers fits very neatly into the pattern of how Beijing likes to operate on these issues.”
China has taken other steps to retaliate against tariffs, including pausing orders on Boeing aircraft and walking back distribution of Hollywood movies. President Trump, for his part, has flip-flopped on tariffs in response to market moves. Electronics including semiconductors and iPhones are temporarily exempted from the highest tariffs, but President Trump has suggested they will come back soon.
While many Americans think manufacturing should return to the United States, and China is a bad actor in many ways, few Americans want to work in factories. And global trade has been a boon for the economy as U.S. businesses export many services abroad. President Trump, however, is operating under a false belief that any imbalance in trade—with the U.S. buying from some countries more than they send the other way—means that Americans are losers. Some companies like Apple are focused on moving their manufacturing to other Asian countries, like Vietnam and India, rather than building factories in the United States.
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