It's Official: NSA Spying Is Hurting the US Tech Economy

An anonymous reader writes China is backing away from U.S. tech brands for state purchases after NSA revelations, according to Reuters. This confirms what many U.S. technology companies have been saying for the past year: the activities by the NSA are harming their businesses in crucial growth markets, including China. From the article: "A new report confirmed key brands, including Cisco, Apple, Intel, and McAfee -- among others -- have been dropped from the Chinese government's list of authorized brands, a Reuters report said Wednesday. The number of approved foreign technology brands fell by a third, based on an analysis of the procurement list. Less than half of those companies with security products remain on the list."

Comments

This is hilarious...

[duck_rifted]

I like how they pretend that this was only just revealed to them when so many products by those brands are assembled in China, and the backdoors are installed at the factory (according to recent news). They knew this all along, so they're not doing this for security reasons. They're doing it so that US businesses will pressure the NSA to stop, and then if it succeeds, China will have the upper hand in espionage.

In every other conceivable respect, this isn't funny at all. It's just that they think we'll fall for that, and for the most part, we are. But neither these businesses nor the NSA will. The end result will be that China will start buying these products again and it will be spun to us as the result of some kind of breakthrough negotiation. I give it a year, but they might pull a headline grabber and make it happen sooner if it was primarily a bid for lower prices all along.

Re:This is hilarious...

[AmiMoJo]

Do you have any proof that China systematically back-doors hardware before it leaves the country? I have not seen any, just lots of innuendo from US companies trying to make out that China is as bad as they are and you are screwed either way.

The US is exceptionally bad. It spends more money spying on people than anyone else. It has more extensive programmes than anyone else we know of, except perhaps the UK who they are close partners with. Let's not pretend that everyone is as bad, because they are not. There is zero evidence that China installs backdoors in routers or hard drive firmware before they go through customs, for example, while we have photos of the US doing it.

China is bad, but all the evidence suggests that the US is worse. Most of us prefer an evidence based approach to our paranoia.

hackers oligarchs & thugs

[globaljustin]

I'm 100% in favor of strict NSA accountability, but it's wrong to blame the NSA as if they aren't at least partially working for the right reasons.

Blame hackers, oligarchs, and wannabe international gangsters first and foremost. The NSA must be held accountable with hardcore oversight, but we need law enforcement and defense.

Also, the tone of this article is weird, it seems to put China as some kind of arbiter of global trade ethics:

Cisco, Apple, Intel, and McAfee -- among others -- have been dropped from the Chinese government's list of authorized brands,

China's government is a totalitarian, freedom depriving monolith. The people of China are victims.

I see the angle, when we put spyware in tech like this there are consequences and it's probably overreach by the NSA, but TFA is criticizing from the wrong angle.

China is not a threat to us. That's the core misunderstanding. How many books, blog posts, articles by Thomas Friedman have there been about the "China Rising" nonsense? We don't owe China like a bank...they ***invested in the US*** by buying our bonds...you don't invest in something you are trying to destroy.

China's financial sovlency depends on the US's ability to honor our bonds. They hitched their wagons to our economy.

Also, China is a pollution wasteland. Human and chemical. Their disasterous one child policy has ruined the population balance of a generation and they have to run their city marathons in smog so thick it's visible at ground level.

I want the US to be a good influence on China. I want our policies to promote them making the right decisions for their people.

Re:Of course they are

[Aighearach]

Yes, interestingly the US customers are also backing away from Chinese products for the same reasons the Chinese are backing away from American products. So who is hurt again? All you have to do to see who this hurts and who it benefits is to look at the trade balance. Since Americans buy more Chinese stuff than Chinese buy American stuff, it seems to me the obvious answer is that it will help the US "tech economy."

Also, most of the American exports are not commodity items that can be replaced, but factory machines and related equipment where there isn't strong competition. That is equipment they simply must buy in order to be competitive on export quality. So even in a trade war setting, US exports would only go down a little bit, and most of the "US brands" banned are actually manufactured in Asia. So they'd be cutting at their own face. Meanwhile, tech companies with US manufacturing like Texas Instruments would benefit substantially from any such conflict because trade wars drive production to return home.

I certainly agree there is likely to be a net negative for existing US brands, but most of that loss would be to local competition that is willing to manufacture here. The same American companies that are nervous about Chinese spying and backdoors are usually less worried about NSA spying, because the assumption is that the NSA acts to benefit US industry.

Re:Good

[TheGratefulNet]

and now that everyone 'knows' the nsa has exceeded their charter, the problem will be fixed and all will return to normal.

no? you don't agree?

neither do I! we'll NEVER be able to know, for sure, if they have disbanded, continued or even increased their hidden powers.

they can say 'ok, you caught us, we'll start following the law again' but even congresscritters won't know for sure. anyone who does know for sure, will NOT be telling us any truth about it, either.

so, what do you have from this? complete and permanent lack of trust in the three letter agencies in the US, and the equivalent ones overseas in pretty much every country.

why even talk about this anymore? those that have this power won't ever give it up, we will continue to be kept in the dark and nothing will change for the better.

cat is out of the bag, won't get back in and now we all have to live with cats, everywhere. so to to speak.

Re:What's the alternative?

[Anonymous Coward]

You got it backwards. If I have to choose someone who will spy on me, I want it to be a country as far away as possible, one that I will never get near. I don't give two shits about the Chinese knowing something about me, it's my own government I'm worried about. I'd have to piss off China really badly for them to throw me into a gulag - it's just too much hassle. For my government, it's as easy as sending a patrol car or two.

Re:Terrorists

[Opportunist]

Well, at least...

It's funny to watch the whole spiel from across the pond. I know, maybe it's the distance and the loss of resolution distance entails, but I can't really see that much of a difference between those two parties that you have. It's pretty much the same party to me, maybe with a strawberry flavor here and a blueberry flavor there, but slushy is slushy. The basic ingredients are the same crap, the rest is flavoring. Artificial flavoring.

But yet you see people bicker with an insane drive to ensure that THEIR side of The Party isn't to blame, it's ALL the other side's fault. I look at the whole mess and can only think that you're sitting in a swimming pool with a line splitting it off in the middle, with either side blaming the other one for pissing in the pool but neither even thinking about getting out and draining the water.