China’s Cyberattacks Against US Raise the Chances for War

China’s state-sponsored cyberattacks against US government agencies and defense networks are acts of strategic aggression

Deputy Attorney General Jeffery Rosen speaks to the media about charges and arrests related to a computer intrusion campaign tied to the Chinese regime by a group called APT41 at the Department of Justice in Washington, on Sept. 16, 2020. Tasos Katopodis/Pool/Getty Images

Commentary

State-sponsored cyberattacks against other nations are nothing new; they’ve been a reality for a couple of decades, even if we’ve discovered some malicious code recently. But as U.S. relations deteriorate with China and Russia, they take on even greater urgency and up the risks of strategic mistakes.