Report: Escalating U.S.-China cyber distrust must be addressed

February 29, 2012 — 1:27pm ET | By Molly Bernhart Walker

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China
Brookings Institution
cybersecurity
Kenneth Lieberthal
Peter Singer

U.S. and Chinese officials should address their growing, mutual distrust in the cyber realm, which is generating negative assessments of each nation's long-term, strategic intentions, says a new report (.pdf) from the Brookings Institution.

While the United States and China have met to discuss cybersecurity in the past, the level of engagement is not comparable to the importance of the issue, write report authors and Brookings Senior Fellows Kenneth Lieberthal, director of the John L. Thorton China Center, and Peter Singer, director of the 21^st Century Defense Initiative.

"[The meetings should involve] a broader cadre of people who utilize the same vocabulary, are respected by their own leadership, and have trust in each other's sincerity and gravitas," write Lieberthal and Singer.

While finding common ground on cybersecurity faces many challenges, it is possible for both nations to collaborate in this area, says the report. The meetings should recognize the norms needed to ensure the smooth functioning of the Internet. By establishing these norms, each side will better understand the other's view of the ecosystem.

Successful collaboration should begin by establishing shared goals and identifying what activities are considered criminal in both societies, advise the authors. U.S. officials would be wise to at least initially avoid discussing activities that have a significant political component, they add.

Undoubtedly, the topic of malicious Internet activity and U.S.-China relations would be discussed.

"Many are inclined to assume that the Chinese government is behind most insidious activities that are launched by computers located in China," says the report.

China has been a repeat suspect in cyber intrusions against federal IT systems, referenced in congressional hearings, conferences and reports. But because it's possible to capture and utilize other computers, attack attribution is difficult.

"Bad actors elsewhere may be inclined to capture Chinese computers to use in their activities, and vice versa for the U.S.," note Lieberthal and Singer. "This same logic, though, also enables Chinese bad actors to deny responsibility, arguing that activities launched from China almost certainly are being perpetrated by others who want to take advantage of the widespread suspicions of China."

"The centrality of the attribution problem cannot be overstated, and thus it cannot be avoided for long," say report authors.

It has been Defense Department policy to remain vague on what it considers an act of war in the cyber realm. But the report argues that the United States and China should discuss "red lines" that could "provoke major conflict is crossed," because it could help them avoid unintentionally escalating a conflict and take some "risky actions off the table."

For more:
- download the Brookings report (.pdf)

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