Chinese Naval Expansion Hits High Gear: China’s Navy Acquires 15 Warships in 7 Months

Ticonderoga Class cruiser USS Lake Champlain CG-57. Decommissioning of these vessels will begin in 2019, with no viable replacement. The U.S. Navy command has proposed keeping half of the 22 vessels in service. Despite the largest defense budget of any nation in the world, and larger than that of Russia and China combined, the U.S. Navy cited budget constraints as a key factor in being unable of replacing the vessels.

 

While there was much fanfare and attention given to the July 3^rd launch of two Type 055 guided missile destroyers at the Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Co. (DISC) shipyard in Dalian, very little mention has been made of the many other warships that the PLAN has launched or commissioned since the beginning of the year. Although the Type 055 DDG is the PLAN’s most powerful surface combatant, and the largest such vessel constructed by an Asian nation since World War II, they are one component in a steadily growing naval force structure. While the addition of three Type 055 DDGs this year, added to the first vessel in class which rolled into the water from Dalian just over a year ago in June of 2017, showcase China’s growing capabilities not only in producing powerful and modern warships, they also illustrate the maturity and  stunning capacity of the Chinese ship building industry. This industry has launched and/or commissioned 15 modern warships in just the first seven months of 2018.

China is building the world’s largest nuclear submarine facility

In Parallel – The module assembly hall is well equipped, with gantry cranes for lifting SSN modules in position and parallel rails for moving completed hull sections further down the assembly line. Once fully operational, the assembly line could enable China to at least match USN SSN production. [BSHIC]

 

It can build four subs at a time.

Starting later this year, China’s new submarine factory on the Yellow Sea will churn out nuclear-powered attack submarines—also known as SSNs—all but ensuring that the sub program of the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) will be a deadly global force.

Russia details ambitious effort to modernise nuclear-powered submarines to bolster order of battle

• Moscow is modernising or repairing 12 nuclear-powered submarines
• The modernised boats are intended to serve 20 more years, maintaining operational force levels as the new Project 885M Yasen-class boats enter service.
• The modernisation programme leaves current force levels as low as nine boats across the fleet

Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu has set out details of an ambitious effort to reinvigorate Russia’s shipbuilding and submarine order of battle.

During a visit to the Zvezda shipyard at Bolshoy Kamen on Russia’s Pacific coast in September, the minister is reported to have informed Russian journalists that six nuclear-powered submarines are under repair and modernisation at Zvezda.

Office of Personnel Mgmt: 5.6M estimated to have fingerprints stolen in breach

The Office of Personnel Management announced Wednesday that 5.6 million people are now estimated to have had their fingerprint information stolen.

That number was originally thought to be about 1.1 million, OPM said in a statement. About 21.5 million individuals had their Social Security Numbers and other sensitive information affected by the hack.

OPM Announces More Than 21 Million Affected by Second Data Breach

The federal personnel agency announced Thursday a massive hack.

More than 21 million Social Security numbers were compromised in a breach that affected a database of sensitive information on federal employees held by the Office of Personnel Management, the agency announced Thursday.

That number is in addition to the 4.2 million social security numbers that were compromised in another data breach at OPM that was made public in June.

Of the 21.5 million records that were stolen, 19.7 million belonged to individuals who had undergone background investigation, OPM said. The remaining 1.8 million records belonged to other individuals, mostly applicants’ families.

The biggest heist of secret US personnel data in cyber history is still ongoing

As was mentioned just the other day, all U.S. intelligence agencies have been compromised in addition to all other government entities that were attacked.

 

The White House has admitted that systems containing deeply personal information, submitted by current, former and prospective federal government employees for security clearances, had been “exfiltrated.” If the breach of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) was conducted by hackers linked to China, as suspected, access to the Standard Form 86 submitted by an estimated 41 million federal employees provided them with what may be the world’s largest stolen data base of US intelligence and military personnel.

This is a “gold mine” of unencrypted data that leave US intelligence officers, for example, open to blackmail or coerced recruitment.

While officials speak of two hacks, debkafile’s cyber security and intelligence experts report that it was a single breach and is still ongoing. Known to experts as an “Advanced Persistent Threat,” it amounts to slow, continuous penetration by a computer virus, planted in an individual computer of a network which duplicates itself gradually and insidiously.

Union: Hackers have personnel data on every federal employee

So, basically you can now say that the CIA, NSA, FBI et al have been compromised and are now in a Chinese database for future operations.

 

WASHINGTON (AP) — Hackers stole personnel data and Social Security numbers for every federal employee, a government worker union said Thursday, charging that the cyberattack on U.S. employee data is far worse than the Obama administration has acknowledged.

Sen. Harry Reid, the Democratic leader, said on the Senate floor that the December hack into Office of Personnel Management data was carried out by “the Chinese.” Reid is one of eight lawmakers who is briefed on the most secret intelligence information. U.S. officials have declined to publicly blame China, which has denied involvement.

Health insurer Anthem hit by massive cybersecurity breach

(Reuters) – Health insurer Anthem Inc , which has nearly 40 million U.S. customers, said late on Wednesday that hackers had breached one of its IT systems and stolen personal information relating to current and former consumers and employees.

The No. 2 health insurer in the United States said the breach did not appear to involve medical information or financial details such as credit card or bank account numbers.

The information accessed during the “very sophisticated attack” did include names, birthdays, social security numbers, street addresses, email addresses and employment information, including income data, the company said.

Rising red tide: China’s Navy in frenzy to build new nuclear-powered attack subs

China’s military is investing heavily in advanced submarines, including both ballistic and cruise missile firing vessels and attack subs.

Recently, Beijing showed off what appears to be a mock-up of its next-generation nuclear-powered attack submarine, according to veteran military analyst Rick Fisher.