The economy was turbulent this year. The rate of unemployment went down, but not by much. Congress fought it out and did not get much done. Ultimately, while there was a good deal of tension between both legislators and the general public, the economy is now slowly but steadily heading in the right direction. That was, of course, before Americans realized that their economy was susceptible to foreign influence.

The Wall Street Journal reported that “a group of hackers in China breached the computer defenses of America’s top business-lobbying group and gained access to everything stored on its systems, including information about its 3 million members.” All of these strategies and information became vulnerable to one of the fiercest competitors of the United States. It doesn’t help that China is also the country providing the United States with exorbitant loans which cannot be paid off in the near future. The hacking was incredibly disturbing, so one would hope that it was the only incident of its kind. Unfortunately, it’s one of many.

This is upsetting because it shows that the country lending us money is stealing it back. Whether or not the hackers are affiliated with the Chinese government, they are putting the American government in jeopardy.

These Chinese hackers are getting information, which can be as valuable as money in the business world. Whether we are civil with China about the situation or not, this problem is not about politeness or foreign affairs. For being such a superpower, the United States needs to relearn how to enforce its authority on the international stage.

The U.S. government may have trouble working together without partisanship, but this problem with China has nothing to do with politics. It has to do with safety. Cyber warfare is just as destructive as actual violence to the American economy because these hackers are coming back over and over. This issue is going to persist until the United States protects itself from further harm.

No matter how much the government tries to help businesses and corporations, Chinese hackers are outside American jurisdiction. Online national security needs to become the top priority because the economy cannot survive without it. The Department of Defense needs to stop buying weapons and ammo and begin offering more jobs to new college graduates majoring in computer and engineering related fields. The United States has some of the best universities in the entire world and we need to use them as our protection against China.

— Megan Hurley is a journalism junior. She can be reached at letters@wildcat.arizona.edu or on Twitter via @WildcatOpinions.