Cyberattacks on the U.S. Department of Defense — many of them coming from China — have jumped sharply in 2009, a U.S. congressional committee reported Thursday.

Citing data provided by the U.S. Strategic Command, the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission said that there were 43,785 malicious cyber incidents targeting Defense systems in the first half of the year.

That is a big jump. In all of 2008, there were 54,640 such incidents. If cyber attacks maintain this pace, they will jump 60% this year. The committee is looking into the security implications of the U.S. trade relationship with China.

It released its annual report to Congress on Thursday, concluding that a “large body of both circumstantial and forensic evidence strongly indicates Chinese state involvement in such activities.”

“The quantity of malicious computer activities against he United states increased in 2008 and is rising sharply in 2009,” the report states. “Much of this activity appears to originate in China.”

Source: http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9141209/Cyberattacks_on_U.S._military_jump_sharply_in_2009