US panel warns of espionage by China - The Boston Globe

on 2008-11-22 by TransTracker

There is a tension in the phrase "espionage attacks." While "espionage" is an accurate description of what is happening, the term "attacks" is there as a result of a "cyberwar" discourse tradition that routinely portrays computer break ins, data theft or corruption, denial of service, defacements, and more, as "attacks" or acts of "warfare." Thus, in this case, good old fashioned espionage, when carried out with/in a new technological medium, is elevated to a form of warfare in its own rite.