Former Pentagon Analyst Says China Can Shut Down All The Telecom Gear It Sold To The US

[Twana Blevins]

 

The Business Insider

 

F. Michael Maloof, G2 Bulletin |

 

Chinese companies apparently have a covert capability to remotely access communications technology sold to the United States and other Western countries and could "disable a country's telecommunications infrastructure before a military engagement," according to former and current intelligence sources.

The Chinese also have the ability to exploit networks "to enable China to continue to steal technology and trade secrets," according to the open source intelligence company Lignet, which is comprised of former U.S. intelligence analysts.

The issue centers on the Chinese firm Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd., which U.S. intelligence sources say has direct links to the Chinese government and the People's Liberation Army, or PLA. These sources assert that Huawei and other Chinese telecommunications firms such as ZTE Corp. have "electronic backdoors" to telecommunications technology sold to the U.S. and other countries.

Revelation of China's electronic backdoor capability into U.S. and Western telecommunications networks comes on the heels of recent WND/G2Bulletin revelations that China has been manufacturing counterfeit components that have made their way into sensitive U.S. weapons systems.

The problem of fake Chinese electronic components, which were installed by defense contractors without prior testing and are operating in U.S. military systems, is far more widespread than originally thought.

These parts don't just come directly from China but also from suppliers in Britain and Canada who redirect Chinese products to U.S. defense contractors.

These counterfeit components have been found in sensitive U.S. missile systems meant to thwart the potential of a Chinese missile attack, in night vision devices and in various military aircraft.

"We do not want a $12 million defense interceptor's reliability compromised by a $2 counterfeit part," Gen. Patrick O'Reilly, director of the U.S. Missile Defense Agency said.

Huawei, suspected of exploiting electronic telecommunications backdoors, continues to sell communications technology in the U.S. and other countries despite a supposed ban on the company that was supposed to keep it from bidding on cellular networks and government contracts, a current intelligence source said.

The electronic backdoor capability reportedly could allow the Chinese government through Huawei and ZTE to access information traveling through telecommunications networks or even sabotage electronic devices, Lignet said.

With this capability, China would be in a position to sabotage critical U.S. weapons systems and sensitive cyber sites and could include intelligence or systems used by defense contractors doing work on behalf of the U.S. government.

With cyber espionage on the rise and increasing attacks aimed at U.S. government computer systems, these sources contend that Huawei has achieved that capability on behalf of the Chinese government.

Sources say that Huawei can use its backdoor access to reach into foreign telecommunications company systems without its knowledge or permission.

In the case of the mobile phone maker ZTE, Lignet said that the company pursued a security vulnerability through an electronic backdoor on cell phones run on Google's Androidsystem.

"This backdoor reportedly could allow someone to remotely control the phone," Lignet said.

In 2013 defense budget legislation, the House Armed Services Committee's Strategic Forces Subcommittee had introduced language to require a search of all U.S. nuclear weapons arsenals and infrastructure to remove products from Chinese companies such as Huawei and ZTE because of the possibility of "backdoors or code for espionage and/or sabotage purposes by the Chinese government," Lignet pointed out.

These revelations follow a warning by the U.S. Department of Defense that Chinese hackers are aiming malware at U.S. government agencies and industries that could threaten the nation's economy.

The indication is that these attacks are directed by the Chinese government itself.

"Chinese actors are the world's most active and persistent perpetrators of economic espionage," according to a DOD in a recent report to Congress. "Chinese attempts to collect U.S. technological and economic information will continue at a high level and will represent a growing and persistent threat to U.S. economic security.

"China is likely to remain an aggressive and capable collector of sensitive U.S. economic information and technologies, particularly in cyberspace," DOD added.

Another concern raised by sources is that Huawei and the other Chinese telecommunications companies also provide technology to Iran and the Taliban.

According to sources, Iran's security network relies on Huawei technology, raising the prospect, sources say, that the Iranians could gain the same backdoor access as the Chinese intelligence service does to U.S. defense and sensitive industries.

This concern has been heightened by new Iranian threats to undertake a cyber war with the U.S. in response to recent revelations that the U.S. was a principal player in launching a sophisticated cyber attack on Iran's nuclear program.

Code-named Olympic Games, the effort by the Obama administration was to initiate a cyber war against Iran along with Israel. Such a revelation left little doubt that the U.S. and Israel also were behind the Stuxnet virus which was inflicted on Iran's centrifuge machines used to enrich uranium.

One source said that Washington already has declared that a cyber attack on U.S. computer systems would constitute an act of war and that would call for a military response. The Pentagon earlier this month said that there would be a U.S. military response if there is a cyber attack on government networks – in effect, equating hacking with an act of war.

Yet, the U.S. already has initiated such an attack on Iran which now is threatening to do the same thing to U.S. computer systems.

In attempting to uncover cyber attacks before too much damage has been done, sources say that there are millions of lines of software code that transmit data securely and to find a malicious code would be problematic and cost-prohibitive.

F. Michael Maloof, staff writer for WND’s G2Bulletin, is a former senior security policy analyst in the Office of the Secretary of Defense. He can be contacted at [e-mail].

 

[Chaplain Thomas Gilbert Cole]

PLEASE PRAY THAT ALMIGHTY GOD WILL "{SAVE AMERICA}"!!!!!!!           II Chronicles 7 : 14

[Bruce Forster]

I've been sounding the alarm on Chinese Back Door electronic manipulation to my family and friends for years, and they always pooh poohed me. Now that I'm a recording engineer and have invented an enhanced audio recording technology for CD & DVD Audio, a few are beginning to take me seriously.

 

This same danger also exists for the Ham Radio community. Think about this, my fellow Amatuers: Those of us who use IRLP (Internet Radio Link Protocol for the non-hams who are reading this) are at the SAME risk for damage or destruction or hackinig of our gear as the Military or the cell phone infrastructure. If we happen to be on the system with our VHF/UHF radio at the time someone in China or Iran decides to "have some fun", it is entirely possible that at the same time they're shutting down the Internet, they might also be able to send a signal that will disable our  High Band Radios! There may also be a vulnerability in our radios to disruption via satellite even if we're not on IRLP at the time. I'm presently looking into this and will let you all know if I come up with anything.

So, one thing I'm doing.....I have an H.F. (Low Band) radio standing by on the side in case the SHTF. I also have a LARGE battery with NO external electronics from China connected to it! I also have an older lawn mower engine connected to an old style Alternator to charge the system in the event such an act of sabotage should ever take place. Build your OWN inverters, fellow Hams, and DO NOT USE ANY COMPONET MADE IN CHINA WHEN YOU DO!

There ARE things we can do at the local level to help ourselves and our neighbors.

Bruce A. Forster

AC7AA

[Harry Riley]

You're on target Bruce.........HF effective and long range........

[Ed Watts]

I have two solid-state HF transceivers with lots of bells and whistles and two "hollow-state" HF transceiver/receiver sets with a "tube" keyer, along with lots of VHF and UHF transistor-based rigs.  I'm in the market for a tube-based two-meter FM rig or two; that should cover most of the bases and keep me "on the air" in just about every situation.  I have a military five-ton shop van (SEORTM) which I have converted to a combination shop/motorhome for my mobile operating position and "bug-out" vehicle.  No road?  No problem!

[Harry Riley]

Just don't advertise locations.........

[Ed Watts]

Yup.

[Bruce Forster]

I'm sorry I don't know of any Tube driven VHF radios. I'm sure there must be some old ones floating around, however.

[Ed Watts]

Yeah, they're out there, but most VHF tube radios are AM only; solid-state preceded FM by just a bit.

[Dorris Ponstingl]

I wish I had you capabilities.Maybe you should start a factory in your garage and give people the chance to buy them.

GOOD FOR YOU. WE still have intelligence out there on the side of self reliance.

[Karl Verlinden]

Remember this?

" Clinton and China Armed Iraq

Charles R. Smith
Thursday, Jan. 30, 2003

"In 1991 U.S. intelligence forces detected a shipment of French-made printers bound for Iraq. The printers were to be used by computers that ran the French-made Kari air defense network sold to dictator Saddam Hussein during the late 1980s.

"Unknown to the Iraqis, U.S. cyber-warriors acquired access to the printers as they were being trans-shipped through Jordan. It was here that the first seeds of information warfare began.

"American intelligence agents substituted a U.S.-made chip inside the computer printers. The little chip gave allied forces an unfair advantage later in the skies of Iraq.

"The special chip did not contain any virus codes or destructive programs. All it could do was squeak.

"The special chip was designed to give off a high-frequency radio signal whenever the printer was in use. Each time the Iraqis used their new printers, the chip would squeak. The signal gave allied warplanes the exact position of the computer in the Iraqi air defense system.

"Each time the Iraqis would power up a new defense center, the telltale squeak would give away its position, and the allied aircraft would strike.

"The squeaky chip was a great idea but not entirely foolproof. One night U.S. war fighters detected a squeak from a previously unused Iraqi bunker in downtown Baghdad. The F-117s quickly struck the site with two laser-guided bombs."

Clinton and China Armed Iraq

[Bruce Forster]

By the way, I DON'T think our politicians are stupid; they are COMPLICIT!

[Dorris Ponstingl]

I run high on the score board of having a lot of I think the word is CONTEMPTEMT plus COMPLICIT.