Hagel to broach topic of cyberthreats with China

US defense secretary Chuck Hagel will meet with members of a Chinese delegation this weekend and likely talk about ongoing cyberthreats amid new reports that China used computer-based attacks to access data from dozens of Pentagon weapons programs and other defense technologies. 

Speaking to reporters on his plane en route to Singapore, Hagel said that the US must find ways to work with the Chinese and other countries to develop rules of the road and a better understanding among nations for the use of cyber. 

‘These are issues that we’re going to deal with, frame up, put right at the top of the agenda,’ said Hagel, who is expected to have the brief meeting with the Chinese on the sidelines of a session at the Shangri-La Dialogue, an international security conference. 

‘There’s only one way to deal with these issues — that’s straight up.’ 

Hagel also noted that cybersecurity will, for the first time, be the topic at a dedicated session in next week’s NATO meeting for defense ministers. World leaders have long been talking about the sneed to set international standards and come to some broad agreements about the responsible use of cyber technologies. 

Hagel’s comments came on the heels of a report by Defense Science Board that said nearly 40 Pentagon weapons programmes and almost 30 other defense technologies were compromised by cyber intrusions.