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China Telco Replaces Cisco Devices Over Security Concerns

hackingbear writes "China Unicom, the country's second largest telecom operator, has replaced Cisco Systems routers in one of the country's most important backbone networks, citing security reasons [due to bugs and vulnerability.) The move came after a congressional report branded Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. and ZTE Corp. security threats in the United States, citing bugs and vulnerability (rather than actual evidence of spying.) Surprising to us, up to now, Cisco occupies a large market share in China. It accounts for over a 70 percent share of China Telecom's 163 backbone network and over an 80 percent share of China Unicom's 169 backbone network. Let's wait to see who's the winner in this trade war disguised as national security."

180 comments

  1. Seems smart to me by PlusFiveTroll · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Why should the Chinese trust American equipment and vice versa. It's not like these are objects that get sent to another country never to be see again, they get put on networks, many available publicly.

    1. Re:Seems smart to me by war4peace · · Score: 1

      They certainly don't trust each other because the world is fucked up. And there's a fine line between "Security concerns" and plain old fashioned paranoia.

      --
      ...gis sdrawkcab (usually not responding to ACs; don't bother posting as AC)
    2. Re:Seems smart to me by Cramer · · Score: 1

      Maybe because they're the ones *actually* building them??? A good bit of Cisco's hardware is built in China. (amung other places.)

    3. Re:Seems smart to me by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The Chinese consumer will lose, getting an inferior product.

    4. Re:Seems smart to me by Jmc23 · · Score: 1

      Except this has nothing to do with trust and security and everything to do with money.

      --
      Don't complain about syntax, grammar, or spelling. There is no.hell like input on android.
    5. Re:Seems smart to me by JustOK · · Score: 3, Funny

      How come you don't talk about the new and improved paranoia?

      --
      rewriting history since 2109
    6. Re:Seems smart to me by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      the parts that matter are the ASICs, NV and DRAM, etc. I wish i knew more about each internal piece.

    7. Re:Seems smart to me by Austerity+Empowers · · Score: 1

      Why should the Chinese trust Chinese equipment, it's all copies of western stuff anyway!

    8. Re:Seems smart to me by Alien+Being · · Score: 1

      rule #1

    9. Re:Seems smart to me by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      what's rule #1?

    10. Re:Seems smart to me by TheLink · · Score: 2

      They shouldn't. The USA actually has a track record of putting backdoors into stuff. e.g. Lotus Notes. http://www.heise.de/tp/artikel/2/2898/1.html

      By the way if you use Windows, as long as Microsoft signs something, your computer will trust it. And if you also use IE, you can delete all the CAs in your browser except the microsoft one, once you go to an https website, the required CA certs will be readded automagically as long as they have been signed by the Microsoft one (try it yourself on a test machine - but if you accidentally delete all CAs you're going to have problems doing updates). To disable an untrusted CA you have to keep the cert in and unmark all the checkboxes. But what if you don't know the untrusted CA in advance?

      --
    11. Re:Seems smart to me by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Nobody knows. Everybody that tried to leak rule #1 died under mysterious circumstances.

    12. Re:Seems smart to me by GrpA · · Score: 1

      Why should the US trust US-designed equipment?. It's all manufactured in China anyway.

      GrpA

      --
      Enjoy science fiction? "Turing Evolved" - AI, Mecha, Androids and rail-gun battles. What more could you want?
    13. Re:Seems smart to me by TheGratefulNet · · Score: 1

      as long as it doesn't have rounded corners, its fine.

      --

      --
      "It is now safe to switch off your computer."
    14. Re:Seems smart to me by Taco+Cowboy · · Score: 2

      I know. But I ain't gonna leak it.

      I still want to live.

      --
      Muchas Gracias, Señor Edward Snowden !
    15. Re:Seems smart to me by TheRaven64 · · Score: 1

      Cisco has had a lot of known vulnerabilities over the last few years, so I'd be wary of installing them too. The Chinese intelligence agencies almost certainly examine them for additional ones, and I wouldn't be at all surprised if this is the result of Cisco not fixing a load of holes that the Chinese found (and maybe didn't report), rather than any issue about trusting a US company.

      --
      I am TheRaven on Soylent News
    16. Re:Seems smart to me by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Have you used Cisco? I don't think it can get any worse. Why the God they are still in business floors me.

    17. Re:Seems smart to me by unixisc · · Score: 1

      Looks like China can buy from Huawei what they stop buying from Cisco, while in the rest of the world that has barred Huawei from selling there, Cisco can sell there to compensate for lost sales to China

    18. Re:Seems smart to me by Thundercleets · · Score: 1

      Silly China Telecom, Cisco net boxen are made in the good ole PRC. Maybe China Telecom doesn't trust Cisco PRC boxen with back doors built in for free so why should anyone else.

  2. In other news 2 years later... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Chinas telecom backbone woes bring communications to grinding halt in east asia sparking massive civil war as the world plunges into a second great depression.

    1. Re:In other news 2 years later... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Pretty sure that the Chinese know how to make just as good a router as Americans. Heck, Americans taught them in the beginning and they are fully capable of advancing the state-of-the-art by themselves now.

      BTW, are *any* routers actually manufactured in America, using only chips manufactured in America?

    2. Re:In other news 2 years later... by rubycodez · · Score: 1

      no, the really high end high traffic routers run proprietary algorithms. iptables won't scale to continental size, sorry.

    3. Re:In other news 2 years later... by hawguy · · Score: 2

      Pretty sure that the Chinese know how to make just as good a router as Americans. Heck, they've copied from Americans in the beginning and they are fully capable of advancing the state-of-the-art by themselves now.

      FTFY

    4. Re:In other news 2 years later... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's why the US has so many high tech workers from China and elsewhere. The US companies hire smart people instead of US "home schooled" idiots, they design high reliability products which the US companies outsource to China (Korea, Japan, etc.) to manufacture. You didn't FTFY - You missed the reality of how many foreigners do the design work here for US companies. But it doesn't matter anyway. US corporations are making sure the US middle class nose dives and they don't give a shit about US workers.

    5. Re:In other news 2 years later... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      You didn't FTFY. American companies willingly taught the Chinese how to build high-tech. They shipped thousands of manufacturing jobs to Asia so that they could save a buck or two. The Chinese did more than just copy; they learned.

      I'm not saying there wasn't *any* corporate espionage (on both sides, BTW). But the effects on the American economy of spying pales in comparison to the effects wrought by the gutting of America's manufacturing abilities.

    6. Re:In other news 2 years later... by theexaptation · · Score: 1

      You didn't FTFY. American companies willingly taught the Chinese how to build high-tech. They shipped thousands of manufacturing jobs to Asia so that they could save a buck or two. The Chinese did more than just copy; they learned.

      I'm not saying there wasn't *any* corporate espionage (on both sides, BTW). But the effects on the American economy of spying pales in comparison to the effects wrought by the gutting of America's manufacturing abilities.

      Wish I had mod points, AC.

    7. Re:In other news 2 years later... by morcego · · Score: 4, Interesting

      It is interesting how easily people forget.

      Back in the 1950s and 1960s, Japan was the one copying, making knockouts and whatnot. But what happened is exactly what you described: they learned. And that is exactly what is happening to China right now.

      --
      morcego
    8. Re:In other news 2 years later... by morcego · · Score: 1

      And I have a problem with your stupidity, if you really think I was making a race related comment, instead of a historical one totally unrelated to race, relating only to technological copying, learning and innovation.

      --
      morcego
    9. Re:In other news 2 years later... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You're missing the point. The Japanese copied. The US didn't move tons of their manufacturing to Japan.

      In contrast very many US companies did intentionally move their manufacturing to China.

    10. Re:In other news 2 years later... by m00sh · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Back in the 1950s and 1960s, Japan was the one copying, making knockouts and whatnot. But what happened is exactly what you described: they learned. And that is exactly what is happening to China right now.

      Just because China and Japan share some similarities does not mean they will keep increasing their similarity. The world is at a different stage now than when Japan was starting out. Power was manufacturing then but now it's information and knowledge. It was about making stuff back then but now it's about creating stuff. The modern environment may not take China where Japan went.

      On one side, when China is sufficiently ahead technologically, China may decide not to be the factory of the world and dedicate millions of people and billions of yuan to research into curing cancer, solving clean energy problems and so on and generally making the lives better instead chasing consumerism. The Chinese authorities have to make things better for the population every year for everyone to be quiet and maybe everyone will have quality of life above the west European countries eventually because of this.

      Or they may the big Japan producing gizmos for the world, slowly producing mega-corporations.

      Or they may crash and burn.

      There is a lot of murmur that capitalism has served well in the manufacturing phase of our human history but might not be best suited for post-manufacturing economies. Sitting around waiting for someone somewhere to make some breakthrough and creating industries out of it might not be the best way forward. Maybe national and global push towards solving the world's problems might be the way instead of hoping the invisible hand fixes it. Maybe a system like China where large central decisions are made and pseudo-capitalism creates efficiencies in those central pushes is the best way forward, or maybe the old communist ugliness will rear it's ugly head and create massive inefficiencies. I guess we have to wait and see where the world is headed and in that frame where China will be.

    11. Re:In other news 2 years later... by BurstElement · · Score: 1

      Being a little sensitive aren't we? I suppose you think the Chinese belong in a maruta factory or something?!

      Clearly he was referring to the fact that only a few decades ago it was Japan, not China that was known for its cheap low quality electronics... in time China will advance and some other so called "third world" nation will take their place as the low cost / quality source.

    12. Re:In other news 2 years later... by morcego · · Score: 1

      Don't waste your time replying to him, he is nothing but a stupid troll.

      And yes, that is exactly what I meant. Not only that, but I believe in a few decades (if not sooner) China will be known as the creative and technological country, where the good products come from.

      As I said, Japanese products were considered crappy knockoffs, with extremely low quality. Then, after a couple decades, they were the producers of great products and technologies. "Made in Japan" started meaning high quality. Even today, there are already some very good products coming from China, created and developed there.

      --
      morcego
    13. Re:In other news 2 years later... by morcego · · Score: 1

      You make a very compelling argument. Thank you. It is nice seeing intelligent posts here. All to rare, unfortunately.

      --
      morcego
    14. Re:In other news 2 years later... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I bet you say a dislike to Obama or Hugo Chavez is racism also. This is NOT CNN or MSNBC or Huff Post. Get real sucker. That was a legitimate comparison jerk off

    15. Re:In other news 2 years later... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I would actually accuse you of being racist there. Parent posts made no corralation of race to what the countries did or may do, they simply pointed out that one country has been through a similer experiance and that they expect a similer response. Nor did they introduce ethnic slurs like you have.

      That said, I question if it is the same. Times change, and the pressures on China are different to those on Japan.

    16. Re:In other news 2 years later... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I doubt that, as the price of living there goes up technology will shift to africa for cheap production and the republic of Congo will be the center of technology

    17. Re:In other news 2 years later... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Interestingly, Japan didn't continue on the trajectory toward world domination, and it turned out reasonably well for both them and the US. We'll see how China plays out. I'm sure there are a lot of other countries that would like to get a chance to follow suit.

    18. Re:In other news 2 years later... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      My son is half Chinese.

      Racism? I have been living in East Asia. The culture of the middle class and higher is much more focused on education, getting in to the right school, work for the right companies, and so on. This is simmilar in China, Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea, and Japan.

      The cultures of those countries has a lot in common. It is not racist to say so. The Japanese and the Chinese DNA are more or less the same: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mongoloid_race#Genetic_research

    19. Re:In other news 2 years later... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Not quite. They (Japan) were willing to listen whereas USA was not and still isn't. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._Edwards_Deming

    20. Re:In other news 2 years later... by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

      Just like every other country copies every other country. Look at any modern car and it will contain ideas invented by other companies and licensed, parts made by other companies and so forth.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    21. Re:In other news 2 years later... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      For comparison china has nukes, Japan is not allowed them

    22. Re:In other news 2 years later... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yeah let's manufacture everything in America and pay 5 times the price for it. With unions demanding everyone make $40 an hour, that's what you'd have.

    23. Re:In other news 2 years later... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      There is a difference between a nation of 100 million and 1.3 billion you fuckwit

    24. Re:In other news 2 years later... by Clsid · · Score: 1

      Agreed, a very intelligent post right there. I think China will slowly rise because they were destined to be a world power. They were a very powerful country when Japan and Korea were still backward civilizations. Only thru their defeat in the 1860s and what they call the century of humiliation is what I believe kept China down. Now that their political system is stable again and managed to unify the country, they will only keep rising. Some of those cloners making electronics are becoming wiser and creating their own brands too.

      So as you said, we'll have to wait and see.

    25. Re:In other news 2 years later... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      One of the key things a lot of people miss however is that China has as much population as a quarter of the rest of the world. Combine this with the natural resources available in China, the chinese business presence in Africa and abroad, and their rapid push towards 'total commercialization' and within a few decades their economy will be worth more than any other part of the world. Combined with economic control over vast tracts of mineral wealth in two seperate continents they will be more than capable of economically self-sustaining, and thus be able to depress the global economy around them, as well as insulate themselves from damages caused by external economic depression.

      Long term I see them calling the shots in a manner that was only a wet dream for American, British, and other European economic interests from the colonial era through to today.

    26. Re:In other news 2 years later... by Eunuchswear · · Score: 1

      The Japanese and the Chinese DNA are more or less the same: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mongoloid_race#Genetic_research

      Of course it's more or less the same. Everybodies DNA is more or less the same.

      --
      Watch this Heartland Institute video
  3. national insecurity by girlintraining · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It's not a trade war disguised as national security, it's national security disguised as a trade war. There's been no evidence presented of any backdoors. I'm quite certain that by now, many intelligence organizations have taken the chips apart and scanned them down and if they'd found anything there would have been a reaction. But there hasn't been -- it's just been hints, allegations, and rumor. It's disinformation, because there's no truth to go on, just more communist red-baiting. Not to say China doesn't have the resources, and doesn't have a long and inglorious history of electronic espionage... but so does France and nobody says a peep about them.

    The United States isn't worried about China because it poses a military threat, or a "cyber" threat, or a terrorist threat... they're scared shitless because this country has clubbed and beaten its rivals over the head with economic policies and rules. China has us by the balls on rare earth metals, and most of our consumer electronics are made in Asia. If they decide to play economic hardball, we're going to lose. For a country that's grown complacent being able to pick up a phone and make every other country on the planet bend over and drop their pants to please the all-mighty american dollar... we're fucking terrified that there's a couple billion people about to industrialize and their economy is a jaugernaut. It won't be long before our military is the only thing remarkable about our country -- and it won't be sustainable without a solid economy to back it.

    In 20 years, we're going to be facing the same situation the Soviet Union did: They died because they tried to maintain their military at the expense of their economy. This is a game we're going to lose, badly. That's why every trade sanction, disinformation campaign, and high profile story about places like FoxConn are desperately sought after by our military and economic leaders... if China manages to develop its economy much more, we're screwed.

    --
    #fuckbeta #iamslashdot #dicemustdie
    1. Re:national insecurity by dbIII · · Score: 1, Insightful

      You were "screwed" in 2008 or probably even before. Now it's all about waking up and noticing that everything changed while Bush was asleep.

    2. Re:national insecurity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Everyone I know who does business in France says you can't trust the French government at all. They will take every opportunity to steal secrets to give to french companies. Its quite a well known thing. Just that its all old news so it doesn't make headlines.

    3. Re:national insecurity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ...if China manages to develop its economy...

      No, your just screwed.

      One day some nation will say that it will not support an incursive foreign policy by the US and that will be the end to it. Happen to England after Suez and the US is on the same end of empire curve.

    4. Re:national insecurity by rubycodez · · Score: 1

      nonsense, the problems we had in 2008 were decades in the making.

    5. Re:national insecurity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Google Lynas

    6. Re:national insecurity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Posting as AC, because this is one of my areas of research. And it is impossible to "tear down the chips" like you think it is. If you only alter the chips in 1 out of 400 routers... thats enough to provide a lot of access in and of itself. And this would be statistically very hard to find. (even if you dissolve the upper layers of the IC and then progressively examine the ICs)

      Plus this isn't an issue of just the hardware alone, it has to do with the intractability of hardware AND software combinations. Perhaps the "backdoor"s only "activate" when they receive a certainly formatted UDP packet, etc...

      It isn't easy to find things like this in IC circuits... despite how easy you would think it is...

      This PROBABLY isn't as big an issue as the politicians are hyping it up (on both sides of the isle) BUT... just like how the US has ITAR (International Trafficking of Arms Regulations) about both weapons and "things that can help a foreign military... and POTENTIAL backdoor into a major USA ISP... is s potential security (and national security{in terms of infrastructure}) issue...

    7. Re:national insecurity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Tear down the chips? Yeah, you have been watching too many movies.

      China has the monopoly on rare earth? Yeah right, they undercut everyone so nobody else bothered with it. As China increases prices everyone else will start digging/processing in their back yards. The US has more rare earth deposits than China, they have just been left untouched for environmental or because China is so much cheaper. That could change overnight.

    8. Re:national insecurity by artor3 · · Score: 5, Interesting

      A few things...

      I'm quite certain that by now, many intelligence organizations have taken the chips apart and scanned them down [for backdoors] and if they'd found anything there would have been a reaction.

      You are grossly underestimating the complexity of modern microchips. What you're describing simply isn't feasible for any chip of even modest complexity. To hunt for backdoors, you would really need to look at the HDL files, and even then, it wouldn't be hard to hide something malicious in one of the hundreds of test modes.

      China has us by the balls on rare earth metals, and most of our consumer electronics are made in Asia. If they decide to play economic hardball, we're going to lose.

      You're also overestimating China's position. There are plenty of rare earth metals outside of China. It's actually to China's detriment that they're the chief supplier right now. As the supply of easily accessible minerals goes down, the value will go up -- the countries that wait the longest before ramping production will benefit the most. As for consumer electronics, what are they going to do? Stop making iPhones? If anything, that could be a short term boon to our economy, as we would suddenly have a motive to build a bunch of new factories and hire a bunch of workers. The increased cost of electronics would bug people for a while, but eventually they'd get used to it, and maybe even stop throwing away perfectly good phones every couple years. Meanwhile, what happens to China's economy when they cut out their largest trade partner?

      Now, I agree that we spend waaay too much on our military, and but your attitude is way too negative. I get that there's a lot of anti-American propaganda on the internet, and it's easy to be taken in by it, but it's mostly baseless. China will develop for a while longer, their people will demand a fair wage, their quality of life will increase, and things will even back out. The Chinese people aren't a bunch of worker ants, emotionlessly toiling away for the good of the hive. The media likes to present them that way, just as they used to do with Japan, because it's scary, and scared people consume more news.

      People often predict end times in their life time. I suspect it's because life can be dull and a part of them wants to live in "interesting times". The truth is much more banal. England's a perfect example of a "fallen" superpower, and they seem to be doing quite alright.

    9. Re:national insecurity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You need to rethink this. The threat is real.

    10. Re:national insecurity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      How will the US military compare once China starts spending some money on defence?

      Look at the numbers here: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ch.html

      Males "fit for service" (318,265,016) is greater then size of the the US population (314,648,000)

    11. Re:national insecurity by artor3 · · Score: 0

      Which would matter if wars were still fought with muskets. Fortunately, they're not.

      Besides, the American and Chinese economies are way too interdependent for the two to ever go to war, at least for the foreseeable future.

    12. Re:national insecurity by DNS-and-BIND · · Score: 1

      LOL. If China plays economic hardball, hundreds of millions lose their jobs overnight and then it's revolution time. If China gets uppity, close off the Strait of Malacca and no more petroleum for them. The problem is that you are fundamentally looking at it from the American point of view, while doomsaying.

      Putting backdoors into critical electronic infrastructure is a no-brainer as far as it goes. China would be neglectful if it didn't do that. Now, to get the right idea about Huawei: imagine if the U.S. government were major investors in Cisco and had placed an ex-NSA spook as the chairman of the board...and in fact, had kept its board of directors secret until last year.

      --
      Shutting down free speech with violence isn't fighting fascism. It IS fascism!
    13. Re:national insecurity by girlintraining · · Score: 0

      You are grossly underestimating the complexity of modern microchips. What you're describing simply isn't feasible for any chip of even modest complexity. To hunt for backdoors, you would really need to look at the HDL files, and even then, it wouldn't be hard to hide something malicious in one of the hundreds of test modes.

      No, I think you are grossly underestimating the resources of the global intelligence community.

      You're also overestimating China's position. There are plenty of rare earth metals outside of China. It's actually to China's detriment that they're the chief supplier right now.

      Really? Walk over to any electronics item in your house and flip it over. Made in ______ [fill in the blank]. And please explain to me how being the chief supplier of a thing is a problem for said supplier... because OPEC is the chief supplier of oil and nobody considers them disadvantaged.

      Now, I agree that we spend waaay too much on our military, and but your attitude is way too negative. I get that there's a lot of anti-American propaganda on the internet, and it's easy to be taken in by it, but it's mostly baseless.

      Why do people hate us Americans? New survey reveals it's because we're bombing them! Apparently, 100% of the respondents stated they didn't like getting blown up.

      The Chinese people aren't a bunch of worker ants, emotionlessly toiling away for the good of the hive. The media likes to present them that way, just as they used to do with Japan, because it's scary, and scared people consume more news.

      I have an ex-pat friend who lives in China, and in fact works for China Telecom. They're not emotionless, but they are worker ants. Look up how many people have died during the construction of, er... any major public works project. Ever. Even the Great Wall of China has bodies buried in it. No, really... sometimes people fell in, and they just poured clay in over them and kept going.

      The truth is much more banal. England's a perfect example of a "fallen" superpower, and they seem to be doing quite alright.

      Yeah. They were only barely able to sack an island in south america a few years ago. That's the only recent military victory they can speak to... and two of the ships in that convoy were commercial freighters. Britain's navy was once to be feared, and their empire literally spanned the globe. While they are "doing alright" in terms of quality of life for its citizens and it has a stable and developed government... they're a mere shadow of what they once were. So "doing quite alright" is a subjective view of things.

      --
      #fuckbeta #iamslashdot #dicemustdie
    14. Re:national insecurity by clesters · · Score: 1

      Trade war, or war within the bureaucracy of the US Govt itself? Remember that Cybersecurity Executive Order? Wonder who will be put in charge?

      Reminds me of a little story about a power outage, maybe.

      We can't tell you what we know, but trust us to be in charge...

    15. Re:national insecurity by aNonnyMouseCowered · · Score: 2

      The US because of its electoral Olympics is in better shape to deal with any social disorder. It's entertainment good enough to divert the peoples attention from the system's real problems. No need for the large-scale supression of protests.

      Even if it has the trade surplus, China cannot politically afford an Iraq or even Afghanistan-scale war at the moment without triggering social unrest that dwarfs the Cultural Revolution. The gap between richest and poorest there is larger than it's ever been in the US or Russia. The US can stagnate for a decade before the lower/middle-classes literally rise up in arms, while China has to maintain its "tiger" growth rate just to keep its mass of workers from having other ideas besides dutifully assembling toys and iPhones.

      The only China crisis I see would come from the collapse of the present system and the rise of a new Mao.

    16. Re:national insecurity by Fishchip · · Score: 1

      China doing this shouldn't come as a stunning surprise either.

    17. Re:national insecurity by artor3 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      1. You're just going to have to trust me on this: it is not possible to find backdoors in microchips by "tearing them down". The CIA or NSA or whoever wouldn't even both to try. Instead, they would bribe some Chinese worker to tell them, or they would drop a flash drive with a virus in the parking lot and gain access to the company's emails, or something like that.

      2. If we couldn't get electronics from China, we'd get them from Korea or Japan or Taiwan or Thailand or wherever. Or make them here, thanks to advances in automation. The reduction in supply would raise prices for a while, but we could adjust. Your OPEC analogy doesn't work because oil is a resource that is specific to certain areas. Labor is not.

      3. Absolutely agree on why people hate the US, and I agree that our foreign policy shouldn't involve playing world cop (especially since we seem to be a dirty cop). But the fact that people's reasons for anger towards the US are valid does not mean that their predictions of America's fall will come true.

      4. "The Chinese are worker ants." Now come on, that's just offensive. They're humans, just like everywhere else. People died building the Great Wall, they also died building the transcontinental railroad in the US. The US developed to the point that people weren't willing to put up with that anymore, and China will too.

      5. "Britain's navy was once to be feared, ... [now] they're a mere shadow of what they once were". Wait, weren't you complaining about America's imperialism a couple paragraphs ago? What Britain "once was", was a tyrannical empire that killed countless people and destroyed nations all over the world to enrich themselves. Now they're a much calmer nation that provides good quality of life for their people, and doesn't go around hurting others. Why, exactly, would it be bad for America to follow in their footsteps?

    18. Re:national insecurity by m.ducharme · · Score: 3, Funny

      Why do people hate us Americans? New survey reveals it's because we're bombing them! Apparently, 100% of the respondents stated they didn't like getting blown up.

      That's a great .sig, right there.

      --
      Rule of Slashdot #0: You and people like you are not representative of the larger population. - A.C.
    19. Re:national insecurity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Really? Walk over to any electronics item in your house and flip it over. Made in ______ [fill in the blank]. And please explain to me how being the chief supplier of a thing is a problem for said supplier... because OPEC is the chief supplier of oil and nobody considers them disadvantaged.

      Actually, it's funny you bring up OPEC, because many of the member countries have little or no domestic industry, save oil extraction. What do you suppose is going to happen in those countries when the oil runs out (you do believe that oil is a finite resource, don't you?). Take Saudi Arabia, for example: The economy has ~$300 billion in exports and ~$100 billion in imports. According to Wikipedia, 90% of export revenue comes from oil extraction. In other words, the country has only $30 billion in non-oil exports to pay for it's $100 billion in imports. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that domestic consumption is going to have to decrease. I suppose the ruling class expects they can get visas for the United States or Europe when the defecation hits the rotary oscillator.

      China is trying to avoid that fate by allowing only Chinese companies to use it's inexpensive mineral reserves (and, by the by, they are inexpensive principally because China doesn't care about mine safety or pollution caused by mining), which is probably also a mistake. China is importing pollution and future health-care needs by incentivizing the use of domestic minerals. They are also disincentivizing the training of good managers (which is going to bite them later). Any idiot can run a business on 1000% profit margins, but it takes a skilled manager to keep things going when costs begin to rise. Right now the West gets the best of both worlds: Pollution is exported to Chinese cities, the West gets cool toys made from China's finite mineral resources, and Chinese businesses may not be cultivating its human resources (the ones who will be able to run competitive businesses when they have to pay world prices for raw materials).

      So, yes, it is going to be a problem for them.

    20. Re:national insecurity by dbIII · · Score: 0, Troll

      Oh sorry, I'm just the engineer, decades in the making, that knows nothing about engineering according to ruby coding boy, and not an economist, presumably like ruby coding boy who can't even understand that I did not say the problems were not "decades in the making" and even had the words "probably even before" above.
      Please understand what you read before you dismiss it as "nonsense" and don't just say I'm wrong because you've seen my handle before.

    21. Re:national insecurity by m00sh · · Score: 1

      You're also overestimating China's position. There are plenty of rare earth metals outside of China. It's actually to China's detriment that they're the chief supplier right now. As the supply of easily accessible minerals goes down, the value will go up -- the countries that wait the longest before ramping production will benefit the most. As for consumer electronics, what are they going to do? Stop making iPhones? If anything, that could be a short term boon to our economy, as we would suddenly have a motive to build a bunch of new factories and hire a bunch of workers. The increased cost of electronics would bug people for a while, but eventually they'd get used to it, and maybe even stop throwing away perfectly good phones every couple years. Meanwhile, what happens to China's economy when they cut out their largest trade partner?

      They can use it give an advantage to their local industry. China is behind technologically and everyone is actively trying to make sure the Chinese don't get their hands on it. If China can give a slight advantage to their home industry and hope that the future leaders in electronics industry might be born from this. Even a tiny advantage might have a multiplier effect and take China to par with the rest of the world technologically.

    22. Re:national insecurity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      While I agree calling Brtian calm is a bit misleading. It's just not capable of what it once was. The abuse isn't gone.

      Britan is hardly innocent. They do hurt people. Those people are in prisons. They can't vote. They don't get a say. They can't effect bad laws for which they were imprisoned (or may have been). Britan also has rejected the human rights the EU is trying to impose. They don't want to let the little people have a voice.

      They participated like many other allies of the United States in recent 'wars' such as in: Afghanistan and Iraq. They may not be leading those wars although they are active participants. Bullied into it or not they are guilty. They had the ability to stand up and say no. There economies would not have crumbled. The United States would not have toppled their governments. No. The elite likely just want to suck up in order to take advantage of Americas economy.

      They also are very active in invading the privacy of citizens. Have you watched to read the news? They've got camera everywhere. They led the way.

    23. Re:national insecurity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I think you underestimate the capability of the NSA. We're talking about an entity that is large enough, and employs enough people that its headquarters at Ft. Meade has its own exit on the Baltimore-Washington Parkway...

      As for America's "proactive" foreign policy, no foreign army has set foot on American soil in anger since 1815. Not too many other countries can say that. Meanwhile our possession of the only true blue water navy insures worldwide freedom of navigation and seagoing trade.

    24. Re:national insecurity by martin-boundary · · Score: 1

      but so does France and nobody says a peep about them.

      Why is it that the French always get not blamed by Americans? That's so unfair. Did you know that the Germans never get not blamed about their industrial spying? It's very frustrating, as Germany is quite good at it. But no, it's like you mustn't mention the spying. You know, Germans are proud people too, and they should get their turn not being blamed every once in a while.

      Now the British, they're amateurs in industrial spying. Refusing to not blame them makes perfect sense, at least to me.

    25. Re:national insecurity by TheGratefulNet · · Score: 1

      The increased cost of electronics would bug people for a while, but eventually they'd get used to it, and maybe even stop throwing away perfectly good phones every couple years.

      amen!

      I normally quote in italic but yours was worth bolding.

      bugs me no end that people think they have every right to throw things away that are perfectly good and work just fine.

      I 'still' use the nexus one. its buggy, google won't fix some showstopper bugs and I have not upgraded to CM or anything (its on my todo list) but I won't throw it out, even though my friends think that's the way to solve the problem! 'its not current, of course they won't fix the old bugs. just get a new phone, man!'. sigh! no, I won't! it works fine, in a hardware sense. I keep it clean and its as functional as the day I bought it. it works for the few apps I run and it works as a phone. why replace it??

      I'm an older guy and the younger guys are the ones bugging me to 'upgrade' my hardware. is this generational? it seems so. the attitude to throw things away that are NOT broken, that just annoys the hell out of me.

      --

      --
      "It is now safe to switch off your computer."
    26. Re:national insecurity by Taco+Cowboy · · Score: 1

      Google Lynas

      Wooohooo !

      That's a can of worm right there !!!!
       

      --
      Muchas Gracias, Señor Edward Snowden !
    27. Re:national insecurity by scubamage · · Score: 1

      It's not a trade war disguised as national security, it's national security disguised as a trade war. There's been no evidence presented of any backdoors. I'm quite certain that by now, many intelligence organizations have taken the chips apart and scanned them down and if they'd found anything there would have been a reaction.

      I wish you were right.

    28. Re:national insecurity by scubamage · · Score: 1

      Huawei started by duping Cisco hardware, but now they make their own proprietary things. For instance, their telephony offerings (HSS, Integrated CSCFS) are pretty much unbeatable by anyone, including Cisco and Ericsson. Feature wise, compatibility wise, no one comes remotely close.

    29. Re:national insecurity by scubamage · · Score: 1

      I'll be worried about China when they have infrastructure to provide basic plumbing and waste removal to their entire country. Until they have the needs of their own people met, they simply cannot function as a superpower.

    30. Re:national insecurity by scubamage · · Score: 4, Interesting

      As for America's "proactive" foreign policy, no foreign army has set foot on American soil in anger since 1815.

      The crew of the USS Arizona would like to have a word with you.

    31. Re:national insecurity by scubamage · · Score: 1

      But...but... China has a whole 1 aircraft carrier!!!!!!

    32. Re:national insecurity by scubamage · · Score: 1

      It's very frustrating, as Germany is quite good at it. But no, it's like you mustn't mention the spying. You know, Germans are proud people too, and they should get their turn not being blamed every once in a while.

      Germans are also very good at starting world wars.

    33. Re:national insecurity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Just being pedantic: that wasn't feet being set on American soil, IIRC. I suspect there have been plenty of small incursions that involved feet, however, if you count spying activities.

    34. Re:national insecurity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Indeed, girlintraining is so ignorant its hard to know where to begin. On the other hand, this is Slashdot so how much can you really expect?

    35. Re:national insecurity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ... the countries that wait the longest before ramping production will benefit the most ...

      While there is an advantage to reducing imports, less production means a lower GDP. Also lower production means skyrocketing prices of car parts, textiles, telecommunications equipment, audio-visual electonics, children's toys and all those other things currently made in the China.

      ... suddenly have a motive to build a bunch of new factories ...

      It's also a motive to up-skill employees. The bad thing is, the fluidity of resources demanded by the capitalist model, barely exists. This causes the problems mentioned in my preceding comment. One of the problems of economic theory is the practice takes 5-7 years to actually occur. So its good peoople don't blame Obama for the GFC.

      Meanwhile, what happens to China's economy when they cut out their largest trade partner?

      What happens to the USA when they eliminate the largest buyer of treasury notes? China holds one-quarter of the treasury notes issued. Considering the US debt, the government doesn't want foreigners to start spending their money elsewhere. Such a policy only doubles America's loss.

    36. Re:national insecurity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      1. You're just going to have to trust me on this: it is not possible to find backdoors in microchips by "tearing them down". The CIA or NSA or whoever wouldn't even both to try. Instead, they would bribe some Chinese worker to tell them, or they would drop a flash drive with a virus in the parking lot and gain access to the company's emails, or something like that.

      2. If we couldn't get electronics from China, we'd get them from Korea or Japan or Taiwan or Thailand or wherever. Or make them here, thanks to advances in automation. The reduction in supply would raise prices for a while, but we could adjust. Your OPEC analogy doesn't work because oil is a resource that is specific to certain areas. Labor is not.

      3. Absolutely agree on why people hate the US, and I agree that our foreign policy shouldn't involve playing world cop (especially since we seem to be a dirty cop). But the fact that people's reasons for anger towards the US are valid does not mean that their predictions of America's fall will come true.

      4. "The Chinese are worker ants." Now come on, that's just offensive. They're humans, just like everywhere else. People died building the Great Wall, they also died building the transcontinental railroad in the US. The US developed to the point that people weren't willing to put up with that anymore, and China will too.

      5. "Britain's navy was once to be feared, ... [now] they're a mere shadow of what they once were". Wait, weren't you complaining about America's imperialism a couple paragraphs ago? What Britain "once was", was a tyrannical empire that killed countless people and destroyed nations all over the world to enrich themselves. Now they're a much calmer nation that provides good quality of life for their people, and doesn't go around hurting others. Why, exactly, would it be bad for America to follow in their footsteps?

      You just pointed out the mental paradox of many chinese people. They always claim how indignantly they hate imperialism, however at the same time, that's also the goal they dream of.

    37. Re:national insecurity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Right now floating on the Internet, someone has a proof of concept showing how every Lenovo laptop has a secret back door. They saw on their network strange traffic and the analyzed it. They were able to reverse engineer it and create this proof. This company has since replaced all of their Lenovo equipment, including printers because of this.

    38. Re:national insecurity by petes_PoV · · Score: 1

      ... is s potential security (and national security{in terms of infrastructure}) issue

      Although in reality the weakness is self-inflicted. If a government suspects that there are security holes and flaws in critical network security systems the stupidest, dumbest thing they could possibly do is to place critical national infrastructure on that network,

      In that case, it's no use blaming some "foreign" company. The fault lies squarely at home with whoever made the decision to expose critical systems - and keeping them exposed. Once the security problems have been discovered, it is somewhere between criminal negligence and treason to permit them to remain in that state of vulnerability.

      Of course we all know, through history and experience, that the most frequent threats are home-grown.

      --
      politicians are like babies' nappies: they should both be changed regularly and for the same reasons
    39. Re:national insecurity by TuringCheck · · Score: 1

      You just pointed out the mental paradox of many chinese people. They always claim how indignantly they hate imperialism, however at the same time, that's also the goal they dream of.

      There's no paradox involved and it's not not chinese specific. They just hate other's people imperialism.

      Many of those that raise their voice for democracy and rights would instead demand a monthly tribute in virgins if they were dictators, absolute rulers, etc.

      Excuse me, now I have to return to the design of my army of drones to take over the world. With such a large place to rule I think the tribute in virgins will have to be paid daily...

    40. Re:national insecurity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      As for America's "proactive" foreign policy, no foreign army has set foot on American soil in anger since 1815.

      The crew of the USS Arizona would like to have a word with you.

      He also forgot about Mexico's little adventure in trying to take back Texas.

    41. Re:national insecurity by TuringCheck · · Score: 1

      Why is it that the French always get not blamed by Americans? ...

      Perhaps Americans aren't interested in espionage over arts, croissants and making love. For anything else French espionage is irrelevant.

    42. Re:national insecurity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Wow, you didn't need to go full retard.

      Learn to take a breath or two before posting, oh-so-mighty engineer boy.

    43. Re:national insecurity by DarkOx · · Score: 1

      I have an ex-pat friend who lives in China, and in fact works for China Telecom. They're not emotionless, but they are worker ants. Look up how many people have died during the construction of, er... any major public works project. Ever. Even the Great Wall of China has bodies buried in it. No, really... sometimes people fell in, and they just poured clay in over them and kept going.

      I agree with most of your post but the quote about is a pretty tough stretch. The regime and culture that build the 'Wall' are dust. It has little resemblance with the present. That and its not really uniquely Chinese, behavior. The same is true of the Hover Damn for example and that is much more closely connected with our present.

      One thing that gets over looked often about China (especially by China itself as a matter of policy) is they are not and old nation. Even much of their culture was radically ripped and replaced by Mao. Everyone is always pointing out how "young" or nation is but by most practical measures we have been using our present system longer than China.

      --
      Repeal the 17th Amendment TODAY! Also Please Read http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/right-to-read.html
    44. Re:national insecurity by pep70 · · Score: 1

      You don't have to add any logic for the backdoor. Instead, you just intentionally leave a sutble zero day exploid "bug"unpatched in your chip. It is almost impossible to catch by scanning. You essentially need to have a program that can detect all the security vulnarabilities. If you can create it, I am pretty sure Microsoft are willing to pay you millions for the technology. Even if your scanner can detect it, it is just a "bug" right? And anybody has bugs.

    45. Re:national insecurity by dbIII · · Score: 0

      Should I ignore such petty stalkers as ruby coding boy instead of pointing out their past behaviour? His post was only to insult a name he recognised and was not to add anything to the discussion.

    46. Re:national insecurity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      4. "The Chinese are worker ants." Now come on, that's just offensive. They're humans, just like everywhere else. People died building the Great Wall, they also died building the transcontinental railroad in the US.

      interesting example considering that a proportionate share of the dying during the construction of the transcontinental was done by Chinese immigrants.

    47. Re:national insecurity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      4. "The Chinese are worker ants." Now come on, that's just offensive. They're humans, just like everywhere else. People died building the Great Wall, they also died building the transcontinental railroad in the US.

      interesting example considering that a proportionate share of the dying during the construction of the transcontinental was done by Chinese immigrants.

      that should of course be a "disproportionate share", the Chinese immigrants had to work under atrocious, often even slave-like, conditions, yet the US barely cares to remember this part of history.

    48. Re:national insecurity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You're also overestimating China's position. There are plenty of rare earth metals outside of China. It's actually to China's detriment that they're the chief supplier right now. As the supply of easily accessible minerals goes down, the value will go up -- the countries that wait the longest before ramping production will benefit the most. As for consumer electronics, what are they going to do? Stop making iPhones? If anything, that could be a short term boon to our economy, as we would suddenly have a motive to build a bunch of new factories and hire a bunch of workers. The increased cost of electronics would bug people for a while, but eventually they'd get used to it, and maybe even stop throwing away perfectly good phones every couple years. Meanwhile, what happens to China's economy when they cut out their largest trade partner?

      Nope you are wrong. Its even more expensive to process the metals than to extract them, the companies would go filing for chapter 11 before the got their first batches refined... by then your "made in america stamp" would make it so expensive that no sane, for profit company would buy it instead of the Chinese one. The increased price in electronics would not "bug the consumers for a while" it will stagnate the company sales, drop their stock prices and bleed them until the start producing crap sell over, you think Apple could still care to go on with 5% less profit when they strive to lock prices of raw materials and reduce footprint for profit? ... I do agree that good phones get thrown out all too early

      Regards

    49. Re:national insecurity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      As for America's "proactive" foreign policy, no foreign army has set foot on American soil in anger since 1815. Not too many other countries can say that.

      Incorrect: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleutian_Islands_Campaign

    50. Re:national insecurity by DigiShaman · · Score: 1

      Doubt there would be a new Mao. That populist card was played once already, and the nation is far from unified in terms of ideology. If anything, the nation would fracture into separate states if not entire individual sovereign nations. Because of its vast geographical size, population, and diverse culture, China as we know it today would best be served under a democratic/republic system much like we have in the USA in which you have local, state, and federal laws with corresponding elected officials. The question is, do the Chinese want such as system let alone maintain it for generations to come? More over, do the average Chinese citizen even understand the concept of a democratic/republic system? It's truly a catch 22. How can you educate people if your own government fails you. And how can you reform your own government if you're not educated? If you go back in history, the founding of America is truly unique in this regard.

      --
      Life is not for the lazy.
    51. Re:national insecurity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Lots of disinformation in that post.

      There's this thing in the UK called the 'Data Protection Act' - to my knowledge, the only state in the US with something similar is California.
      Essentially, any body - whether private of public - that holds data on you *must* follow best practices in securing that data. They must report - and are directly liable for - any breaches. Finally, that information can only be given to another body with either the subjects explicit consent, or when required by a valid court order from a British court.

      That's why the whole 'camera' thing is overblown in the media; almost all of the cameras in use are privately owned, which means that neither the police nor the government can access their records without going to court. There's no 'National Security Letter' backdoor access.

      Additionally, the UK *has* put in place the Human Rights Act, which is that pan-European agreement you mentioned. The laws are being fought against by the *media* and the *little people* that you're trying to mark as the victims; and they're rejecting them because real criminals are exploiting those laws to avoid any kind of punishment for their activities. The UK is more conservative than most of Europe (France excepted); it really pisses off the 'little people' when they see thieves and robbers waste millions of pounds of their taxes, for the sole purpose of evading their responsibility. This is a cultural issue, so don't try and paint it as a political one.

    52. Re:national insecurity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No, you pretty much dug your own hole this time, I'd say.

    53. Re:national insecurity by HiThere · · Score: 1

      If I understand correctly, "rare earths" aren't rare at all. It's just that they're hard to refine, because they're chemically quite similar to each other. So "good ores" are rare, because most ores are expensive to refine. But there isn't a real shortage. (OTOH, if we need to turn to low grade ores, expect the price to jump by at least an order of magnitude.)

      Still, my knowledge on this is decades old. So maybe I'm wrong. But I'd need a good reason to change my mind, and an article in the popular press doesn't count. Neither does what a manufacturer told a congressman (or committee).

      OTOH, we DON'T have any active mines. So it would take time to open new ones (and re-open closed ones, as I understand is in process). A new mine might take 5 years to get into decent production, if there weren't unexpected problems. So having China decide to reserve its resources is no minor problem. (And companies are reluctant to open new mines, because China could undercut their prices whenever it felt like it. China's mines are already amortized.)

      --

      I think we've pushed this "anyone can grow up to be president" thing too far.
    54. Re:national insecurity by HiThere · · Score: 1

      Was Texas a part of the US at that time? My memory says that it was still in "independant country".

      --

      I think we've pushed this "anyone can grow up to be president" thing too far.
    55. Re:national insecurity by bursch-X · · Score: 1

      Really? Last time I checked the first country to cry and declare war in WWI was Austria. WWII well, we fucked up big time the, but looking a bit closer you'll find that Hitler was Austrian, too. So essentially *Austrians* are very good at starting World Wars

      --
      There are two rules for success:
      1. Never tell everything you know.
    56. Re:national insecurity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      For which we promptly invaded Mexico during the Spanish-American War. And how many pieces of Mexican territory did we retain as a result? (Hint, lower half of California, bits of AZ, NM, and Texas.

    57. Re:national insecurity by TheSync · · Score: 1

      most of our consumer electronics are made in Asia. If they decide to play economic hardball, we're going to lose

      If the US cuts off trade with China, we may have a tough time getting TV sets (we'd have to get them from South Korea). China will lose tens of millions of jobs.

    58. Re:national insecurity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      MEXICAN-American war even. Apologies.

    59. Re:national insecurity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Depends on what age you consider young. I'm 30 and much the same way. Furthermore I am now a collector of 'antiquities' since nobody since starting college has cared much for legacy electronic hardware (prior to this, almost everybody in my elementary school has one or more of the 80s era PCs in their household, plus either a 90s era mac or pc. Nowadays however, even the same group of people (few that I still have contact with) have the latest 600 dollar phone, plus some stupid gas guzzling car (for the ones that are just far enough up from povery level to qualify for the loan).

      Personally I picked up a Huawei Ideos when they were the only cheap android phone available (~150 bucks on sale) around the time the second wave of android devices were coming out (Android 2.2). It hasn't served me quite as well as yours (The touchscreen is partially dead inset a bit from one corner, whether due to chemical damage, physical, or software I am unsure.) However it functions properly as a phone, generally acts as a servicable 'point and shoot' camera, and lets me kill a few minutes here or there playing solitaire, looking up directions, etc.

      My computing hardware is similiarly dated. I got a radeon HD4770 back in 2009, and it's still my primary gaming card. The funny part with this item is: It's still competitive with similiarly priced hardware. And if you're looking at double precision performance it qualifies against the 300 dollar cards from both AMD and Nvidia. The three biggest shortcomings of it are the lack of 'legitimate' OpenCL support, lack of a third monitor output (I've run it at 2880 and 3040 x 900 with acceptable framerates for non-twitch MMOs), and lastly the fact that proprietary drive support for it has been pulled on both windows and linux as of version 12.8 on windows, and 12.6 (non-legacy, as opposed to Windows confusingly named -legacy version). On the other hand it's been perfectly stable for me, provides me a system with 200 watt power usage (while bitcoin mining and compiling no less!), and has maintained almost perfect reliability for 3 years (gpu) and almost 5 years for the mobo/cpu combo (The current proc has actually been upgraded in the meantime, but the former proc is running overclocked to a similiar speed in another system due to differences in ambient temperature, rather than any particulars of cpu performance.)

      On the other hand I know people who are talking about tossing out perfectly working systems after two years because 'It's not new!!!!!', perhaps even upgrading to an 'inferior' platform, because they didn't bother to assess whether the features available on the new computer would match the features on the old one (be it video, cpu, peripherals, etc.) A few even upgraded from XP to 7, then complained about how much slower their new system was (having not factored in hard drive speed or capacity when obsessing over new and shiny).

      Anyways more than anything it seems to be a sickness of the modern consumer attitude rather than a generational change. I've seen the same sort of mentality going on among baby boomers regarding THEIR new cell phones with data plans, as they're going to load up a youtube video to show off something or another they or a friend have.

    60. Re:national insecurity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well hey maybe if their economy tanked they could be doing the rest of the world a favor by starting another one, so we could finally get out of the globe-wide depression and legal corruption going on, while giving a new generation the knowledge to not make the same mistakes for at least another 40 years.

    61. Re:national insecurity by dwye · · Score: 1

      Not to mention that the Japanese occupied the Aleutians during WWII.

      There is also evidence that the Soviet Spetznaz had occasional training ops in Alaska.

    62. Re:national insecurity by dwye · · Score: 1

      For which we promptly invaded Mexico during the Spanish-American War. And how many pieces of Mexican territory did we retain as a result? (Hint, lower half of California, bits of AZ, NM, and Texas.

      *Mexican-American* War, and UPPER California, not Spanish-American War and Baja California. We had Texas when the then-pro-slavery Democrats accepted the Republic of Texas's request to be annexed. We got ALL of Nevada, and Utah (maybe more, I haven't checked) and almost all of AZ and NM, except what we later obtained in the Gadsden Purchase.

    63. Re:national insecurity by dwye · · Score: 1

      Why is it that the French always get not blamed by Americans? That's so unfair.

      Also untrue. The thing is that everyone knows that the French always act French, and everybody has decided to just accept it. As long as one DOES accept the French behavior and plan around that, they can be useful quasi-allies. Just don't think of them like they were British, Israeli, or even Germans.

    64. Re:national insecurity by dwye · · Score: 1

      They are also fairly rare in useful concentrations. Just not unique to China (ever notice how many are named after places in Sweden?), Africa, or anywhere else. If the stream of Chinese rare earth minerals decreases to the point that the price really rises, somewhere else will start producing. Much like with oil, where the Organization of Petroleum Exporting States has only 40% of the world market, anymore.

    65. Re:national insecurity by scubamage · · Score: 1

      Hm, that is actually a very, very good point about WWI. Though I'm not sure Austria wouldn't have gone so far without the blanket support of Germany, that's still a far cry from Germany starting the whole thing :)

  4. Re:Who Cares? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Troll

    We can only hope that the global financial system collapses. Maybe then, it can be rebuilt into something that actually works.

  5. Dumbass dictators by benjfowler · · Score: 0, Troll

    In shitty backwaters like Russia, China and most Muslim countries, the state controls everything, so if something happens in a Western country that the third-worlders don't like, they go nuts, because their small brains can't comprehend that in a free country, stuff can actually go on without the government having a hand in it.

    The Chinese government are simply assuming that Western governments are as vindictive, backwards and thin-skinned as they are. This just shows what a bunch of pathetic losers they are. They deserve only ridicule.

    1. Re:Dumbass dictators by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I am a supporter of president Obama and I disapproved this message.

    2. Re:Dumbass dictators by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      In shitty backwaters like Russia, China and most Muslim countries, the state controls everything.

      That pretty well describes the US, too, except the government uses corporations to do their bidding.

    3. Re:Dumbass dictators by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      In shitty backwaters like Russia, China and most Muslim countries, the state controls everything.

      That pretty well describes the US, too, except the government uses corporations to do their bidding.

      I think you got that backwards.

  6. Re:Who Cares? by MightyMartian · · Score: 1

    And your priority with the oncoming East Coast weather holocaust is to make first posts on /. bemoaning submitters not making every story about weather or the Middle East?

    --
    The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
  7. Smart on their part by WindBourne · · Score: 1

    One thing I like about CHina is that they are smart enough to realize that national security IS an issue. They are in a cold war with the west and know that if they can not control an area economically, then they should avoid that same issue.

    --
    I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
    1. Re:Smart on their part by war4peace · · Score: 1

      Only they DO control it.

      --
      ...gis sdrawkcab (usually not responding to ACs; don't bother posting as AC)
    2. Re:Smart on their part by WindBourne · · Score: 1

      Not if we do not bring their equipment into our infrastructure. The west needs to look carefully at what is happening WRT China.

      --
      I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
    3. Re:Smart on their part by war4peace · · Score: 1

      Bullshit, it has nothing to do with infrastructure, but MONEY.

      --
      ...gis sdrawkcab (usually not responding to ACs; don't bother posting as AC)
    4. Re:Smart on their part by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yes they're so smart they copied what the US did. Brilliant.

    5. Re:Smart on their part by DigiShaman · · Score: 1

      No, China is not in a cold war with anyone. They are simply leveraging economic growth through exports and foreign investments. What really troubles China is not the West at all. In fact, it's the entire Pacific region. Specifically India and Russia. Mean while, they feel they need to re-acquire lost territory they've neglected to protect as a result of their civil war and Cultural Revolution. They now see themselves getting back to their rightful place in world influence and play a game of catching up. This whole island spat with Japan; it's just the beginning. Lucky for the US, the "New World" has historically been off its map. Quite literally.

      --
      Life is not for the lazy.
  8. Cisco is no longer what is used to be by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Cisco is the Microsoft of the networking world - the household name that's failing to let go of the past and embrace the future. Their saving grace is that Juniper doesn't have a Steve Jobs figure. Nevertheless, anyone switching away from Cisco shouldn't be viewed as a political choice, but rather a rational choice.

    1. Re:Cisco is no longer what is used to be by game+kid · · Score: 1

      Besides, if China ever wants to return to Cisco, their data and settings will still be stored in the cloud!

      --
      You can hold down the "B" button for continuous firing.
  9. Re:NSA cares by hoboroadie · · Score: 1

    It's pretty hard getting the right firmware installed by Chinese designers.

    --
    They feared that it could be used to suppress protest or support unpopular rule.
  10. Re:Who Cares? by rubycodez · · Score: 1

    get your head screwed on, what's your problem?

    1. yes hurricanes hit New York regularly. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_New_York_hurricanes
    2. The U.S. economy grew 2% during last quarter, quit your whining.
    3. What war in middle east? just some congerssional actions against insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan, and some civil riots in syria, etc.

  11. Not surprising at all by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    "Surprising to us, up to now, Cisco occupies a large market share in China. It accounts for over a 70 percent share of China Telecom's 163 backbone network and over an 80 percent share of China Unicom's 169 backbone network."

    Not at all... you think they built that snazzy internet firewall and surveillance system with home grown tech? Hell no! They've been buying the best equipment and services from U.S. companies for a long time:

    http://wraltechwire.com/business/tech_wire/opinion/blogpost/1166609/

  12. Re:Who Cares? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Yeah, but then we will all have to start from zero.

    How are your skills for a 1790 environment?

    Lot of well educated folks right here will only be good for physical labor.

  13. Re:Who Cares? by JustOK · · Score: 3, Funny

    I'm pretty sure the fries I just got at McDonalds were about 3 fries short. Whether by weight or by count, I'm not sure, but if you extrapolate, it probably constitutes a massive fraud.

    --
    rewriting history since 2109
  14. Better Spyware for Citizen Control by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Art of War: "To increase Central Family power, take advantage of all situations to increase surveillance." "Any excuse will work, even trade war."

  15. Re:Who Cares? by hawguy · · Score: 2

    Lot of well educated folks right here will only be good for physical labor.

    That's a good thing since there will be lots of need for physical labor.

  16. My economy can beat up your economy. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Well except the Chinese economy is having problem's of their own. It's nice to speak of situations in a us vs them tone, but things are a bit more complicated than that.

  17. Bugs in Cisco routers? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "China Unicom, the country's second largest telecom operator, has replaced Cisco Systems routers in one of the country's most important backbone networks, citing security reasons [due to bugs and vulnerability.)"

    'The "backdoors" that Cisco and other networking companies implement in their routers and switches for lawful intercept are front and center again at this week's Black Hat security conference. A few years ago, they were cause celebre in some VoIP wiretapping arguments and court rulings'. link

  18. A trade war with whom? by macbeth66 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Let's wait to see who's the winner in this trade war disguised as national security."

    A trade with whom? Both companies' equipment is made in China. Cisco just sells their stuff.

    As for paranoia, the US should be paranoid about Cisco stuff be made in China. It certainly gives me the willies. As does the fact that our medicine and vitamins are made over there as well. But that has had a good affect on me, I guess, as I am eating more local grown foods and staying away from processed foods. Except for Heath bars. Can't resist those.

    1. Re:A trade war with whom? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I have to wonder: how much of that cisco crap is actually authentic? I bet a lot is 'knockoff' cisco stuff. Lolcat

    2. Re:A trade war with whom? by BulletMagnet · · Score: 2

      Both companies' equipment is made in China. Cisco just sells their stuff.

      Uhm my ASA 5505 says Made In Mexcio.

    3. Re:A trade war with whom? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      assembled in mexico with parts sourced from various asian countries.

    4. Re:A trade war with whom? by m00sh · · Score: 4, Interesting

      As for paranoia, the US should be paranoid about Cisco stuff be made in China. It certainly gives me the willies.

      Don't worry, the generation after you won't share the same sentiment. Each successive generation have seen larger and larger portions of the world as their "empathy circle". People identifying themselves by country is just a few generations old; before that people identified themselves more by the city or province they were from and before that a clan they belonged to. The future generations will see the a Chinese as just another person living their lives and trying to generally make things better. They certainly won't get willies imagining them as enemies fervently trying to take something away from you.

    5. Re:A trade war with whom? by aurashift · · Score: 1

      You've already convinced the southern states we need to bomb Mexico, no need to involve China in all this. Lets pick fights we can win.

    6. Re:A trade war with whom? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      As for paranoia, the US should be paranoid about Cisco stuff be made in China. It certainly gives me the willies.

      Don't worry, the generation after you won't share the same sentiment. Each successive generation have seen larger and larger portions of the world as their "empathy circle". People identifying themselves by country is just a few generations old; before that people identified themselves more by the city or province they were from and before that a clan they belonged to. The future generations will see the a Chinese as just another person living their lives and trying to generally make things better. They certainly won't get willies imagining them as enemies fervently trying to take something away from you.

      That will be quite a boon for the greedy psychopaths running the various countries and multinationals, then.

  19. Re:Who Cares? by couchslug · · Score: 2

    The storm will peter out, the global financial system will not collapse, and minor wars in the Middle East have been going on for literally thousands of years with nothing of value lost.

    Nothing new or particularly interesting going on.

    --
    "This post is an artistic work of fiction and falsehood. Only a fool would take anything posted here as fact."
  20. Re:Who Cares? by Alien+Being · · Score: 5, Funny

    Yeah, where's the fucking storm tracker I came here to see? I'm hoping that Sandy blows NYC off the map, causes some butterfly to fart in turn creating sister storms to destroy China, the middle east and Tulsa. I fucking hate Tulsa.

  21. You should care by Andy+Prough · · Score: 4, Insightful

    We can only hope that the global financial system collapses. Maybe then, it can be rebuilt into something that actually works.

    Hope you enjoy starving/freezing to death. If you manage to hoard enough canned food and heating oil to survive, enjoy being beaten to death by thieves.

    In the meantime, a drastically reduced worldwide population can enjoy its "new global financial system" - i.e. - a "king" or "lord" (the heartless guy with the most weapons) tells you what you are allowed to use for money, what you are allowed to buy, how much of it you can buy, etc. And of course, you can kiss industry and manufacturing goodbye since there will be no capital investment and no methods of distribution - so your shopping choices will be, shall we say, very limited. Talk to a North Korean refugee when you get a chance - they'll tell you how much fun the new "financial system" will be.

    1. Re:You should care by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      If you manage to hoard enough canned food and heating oil to survive, enjoy being beaten to death by thieves.

      No worries, man. I've got an assault and a 2nd degree burglary conviction on my sheet, so I'll be the thief beating you for your cans of Wolf Brand Chili (love that shit) when the Great Meltdown comes...

    2. Re:You should care by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      and I use to deal with 100 of you guys alone and entirely unarmed every day, no biggy on the outside i'll just put a few 223 rounds through you and go back to eating dinner

  22. Re:Who Cares? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Finally a solution to America's obesity epidemic! Brillant!

  23. Passive Aggressive, much? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    subject says it all

  24. Re:Who Cares? by BurstElement · · Score: 1

    I would say that this type of article is exactly the type of content that Slashdot should be reporting... it involves one of the largest network infrastructure providers losing a significant part of what would probably be their largest market (if not now, then at least over the next decade)

    And why should a tech news site care about the weather or problems borne out of greed and prejudice like the situation with the financial system or the unrest in the middle east?!

  25. Huawei is controlled by the PLA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Huawei is controlled by the People's Liberation Army. Ditto ZTE and Lenovo. And China is a constant source of cyberattack. Under the circumstances, it's best to not let our adversaries build out our telecommunications infrastructure.

    1. Re:Huawei is controlled by the PLA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Nice troll..

      Given how the US has squandered any confidence in its ability to act lawfully (not only the government, but also the companies that rode the anti-privacy wave post 9/11) it would seem more prudent to avoid any US sourced technology.

      It certainly would do away with a lot of bullshit marketing too.

    2. Re:Huawei is controlled by the PLA by HiThere · · Score: 1

      Have you missed all the posts detailing where Cisco is built?

      --

      I think we've pushed this "anyone can grow up to be president" thing too far.
  26. In France ... by Taco+Cowboy · · Score: 1

    ... and this is the way we do it when we are in France ...

    We leave "specially prepared documents" in our hotel rooms every time we went out for dinner, or meeting, or whatever.

    Those "specially prepared documents" do that look very genuine, with all kinds of juicy "insider secrets", but in fact, we fill them with half-truths, and spice it up with stuffs that we know would create havocs for those who try duplicating the result.

    Why we do so?

    Because, the French intelligent agency are in every single hotel in France.

    Every single business delegation, every single group of scientists, every commercial entourage will be closely followed by the French secret police, and they will go into your room and scan all the papers they can possibly find.

    It's an open secret to those of us who are veterans in the industrial espionage thing.

    --
    Muchas Gracias, Señor Edward Snowden !
    1. Re:In France ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's all very mysterious. Not saying its not true, but it would be dead simple with today's pay tech to find evidence of this. If thus were so, it sounds li a nice opportunity for someone to get some good YouTube material.

  27. Re:Who Cares? by scubamage · · Score: 1

    Surprisingly well off - grew up on a simple farm, with crops, sheep, goats, and chickens. I have basic skills of craftsmenship. I have hand tools for planing wood, the annoying part is drying it (not hard, you can put tar on the ends of the board and then let it sit in a dry place for a year). I can make just about every type of food (and do so regularly because I have a passion for DIY food). I can brew my own beer (malting would be a challenge but not hard to figure out), wine, ciders, etc. I don't think it would be that bad, for me personally anyways.

  28. Re:Who Cares? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Dude.... Why ya gotta hate. Tulsa is cool, try Bartlesville...

  29. WOW!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This story is kind off prejudice, already on the Romney China hate train? I have been reading stories from /. over Huawei. I have not really researched this company but they seem like a typical China company they build cheap (low priced) servers and the US companies and supporters building servers have no problem saying they some how can openly spy and steal US innovations? Is China just being hated on? DO not forget they have resources that US/World companies rely on so if you want to take China on you better be prepared for the fallout.

  30. Cisco has track record (CERT) of security vulnerab by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Cisco comes up in CERT bulletins with security vulnerabilities in their equipment. Sounds like at least one of their Chinese counterparts isn't any better.

  31. Re:Who Cares? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Yes, from a tech news point of view, it is relevant. As is a discussion of the highly computerized finance centers of NYC being in the path of a hurricane.

    However, I understand the disgust with these types of flame-bait stories. They bring out the worst in Slashdot, both because Slashdot loses its tech focus, and because it destroys the community with political trolling.

    And after a while, the feeling of being played by the editors, is kind of hard to ignore.

  32. Same old song and dance. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Here's a tat. One tit, please.

  33. Change is the only constant by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Superpowers are all alike. Using money as a weapon of war will also kill millions. Slowly, by despair and starvation.

  34. Re:Who Cares? by K.+S.+Kyosuke · · Score: 1

    How are your skills for a 1790 environment?

    Upgradeable, if you don't mind.

    --
    Ezekiel 23:20
  35. Re:Who Cares? by K.+S.+Kyosuke · · Score: 1

    And your priority with the oncoming East Coast weather holocaust is to make first posts on /.

    Still better than some Facebook status updates. "Wow, I'm flying inside a hurricane!" And I see vividly the tweets as well: "#hurricane LOL WTF where's my roof?" :D

    --
    Ezekiel 23:20
  36. The Only Solution by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Richard Stallman just keeps being right about these things. The source must be open. The hardware must be open. All governments and individuals must be able to inspect the platform because there is no way to actually "Trust" proprietary solutions.

    Right now, Cisco routers run Unix at the core and distribution levels. Linux is mostly being used on the access layer (edge) of the network. It is time to add more enterprise features and hardware support to make Linux suitable at all levels. Open chip designs can be developed in each country. That is the only way to make sure that each country does not subvert the networks of the others.

    1. Re:The Only Solution by Burz · · Score: 1

      Richard Stallman just keeps being right about these things. The source must be open. The hardware must be open. All governments and individuals must be able to inspect the platform because there is no way to actually "Trust" proprietary solutions.

      Right now, Cisco routers run Unix at the core and distribution levels. Linux is mostly being used on the access layer (edge) of the network. It is time to add more enterprise features and hardware support to make Linux suitable at all levels. Open chip designs can be developed in each country. That is the only way to make sure that each country does not subvert the networks of the others.

      This!!!

  37. Re:China's "track record" isn't great... apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Maybe I'm wrong to charactarize this as flamebait. My main point was that I've been seeing a lot of these stories, and at this time, it's pretty obvious to anyone who's been paying attention, that China is a hostile, threatening, cyber attacking, rogue nation.

    The thing is though, like a lot of stories recently, you usually only have two sides: the polluting retards/propagandists who get modded up somehow, for pulling race cards or other obvious logical fallicies -- and everyone else who takes the opposing side and disagrees with the most visible, highly upmodded piece of bullshit. I mean, seriously, I feel like I'm on a Jerry Springer show, sometimes. And the fact the the stupidest, most inflamatory flamebait comments in the flamebait stories are frequently the most upmodded and visible, seems really contrived.

    If I was management in Slashdot, and it was a slow news day, I might be tempted to post some flamebait, to boost ad revenue and boost ad views. But it's a cheap trick -- and after a while, the smarter people leave, because the intelligent, insightful variety which they were looking for, is no longer present.

    Anyone whose got half a brain (or is Chinese, and listens to China's propaganda) would soon realize that China views us as the enemy and is keen on maintaining a hostile relationship with us. I mean, there's not much room for argument here: either there is a conflict, or there isn't.

      Yes, it's important to mention Chinese abuses, but after a while, it seems like everyday is a slow news day.

  38. To whoever downmodded my post... apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Disprove the list of documented FACTS I used here -> http://hardware.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=3212389&cid=41789465

    * Best part is, I KNOW YOU CAN'T (and you know it too - hence, your application of an unjustifiable downmod to my post, but nothing more)...

    (All you've got' s are effete downmods that have NO SUBSTANCE behind them @ all, period)

    APK

    P.S.=> “If you know your enemies and know yourself, you will not be imperiled in a hundred battles.” - Sun Tzu (in “The Art of War”), and I KNOW YOU'RE UNABLE TO MEET THAT CHALLENGE ABOVE, lol ...

    ... apk