This Cold War is more child's play than war game. Most of the damage has been simple Web site vandalism that closed government or corporate Web sites for a few hours for repair. Government officials said Chinese hackers were attacking U.S. Web sites in retaliation for the April 1 incident in which a Chinese fighter pilot died after his jet collided with an American surveillance plane. Chinese hackers have called it the May Day War.
Chinese officials point out that American hackers also have been attacking Chinese computers.
Government officials have said neither country has ordered or condoned the attacks. In the United States, Web sites for the Department of Labor and the Department of Health and Human Services, a White House historical site, and sites for the U.S. House of Representatives and agencies in various states have been vandalized. One Web site was rewritten to honor Wang Wei, the Chinese pilot who died in the collision. An executive with a network security company in China told a Chinese news agency Monday that the attacks were childish, a result of efforts by hackers with little skill. Looking at the level of hacking being done, we must admit that there are not many high-level hackers involved in this fake war, this game.