Is China resident in your computer, just might be true for the US gov.

[cato2]

Seems that the US has finally woke up about the potential of computers being used from China to access the internet and will compromise security of the owner/operator. Think it is only one manufacturer? You might be surprised at the big boys who also trade with China, and not just pc models.

Computers With China Connection Worry Government


A Chinese government agency owns 28 percent of Lenovo, the world's No. 3 PC maker.

Citing National Security, State Department Bans Secret Work on Some PCs
By FOSTER KLUG, AP

WASHINGTON (May 19) - The State Department said Thursday that 16,000 computers it bought from a U.S.-based company partially owned by the Chinese government should be used only for unclassified work after a lawmaker criticized the purchase as potentially dangerous to national security.

Richard Griffin, assistant secretary of state for diplomatic security, said in a letter sent to Rep. Frank Wolf that the State Department also is changing the way it buys technology to guarantee the security of U.S. information.

The government, Griffin wrote, is committed to making sure the purchase from Lenovo, the world's No. 3 PC maker, will not "compromise our information and communication channels."

Wolf, R-Va., chairman of the House subcommittee that finances State Department operations, said he raised alarms after he discovered that officials planned to use at least 900 of the computers in classified work and at U.S. embassies and consulates abroad. That, he said, possibly could give China access to sensitive U.S. information.

The letter from Griffin did not mention the 900 computers, and efforts to obtain comment from State Department officials were unsuccessful.

An official with Lenovo said the claims that China might use the computers to spy were unfair and subjected Lenovo to "guilt by association."

"We are absolutely confident in the security of our manufacturing process," said Jeffrey Carlisle, Lenovo's vice president of government relations. "These computers do not present a risk to U.S. security."

Lenovo is based in North Carolina, but also has offices in Beijing and around the world. A Chinese government agency owns 28 percent of the company; the rest is held by investors throughout the world. Last year, Lenovo bought the IBM PC Division and moved its executive headquarters from China to the United States. IBM still has about a 13 percent stake in the company.

A spokesman with the Chinese Embassy in Washington did not return messages seeking comment.

Speaking to reporters, Wolf called Chinese spying efforts "frightening" and said it was "no secret that the United States is a principal target of Chinese intelligence services."

"No American government agency should want to purchase from them," Wolf said.

As China's economy booms and its companies gain strength, U.S. lawmakers have expressed frustration and they worry regularly about what they say are unfair economic practices that rob Americans of their jobs.

Criticism from Congress last year forced China's state-controlled CNOOC Ltd. to give up an $18.5 billion takeover bid for the U.S. oil company Unocal Corp. Lawmakers said the deal could jeopardize U.S. security.

Larry Wortzel, head of a U.S. government commission that studies security and economic issues related to China, had seen no evidence of tampering in the Lenovo computers but said Chinese intelligence services are capable of doctoring computer systems.

"Would I buy one for my home?" he asked. "Absolutely."

But, he added, the U.S. government should not have sensitive material passing through computers made by a company controlled by a foreign country.

Carlisle, the Lenovo official, said that the Chinese government agency that owns part of Lenovo does not get involved in the company's strategy or decision-making and does not appoint people to the company's board.

"We're not a state-owned enterprise," he said

http://articles.news.aol.com/news/ar...90006&cid=2194

China-IBM Computer Deal Marks a New Era

IBM story link

[USA11B]

To those computer knowledgeable this will be no surprise.
I'm using eTrust Personal Firewall. It is different from the Norton I had previously installed in that it notifies me when my PC is probed.
This shows up under the Status tab.
Blocked Intrusions
9425 Intrusion have been blocked since install
87 of those have high-rated
I have observed probes from as near as fifty miles, and from China, Vietnam, Bulgaria, and many other locations.
If it aint protected someone will find it.
My AntiVirus and Firewall up date regularly, still not sure if they can catch all that are sent out because they are so numerous.

[DocDiggs]

I think this is just another witch-hunt. Gov secret databases are hacked into on a failry regular basis by highschool kids. The weak-link in computers is the software that is used and for most, if not all, operations that is Microsoft, hardly the best SW for much of anything. USgov needs to build/write the best and most secure SW possible for anything other than routine work and communications. There are companies here in the US that are capable of doing that and SW creators that the gov could hire permanently for such writing and maintenance.

I assume that only properly cleared personnel have access to these databases and it should be possible to go from a "normal" OS such as Microsoft into a secure database if it is properly coded and protected.

As far as protection from spying by China, they are no more of a problem than any other "technologically blessed" nation. The US is the prime target for snooping and interestingly enough, Israel is at or near the top of the Snooper List.