Schneier on Chinese hackers

Bruce Schneier doesn't think that the multifarious hacker attacks against Western IT infrastructure emanating from China are state-sponsored... but he also doesn't take much comfort in that:

If anything, the fact that these groups aren't being run by the Chinese government makes the problem worse. Without central political coordination, they're likely to take more risks, do more stupid things and generally ignore the political fallout of their actions.

In this regard, they're more like a non-state actor.

So while I'm perfectly happy that the U.S. government is using the threat of Chinese hacking as an impetus to get their own cybersecurity in order, and I hope they succeed, I also hope that the U.S. government recognizes that these groups are not acting under the direction of the Chinese military and doesn't treat their actions as officially approved by the Chinese government.

Schneier on Security: Chinese Cyber Attacks (14 July 2008)