March 05, 2024
Indo-Pacific nations need to put more focus on cybersecurity
Recent developments point to a troubling reality: China is increasingly embracing cyberattacks as a geopolitical weapon.
Last month, Japanese officials disclosed that Chinese hackers had intercepted confidential diplomatic cables through cyberattacks on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Ahead of Taiwan's election the previous month, the island experienced a huge surge in Chinese cyberattacks. U.S. FBI Director Christopher Wray, meanwhile, testified in Congress that Chinese hackers were preparing to "wreak havoc and cause real-world harm" by infiltrating critical American infrastructure.
Regional cyber insecurity could also limit the economic gains of digital connectivity.
Combined with ongoing Russian and North Korean cyberaggression and new artificial intelligence-powered threats, the cybersecurity landscape of the Indo-Pacific region appears increasingly ominous.
At stake is not just data security, but the depth of regional ties. Governments and businesses can only connect and cooperate to the extent they trust their counterparts' network security.
American ambitions to strengthen ties across the Indo-Pacific region cannot escape the reality of growing cyber threats and vulnerabilities. Viewed this way, regional cyber insecurity could benefit China, Russia and North Korea simply by hindering U.S. cooperation.
Read the full article from Nikkei Asia.
More from CNAS
-
Commentary
Defense / Technology & National Security
Stop Obsessing Over AGIWhat’s lacking? Thoughtful, deliberate, and evidence-based deployment and adoption strategies....
By Lt. Gen. Jack Shanahan
-
Reports
Technology & National Security
Global Compute and National SecurityExecutive Summary The current pathway to breakthrough artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities relies on amassing and leveraging vast “compute”—specialized chips housed withi...
By Janet Egan
-
Video
Technology & National Security
'The Country Which Throws More Money Into Big Data Centres...': Expert On Why U.S. Is Leading AI RaceWhy is America leading the AI race, despite China's introduction of Deepseek and their hectic efforts to compete? Well, Vivek Chilukuri of the Centre for a New American Securi...
By Vivek Chilukuri
-
Video
Indo-Pacific Security / Technology & National Security
America’s New Plan to Defeat China in the AI Race | Trump | Xi JinpingIn an exclusive HT Podcast video interview, Vivek Chilukuri of the Center for a New American Security gives insight into the rapidly evolving global race for artificial intell...
By Vivek Chilukuri
