President Obama announced Friday that the U.S. and Chinese governments have reached an agreement to not “conduct or knowingly support” cyberattacks against each other.
Mr. Obama revealed the deal during a White House press conference alongside Chinese President Xi Jinping. It comes just days after the administration acknowledged that Chinese hackers accessed the fingerprints of 5.6 million federal employees during a massive cyberattack on the Office of Personnel Management earlier this year.
Intelligence agencies have blamed the attack on the Chinese, though administration officials have yet to formally name China as the culprit. Chinese hackers also may be responsible for other cyberattacks against U.S. interests, including the theft of intellectual property from private companies.
“I indicated that it has to stop,” the president said of such attacks. “We’ve agreed that neither the U.S. nor the Chinese government will conduct or knowingly support cyber-enabled theft of intellectual property … we’ll work together, and with other nations, to promote international rules of the road for appropriate conduct in cyberspace. So, this is progress, but I have to insist our work is not yet done.”
• Ben Wolfgang can be reached at bwolfgang@washingtontimes.com.
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