Without cyber response policies, U.S. can only denounce China attacks

US and Chinese national interests will increasingly compete — politically, economically and militarily — now and into the future on the Internet. For the moment, there is little that the US government can do in response to the alleged cyberattacks, other than condemn the hacking and ask the Chinese government for an explanation.

As Computerworld reports: "The U.S. has no formal policy for dealing with foreign government-led threats against U.S. interests in cyberspace. With efforts already under way to develop such a policy, the recent attacks could do a lot to shape the policy and fuel its passage through Congress." One expert quoted in the report said the U.S. government's commitment to protecting its own computers from such threats is woefully inadequate. Others said that any sort of cyber retaliation, even if computer forensics experts could confirm Chinese government responsibility, would be counterproductive, even though they expect state-sponsored attacks on U.S. commercial and government systems to continue and intensify.