Those With Respect For Libertarianism Should Be Concerned About Likely Vast Chinese Computer Hacking

There is more to Libertarianism than freedom. And, actually, it is once again evident that China does not have either of those qualities.

As David Boaz states, regarding freedom, in Libertarianism: a primer: "It is not a claim that 'people can do anything they want to, and nobody else can do anything.'" Boaz continues, "Rather, libertarianism proposes a society of liberty under law, in which individuals are free to pursue their own lives so long as they respect the equal rights of others."

Freedom coupled with equal rights is the formula for Libertarianism. There is one country that seems to have no libertarianism at all. Once again, freedom practiced by China is extremely doubtful. News emerging about China's involvement in attacks on information is distasteful about that country's willingness to be involved in economic and communication cyber activity.

McAfee, one of the leading cyber security firms in the world, has presented a report of vast global computer attacks on 72 targets, 49 of those in the United States. Of the extended cyber attacks within this country are mentioned U.S. defense firms, U.S. agencies, state and local governments and the United Nations.

McAfee's report suggests that an exterior world government has done the cyber attacks. McAfee did say the perpetrator of hacking action is triggered by a "massive hunger for secrets and intellectual property." McAfee's reports suggest that a "nation-state" had done "smash-and-grab" cyber attacks.

Some accusers of the attacks have been specific. James A. Lewis, a cyber security leader at the Center for Strategic and Intellectual Studies, has stated "the most likely candidate is China." He added, "Everything points to China."

Noteworthy is that McAfee's report came out at near the same time South Korean officials announced that a computer hacking incident was directed from China by stealing personal data of 35 million Korean Internet users. Though this has been stated by Korea, China has not yet responded to the charge.

It is well-known that other similar accusations toward China are not new. Early in 2011, Google accused China of hacking into computer data and "stealing source code." This was a significant moment when Google, a U.S. company, publicly stated that its attack came from China. Around the same time, it is belatedly known that 20 other large U.S. companies had been attacked.

It also had been intimated, in 2008, that blame was directed toward China when the computer system of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) was attacked. China has denied causing such massive computer hacks, but it is a widespread assumption that the cyber attacks are coming from a "nation-state." And, in fact, senior U.S. national security experts are sure computer attacks on "anything and everything" in the U.S. is coming from the Chinese government.

It is said the U.S. Defense Department knows that the Chinese government, with its own Chinese employees of thousands of hackers, has been hacking American companies, as well as government organizations and politicians, since the early part of this decade.

Accusations of cyber attacks against China show how non-libertarian that country's philosophy is. China absolutely does not understand free markets and honest competition. As Boaz states in Libertarianism: a primer, "Libertarians believe that people will be both freer and more prosperous if government's intervention in people's choices is minimized."

If extensive news sources about China's computer attacks are true, that government's intervention is out of control. And such a nation-state's cyber spying is repulsive.