National Security

China Tech Threat Headlines International Event On Global Security Challenges

Posted on by China Tech Threat
Last month, China Tech Threat’s Co-Founder John Strand spoke about the future security challenges at the Parliamentary Intelligence-Security Forum (PI-SF) at the Latin American Parliament, or Parlatino, in Panama. The gathering brought together leading US Senators like Bill Cassidy and Marco Rubio; the President of Panama Laurentino Cortizo, members of the European Parliament, and international policymakers working in cybersecurity, anti-money laundering, and cryptocurrency  PI-SF is the brainchild of Robert Pittenger, a former Congressman who led efforts to strengthen US policy toward China, notably with the FIRRMA and ECRA bills updating the Committee on Foreign Investment and export controls (ECRA). Pittenger co-authored a paper on reforms at CFIUS with China Tech Threat co-founder Roslyn Layton. Strand’s message was simple: policymakers must… Read More

US and Allies Accuse China of Major Cyberattacks

Posted on by China Tech Threat
Yesterday, the U.S., NATO and other allies are came together to call out China for malicious cyberattacks, including a March attack that exploited a flaw in Microsoft’s Exchange Server. It’s the first time that NATO has signed onto a formal condemnation of China’s cyber activities. They authorities are detailing more than 50 different techniques that Chinese state-sponsored actors used, and offering up recommended mitigations that businesses and organizations can take. The U.S. says that China’s Ministry of State Security is using contract hackers to conduct the attacks, many of which are being done for profit, including via ransomware. As part of Monday’s announcement, the Justice Department unveiled criminal charges against four Ministry of State Security hackers for a “multiyear campaign… Read More

The Hill and White House Get Tighter on the CPP’s Abuses

Posted on by China Tech Threat
Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX) and Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-TN) on Monday urged Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo to add Chinese chipmaker Yangtze Memory Technologies Company (YMTC) to the department’s Entity List, citing ties to the Chinese military. The lawmakers wrote in the letter that urgency is needed to make sure memory chip supply does not become a “point of leverage” for China over the U.S. China’s “irrational state subsidies and non-financial support” to firms such as YMTC pose a threat to U.S. and its allies because memory chips have applications in defense, aerospace, artificial intelligence, they note. Both men sit on committees that have jurisdiction over export controls; McCaul is the ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and Hagerty is the… Read More

Bank of American spends over $1 billion on Cybersecurity

Posted on by China Tech Threat
In an interview earlier this month, Brian Moynihan, CEO at Bank of America, discussed the doubling of cybersecurity spending by the bank since he began as CEO. He noted that, “I became CEO 11 and a half years ago, and we probably spent three to $400 million [per year] and we’re up over a billion now.” A recent barrage of cyber-attacks across a variety of key industries in the U.S. has placed a new sense of urgency on protecting against cybercrime. Back in May, Cathy Bessant, Chief Operations and Technology Officer at Bank of America, gave a stark warning about cyberattacks on U.S. financial institutions saying, “There’s no question that the rate and pace of attacks, and the nature of… Read More

White House Report Part 2 of 2: Short-Term Profits Undermine Long-Term Resilience

Posted on by China Tech Threat
A White House report last week offers a solemn assessment of American companies prioritizing profits over national security and long-term sustainability. “A focus on maximizing short-term capital returns has led to the private sector’s underinvestment in long-term resilience,” the 250-page report states. The United States has a competitive advantage over China in the production of semiconductor manufacturing equipment (SME), which provides a chokepoint that can limit “advanced semiconductor capabilities in countries of concern.” Yet, despite tighter export controls in recent years, sales to Chinese companies have been a major driver of American SME makers’ profits. Approximately 90 percent of Applied Materials’ and Lam Research’s revenues came from non-U.S. sales last year, the White House report notes. The percentage of Lam… Read More

Let the Chips Fall at BIS? Highlights Challenges, Opportunities for Biden Nominee

Posted on by China Tech Threat
President Biden’s nominee to lead the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) will need to advance offensive and defensive measures to curtail China’s ambitions to dominate modern technology markets. That was among the participants’ recommendations during today’s virtual roundtable, “Let the Chips Fall at BIS?” The event, hosted by Dr. Roslyn Layton, featured Emily de La Bruyère, Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies; Stephen Ezell, Vice President of Global Innovation Policy at the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation; and Will Hunt, Research Analysist at the Center for Security and Emerging Technology. The event coincided with the release of the White House’s 100-day supply chain review report. Among the findings, the report highlights the… Read More

“China Has Figured Out How to Weaponize America’s Advantages”

Posted on by China Tech Threat
Just Announced: FDD’s Emily de La Bruyère to Join Tomorrow’s Webinar. The outcome of the U.S. and China vying for control over modern technology markets will be decided within months or years, not decades, say Emily de La Bruyère and Nathan Picarsic, senior fellows with the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD). ***Two weeks ago, Mr. Picarsic and Ms. de La Bruyère co-published a study, “Defusing Military-Civil Fusion: The Need to Identify and Respond to Chinese Military Companies.” Now Ms. de La Bruyère will join Dr. Roslyn Layton, Stephen Ezell and Will Hunt for tomorrow’s online panel discussion, “Let the Chips Fall at BIS?” Register for the event here. While there is growing consensus about the need to counter China’s… Read More

Senators Introduce Legislation to Address the China Tech Threat

Posted on by China Tech Threat
Yesterday, Senators Rubio and Markey introduced the Secure Equipment Act of 2021. According to the press release, the bill is “to direct the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to clarify that it will no longer review, or approve, applications from companies on the Commission’s “Covered List.” It would also halt any further sales or implementation of technology from Huawei, ZTE, Hytera, Hikvision, and Dahua – all Chinese Communist Party (CCP) state-backed or directed firms – in the U.S. regardless of whether federal funds are involved. Here at China Tech Threat, we applaud this bipartisan effort to secure our national security and help protect the privacy, security and prosperity of all Americans. While this bill takes important steps, it is by no… Read More

SOS International Report Details Chinese State-Owned YMTC’s Military Ties

Posted on by China Tech Threat
Last December, James Mulvenon of SOS International released a report that explored Chinese state-owned memory chip maker Yangtze Memory Technologies Company’s (YMTC) ties to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and People’s Liberation Army (PLA). The report identified alarming uses of state subsidies to support espionage and anticompetitive practices against competitors. The December report came weeks after Dr. Roslyn Layton cautioned in Forbes that, given ties to the PLA, YMTC and other Chinese state-owned chip makers “must be added to the Entity List [or at least designated as a Military End User] to ensure critical US technology is not weaponized against Americans.” In February, Dr. Mulvenon, who is rumored to be a front-runner to lead the U.S. Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and… Read More

Cyber-attacks on the Rise Warns Bank of America Chief Technology Officer

Posted on by China Tech Threat
This week, Cathy Bessant, Chief Operations and Technology Officer at Bank of America gave a stark warning about cyberattacks on U.S. financial institutions saying, “there’s no question that the rate and pace of attacks, and the nature of attacks, has grown dramatically.” “Criminals are by definition very crafty, very entrepreneurial – and times of stress produce opportunities,” Bessant told journalists during a virtual briefing Monday. The company’s centralized global information-security unit has boosted spending in recent years to about US$1bil. Further, about 64% of finance executives expect cybersecurity budgets to keep rising, a separate Deloitte survey showed. Earlier this year, China Tech Threat published a report showing that cyber-attacks against financial organizations are growing in frequency and severity and U.S.… Read More