UC Irvine UC Irvine Electronic Theses and Dissertations Title Regulating Cyber Space: An Examination of U.S.-China Relations Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/9jb873k7 Author Ghazi-Tehrani, Adam Kavon Publication Date 2016 Peer reviewed|Thesis/dissertation eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, IRVINE Regulating Cyber Space: An Examination of U.S.-China Relations DISSERTATION submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR IN PHILOSOPHY in Social Ecology by Adam Ghazi-Tehrani Dissertation Committee: Professor Emeritus Henry N. Pontell, Chair Professor John Dombrink Professor Elliott Currie 2016 © 2016 Adam KaVon Ghazi-Tehrani DEDICATION This dissertation is dedicated to: My dear, loVed family: my father, mother, sisters, and brother-in-law. I know I forgot birthdays, never called frequently enough, and have been generally “busy.” Hopefully, that’s all over. My extended family: the cherished aunts and uncles, cousins, and grandparents. To my grandparents, especially, I wish you could haVe seen this. My friends: Julie Gerlinger, who truly deserVes her own “thank you” page, nothing I say here could eVer be enough; Michael Ridino, my brother in arms, my fiercest companion; Tori Warwick, you’Ve supported me through thick and thin, eVen when others told you not to; Eric Parsons, Westley Nunn, Todd Gerlinger, and Tucker Biggs, I trust you each with my life, Virtual or otherwise; and Rashad Almomani, we’ve drifted apart, let’s fix that. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ......................................................................................................................... vi CURRICULUM VITAE .............................................................................................................................. vii ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................................ xiii Chapter 1 ....................................................................................................................................................... 1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 1 Defining Cyber Warfare ..................................................................................................................... 4 China’s History of Industrial Espionage ...................................................................................... 6 The U.S. History of Traditional Espionage ................................................................................. 7 Secret and Escalating Conflict ......................................................................................................... 8 Rationale for study ............................................................................................................................ 10 Dissertation Research ................................................................................................................. 10 Previous Research ........................................................................................................................ 11 Research Questions ........................................................................................................................... 11 Outline of Dissertation ..................................................................................................................... 15 Chapter 2 .................................................................................................................................................... 17 Literature Review .............................................................................................................................. 17 Cyber Criminology ........................................................................................................................ 17 Cyber War Theory ........................................................................................................................ 18 Cyber Nodal Governance ........................................................................................................... 19 The Insights of Traditional Criminology ............................................................................. 21 System capacity ............................................................................................................................. 21 Regulatory theories ...................................................................................................................... 23 Compliance theories .................................................................................................................... 25 Chapter 3 .................................................................................................................................................... 29 Research Methods ............................................................................................................................. 29 Case Selection ................................................................................................................................. 29 Data Collection ............................................................................................................................... 30 Data Analysis ................................................................................................................................... 31 Validation Strategy ....................................................................................................................... 32 Ethical Considerations ................................................................................................................ 33 Limitations ....................................................................................................................................... 33 Policy Implications ............................................................................................................................ 34 iii Chapter 4 .................................................................................................................................................... 36 AdVanced Persistent Threats ........................................................................................................ 36 The National Security Agency’s “Tailored Access Operations” ...................................... 37 AdVanced Persistent Threat 1: PLA Unit 61398 ................................................................... 39 The Problem with Attribution and the Tallinn Manual ..................................................... 43 The Attribution Checklist ............................................................................................................... 47 China on the Offensive ..................................................................................................................... 50 Titan Rain ......................................................................................................................................... 50 Shady RAT ........................................................................................................................................ 51 Operation Aurora .......................................................................................................................... 54 GhostNet ........................................................................................................................................... 57 Operation Night Dragon ............................................................................................................. 60 Pattern of the Global Cyber War and Crime: A Proposed Model ................................... 60 Characteristics of the source nation ..................................................................................... 62 MotiVation of attack ..................................................................................................................... 67 Profile of target organization ................................................................................................... 71 Chapter Summary .............................................................................................................................. 80 Chapter 5 .................................................................................................................................................... 81 An Expansion of the Nodal GoVernance Framework ......................................................... 81 Antagonistic Nodes ...................................................................................................................... 81 Analysis of American Nodes ..................................................................................................... 90 Super Nodes .................................................................................................................................. 101 Golden Shield Project ................................................................................................................ 113 Chapter Summary ............................................................................................................................ 119 Chapter 6 .................................................................................................................................................