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China has built a significant military presence in the South China Sea as the country controversially attempts to seize control of the region. Described by many as “island fortresses”, China has enveloped the South China Sea with artificial island bases, and has been accused of forming them specifically for military purposes. The transfer of its aircraft carriers, runways and weapons to the region has earned the group of bases the nickname: “The Great Wall of Sand.” Photographs published by the Philippine Daily Inquirer showed cargo ships and supply ships, which appeared to be delivering construction materials to the Chinese-controlled islands. Others show runways, hangars, control towers, helipads and radomes, as well as a series of multi-story buildings that China has built on reefs.
But its military firepower on land and at sea has been accompanied by a different threat: cyberattacks.
Just hours after China’s claim on the South China Sea was dropped in The Hague in 2016, at least 68 national and local government websites in the Philippines were taken offline in a massive distributed denial-of-service attack ( DDoS).
The Philippines took action against Beijing over its claim to the Nine Dash Line sea, which marked 90 percent of the waters as Chinese territory.
In the summer of 2015, Chinese hackers allegedly breached court servers during a hearing on the territorial dispute, leaving anyone interested in the historic legal case at risk of data theft.
Experts Jason Healey and Anni Piiparinen predicted that “The Philippines (and its American allies) should start preparing now for a massive digital tantrum from patriotic Chinese hackers if the ruling goes against the Middle Kingdom.”
A report published by enSilo found that the Chinese cyber espionage group called Advanced Persistent Threat group 10 or APT10 deployed two variants of malicious software that targeted government and private organizations in the Philippines last year.
Fears remain centered on China’s recent aggression with its weapons in the region, raising fears of conflict.
A source close to the Chinese military said last month that an “aircraft carrier killer” and another missile were launched into the South China Sea as a warning to the United States.
READ MORE: South China Sea: Beijing’s ‘Sea Dragon’ Underwater Weapons
The DF-21D in particular has been described by experts as an especially dangerous weapon.
It was unveiled in 2015 and is believed to have a range in excess of 1,450 kilometers according to the US National Center for Air and Space Intelligence.
As the Financial Times reported, the missile could also travel up to 10 times the speed of sound, making it virtually impossible to intercept once launched.
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