The Chinese government has confirmed the existence of an online warfare team that it says is trained to protect the People's Liberation Army from external cyber assaults. The unit is known as the "Blue Army" and consists of 30 Internet specialists drawn from various channels such as existing PLA soldiers, officers, college students and assorted "members of society," according to a report published on The Australian.

A former PLA general cast some light on the caliber of these specialists when he told The Times, "It is just like ping-pong. We have more people playing it, so we are very good at it." Underscoring China's commitment to defending itself against cyber warfare, an official PLA newspaper has stated that "tens of millions" of dollars have been invested in the country's military training network.

When asked whether the unit was set up with the express purpose of mounting online attacks on foreign countries, Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman Geng Yansheng talked about how Internet security is an international issue and how China is also a victim. He told the Global Times: "China is relatively weak in cybersecurity and has often been targeted. This temporary program is aimed at improving our defenses against such attacks." He added: "The Blue Army's main target is self-defense. We won't initiate an attack on anyone."

For more:
- check out this article at ZDNet Asia
- check out this article at The Australian

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