24/7 Wall St.

People who believe in conspiracies are nuts in need of powerful anti-psychotic drugs. That is until their theories prove true. They then morph into prophets and sages.

Agoraphobic men wearing aluminum foil hats to keep out messages from Mars have believed that China has been hacking to US military computers and IT systems at large US companies. There are secrets in those electronic boxes, and the Chinese want them.

Late news is that a full general in the US military has caught the Chinese red-handed, or so be believes. According to The Wall Street Journal "The top U.S. commander in charge of cyberspace said that American military networks are coming under increasing attack from hackers seeking to steal classified information, and that many of the incidents appear linked to China." We were told the Cold War ended when the Berlin Wall came down.

It is a wonder that anyone is surprised. Spies and other agents from foreign governments have been stealing secrets from the US for decades. The Russians did not come by the atomic bomb by being good scientists.

If the Chinese have a systematic program for getting military information and planting viruses in computers, it is probable that they have similar designs on sensitive information from the US private sector. High tech and software design secrets would have a special value to a country which has to get almost all of its important technology from outside its borders. Data from military contractors would also be especially useful.

No one talks about the Chinese plans. That is a shame since some kind of electronic espionage has probably been going on for years.

Douglas A. McIntyre