means it's true?

So this means that Wikileaks is an evil organization jeopardizing lives and setting back the cause of freedom and democracy, since that's what the American government been saying? Just like how Osama and the Taliban were freedom fighters against the "evil empire" Soviets and Saddam was a moderate secular leader who was the bulwark against the evil Iranian mullahs back in the 1980's?

Accepting this as truth is Western/American hypocrisy at its finest. As usual, people here will believe something they want to be true, because they hate China and hate the fact that it is no longer an impoverished third-world country but instead is an emerging power capable of competing against the Americans on many fronts, logical consistency be damned.

"Corrupt and unethical"? "Asinine behavior"? Do I really need to recite the skeletons the Americans have accumulated in their closet over the last 60 years?

"No clear evidence?" You mean, random American security researchers proclaiming almost blindly that the attacks originated from the government? How is that more credible than Iranian security researchers proclaiming that this is a Zionist/American plot?

Your post, and the fact that it is modded insightful, shows American/Western hypocrisy at its core. It's like two sports teams going at each other. Your team is always right, moral, and justified, and the other team is always wrong and nefarious. However it seems like Americans will never realize this and will always be hypocritical and sanctimonious.

are government sponsored "cyber armies," and constitute some sort of nefarious plot to bring down the United States (or Israel), then what is this?

But hey, these guys are on your team, so it's cool and it's all good, when the guys on the other team are evil demons who threaten your existence.

Or possibly FOX News?

Just because the United States has an embargo in Iran, doesn't mean everyone else in the world has to have one as well. Besides, the mullahs in Iran don't particularly like Afghanistan either, they almost went to war with the Taliban in 1998. I thought this site was for "news for nerds", not biased political pieces bordering on propaganda.

that the UN would be coordinated enough with all of its corruption and ineffectiveness (especially if you listen to guys like Maes) to execute such a nefarious plot.

"had becoming"? Really?

So if China sent a covert operation into India and seized the Dalai Lama, or a covert operation to the US to seize Li Hongzhi (the leader of the Falun Gong) or Rebiya Kadeer (the leader of the terrorist East Turkestan Liberation Movement), how would Americans react? It would be a total shitstorm. I don't even have to say that, it's so obvious.

Clearly there is no morality here behind American actions, it's all about what's good for American interests. It's kind of like rooting for your sports team, they can do no wrong. Double standards and hypocrisy are the norm. It would be good for people to remember that the next time a China article pops up and the China-hating crowd here gets all sanctimonious. We have a team too, and we're looking out for our interests, just like you're looking out for yours.

If there were no regulations and standards, then all the money would be funneled into actual security protocols?

Doesn't seem like that would be the case, especially since they are now just "going through the motions" to ensure compliance with regulations. The companies may well ignore data security altogether. By complying with regulations there is at least some level of security.

It's like the teachers' complaint that standardized tests force them to "teach to the test", well at least they're teaching something rather than nothing, which was the point of the test in the first place.

I'd imagine the CIA and DoD get on this fairly quickly and get it taken down.

The sales tax is a very regressive tax. Why should ordinary people of Washington take the hit disproportionately so that Microsoft can be let off the hook for what is basically equivalent to offshoring?