U.S.-China Pact on Cybercrime for Profit in Business
The United States and China have taken a significant step towards easing tensions in their relationship by establishing a high-level dialogue mechanism to address concerns over cyber hacking. This category of hacking, which involves government-supported activities aimed at providing competitive advantages to a nation's companies, has been a source of tension between the two countries.
In the agreement, both nations have pledged not to conduct or support commercially-motivated hacking. The Chinese government has designated an official at the ministerial level to lead the dialogue, with the Ministry of Public Security, Ministry of State Security, Ministry of Justice, and the State Internet and Information Office participating in the discussions.
The U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security and the U.S. Attorney General will co-chair the dialogue, with participation from representatives from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Intelligence Community, and other agencies. The first meeting of the dialogue is scheduled to take place by the end of 2015, and will occur twice per year thereafter.
Both countries have agreed to cooperate in investigating cybercrimes, collecting electronic evidence, and mitigating malicious cyber activity emanating from their territories. They have also committed to providing timely responses to requests for information and assistance concerning malicious cyber activities.
The agreement further states that neither country's government will conduct or knowingly support cyber-enabled theft of intellectual property with the intent of providing competitive advantages. This is an explicit acknowledgment by the Chinese government that such behavior is wrong and actionable.
However, it's important to note that the agreement does not necessarily mean that the U.S. won't take action against Chinese companies that have already benefited from the cyber-theft of valuable U.S. company information. The effectiveness of the agreement is likely to be determined by China's conduct as assessed by U.S. companies, forensic experts, and the U.S. government.
The agreement also commits the Chinese President on these issues and raises the stakes for China in a major way. While the search results do not provide specific names of high-ranking Chinese officials involved in the newly established expert group for special discussions on cybersecurity issues, the agreement does mark a significant commitment by both nations to address this issue.
Both nations are committed to further identifying and promoting appropriate norms of state behavior in cyberspace within the international community. This agreement is a positive step towards improving U.S.-China relations and addressing a major concern for both countries.
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