US Defense Department officials earlier this week told Government Computer News they have evidence that civilian network incursion units operating inside China have launched attacks against one of the main Internet arteries maintained by the DOD : the Non-classified IP Router Network (NIPRNet), and thus far have successfully downloaded up to 20 TB of data, after hitting it with as many as three million scans per day.

"China has downloaded 10 to 20 terabytes of data from the NIPRNet (DOD’s Non-Classified IP Router Network)," said Maj. Gen. William Lord, director of information, services and integration in the Air Force’s Office of Warfighting Integration and Chief Information Officer, during the recent Air Force IT Conference in Montgomery, Ala.

"They’re looking for your identity so they can get into the network as you," said Lord, adding that Chinese hackers had yet to penetrate DOD’s secret, classified network. "There is a nation-state threat by the Chinese."

(Government Computer News)