Titan rain or earthly smog?

The dastardly Chinese have allegedly been hacking their way into the computers of the British establishment including Whitehall. They have also had the temerity to hack into the US defence computer system and various German ministries. The BBC, sticking as firmly as ever to the principle of evidence-based reporting, duly reported the rumour/allegation that the hackers were linked to the People's Liberation Army (PLA) of China. Despite the dearth of evidence (other than the words of unnamed US officials that the BBC takes as solid proof), several newspapers and media channels are pointing the finger of blame firmly at the Chinese government. Coincidentally, today there are also reports of the Chinese arming the Taliban.

According to some UK government officials, this is a 'very disturbing' trend and of tremendous 'concern'. Some go as far as to liken it to a nuclear attack. The next war could well be a cyberwar and the hackers could bring down critical control systems and bring the country to its knees, they suggest.

However, something does seem to be conspicuous by its absence from these analyses. The idea that western hackers sitting in GCHQ and the Pentagon are doing the same thing against official enemy targets, does not seem to feature at all, never mind prominently. The possibility that the Western powers, who control much of the infrastructure of the Internet and have their own armies of computer experts involved in espionage, could indulge in such unsporting behaviour, obviously did not cross the mind of any of the media editors.

Hacking is just like 'terrorism'. They terrorise; we defend. They attack; we protect. They invade; we liberate.