19 Mar 13. Chinese espionage hurting US-Taiwan ties. A former top American diplomat in Taiwan has warned that the island’s security relationship with the US is being jeopardised by escalating Chinese espionage. William Stanton, who retired last year as head of the American Institute in Taiwan, the de facto US embassy, on Friday said the “success and frequency” of spying cases served to “undermine US confidence in security co-operation with Taiwan”. In recent years, at least nine Taiwanese people have been arrested for spying for mainland China. They include an army general and air force captain accused of passing information about Taiwan’s air-defence systems to China. Mr Stanton said he was speaking in a personal capacity. But his comments on Friday marked an unusual break from US support for Taiwan’s growing economic relationship with China – which US officials encourage to reduce the chance of war. (Source: FT.com)
20 Mar 13. South Korean officials are investigating a suspected cyber-attack that has paralysed computer networks at broadcasters and banks.
Broadcasters KBS, MBC and YTN told police their networks were halted around 14:00, Yonhap news agency said. Two banks, Shinhan Bank and Nonghyup, said their networks were affected.The cause of the problems remains unknown. Last week, North Korea accused the US and its allies of attacks on its internet servers. The networks had been “partially or entirely crippled”, the Korean Internet Security Agency, a statewatchdog, said. (Source: BBC)
19 Mar 13. AtHoc, Inc. announced that the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) has deployed the AtHoc IWSAlerts™ EMNS to safeguard and account for the 4500 personnel stationed at its Ft. Meade, Maryland headquarters during natural disasters and man-made emergencies. This deployment marks another milestone in the dedicated relationship between AtHoc and the Department of Defense (DoD) and further progression of AtHoc’s market leadership in this sector. AtHoc is the industry’s leading provider of emergency mass notification systems to the U.S. military and federal government, currently protecting more than 2 million personnel at thousands of garrisons, installations, and bases around the world. (Source: Yahoo!/Marketwire)
20 Mar 13. Lew pressures China over cyber attacks. The newly appointed US Treasury secretary “pressed hard” in meetings with Chinese leaders over alleged Chinese cyber attacks aimed at stealing commercial secrets from American companies, according to US officials. Jack Lew raised the issue at a meeting on Wednesday with Li Keqiang, China’s new premier, in the Pavilion of Purple Light in Beijing’s central leadership compound, an official said.
“It has to be recognised, as the president indicated, this is a very serious threat to our economic interests,” Mr Lew said after the meeting. “There was no mistaking how seriously we take this issue.”
Mr Lew’s visit to Beijing, the first by a senior member of President Barack Obama’s new cabinet, was timed to coincide with the formation of a fresh Chinese government, headed by Xi Jinping, who formally took over as state leader last week. (Source: FT.com)