Diplomatic efforts have failed to sway China to agree to curtail attacks before they escalate into a cyberwar The Obama administration’s finding that the president has the power to order a preemptive cyberstrike stands as a warning to China, which remains unresponsive to U.S. efforts to curtail digital attacks from the country, cybersecurity experts say.The New York Times reported on Sunday that officials involved in the administration’s decision told the newspaper that the president could order a strike if the United States determined that a cyberattack capable to destroying critical infrastructure was imminent. The risk would have to threaten national security, as opposed to a corporation or other private entity, which would be handled by law enforcement.The disclosure comes less than a week after The Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post revealed that hackers believed to be based in China had breached their computer systems. In the case of The Times, the hackers seemed primarily interested in finding the name of people who might have provided information for an investigative piece on the relatives of Wen Jiabao, China’s prime minister.While China is not the only country believed to be targeting the U.S., its hackers are the most active in cyberespionage against U.S. companies, think tanks and government agencies. Experts believe a significant number of attacks are state sponsored. [Also see: Department of Energy hack exposes major vulnerabilities]So far, U.S. diplomatic efforts have failed to sway China to agree to curtail tattacks before they escalate into a cyberwar. To pressure China to the bargaining table, the U.S. is considering cancelling visas and requiring major purchases of Chinese goods go through national security reviews, according to the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR). Discussions of a preemptive strike are one more way to show the Chinese the U.S. is serious. Adam Segal, a senior fellow at the CFR, wrote in a blog post that China has responded by saying through the People’s Daily that the administration’s position could trigger a worldwide arms race. “Unless we find a better medium than the major papers to signal our disapproval, the PLA Daily may be right,” he said.The U.S. threat of a pre-emptive strike is likely to both reduce and increase the risk of cyberwar, said Murray Jennex, a cybersecurity expert and associate professor at San Diego State University. “It will reduce the risk of nations like Iran and China doing activities that look like hacking, but I think it increases risk overall, as there may be others who attempt to make it look like China or Iran are attacking, and we preemptively attack the wrong target,” he said.Iran is suspected of being behind a series of attacks that disrupted the online operations of major U.S. financial institutions last year.When it comes to national security, the U.S. is within its right to respond preemptively to an imminent attack, whether it is in the form of missiles or code traveling through the Internet to destroy the power grid in a region of the U.S., said Andrew Serwin, head of the privacy, security and information management practice at the law firm Foley & Lardner.“I think there’s a cyberwar going on now,” Serwin said. “And I think it’s a matter of how public we may be about what we’re willing to do.” Related content news UK government plans 2,500 new tech recruits by 2025 with focus on cybersecurity New apprenticeships and talent programmes will support recruitment for in-demand roles such as cybersecurity technologists and software developers By Michael Hill Sep 29, 2023 4 mins Education Industry Education Industry Education Industry news UK data regulator orders end to spreadsheet FOI requests after serious data breaches The Information Commissioner’s Office says alternative approaches should be used to publish freedom of information data to mitigate risks to personal information By Michael Hill Sep 29, 2023 3 mins Government Cybercrime Data and Information Security feature Cybersecurity startups to watch for in 2023 These startups are jumping in where most established security vendors have yet to go. By CSO Staff Sep 29, 2023 19 mins CSO and CISO Security news analysis Companies are already feeling the pressure from upcoming US SEC cyber rules New Securities and Exchange Commission cyber incident reporting rules don't kick in until December, but experts say they highlight the need for greater collaboration between CISOs and the C-suite By Cynthia Brumfield Sep 28, 2023 6 mins Regulation Data Breach Financial Services Industry Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe