The major data breach in the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM), exposed in June, that compromised the records of four million federal employees, is an example of China's alleged filching of commercial secrets and government China.
Hillary Clinton, a presidential hopeful of the Democratic party, accused Beijing on Sunday, during a campaign event in New Hampshire, of a broad range of hacking activities. The former state secretary said that anything that does not move in the U.S., China will attempt to hack. It includes using defense contractors to steal huge amounts of state secrets in an attempt by the Asian giant to have an advantage over other nations, BBC reports.
Clinton also warned of the very rapid growth of China's military might through the construction of military installations even in disputed territories such as the Philippines, which the former first lady pointed out has treaties with the United States.
In response to the accusations, China insisted that it did not hack the OPM. It countered that American officials are irresponsible in making such claims. Beijing even adds that the country has also been hacked.
However, Quartz points out that Clinton herself is being accused of being an instrument of exposing government data to potential cyber attacks by allegedly receiving sensitive information when she used her personal email address and a home server during her term as state secretary in the Obama administration.
Clinton's likely opponents from the GOP have used the OPM hacking to hit the Democrat-led administration of President Barack Obama. Rick Perry and Marco Rubio pushed for Washington to sanction organizations responsible for the hacks. Mike Huckabee wants the U.S. to counter hack China, while another Democratic candidate, Martin O'Malley, believes the answer lies in allocation of more funds to boost the U.S. cyber security.