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The United States Just Called out China for Hacking. here's what you Need to Know

What is important: What is it that the US and its allies abroad are accusing China of widespread sloppy conduct in cyberspace?

BF: It's a pretty important thing. One reason is that until this point, the Biden administration has been more focused on Russian hacking than on Chinese hacking, which makes it more visible the risk of criminal Chinese cyber activities. Another thing to note is that while previous US administrations have been able to call out China for hacking, it's noteworthy that this time, the US got so many other countries and allies involved.

This is the first time NATO has condemned Chinese cyberattacks. There are many NATO members that have complicated relations with China, so cybersecurity experts believe it's a victory that the US was able to present an unifying front. The coordinated accusations also set the stage for possible sanctions in the future, potentially.

What's the matter: A government official said to CNN that China's activities involve "cyber-enabled extortion, crypto-jacking , and theft of victims across the world for financial gain" and ransomware-related attacks. Are these activities serious?

BF: As we've seen with oil pipelines and meatpacking, ransomware is a really significant issue right now that can cause devastating damage when the proper precautions aren't taken. Crypto-jacking, which refers to the use of malicious software to steal the resources of a computer and then generate cryptocurrency, isn't as popular, but shows how inventive hackers can become in making a profit from their victims.

The people slammed by the Biden administration on Monday are described as "criminal contract hackers" who hack on behalf of Beijing, but also for personal gain.

What Matters: Biden said he isn't applying sanctions on China for its role, while his team continues to assess the extent of Beijing's actions. What goes into these investigations and why do they take so long?

BF: Since hackers can use virtual private networks, cloud-based servers, as well as other techniques and tools to hide their actual locations, it can be really difficult to trace a cyberattack back to the source. Experts typically have to employ sophisticated forensic methods that include the comparison of code fragments or looking for patterns to make an educated guess as to who is responsible. Blogging Is Good For Your And even then, authorities usually caveat their attributions by stating how certain they are.

In this case, US officials said they have a high degree of certainty that Chinese state-sponsored hackers are responsible for the Microsoft Exchange hacks and other malicious cyber activities.

What is crucial is: What vulnerabilities have cyberattacks against America exposed?

BF The same vulnerabilities that security experts warn of. According to the Department of Homeland Security Chinese hackers have tried to track targets in education, aerospace, defense, education, manufacturing, health care and other important economic sectors. In many cases, Chinese hackers are accused of trying to steal intellectual property and trade secrets -- and as part of the announcement this week, the Justice Department indicted several more suspect Chinese hackers for doing just that.

What is important What is the most important thing to pay attention to moving forward?

BF: US officials are urging companies and organizations to keep their systems and software up-to-date and to come up with emergency plans in case they are hacked, and to keep backups offline that they can utilize to recover from ransomware attacks without paying off their hackers.

From a policy standpoint, keep an eye on any further punitive measures from the US and its allies against China and any impacts that could affect the crucial and intricate economic relationship between the two countries.