New Chinese Hack Attack

        Good morning,  looking out over the Lake, one sees placid waters and some visible smoke dust in the air.  Yes, there are fires close by, but not, fortunately, close at hand. Our CalFire task forces are working overtime to surppress the Beckwourth Fire Complex north of Truckee.   The Biden White House has been on the job well before our dawn, informing all Americans that our Chinese "friends" are at it again: that is, hacking our computer systems on a broad front without concern for signed agreements,  without concerns for retaliatory actions on our part, or the part of all members of the international community.  And so it goes.  Until these acts of financial piracy are costly to the Chinese people and their Communist governments, they will continue, unabated.

        The White House deputy for cybersecurity, Ms. Neuberger, announced that the Microsoft email systems in wide use around the globe were hacked by the MSS of Beijing.   The Ministry of State Security has taken the bold step of hiring criminal gangs of hackers to carry out its plans.   That's like having the Pentagon hire ransomware specialists to hack state-run and corporate computers. Public acknowledgement around the world came from many entities:  NATO made public statements, very unusual; the E.U. issued statements calling out the Chinese government for its role;  the U.S. Secretary of State, Mr. Anthony Blinken, issued a statement calling on Beijing to cease and desist these state-sponsored attacks;  Microsoft Corp. itself issued a statement, identifying the methods used to attack flaws in the email systems that needed patches to prevent hackers from accessing systems; and several national governments joined in.  None of the statements called for sanctions, but all identified China as the perpetrator.   No comments from the Communists have been heard.  Don't expect any: they are Communists.

         So, the tactics and strategy of Beijing continue to roil the world's efforts at cyber security.   Recall, it was about 3 years ago that Beijing hacked into the personnel files of the 22 million Federal US  employees.  This was done to examine the characteristics of those hired in an attempt to analyze those individuals working in government for the US.  THis could lead and will lead to advanced methods of exploitation of US government systems via individuals working across the federal landscape whether or not in the military or some obscure bureau in the vast bureaucracy.

        Pres. Joe Biden has obviously has made the effort to raise awareness of China's brazen tactics.  No silence such as that of his lame-brained predecessor, Donald Trump.  We have a whole lot of catching up to do.  And how will the White House accomplish anything meaningful in this game of cybersecurity?   Hmmm.  I'm sure the Pentagon has its own ideas, carefully planned and put into a "red book" for the president's perusal.   The C.I.A. has its red book.  The NSA has their own.   Microsoft has one.  Who doesn't?  The hold up is answering the question: are any of these plans going to work and are any of them worth the costs?   How will countering these attacks affect the Chinese economy and the US economy?  How will it effect the policy of restricting Huawei?   Most of all: how will it affect Apple Corporation as it continues to evade commercial restrictions on doing business with Beijing.  It was only recently disclosed that Apple CEO,

 Tim Cook,  formed a separate China-based corporation to conduct its business with the goal of circumventing US government  business restrictions when dealing with China.  Really?  An American company going against its own government?  Sounds like something a "traitor" would do, yes?

     Soon, will Americans fear China when they open their laptops, turn on their iphones, log on to their company's networks?   It's already happening, thanks to the unrestrained efforts of Chinese Communists.