Chinese hackers steal sensitive US weapon system designs: report

Chinese hackers have compromised designs of over two dozen major US weapon systems, according to a report published in the Washington Post yesterday.

The newspaper cited a report prepared by the Defence Department and the Defense Science Board as saying that the compromised designs included combat aircraft and ships, as also missile defence systems vital for Europe, Asia and the Gulf.

The report listed the advanced Patriot missile system, the Navy's Aegis ballistic missile defence systems, the F/A-18 fighter jet, the V-22 Osprey, and the Black Hawk helicopter and the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.

The scale and time of the theft of sensitive data was not specified and neither did the report state whether there was any involvement of computer networks of the US government, contractors or subcontractors.

According to the Post, the computer espionage would give China knowledge that could be used in conflict situations, which could include, knocking out communications and corrupting data. It could also speed up the development of Beijing's military technology and give a leg up to the Chinese defence industry.

According to a Pentagon report to Congress earlier this month, China was using espionage to modernise its military and that its hacking was a serious concern. The US government, it added, had been the target of hacking, which seemed to be "attributable directly to the Chinese government and military."

The public version of the Defense Development Board, report, titled "Resilient Military Systems and the Advanced Cyber Threat,'' called the cyber threat "serious," likening the potential situation to "the nuclear threat of the Cold War."