Did China Win the War?

Did China Win the War?

Fred Cohen
2004-09-28 A few years ago, China declares a policy of defeating the US via information warfare by the year 2005 - which is coming to a calendar near you soon. So I thought I would ask in advance:

Have they won yet?

My answer is that I think they are very close to it and it is almost certain that they have in fact now won even though the US won't know about it for some time and likely can do almost nothing about it at this point.

Why do I think this?

Let's see - what would you consider a victory in the information war if you were China and a loss if you were the US? I'll make a little list - some things will of course be missed...

So if you look at it, it looks to me like China is not only winning, but they have very nearly won. The die is cast so to speak. Within a few short years, the US will potentially be starved for oil if the Chinese choose to make it happen. The US information capabilities are increasingly under control or influence by China and they have access to the ability to plant Trojan horses and find vulnerabilities in the vast majority of US systems at will. They have ownership levels that will soon reach the point where they can control large portions of US business decision-making, exert political influence through US nationals who run those companies and have great influence. They have more economic clout around the world. They are increasingly gaining more political clout throughout the world. The US is destroying its political and economic clout at the same time. The high tech jobs are going to China so they have the strategic long-term capability that the US is throwing away. They have a larger military that will eventually exceed US capabilities as it goes unchecked year after year. And the US doesn't even see it coming.

Fiction or Reality?

This has been a very brief overview of the issue. Is it reality today? Is it fictional because I have missed the key items that make it all not so? Has China won the information war without firing a shot in anger that could be traced back to them reliably? Your thoughts appreciated.