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Feds Ask IT Execs To Throw Away Cellphones After Visiting China

Posted by Soulskill on from the guilty-of-aberrant-longitude dept.

sholto writes "US intelligence agencies are advising top US IT executives to weigh their laptops before and after visiting China as one of many precautions against corporate espionage. Symantec Chief Technology Officer Mark Bregman said he was also advised to buy a new cellphone for each visit and to throw it away after leaving. Bregman said he kept a separate MacBook Air for use in China, which he re-images on returning, but claimed he didn't subscribe to the strictest policies. 'Bregman said the US was also concerned about its companies employing Chinese coders, particularly in security.'"

2 of 382 comments (clear)

  1. OTOH, DHS Might eliminate the issue as well.... by atlmatt36 · · Score: 5, Informative

    For all the barking of the agencies, it's obvious they haven't encountered the treatment I and my colleagues have encountered re-entering the US from abroad only to have laptops have the data examined, and that data be copied for "further analysis" or even the laptop confiscated for an undetermined amount of time. It's just a matter of time before other countries make the same advertisment about travel to the US.... What's the old saying (Kettle calling the Pot black).

  2. Re:huh by Darth+Cider · · Score: 5, Informative

    No, the Soviets did that. Here's an old George Will column relating the tale. The subject of the column is Soviet industrial espionage.