LONDON, June 29, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --

As China-based organisations are increasingly accused of launching cyber warfare attacks, LtCol USMCR (RET) Bill Hagestad from the US Marine Corps, will be discussing the intent and scale of the threat from China at Cyber Warfare Europe 2011.

Recently reported network attacks on Lockheed Martin and attempted hacking of the Google email database for senior US military personnel and Chinese human rights activists have been linked to China, raising tensions between the US and China as both countries begin to accelerate their cyber warfare strategies.

As part of the Pentagon's formal cyber strategy, it announced in plain terms that cyber attacks do indeed constitute an act of warfare.

In a recent interview with the Wall Street Journal, a US military official stated that cyber attacks could be met with a kinetic response. He was allegedly quoted as saying, "If you shut down our power grid, maybe we will put a missile down one of your smokestacks".

An article in the Chinese-language Liberation Army Daily, which was also published on China's Ministry of Defence website, stated that, "the U.S. military is hastening to seize the commanding military heights on the Internet, and another Internet war is being pushed to a stormy peak."

Even though it is unlikely that all-out cyber warfare will break out, the heightened tensions between the US and China increasingly dominate the cyber battlespace. At Europe's pre-eminent Cyber Warfare event,  LtCol USMCR (RET) Hagestad will look at the China cyber warfare threat within the context of China's history and explore the intent behind China's cyber warfare capabilities. His session will include the:

• Definition of the Chinese cyber threat
• Organization of China's PLA Cyber Command, key personalities
• The 8 Pillars of the PLA's Cyber Warfare Strategy - mapping East to West
• Specific case studies of cyber attacks by the PLA
• Interests and Intent of the PLA Cyber Command

The timely post-conference seminar has already generated major interest from senior military professionals and is fast-becoming one of the major highlights of Europe's premier Cyber Warfare event. If you would like to attend LtCol USMCR (RET) Hagestad's post-conference workshop or learn more about Cyber Warfare Europe, visit http://www.cyberwarfare-europe.com.

SOURCE IQPC