Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Chinese are "the usual suspects"

To the best of my recollection, the order to "…bring in the usual suspects…" originated in the 1942 movie Casablanca and was uttered by actor Claude Rains. Last night's Register story on  the "mystery hack" that compromised the Australian government carried the following paragraph:
The breach affected parliamentary systems rather the government's more secure intranet. Speculation suggests that hackers possibly from China (the usual suspects in all such cases) may have been after raw intelligence on Australia's lucrative mining industry.
China's growing PR problem in the cyber community has passed from merely whispered speculations to a fait accompli. Just enter "China" in the search box to the left of this column and you'll see my own contribution to the dog pile (even though 2011 is the "Year of the Rabbit"). Honestly though, and with due respect, I've given my best shot at a constructive solution for China (see my "Dear Huawei" post as well as my recommendation—to Russia, although it applies equally well to China—for PR wizard Steve Coltrin).

In a hacking news story somewhere (sorry I can't drill right to it to give the author proper credit), one of the reader comments suggested that cyber criminals could probably make a lot more money doing honest work. To this comment I add, of course that would mean "…getting out of show business…" Which is why I reiterate my advice to China: Clean up your act. It's costing you more than you can imagine.

Or ignore my advice and wait for a licensed and bonded cyber privateer to clean up your act for you. They'll clean out a few bank accounts, too.

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Implementation suggestions for THE MORGAN DOCTRINE are most welcome. What are the "Got'chas!"? What questions would some future Cyber Privateering Czar have to answer about this in a Senate confirmation hearing?