SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
'We're Not Being Paranoid': U.S. Warns Of Spy Dangers Of Chinese-Made Drones
Drones have become an increasingly popular tool for industry and government. Electric utilities use them to inspect transmission lines. Oil companies fly them over pipelines. The Interior Department even deployed them to track lava flows at Hawaii's Kilauea volcano.
But the Department of Homeland Security is warning that drones manufactured by Chinese companies could pose security risks, including that the data they gather could be stolen.
The department sent out an alert on the subject on May 20, and a video on its website notes that drones in general pose multiple threats, including "their potential use for terrorism, mass casualty incidents, interference with air traffic, as well as corporate espionage and invasions of privacy." "We're not being paranoid," the video's narrator adds.
Related: Department of Homeland Security Terror Bulletin Warns of "Weaponized Drones"
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 30 2019, @01:32AM (4 children)
One of the best things that could happen to a government funded/controlled company like Huawei is to be permanently excluded from these associations. It will give them the resolve to fully invest and advance alternate solutions, rather than the cheap and easy path of sucking on the Google/SD association teat while trickling some funds to an R&D lab. Half arsed blocks like this just makes management put their money and resources into other things and progress on what they really need for independence is slowed down.
It is actually a danger to western incumbents if sanctions are hard and unchangeable. Little short bursts of "you're out", "you're in", just gives them a little short term scare and then back to business as usual - with a little extra bargaining power on your side the next time. Going full boycott strengthens the resolve of the boycottee while they seek alternatives. And if the only alternative is to pull your finger out and do it yourself, the Chinese are more than capable after decades of up-skilling in production and technology development.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by legont on Thursday May 30 2019, @01:43AM
Yes, and I am sure the order is already given. Bring the US component dependency to zero or be executed by 2025.
"Wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding" - John Kenneth Galbraith.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Thursday May 30 2019, @01:58AM
I think if China/Huawei wanted to, they could just continue to make phones that accept microSD cards, ignoring licensing or whatever. Maybe that is a disadvantageous move, and in that case they do have something they can fall back on: Nano SIM storage [soylentnews.org].
There is probably no reversing the trend here. China wants to ensure self-sufficiency. Huawei will definitely polish HongMeng OS to replace Android. China will have its own space program [wikipedia.org], space station, and manned lunar program. Etc.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 30 2019, @11:37AM (1 child)
so you mean like Boeing and Lockheed should be banned by all? Also, GE is heavily government "controlled", need to cut out that cancer too. Northrop Grumman, of course, out. Total ban on Halliburton....
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Thursday May 30 2019, @04:23PM
While part of the issue is that Huawei, et al are entangled with the Chinese government. The true issue is the policy (written or unwritten) of the government, not the fact that the government is heavily involved with said company. When you have a foreign company that is being propped up / heavily subsidized to the point that it's hurting your own nation's companies. You have to do something. Thus, tariffs. When you have a foreign company that is quite possibly producing hardware that phones home / spies on / x bad thing, you make sure they're not in your national infrastructure.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"