Dustin Volz’s Post

We need to bring more of these construction jobs on American ports to American companies. How much do you think the American economy has lost in down time for investigations and surveillance?

"A congressional probe of Chinese-built cargo cranes deployed at ports throughout the U.S. has found communications equipment that doesn’t appear to support normal operations, fueling concerns that the foreign machines may pose a covert national-security risk. The installed components in some cases include cellular modems, according to congressional aides and documents, that could be remotely accessed. The discovery of the modems by lawmakers, which hasn’t been previously reported, has added to concerns in Washington about port security and China. The Pentagon and intelligence officials at other agencies in the Biden administration have grown increasingly alarmed by the potential threat of disruption and espionage presented by the giant cranes built by ZPMC, a China-based manufacturer that accounts for nearly 80% of ship-to-shore cranes in use at U.S. ports." Espionage Probe Finds Communications Device on Chinese Cranes at U.S. Ports https://lnkd.in/eQZwcWhV

A congressional probe of Chinese-built cargo cranes deployed at ports throughout the U.S. has found communications equipment that doesn’t appear to support normal operations, fueling concerns that the foreign machines may pose a covert national-security risk. The installed components in some cases include cellular modems, according to congressional aides and documents, that could be remotely accessed. The discovery of the modems by lawmakers, which hasn’t been previously reported, has added to concerns in Washington about port security and China. The Pentagon and intelligence officials at other agencies in the Biden administration have grown increasingly alarmed by the potential threat of disruption and espionage presented by the giant cranes built by ZPMC, a China-based manufacturer that accounts for nearly 80% of ship-to-shore cranes in use at U.S. ports. The Chinese government “is looking for every opportunity to collect valuable intelligence and position themselves to exploit vulnerabilities by systematically burrowing into America’s critical infrastructure, including in the maritime sector... #China #USA #espionage #nationalsecurity https://lnkd.in/ggqXhiKw

Chinese-built cargo cranes at ports throughout the U.S. have communications equipment that doesn’t appear to support normal operations, a congressional probe found, fueling concerns that the foreign machines may pose a covert national-security risk. The Pentagon and intelligence officials at other agencies in the Biden administration have grown increasingly alarmed by the potential threat of disruption and espionage presented by the giant cranes built by a China-based manufacturer that accounts for nearly 80% of ship-to-shore cranes in use at U.S. ports. Read more from our exclusive report: https://lnkd.in/gAhzWkMQ

Espionage Probe Finds Communications Device on Chinese Cranes at U.S. Ports Lawmakers’ discovery has fueled worries in Washington that the China-built equipment could be a national-security threat at America’s ports By Dustin Volz Updated March 7, 2024 4:02 pm ET WASHINGTON—A congressional probe of Chinese-built cargo cranes deployed at ports throughout the U.S. has found communications equipment that doesn’t appear to support normal operations, fueling concerns that the foreign machines may pose a covert national-security risk. The installed components in some cases include cellular modems, according to congressional aides and documents, that could be remotely accessed.

Congressional espionage probe found communications equipment that can be remotely accessed in Chinese shipping port cranes? “A congressional probe of Chinese-built cargo cranes deployed at ports throughout the U.S. has found communications equipment that doesn’t appear to support normal operations, fueling concerns that the foreign machines may pose a covert national-security risk. The installed components in some cases include cellular modems that could be remotely accessed.” “Chinese made shipping port cranes can be the new Huawei. It’s the perfect combination of legitimate business that can also masquerade as clandestine intelligence collection.” #china #espionage #shippingportcranes https://lnkd.in/gca9rkp7

A congressional probe of Chinese-built cargo cranes deployed at ports throughout the U.S. has found communications equipment that doesn’t appear to support normal operations, fueling concerns that the foreign machines may pose a covert national-security risk. 🚢 Last month, the Biden administration announced it would invest more than $20 billion over the next five years to replace foreign-built cranes with U.S.-manufactured ones. The administration also rolled out a suite of maritime cybersecurity measures, which comes amid rising fears that Chinese hackers have been pre-positioning themselves to disrupt American critical infrastructure in the event of open hostilities, such as a military conflict over Taiwan. 📰 The Wall Street Journal: https://lnkd.in/ewnmra9K

"Espionage Probe Finds Communications Device on Chinese Cranes at U.S. Ports" Catch-22: "Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they aren't after you." Lots of folks want to talk dismiss national security concerns over our reliance on the PRC as China hawk paranoia. However, sometimes the evidence is right there, you just have to look. Unfortunately the complexity of modern electronic systems makes that really hard. Doesn't mean you shouldn't do it. Whether it is hardware vulnerabilities in semiconductors or modems in port equipment, if it comes from the PRC, its a vector the CCP can use to seek an advantage. The US needs to ensure critical sectors are free from PRC electronics. The "high fence" must include defense, critical infrastructure, healthcare, and telecom to name a few. "Over a dozen cellular modems were found on crane components in use at one U.S. port, and another modem was found inside another port’s server room, according to a committee aide. Some of the modems had active connections to operational components to the cranes, the aide said. #china #cranes #greatpowercompetition #highfencesmallyard

"Espionage Probe Finds Communications Device on Chinese Cranes at U.S. Ports" Catch-22: "Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they aren't after you." Lots of folks want to talk dismiss national security concerns over our reliance on the PRC as China hawk paranoia. However, sometimes the evidence is right there, you just have to look. Unfortunately the complexity of modern electronic systems makes that really hard. Doesn't mean you shouldn't do it. Whether it is hardware vulnerabilities in semiconductors or modems in port equipment, if it comes from the PRC, its a vector the CCP can use to seek an advantage. The US needs to ensure critical sectors are free from PRC electronics. The "high fence" must include defense, critical infrastructure, healthcare, and telecom to name a few. "Over a dozen cellular modems were found on crane components in use at one U.S. port, and another modem was found inside another port’s server room, according to a committee aide. Some of the modems had active connections to operational components to the cranes, the aide said. While it isn’t unusual for modems to be installed on cranes to remotely monitor operations and track maintenance, it appears that at least some of the ports using the ZPMC-made equipment hadn’t asked for that capability, according to congressional investigators and documents seen by The Wall Street Journal. One port with modems told lawmakers in a December letter that it was aware of their existence on the cranes, but couldn’t explain why they were installed." #china #cranes #greatpowercompetition #highfencesmallyard