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US Tech Firms Fear China Could Be Spying On Them Using Power Cords, Report Says (cnbc.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the accessing-sensitive-data dept.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from CNBC: Fearing that China could be spying on them using power cords and plugs, several U.S. technology companies have asked their Taiwanese suppliers to shift production of some components out of the mainland, Nikkei Asian Review reported on Friday. The report cited unnamed executives from two Taiwanese companies: Lite-On Technology, a manufacturer of electronic parts, and Quanta Computer, a supplier of servers and data centers. Lite-On's clients include Dell EMC, Hewlett-Packard and IBM, while Quanta counts Google and Facebook among its customers, according to Nikkei. The executives told Nikkei that some of their American clients -- without specifying which companies -- asked them to move out of China partly because of cyberespionage and cybersecurity risks. The U.S. tech firms were worried that even mundane components such as power plugs could be tapped by Beijing to access sensitive data, according to the report. According to the report, Lite-On Technology is building a new factory in Taiwan to manufacture power components for servers due to China's cybersecurity concerns. Quanta has also shifted production out of mainland China to Taiwan due to similar concerns, as well as additional tariffs imposed by Washington as a result of the U.S.-China trade war.

10 of 142 comments (clear)

  1. Valid fear. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    https://www.amazon.com/KJB-Security-C1184-Camera-covert/dp/B0054GQAJU

  2. If you're going to be paranoid... by misnohmer · · Score: 4, Informative

    If you're worried about power plugs, you should be worried about anything that plugs in, or even is battery powered. An office heater or fan, desk lamp, etc can spy on your power signature almost as well as the extension cord used to power things. A battery powered headset can spy wirelessly too. You could even take it a step further and suspect shoes made in China, they could contain kinetically charged batteries with spying equipment.

    So, if you want to be paranoid, you have to ban everything made in China.

    1. Re:If you're going to be paranoid... by hey! · · Score: 4, Insightful

      The difference is that you don't buy an office heater, fan, or desk lamp *with a server*. The scale of an operation to capture significant valuable information via desk lamps would have to be orders of magnitude larger.

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    2. Re:If you're going to be paranoid... by Powercntrl · · Score: 4, Interesting

      If you're worried about power plugs, you should be worried about anything that plugs in, or even is battery powered.

      Pretty much anything you connect to your network could be used to hack into the other machines you have on that network. Even the WiFi plug I bought for my lamp has been nagging me to update the firmware it runs.

      On the other hand, those WiFi outlet switch thingies are just so damn convenient... Security was fun while it lasted.

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      DRM is like antifreeze, to the MPAA/RIAA it's sweet, to the consumers it's poison.
  3. Only Americans are... by EzInKy · · Score: 4, Funny

    ...allowed to spy on Americans. I'm sure that is written in the Constitution somewhere.

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    Time is what keeps everything from happening all at once.
  4. This is beyond stupid. by gweihir · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Apparently, these US companies have nobody left that understands technology. Such an attack would be both ineffective and far, far more expensive than other possibilities. Requires some minimal actual knowledge of IT security to see that though, but all these people seem to have is irrational fear.

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  5. Wrong target by Roger+W+Moore · · Score: 4, Insightful

    So, if you want to be paranoid, you have to ban everything made in China.

    Why China? China is only suspected of using consumer electronics to spy whereas we actually know for certain that the US government has been using consumer electronics to spy on people.

  6. Yes! by Gravis+Zero · · Score: 4, Insightful

    This is the proper level of "paranoia" required to keep data secret! However, US tech companies should also be having the realization that they need to stop selling/enabling insecure products because the buyers may end up being their workers. Hack a worker's wireless printer via internet (easy), move laterally via bluetooth to their smartphone (outdated and insecure) and you have a remote surveillance device in your "secure" workplace. Each step of insecurity brought to you by good ol' US tech companies.

    There is so much insecurable crap in computers and products that it's going to be a monumental task to actually secure companies. Sure hope PS/2 keyboards and mice are coming back into fashion because USB is a security nightmare.

    You reap what you sow, US tech companies!

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    Anons need not reply. Questions end with a question mark.
  7. Re:Dianose and treatment for the USA by Gravis+Zero · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Cause: a result of an underlying belief that other people are hostile [and long time spying on others] in combination with a lack in self-awareness

    China is the number one thief of IP while the US is the number two thief of IP. The later fact does not negate the former.

    It's not wrong for them to be concerned. Sure, it's hypocritical but it's not wrong.

    --
    Anons need not reply. Questions end with a question mark.
  8. Was that a Bloomberg news article... by ffkom · · Score: 4, Insightful

    ... from the same "reliable" sources that still owe us a presentation of the spy-chips on the SuperMicro boards?