Overwhelming penalty necessary for military-related cyber offense

Bayshore Comment: Treason or selling our classified military secrets could lead to appropriately harsh penalty in the U.S. The case below illustrated that. The same overwhelming penalty should apply to military-related cyber offense as cyber warheads are now as powerful as long-range missiles and cyber-related industrial espionage is happening on a daily basis. The penalty will only serve as a deterrent. Cyber-related military espionage is very difficult to catch. The only control we have is to have strong defense, by deploying Layer 7 Application Protection to secure our military applications.

Excerpt from Justice News:
Department of Justice
Office of Public Affairs
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Hawaii Man Sentenced to 32 Years in Prison for Providing Defense Information and Services to People’s Republic of China
Former B-2 Bomber Engineer Helped PRC Design Stealthy Cruise Missile

WASHINGTON – Noshir S. Gowadia, 66, of Maui, Hawaii, was sentenced late yesterday to 32 years in prison for communicating classified national defense information to the People’s Republic of China (PRC), illegally exporting military technical data, as well as money laundering, filing false tax returns and other offenses.

The sentence, handed down by Chief U.S. District Judge Susan Oki Mollway in the District of Hawaii, was announced by David Kris, Assistant Attorney General for National Security, and Florence T. Nakakuni, U.S. Attorney for the District of Hawaii.

On Aug. 9, 2010, following six days of deliberation after a trial spanning nearly four months in Honolulu, a federal jury found Gowadia guilty of five criminal offenses relating to his design for the PRC of a low-signature cruise missile exhaust system capable of rendering a PRC cruise missile resistant to detection by infrared missiles.

The jury also convicted Gowadia in three counts of illegally communicating classified information regarding lock-on range for infrared missiles against the U.S. B-2 bomber to persons not authorized to receive such information. The B-2 bomber is one of America’s most critical defense assets, capable of utilizing its stealth characteristics to penetrate enemy airspace and deliver precision guided weapons on multiple targets. Gowadia was also convicted of unlawfully exporting classified information about the
B-2, illegally retaining information related to U.S. national defense at his home, money laundering and filing false tax returns for the years 2001 and 2002.

“Mr. Gowadia provided some of our country’s most sensitive weapons-related designs to the Chinese government for money. He is now being held accountable for his actions. This prosecution should serve as a warning to others who would compromise our nation’s military secrets for profit. I commend the prosecutors, analysts and agents – including those from the FBI and the Air Force – who were responsible for this investigation and prosecution,” said Assistant Attorney General Kris…

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