PLA admits cyber war unit

Central News Agency

2011/05/26 20:20:59

By Huang Chi-kuang & Bear Lee

Taipei, May 26 (CNA) Chinese military officials have for the first time confirmed the establishment of a cyber war unit in China, according to Chinese media reports.

In response to press queries, Chinese military spokesman Geng Yansheng said Wednesday that based on the need for military training and for the sake of upgrading military Internet security, the People's Liberation Army (PLA) has established a "cyber blue team, " according to China's state-owned Xinhua News Agency.

Geng's remarks, however, came almost two weeks after the PLA Daily revealed on May 17 the existence of the military Internet operation team.

According to the daily, the team was deployed under the Guangzhou Military Region in south China and conducted a synchronized Internet drill among different military units in late April.

The Guangzhou Military Region cyber war network, which employs more than 30 Internet specialists, cost an estimated tens of thousands of Chinese yuan to mobilize.

There are seven military regions around China.

During the cyber exercise, the team launched multiple attacks on imaginary enemies by releasing huge amounts of useless documents and viruses to try to paralyze the enemies' computer systems and to steal information from them.

The cyber military team will enable the PLA to launch exercises at any time and any place, whether they are "one to one" or "one to multiple" confrontation drills, it added.