<p>After extended sessions with Chinese representatives, the Obama ;Administration has forged an agreement under which they claim ;neither US nor China will engage in theft of trade secrets or intellectual property for commercial gain.</p>
<p>The cybersecurity community however has its doubts. In a group high level Washington D.C. cybersecurity consultants, a twitter message was broadcast reading &#8220;Raise your hand if you actually believe China will stop economic espionage. Honest question.&#8221;</p>
<p>Responses included such answers as &#8220;Raising my hand, but only to inform I have this great bridge to sell. :-)&#8221; and &#8220;Not even a smidge. They may improve their ability to deny though.&#8221;  ;We saw serious postive responses.</p>
<p>During the sessions, China repeatedly denied involvement in hacks for commercial intellectual property or in attacking sensitive U.S. government information sources.</p>
<p>The agreement has three parts:</p>
<p>1. China agrees to stop engaging in economic espionage.</p>
<p>2. ;China will respond to requests for law enforcement and CERT-to-CERT assistance.</p>
<p>3. A ministerial-level dialogue and red phone system will be established.</p>
<p>In a scenario surprisingly similar to the Iran agreement, China will mostly be investigating and monitoring itself.</p>
<p><strong>Author&#8217;s Note:</strong>  ;Some experts believe this is a face saving measure for both Xi and Obama, after bitter complaints by U.S. Companies. Might be, but I think Obama thinks he has made progress.  ;I believe this is yet another deal from the Obama Administration that ;not only does not achieve its purpose, but puts the U.S. at a disadvantage.</p>
<p>China has no intention of slowing down its cyber espionage activities, and this agreement just gives them more time before they have to maneuver again.</p>
<p>Instead of slapping sanctions on them, Obama has them a means to tie us up legally.  ;It gives China a much stronger position to claim cooperation and innocence in the view of the world.</p>
<p>Look for some &#8220;show the flag&#8221; activity by China, minor disruptions in their cyber espionage patterns to provide examples of Chinese enthusiasm for this agreement.  ;But this will be completely cosmetic, and activities will actually ramp up.</p>
<p>In the meantime, U.S. businesses are losing billions through losses of intellectual property and sensitive government information systems are constantly at risk.</p>