Chinese Hackers spied on U.S. military secrets

   The most valuable U.S. military secrets have spent years exposed to the curiosity of China. Hackers has been exploiting an Asian giant's service for years to uncover the security flaws of Pentagon data banks and many of its contractors to steal programming codes and copy protected technological secrets Washington experts say.
 
      This could mean that China is winning the battle on the to U.S. in matters of cybersecurity.  It is said that this may be for getting advantage in case of a direct war between the two powers, according to military experts.
 
     For the first time it is known that Chinese hackers appropriated the design details of a dozen sophisticated weapons that make the U.S. military industrial complex and form the "backbone" of the country's defense system for Asia, Europe and the Persian Gulf , according to The Washington Post as reported yesterday, citing a report by the Defense Science Board from the Pentagon.
 
      Among the artifacts compromised by Chinese cyber intrusion is complex defense F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, considered the most expensive system ever built, at a cost of $1.4 billion. The designs also include several ships stolen such as F/A-18 fighter and the V-22 Osprey.  Also the Black Hawk helicopter and a new combat ship specially designed for special operations. Details to improve air defense systems, such as Patriot missiles and the Aegis ballistic missile of the Navy, have been stolen by Chinese hackers.
 
      While the authors of the report, a group of military and civilian advisers did not identify when the theft occurred and its duration, nor identify Beijing directly, they make clear their concern that the information obtained grant the Chinese military the ability to incapacitate the most sophisticated U.S. weaponry.
It seems that electronic eavesdropping was the path chosen by China to bridge the gap that separates U.S. advanced military technology, saving billions of dollars and years of research and development.
 
     "There are suspicions that the design theft fo the Fighter F-35 has helped China develop a version much faster" a military expert claimed who estimated that Beijing could have taken a leap of 25 years thanks to the appropriation of secrets.
 
      This issue has outraged politicians and U.S. military. The Pentagon issued a report last month to Congress in which, for the first time, accuses China of being "by far the most active in the theft of U.S. intellectual property."
 
      The country has defended itself by saying that they have been victims of cyber attacks.
For President Barack Obama, cyber security has become an obsession, so this will be a priority in his meeting with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping in June in California.
 
      "It's an issue that we raised at all levels in meetings with our Chinese counterparts and I'm sure it will be a matter to be discussed", said White House spokesman, Jay Carney.

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