Hacking as a State Institution: the Google/China Debacle
The situation Google faces in China, with patriotic hackers (possibly even state sponsored) causing trouble for Google subscribers, some of whom are Chinese dissidents, presents a unique example of a synergistic interaction between cyber-criminals and government regulators. The United States has had similar groups emerge, such as vigilante anti-terror hackers, some of which still operate (for an interesting read, click here). Are we seeing some of the first acts of a new class of hackers? Could these be the field exercises of a new cyber-army? Certainly only time will tell.
Google's response should be interesting too. Will they withdraw as threatened and let domestic search engines like Baidu take over? Or will they launch resistance efforts in China? Maybe nothing will change. Once again, only time will tell, but if you would like to hear a prediction, here it is: we haven't heard the last from our patriotic Chinese friends.