We have seen plenty of accusations whirling around the interwebz blaming China for state-sponsored cyberattacks, the most significant being the report of US-based security firm Mandiant which detailes a specific unit in the Chinese military that is dedicated to cyberwar. Now China is hitting back at, claiming US-based hackers are attacking Chinese digital assets.

According to Chinese  Defense Ministry spokesperson Geng Yansheng, the official website of the Defense Ministry and the website of newspaper People’s Liberation Army Daily have been attacked 144,000 times per month in 2012 and two-thirds of these attacks (62.9%, to be exact) originate from the United States.

Yansheng used this as an example to paint China as a victim as opposed to the aggressor:

“Like other countries, China faces a serious threat from hacking and is one of the primary victims of hacking in the world. Numbers of attacks have been on the rise in recent years.”

Yansheng also labeled Mandiant’s report as “unprofessional and not in accordance with the facts” and took a swipe at the US military claiming the US military is deliberately trying to hurt international efforts to control cyberattacks.

Personally speaking, I have no doubt US-based hackers are hitting China. Just like China-based hackers are hitting the US. It is called cyberwar for a reason. As my wife likes to say, you cannot clap with just one hand. Similarly, you cannot find a war with just one participant. Anyone that believes otherwise is a naive fool.

[via Yahoo]