Was “Operation Aurora” Hack U.S. Govs Fault?
Two weeks ago, I saw this piece from Wired about Google and several dozen other big companies getting hacked in what is now known as “Operation Aurora.” The Wired story reports, “The attackers used nearly a dozen pieces of malware and several levels of encryption to burrow deeply into the bowels of company networks and obscure their activity.” Then this week, I saw an article on CNN from security technologist Bruce Schneier, who said, “The news here isn’t that Chinese hackers engage in these activities or that their attempts are technically sophisticated — we knew that already — it’s that the U.S. government inadvertently aided the hackers.” How so? Because, he says, some of the same laws that allow authorities to monitor Internet communications promotes criminal misuse. There’s the 1994 Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act, which requires phone companies to facilitate FBI eavesdropping. The U.S. government is working on the “Comprehensive National Cybersecurity Initiati
