China’s cyber power ‘exaggerated,’ at least decade behind US, new study says
The International Institute for Strategic Studies, a think tank, published a new study on Monday that ranked the US as the world’s only “top tier” cyber power and said China is firmly within the second group– joined by Russia and France, to name a few.
The Financial Times, citing the study, reported that IISS estimated that China is—at the minimum—10- years from competing with the US, largely due to lingering security issues. The report said Beijing has demonstrated a keen ability to perform offensive cyberattack and disinformation campaigns, but the country suffers from loose security.
Greg Austin, a member of the think tank, told the FT that China’s cyber ability can be overstated due to legitimate gains it made in AI and other cyber abilities.
The IISS has undertaken a major two-year study of the cyber power for 15 global nations, using a new qualitative methodology to understand how best to rank state cyber capacity.
— IISS News (@IISS_org) June 28, 2021
Join us on 28 June for the launch of the new report: https://t.co/gABp8juHWZ pic.twitter.com/jSYuWG85ka
“On every measure, the development of skills for cybersecurity in China is in a worse position than it is in many other countries,” he said.