US considers firmer action against Chinese cyber-espionage Two former US officials said the administration is preparing a new National Intelligence Estimate that, when complete, is expected to detail the cyberthreat, particularly from China, as a growing economic problem. Neither of the former officials was authorised to discuss the classified report and spoke only on condition of anonymity. Obviously this can become a very unwelcome and even dangerous tit-for-tat that could be a crescendo of consequences, here at home and around the world, that no one wants to see happen. Although the administration has not yet decided what steps it may take, actions could include threats to cancel certain visas or put major purchases of Chinese goods through national security reviews. "The US government has started to look seriously at more assertive measures and begun to engage the Chinese on senior levels," said James Lewis, a cybersecurity expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. They realise that this is a major problem in the bilateral relationship that threatens to destabilise U.S. relations with China. To date, extensive discussions between Chinese officials and top US leaders have had little impact on what government and cybersecurity experts say is escalating and technologically evolving espionage. The Chinese deny such espionage efforts. A four-month long cyberattack against The New York Times is the latest in a long string of breaches said to be by China-based hackers into corporate and government computer systems across the United States. The Times attacks, routed through computers at US universities, targeted staff members' email accounts, the Times said, and were likely in retribution for the newspaper's investigation into the wealth amassed by the family of a top Chinese leader. The Wall Street Journal on Thursday said that its computer systems, too, had been breached by China-based hackers in an effort to monitor the newspaper's coverage of China issues. The White House declined to comment on whether it will pursue aggressive action on China.