Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Welcome! Log in to stay connected and make the most of your experience.

Input clean

Russia, China, and Cyber Espionage

Russia, China, and Cyber Espionage

In the wake of a series of hacks against government and private networks, it is clear that Russia and China are among the most active and proficient nations in regards to cyber operations. One needs to only review the most high-profile breaches to see that many of them are believed to be the work of one of these countries. China is thought to be behind the OPM hack and has been hacking a large number of American businesses to steal trade secrets and intellectual property. Russia almost certainly hacked the DNC and has breached networks at both the White House and the State Department. Clearly, both China and Russia are finding value in cyber operations as a means of achieving their foreign policy goals, and this is likely to create a more perilous cyber environment moving forward.

Simply put, cyber-operations provide too many advantages for either Russia or China to decrease their reliance upon them. As The Cipher Brief has previously reported, cyber-operations are very difficult to conclusively attribute to any given nation. Even in the cases of the OPM hack and the DNC hack, most experts will only say that the code was developed by Chinese or Russian speakers, and that the attacks were launched from within their territory. However, that is not enough in and of itself for formal charges of blame to be levied against either country.

Keep reading...Show less
Access all of The Cipher Brief’s national security-focused expert insight by becoming a Cipher Brief Subscriber+ Member.

Related Articles

Dead Drop: July 18

IN THIS WEEK’S EDITION: CIA’s existential threat might not be what you think it is, the CIA’s EXDIR is back in business, a warning to be careful of [...] More

Does the CIA Have a Trust Problem?

Does the CIA Have a Trust Problem?

In a recent opinion piece published in The Cipher Brief, former senior CIA Executive Mark Kelton suggests that the country’s leading intelligence [...] More

Expert Q&A: Putin Overplayed His Hand with Trump on Ukraine

EXPERT Q&A — President Donald Trump has offered a strong hand of support to Ukraine in recent days, pledging new weapons and threatening Russia with [...] More

Report for Thursday, July 17, 2025

9:03 America/New_York Thursday, July 17 [...] More

A Nuclear Day of the Jackal

BOOK REVIEW: The Moldavian GambitBy Brad Meslin / Manhattan Book GroupReviewed by: James LawlerThe Reviewer — James Lawler devoted more than half of [...] More

Ukraine’s Defense may Hinge on Offensive Operations

Ukraine’s Defense may Hinge on Offensive Operations

CIPHER BRIEF REPORTING – Russia has been bombarding Ukrainian cities with massive aerial assaults, two days after U.S. President Donald Trump pledged [...] More

Report for Wednesday, July 16, 2025

8:45 AM America/New_York Wednesday, July 16 [...] More

China Can Do More to Improve Relations with the U.S.

OPINION — Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with his Chinese counterpart, Foreign Minister Wang Yi, at the ASEAN Summit. Rubio described the [...] More

Report for Tuesday, July 15, 2025

8:57 AM America/New_York Tuesday, July 15 [...] More