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This story could easily be interpreted as anti-China propaganda. Could you think of any other sovereign power who would want a backdoor into servers used by bi

by Dowwie 8y ago

This story could easily be interpreted as anti-China propaganda. Could you think of any other sovereign power who would want a backdoor into servers used by billions of people across the internet? Hardware comes from China. This doesn't mean that the Chinese government orchestrated the attack. The United States government is having a trade war with China. This article's publication isn't just coincidence. Further, those with insight about how to use the backdoor definitely made use of them. This is one of the central issues with government-mandated backdoors. They are introduced for one group but used by others.

Spooky23 8y ago
It could be interpreted that way, but this sort of activity isnt novel or unknown. The Feds run key hardware through third parties to detect counterfeit hardware. The “new” thing is the targeting of devices headed for commercial customers.
teknologist 8y ago
Anti-China propaganda? These chips were designed by the Chinese military and inserted by PLA agents. Do you have to start calling things propaganda to make it seem like this is baseless criticism of China to those who have not read the article?
- ethbro 8y ago
  These chips were REPORTED TO BE designed by the Chinese military and inserted by PLA agents. Big difference, which is parent's point.
majewsky 8y ago
> Could you think of any other sovereign power who would want a backdoor into servers used by billions of people across the internet? I cannot think of any sovereign power that wouldn't.
Krasnol 8y ago
This comment could easily be interpreted as pro-China propaganda.
TazeTSchnitzel 8y ago
> Could you think of any other sovereign power who would want a backdoor into servers used by billions of people across the internet? The US's NSA would want and probably does have such a thing.
nithinm 8y ago
your comment looks like an pro-china propaganda. In china the state has heavy control on all the companies. The hardware is manufactured in china. I don't think something like this is happen without the state's knowledge.
- ethbro 8y ago
  It seems like many people take communist-like propaganda at face value. The Chinese government would like to have almost-complete control. The Chinese government publicly says it has high levels of control. But when they can't effectively regulate their medical (mass HIV infection from blood plasma needle reuse), food (tainted milk), or chemical (unlicensed mass CFC production) industries... reality seems to differ.
  - teknologist 8y ago
    So, suppose you're Supermicro. When some CPC official comes around to tell you to make your technology a little easier for the intelligence department to access, you're going to do it. Companies in China (especially those in the tech sector) have to keep close ties to the government, and most of their leaders are members are of the party. You don't GET to be a multi-billion dollar tech company* in China without toeing the party line [1] [2] [3] The issues around regulating food safety and vaccines that you mentioned are irrelevant. * Foreign companies must operate Chinese subsidiaries to run their operations in China. [1] https://www.wsj.com/articles/beijing-pushes-for-a-direct-hand-in-chinas-big-tech-firms-1507758314 https://www.wsj.com/articles/beijing-pushes-for-a-direct-han... [2] https://qz.com/1102948/chinas-communist-party-is-all-in-on-the-power-of-technology-and-thats-tricky-for-its-tech-giants https://qz.com/1102948/chinas-communist-party-is-all-in-on-t... [3] http://chinamediaproject.org/2018/05/02/tech-firms-tilt-toward-the-party http://chinamediaproject.org/2018/05/02/tech-firms-tilt-towa...
    - ethbro 8y ago
      I see your *, so I assume you do know SuperMicro is a US company? And that the breaches reportedly happened at local Chinese subcontractors? Everything you say seems to be valid for Chinese companies. Which SuperMicro... isn't. If they want to start auditing their incoming supply from China more closely, or even shift production elsewhere, there's nothing except cost stopping them from doing so. And the rub is that any competitor also using Chinese supply (for cost savings) is vulnerable to the same attack. SuperMicro was presumably targeted because of their size and global customers.
i_am_nomad 8y ago
The United States is having a trade war with China partially because of this kind of thing.

by Dowwie 8y ago

Spooky23 8y ago

It could be interpreted that way, but this sort of activity isnt novel or unknown. The Feds run key hardware through third parties to detect counterfeit hardware. The “new” thing is the targeting of devices headed for commercial customers.

teknologist 8y ago

Anti-China propaganda? These chips were designed by the Chinese military and inserted by PLA agents. Do you have to start calling things propaganda to make it seem like this is baseless criticism of China to those who have not read the article?

ethbro 8y ago
These chips were REPORTED TO BE designed by the Chinese military and inserted by PLA agents. Big difference, which is parent's point.

majewsky 8y ago

> Could you think of any other sovereign power who would want a backdoor into servers used by billions of people across the internet? I cannot think of any sovereign power that wouldn't.

Krasnol 8y ago

This comment could easily be interpreted as pro-China propaganda.

TazeTSchnitzel 8y ago

> Could you think of any other sovereign power who would want a backdoor into servers used by billions of people across the internet? The US's NSA would want and probably does have such a thing.

nithinm 8y ago

your comment looks like an pro-china propaganda. In china the state has heavy control on all the companies. The hardware is manufactured in china. I don't think something like this is happen without the state's knowledge.

ethbro 8y ago
It seems like many people take communist-like propaganda at face value. The Chinese government would like to have almost-complete control. The Chinese government publicly says it has high levels of control. But when they can't effectively regulate their medical (mass HIV infection from blood plasma needle reuse), food (tainted milk), or chemical (unlicensed mass CFC production) industries... reality seems to differ.
- teknologist 8y ago
  So, suppose you're Supermicro. When some CPC official comes around to tell you to make your technology a little easier for the intelligence department to access, you're going to do it. Companies in China (especially those in the tech sector) have to keep close ties to the government, and most of their leaders are members are of the party. You don't GET to be a multi-billion dollar tech company* in China without toeing the party line [1] [2] [3] The issues around regulating food safety and vaccines that you mentioned are irrelevant. * Foreign companies must operate Chinese subsidiaries to run their operations in China. [1] https://www.wsj.com/articles/beijing-pushes-for-a-direct-hand-in-chinas-big-tech-firms-1507758314 https://www.wsj.com/articles/beijing-pushes-for-a-direct-han... [2] https://qz.com/1102948/chinas-communist-party-is-all-in-on-the-power-of-technology-and-thats-tricky-for-its-tech-giants https://qz.com/1102948/chinas-communist-party-is-all-in-on-t... [3] http://chinamediaproject.org/2018/05/02/tech-firms-tilt-toward-the-party http://chinamediaproject.org/2018/05/02/tech-firms-tilt-towa...
  - ethbro 8y ago
    I see your *, so I assume you do know SuperMicro is a US company? And that the breaches reportedly happened at local Chinese subcontractors? Everything you say seems to be valid for Chinese companies. Which SuperMicro... isn't. If they want to start auditing their incoming supply from China more closely, or even shift production elsewhere, there's nothing except cost stopping them from doing so. And the rub is that any competitor also using Chinese supply (for cost savings) is vulnerable to the same attack. SuperMicro was presumably targeted because of their size and global customers.

i_am_nomad 8y ago

The United States is having a trade war with China partially because of this kind of thing.