[bicknergseng]

As a side note, I really hate article titles that use this kind of wildly inaccurate accusation. The nation of China did not breach the U.S. Postal Service, a Chinese government team did. Still inaccurate and vague, but there's a world of difference between the United States launching a drone strike and the CIA, an agent of the US, launching a drone strike.

Edit: I've read more than enough articles where the agent or actor is NOT a member of the government, yet still referred to as "China" or "America". However, even in situations where it is a member of the government or of a company, I still think the connotations conveyed by imprecisely labeling the actors totally throw off expectations and perceptions.

[ppereira]

I am not sure if I agree with your rationale. An agent of a government acts on behalf of his or her government. According to your reasoning, a nation cannot breach a system or wage war because it is an agent that does the hacking or a soldier that does the firing.

Nevertheless, I liked this excerpt by the NSA's general counsel:

> Still, “it’s perfectly appropriate for us to do everything we can to embarrass and punish the Chinese if they’re in our systems, whether or not we’re in theirs,” said former National Security Agency general counsel Stewart A. Baker. “It’s the case that the U.S. and Russia and other countries are much more cautious about getting caught because they think there are going to be consequences. It’s only the Chinese that think there are no consequences to getting caught.”

[internet_arguer]

Are they not agents of the nation of China?

I think it's accurate to describe NSA instrusion sets as the work of agents of the United States.

Or does it change context when it's an organization you don't like (NSA) ?

[calbear81]

The actors are members of a larger system, the government, and act on its behalf and in most cases with its explicit approval and support. They're all parts of the same entity and by trying to distance the actor from the system would be to remove some level of responsibility that all parties share in.

Also, I don't think there's a world of difference between saying the CIA launched a drone strike and America launching a drone strike. I know the general public would like to believe they are not personally responsible for what our country does but as citizens, we collectively share in what we as a whole have decided to do or what those we've put in charge have decided to do.

[imgabe]

Functionally, what's the difference? Supposedly a Chinese government team would be acting on behalf of the nation of China and at their orders. I don't think anyone would interpret that as saying that every single Chinese citizen was involved.

[tantalor]

Are you trolling? What is the difference?