Chinese: Why bother hacking the Pentagon, when you can infiltrate its security firm?

[Sirotnikov]

lets agree on the following:

a rogue intelligence service wanting to hack the pentagon would want to know stuff about methods and technologies used to protect it. correct?

a spy or mole would be able to supply the intelligence service some (not all) of the required data to hack the pentagon. even data lacking technological information, such as names and dates of contracts and contingency plans.

a rogue intelligence service will have a much easier time, planting spies among his own nationals, or with people who come into daily contact with his own nationals.

bring it all together and you have a conclusion that this elevates risk.

[thesilentone]

I don't see the problem either, just having chinese citizens in the shareholders meetings has little to do with knowing secrets about how it's networks are run. Hiring chinese citizens to work on the code/administration would be a different story.

[Sirotnikov]

I have no need or desire to defend my position on what constitutes as an insider threat and how it is dealt with.

I think you take the concept of an insider threat only by its most concrete meaning.

if i want to break into a high-security place, i can befriend a security guard that will accidentally tell me when there are shift changes, or what is the name of the security software used to control the doors.

He most definitely isn't a security threat perse. He is not an active mole or an evil accomplice.

But his information is very very valuable.

[Pekka]

Siro, no we're not going to agree on that. Because that's nothing new. Sure sure and sure, but this is still nothing new. Thus, it's nothing new. Thus, these kinds of risks have been always known and dealt with, these kinds of acts have been always done. China saying "we're gonna buy some stock!" is the anti-climax of all that is new .

SO no, we're not going to agree that it is an elevated risk. It's the same crap all over again, that's what it is. Not new, just old and on a rebound.

[Pekka]

Siro, yes, the book I'm wrigint about and doign research is social engineering, aka that exact thing you just talked about, so you're just talking even more precisely what I do, congrats, you couldn't scope it any better.

It's not new, it's old.

Is it a risk, yes. If it wasn't, I'd be out of a job.

Is it a new risk? No. In fact it's the oldest risk, kind of like prostution is the oldest profession.

[Pekka]

I SHOULD add, that I consider it the BIGGEST risk as in it gives you the best results AND it is detected the least AND businesses especially do not give it enough focus or importance and thus this problem is often totally neglected.

HOWEVER, I do not consider it a new problem as in, "wow, Pentagon has to deal with a new kind of a threat". No they don't. They just have to deal with the old threat. There's no elevated threat. There's the same threat. THe same old thing. Nothing changes.

[Sirotnikov]

Originally posted by thesilentone
I don't see the problem either, just having chinese citizens in the shareholders meetings has little to do with knowing secrets about how it's networks are run. Hiring chinese citizens to work on the code/administration would be a different story.

You can do a whole lot in the company itself.
The shareholders are not a potential risk for tactical and technological info, but for strategical info, that could further direct their more serious collection efforts.


example removed

[OneFootInTheGrave]

to say that there is no link is absurd, but this type of linkage is actually good, the best would be if americans could do the same to the commies but perhaps they still cannot...

or China is not really seen as a threat, more like a paymaster

[DinoDoc]

I hope CIFUS comes to its senses because the deal as laid out here makes little sense to me.

[Whoha]

Originally posted by Japher
uhm... if the Chinese wanted info on the technology why not just plant a spy or 4,000 to infiltrate the company? No need to buy stock.

They saw the end result of the Russian program during the late 70's, early 80's: Namely the largest non-nuclear detonation in all of history. This method gives them much more reliable stuff.

[Whoha]

Originally posted by DinoDoc
I hope CIFUS comes to its senses because the deal as laid out here makes little sense to me.

When the Chinese take a less then 10% stake in the company no scrutiny is triggered. I don't know if that is the case or not, but in any even CIFUS has been derelict in its duty thus far, and I see no reason for change.

One can only hope that Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson reads up on his Adam Smith, no protectionist he. Smith warned that when national security is at stake, free trade takes a distant second place as a national priority. The great Scot is, as usual, as relevant to our day as he was when he wrote The Wealth of Nations 230 years ago.

Wishful thinking at its worst.