THE first cyber-battle between superpowers was shadowy and nearly bloodless. In April 2001, a US navy plane caused an international incident when it collided with a Chinese jet fighter. The Chinese pilot lost his life, while the American plane made an emergency landing on China’s Hainan Island, where it was detained. After 11 days, the plane and crew were returned safely, but accusations of blame persisted on both sides.
Publicly, both governments did little more than squabble over the issue, but for the rest of the month both suffered a number of harmless but annoying attacks on their computer networks.…
