New art of war: Internal report warns Chinese hackers can cripple our Army

In 514 BC, Chinese military strategist Sun Tzu wrote The Art of War, considered as one of history’s greatest treatises on warfare. Centuries on, China’s People Liberation Army (PLA) has held onto the book’s tenets as it has progressed from relying on raw manpower to adopting nuclear weapons to now using hacking.

In an alarming internal report, a new research unit of the Indian Army has warned that the force’s communication systems have significant flaws and can be taken down by Chinese hackers. The report has been prepared by the Army Design Bureau (ADB), which was established in 2016 to promote research. The Hindustan Times reports that the Army is worried Chinese malware can disrupt communications and also lead to the loss of information in peacetime.

Retired officials explained that while top secret war plans are protected by extensive firewalls, other important documents could be vulnerable to hacking. The ADB notes that the Army’s vulnerability is caused by its extensive reliance on imported systems as well as the predominance of Chinese-supplied commercial electronic equipment. The report notes that a large amount of electronic circuitry used by the Army is of Chinese origin.

The threat of hacking is almost inevitable given the rise of “networked” weapons. Nearly all major systems being inducted into the military are computerised and linked to the respective service’s secure network. While such a network features extensive encryption and multiple levels of security, the use of commercial equipment is also common. Another risk factor is the spread of smartphones, tablets and portable storage devices, which again feature extensive Chinese components and have varying security standards.

The ADB report has set a deadline of one year to develop a testing mechanism to check for “embedded malware, backdoors and hidden processes” in equipment. Most advanced nations have facilities to test and certify equipment as being “military grade.” The ADB has also asked to phase out commercial operating systems (OSs), which continue to be widely used by the military, and replace them with a non-commercial, indigenous OS.

While the Indian military has also begun investing in defensive and offensive information warfare capabilities, China has long taken a lead in using hacking as a means of state policy. U.S. intelligence experts believe China has developed an extensive network of hackers, including dedicated units within the PLA as well as using “freelance” civilians. Chinese hackers linked to the PLA were alleged to have compromised data linked to more 20 million Americans by breaching the data system of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) for nearly one year from 2014 to 2015.

Also read: Online 'seductions' a new front for the Indian military

China’s reliance on hacking is no surprise. It is a potent means of “asymmetric” warfare, which revolves around using methods to nullify an adversary’s strengths. Further, it provides more deniability than using actual weapons or methods such as terrorism. Finally, hacking fulfils one of the main tenets advocated in The Art of War: The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting.

• Indian Army
• cyberwarfare
• China
• hacking
• malware