Cyberattacks and Copyright Theft Threaten Country’s Engineering Efforts

The United States has traditionally been home to innovative engineering that has changed the world in so many positive ways. Recently though, the growing scourge of cyberattacks, state-sponsored rogue hacking, and outright copyright theft, places our advantage in engineering work at risk.

United States’ new Military Cyber Command goes on the Offensive

The cyberattack problem is so acute; the United States recently created a new military Cyber Command to protect the country and its intellectual assets against attack. But this new team follows the edict that the best defense is a good offense.

“I would like to be clear that this team, this defend-the-nation team, is not a defensive team,” said Gen. Keith Alexander, chief of both the National Security Agency and the new Cyber Command. “This is an offensive team that the Defense Department would use to defend the nation if it were attacked in cyberspace. Thirteen of the teams that we’re creating are for that mission alone.”

The U.S. Demands China Reign in their Cyberattacks

Many of the reported cyberattacks appear to originate from China. Because of this, government officials continue to demand that the Chinese exert more control over rogue hacking within their country by investigating said attacks in addition to joining a program with the U.S. and other countries to combat cyberattacks. For what its worth, the Chinese claim they’ve been the victim of cyberattacks, with two-thirds of those attacks coming from the United States.

The U.S. feels many of the cyberattacks from China are the responsibility of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA). The Chinese government denies any involvement or relationship with the PLA. No matter who is responsible for the rogue attacks, there remains little doubt that the United States takes the problem very seriously, as the new offensive-oriented Cyber Command illustrates.

Don’t let the specter of attacks on intellectual property deter you from beginning or advancing your career in engineering. In fact, there may be engineering opportunities to work in defending the U.S. from cyberattacks. When looking to further your engineering career, be sure to talk to the people at The Talley Group. One of the leading engineering staffing companies in Seattle, they know how to take your career to its highest potential.