“Countries or individuals that engage in cyberattacks should face consequences and international condemnation,” Clinton will say in an address at the Newseum in Washington, according to excerpts of her prepared remarks.<\/p>\n
“In an interconnected world, an attack on one nation’s networks can be an attack on all,” Clinton will say.<\/p>\n
Web security experts and analysts interviewed by AFP have said it is almost impossible to prove who is behind a particular cyberattack and noted that companies rarely come forward and admit that they have been targeted.<\/p>\n
Clinton is expected to directly address search giant Google’s concerns on Internet freedom in China.<\/p>\n
Her department will also announce the launch of a 15-million-dollar program to promote Internet freedom by expanding women’s access to the Internet and promoting new media tools in the Middle East and North Africa.<\/p>\n
China’s parliamentary leader Wu Bangguo called on the United States earlier this month to respect its “core interests” in talks with US senators, following Google’s threat to leave the country.<\/p>\n
The reported comments from Wu — officially the second-ranking figure in the government hierarchy behind President Hu Jintao and ahead of Premier Wen Jiabao — did not specifically mention the Google case.<\/p>\n
But Xinhua news agency quoted Wu as telling a delegation of visiting US senators that the two sides should “respect each other’s core interests and properly handle sensitive affairs” in order to maintain good ties.<\/p>\n
The phrase is typically used by Chinese leaders to express their displeasure about diplomatic or other developments.<\/p>\n
Google had earlier announced it would no longer censor search engine results in China and possibly pull out of the world’s largest online market, complaining about cyberattacks and censorship by the communist regime.<\/p>\n