China has long been lambasted by the Western governments and companies for allegedly backing hackers who steal trade secrets and otherwise cause financial damages to organizations. Google’s chairman, Eric Schmidt, has criticized the country at length in his new book for its unethical cyber practices.
The book is titled ‘The New Digital Age’ and hasn’t been released yet. It is expected to hit the shelves by April. However, early glimpses at the reviews about the book reveal that Schmidt has gone on to deem China as ‘the world’s most active and enthusiastic filterer of information.
Schmidt further calls China ‘the most sophisticated and prolific’ hacker of foreign companies. The virtually infinite cases of online hacks traced back to China in recent days tend to substantiate these claims.
What is very significant about Schmidt’s views is that he clearly cites how U.S. is at a clear disadvantage in terms of cyber security, when compared to China. The reasons he cite are simple and yet, convincing. According to him, U.S., ‘will not take the same path of digital corporate espionage, as its laws are much stricter (and better enforced) and because illicit competition violates the American sense of fair play.’
The solution Schmidt proposes is that Western governments and technology companies must forge a collaboration which would help them thwart foreign attempts of cyber espionage. Apparently, this is the only possible solution that may be viable in the face of a power that doesn’t like to play fair and tends to refute all allegations despite piles of evidences linking hack attempts to servers located in China.
Courtesy: BBC
[ttjad keyword=”desktop-computer”]
