By Glynn Cosker
Editor, In Homeland Security
Computer systems maintained by various U.S technology companies and airlines were illegally accessed by hackers connected to the Chinese government according to the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Details of the Senate investigation were made public on Wednesday and the report states that the military’s U.S. Transportation Command (Transcom) knew of only two out of up to 20 hacking incidents during one year
The report also states that In a one-year timespan, there were approximately 50 intrusions or other cybersecurity breaches into Transcom’s computers and their contractor’s computers.
“These peacetime intrusions into the networks of key defense contractors are more evidence of China’s aggressive actions in cyberspace,” stated committee chairman Senator Carl Levin (D-Mich.).
The newly declassified report also states that defense contractors have mostly failed to report hacking activity to the Pentagon.
The report also cites a general gap in information sharing between U.S. government agencies, prompting Senator Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma, the committee’s ranking Republican, to call for a “central clearinghouse” to ease the reporting of suspicious cyber activity.
The investigation revealed that China’s military stole emails, documents, user accounts, passwords and access codes. Additionally, it compromised systems aboard one of Transcom’s contracted commercial ships and hacked into an airline utilized by the U.S. military.
The Senate probe will worsen the already frosty relationship between the U.S. and Chinese governments and comes only a few months after the U.S. charged five Chinese military personnel and accused them of hacking into American nuclear, solar and metal firms.
In August, U.S. hospital group Community Health Systems accused Chinese hackers of stealing Social Security numbers and other personal information from more than 4.5 million patients.
The Chinese government has not yet commented on the Senate’s investigation.
Click here for a PDF version of the 52-page Senate Armed Services Committee report.
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