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USA Busted Trying to Bug China's Presidential 767

Posted by chrisd on from the what-part-of-covert-didn't-you-get dept.

morcheeba writes "A new Boeing 767-300ER was refitted to become China's presidental aircraft. What goes into a plane like this? Besides the bedroom, sitting room, bath with a shower, there was a 48" TV, satellite communications, anti-missile defense systems and advanced avionics. And oh yeah, numerous high-tech listening devices. Wonder how those got in. Read the article at washingtonpost.com." CD: The question is, what was the bug in the headboard for?

7 of 510 comments (clear)

  1. My favorite quote by anonymous+loser · · Score: 5, Funny
    A CIA spokesman, Bill Harlow, declined to comment on the report, saying, "We never comment on allegations like these, as a matter of policy."
    ...except when we didn't do it.
  2. Reversed situation by MiTEG · · Score: 5, Funny

    Since so many things are manufactured in China and exported to the USA, who's to say that the Chinese haven't been doing this for years? I think it would be very easy to covertly place bugs in things the president has in the Oval Office or Air Force One (electronics, etc.) They just might be doing it a lot more effectively.

    --
    The future isn't what it used to be.
    1. Re:Reversed situation by flacco · · Score: 5, Funny
      Since so many things are manufactured in China and exported to the USA, who's to say that the Chinese haven't been doing this for years?

      It's probably more effective to bug Xiang's 767 than it is to bug several million flip-flops.

      --
      pr0n - keeping monitor glass spotless since 1981.
  3. USA's response by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    It's not a bug, it's an undocumented feature.

  4. A matter of trust by ergo98 · · Score: 5, Funny

    You know I've often wondered how countries can trust US equipment sold to them (or Russian equipment, etc): Who says that the day Saudi Arabia pisses the US off all of their F15s might respond to the "die now" signal and plummet to the ground? If I were ever to buy hardware from a country other than my own I'd go through every single mm of it with a fine tooth comb, and then I'd reflash every piece of circuitry, etc: There is no way I'd ever trust what was delivered. Sorta defeats the premise of military trade, but perhaps that's a good thing.

    If this story is true then this will be a disaster for US military and commercial companies: Already there is a world wary of Echelon, but if now they have to worry about every other device being trojan horsed. Having said that, the next time you drink from that "made in China" cup, think to yourself "Would it be in their national interest to put a chemical that slowly leaches into Westerner's systems, causing cancer or just stupifying the society (i.e. lead)."

    1. Re:A matter of trust by ArcticChicken · · Score: 4, Funny

      I've often said that if China ever planned to conquer the world, they wouldn't use something as expensive, messy, and overt as nuclear weapons. They'd simply release masses of cheap, defective electrical products.

      Umm ... wait a minute...

  5. You're kidding, right? by MadCow42 · · Score: 5, Funny

    CIA agent to Boeing exec, after arriving at Boeing facility at midnight: "Hi, we're taking over your facility for the next 8 hours for a matter of national security. Go home. If you tell anyone about this, you'll be put in jail for the rest of your life."

    Boeing exec: "Uh.... ok.... uh...."

    Probably not too much more complicated than that.

    q:]

    MadCow.

    --
    I used to have a sig, but I set it free and it never came back.