2 0 0 3 . ▁The ▁attacks ▁were ▁l abeled ▁as ▁Chinese ▁in ▁origin , ▁although ▁their ▁precise ▁nature ▁( i . e ., ▁state - sp ons ored ▁esp ion age , ▁corpor ate ▁esp ion age , ▁or ▁random ▁ha cker ▁attacks ) ▁and ▁their ▁real ▁ident ities ▁( i . e ., ▁mask ed ▁by ▁proxy , ▁z omb ie ▁computer , ▁sp y ware / vir us ▁inf ected ) ▁remain ▁unknown . ▁In ▁ 2 0 0 7 , ▁the ▁United ▁States ▁government ▁suffered ▁" an ▁esp ion age ▁Pear l ▁Har bor " ▁in ▁which ▁an ▁unknown ▁foreign ▁power ▁... ▁broke ▁into ▁all ▁of ▁the ▁high ▁te ch ▁ag encies , ▁all ▁of ▁the ▁military ▁ag encies , ▁and ▁downloaded ▁ter aby tes ▁of ▁information . ▁In ▁ 2 0 0 8 , ▁a ▁hack ing ▁incident ▁occurred ▁on ▁a ▁U . S . ▁Military ▁facility ▁in ▁the ▁Middle ▁East . ▁United ▁States ▁Deput y ▁Secretary ▁of ▁Def ense ▁William ▁J . ▁Lyn n ▁III ▁had ▁the ▁Pent agon ▁release ▁a ▁document , ▁which ▁reflected ▁a ▁" mal icious ▁code " ▁on ▁a ▁USB ▁flash ▁drive ▁spread ▁und et ected ▁on ▁both ▁class ified ▁and ▁un class ified ▁Pent agon ▁systems , ▁establish ing ▁a ▁digital ▁beach head , ▁from ▁which ▁data ▁could ▁be ▁transferred ▁to ▁servers ▁under ▁foreign ▁control . ▁ ▁" It ▁was ▁a ▁network ▁administrator ' s ▁worst ▁fear : ▁a ▁ro gue ▁program ▁operating ▁sil ently , ▁po ised ▁to ▁deliver ▁oper ational