Chinese Espionage Poses Growing Threat, U.S. Officials Say
Chinese cyber espionage and theft of intellectual property from U.S. companies is increasing and poses a dire threat to the country's security and economic competitiveness, Trump administration officials told senators on Wednesday.
"What hangs in the balance is not just the future of the United States, but the future of the world," Bill Priestap, assistant director of the FBI's counterintelligence division, told the Senate Judiciary Committee.
[...] John Demers, assistant attorney general for national security, said Chinese espionage against U.S. targets has steadily increased and China has stolen technology ranging from autonomous drones to chemical compounds. "We cannot tolerate a nation that steals the fruits of our brain power," Demers said, "and that is just what China is doing."
The Chinese espionage campaign extends beond[sic] government agents to encompass tourists, technology workers, students and academic researchers, they said. For example, the Chinese government's payment of students' tuition provides leverage to pressure them to bring home intellectual property, Priestap said.
Duh?
Also at The Hill.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 13 2018, @09:22PM
Americans don't even care about IP, so why should anyone else. Information wants to be free and all.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 13 2018, @09:29PM (3 children)
The following SoylentNews users have breached a number of systems and should be investigated post-haste!
https://soylentnews.org/~The+Mighty+Buzzard [soylentnews.org]
https://soylentnews.org/~Runaway1956/ [soylentnews.org]
https://soylentnews.org/~khallow [soylentnews.org] (this one actually rationalizes theft)
There is also an AC that uses TOR, might want to get on that one, definitely a homegrown terrorist in the making! Might require some extraordinary rendition to get most of these users.
(Score: 5, Funny) by edIII on Thursday December 13 2018, @09:48PM
Try again, AC.
Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.
(Score: 2) by PiMuNu on Friday December 14 2018, @02:41PM (1 child)
How do you know AC uses Tor?
(Score: 2) by PiMuNu on Friday December 14 2018, @02:46PM
I'll pick up my coat on the way out shall I?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 13 2018, @09:37PM
This directly after an article about Windows phoning home despite being explicitly told not to.
So the US does it with technology, whereas China does it with manpower? Sounds just cliche enough to probably be correct, for both sides ...
(Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Thursday December 13 2018, @09:47PM (4 children)
I did some work for Absolute Software of Vancouver BC. Their main product at the time was a laptop recovery system called Lojack For Laptops - licensed from Lojack for fast, red cars - and a similar product for the enterprise.
I expect they're the developers of Find My iPhone, which I actually used the other day. It turned up under my easy chair.
(I really _like_ my easy chair. Too bad I don't have a lawn, otherwise I'd get to shout at kids to get off it.)
While I expect there are fewer laptops stolen these days - I really don't know - of those which _are_ stolen, doubtless many of their drives are imaged then sold to the highest bidder.
One of the WiFi spots I use no longer permits its clients to communicate with each other, I expect that's to prevent snarfing all the sexts off the iPhone that belongs to the chick at the next table.
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 5, Interesting) by Azuma Hazuki on Thursday December 13 2018, @10:37PM (3 children)
This is why I've got LUKS full-disk encryption on my old T440s. If someone does steal it, well, good luck getting any of the information off of it.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 14 2018, @06:32PM
yep. all my drives are full luks encrypted.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 14 2018, @07:54PM (1 child)
LOL. Disk encryption stops the ignorant, but good luck stopping anyone technically inclined, especially if you use a passphrase rather than a keydisk or something.
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Friday December 14 2018, @08:42PM
And if I use both? :)
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 5, Interesting) by legont on Friday December 14 2018, @12:43AM (1 child)
China exports to the US highly educated scientists and engineers and imports back the results of their work. While it may or may not be legal in places, it sounds like a fair exchange.
"Wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding" - John Kenneth Galbraith.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 14 2018, @09:44AM
You may have a good point here, given how much the name of scientific papers authors sound traditionally American.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by DrkShadow on Friday December 14 2018, @02:32AM
Isn't this exactly what H1B's are for? Import Chinese intelligence agents (or "intelligent people"), train them on the inner workings of our most sensitive technology, then send them home.
Alternative: H1B's are a fast-track for a green card. Keep them here, once we've trained them. This solves the whole H1B problem, too -- you're no longer importing cheap, foreign labor, you're importing cheap new citizens that will forevermore add to the American economy. Yes, they start out cheap, but they won't remain that way. Most of the formerly H1B holders that I know are doing very, very well.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 14 2018, @02:53AM
No I'm not a troll, Trump behavior matches Chinese behavior better than any previous president. I think the Chinese finally have met their match.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by bootsy on Friday December 14 2018, @09:33AM
It doesn't surprse me at all the IP gets stolen and often by people you wouldn't want to have it.
When I did my Permanent Head Damage (PhD) we had one Iranian guy whose Masters was basically on Missle Guidance systems. He was finishing off his PhD and then suddenly vanished. A friend at another University had their supervisor called up by the UK "intelligence" agency MI6 to tell them one of his supervisees had a bank standing order to the Tamil Tigers.
It's always been easier to copy someone else's hardwork and make money from it or utilise it. Innovators usually go bankrupt and other more established players make the money.