For some time, I’ve been following the ongoing saga of what appears to be a coordinated Chinese cyber-offensive against American military information infrastructure. Code-named “Titan Rain”, the offensive has targeted the computers of both the military and of civilian defense contractors. It also strikes me as probable that, if the Chinese have sought to penetrate such systems, they have probably also deeply penetrated non-military systems as well. Whatever the exact details may be, one thing is certainly clear: there’s a major problem going on here.

Chinese cyber-attacks are a classic example of asymmetrical warfare, with a less-advanced enemy seeking to turn our technological advantage against us. To date, at least according to reports, the United States has responded to this threat symmetrically – by upping computer security and, possibly, by launching certain cyber-attacks of its own.

This is of vital importance, because it marks the opening of what will be a major battlefield in the new century. Cyber-war will certainly be as vital to the US-Chinese confrontation as the intelligence/counter-intelligence game was in the Cold War. With that in mind, I think that it’s time for a radical departure in US policy with regard to Chinese cyber-attacks.

Cyber-attacks are always going to leave Western societies more vulnerable than our opponents. We’re more dependent upon technology and, by necessity; our infrastructure is far more open to assault. Upgrading computer security will help – but it won’t stop the attacks. Tit-for-tat responses will help – but won’t hurt China nearly as much as their spying and theft will potentially hurt the West.

What looms is a classic “cycle of violence” with two foes landing constant, but far from lethal, blows against eachother. There’s only one way to successfully terminate such a cycle: escalation. Just as the best way to immediately end a fist fight (without losing) is to shoot your opponent in the head, the best way to end a “cycle of violence” is to land a blow so brutal and vicious to which your opponent cannot – or will not – respond to in kind.

A proper response to China’s cyber-assault on the United States would be two-pronged.

The first prong, which I will designate as the “Munich Option” would involve direct retaliation against those individually responsible for the attacks. To put it simply, US and foreign intelligence services ought to identify those individuals within China who are hacking US systems – the hackers themselves – and then have them assassinated.

While I’m sure some will object to the above suggestion on moral grounds, I will note that these individuals are responsible for stealing information which would certainly lead to American deaths in any future war between the United States and China. In acting against the United States, the individuals in question have forfeited their right to life. Political considerations aside, they deserve to die for their crimes. Better still, targeting them allows the United States to take advantage of asymmetrical conditions which are favorable to America. By that of course I refer to the relatively lower worth of each Chinese life as compared to that of an American life in terms of publicity and public sentiment.

I am not suggesting the Chinese are “sub-human” or anything of the sort. I’m simply pointing out that, given the size of China, its morality rate, and other considerations, a lot fewer people are going to notice if a bunch of Chinese computer hackers turn up dead than are going to notice if a bunch of Americans turn up dead. That’s simply the reality of life.

This principle holds true for the second prong of my proposed counter-offensive: cyber strikes against Chinese civil infrastructure. The number of Chinese deaths in road and industrial accidents is appalling – and largely goes unnoticed. Instead of responding simply with cyber-attacks against Chinese military infrastructure, the United States could respond to each attack against American computers with an attack against softer Chinese systems.
For example, a great portion of Chinese civil transportation is operated by companies with close ties to the Chinese military. It should be child’s play to access various Chinese systems and to cause, for example, train derailments or to infiltrate Chinese air traffic control systems and to cause mid-air collisions between aircraft.

The best thing about this, of course, is that the Chinese would be highly unlikely to respond in kind, as such actions would be far more conspicuous in the United States than in China. Even if the Chinese did complain that plane crashes, power failures, or train derailments were caused by cyber-assault, I suspect a great many people wouldn’t believe them.

Some may object that my ideas are “extreme” or “blood-thirsty.” To them I say this: the conflict with China will decide the future of our civilization. We have no room to spare for sentimentality. More to the point – the purpose is to avoid a greater tragedy in the future just as we might have avoided the War on Terrorism if Jimmy Carter had destroyed the Ayatollah’s regime or if President Truman had had the guts to follow the great MacArthur’s recommendations and dropped the bomb on China in ’51. We are, or soon will be, in a great struggle for national salvation in which any mercy, however small, may be fatal. We need to stop bringing a slingshot to a gunfight and start bringing an RPG instead.