China in Cyberspace

China in Cyberspace
By Bob Brewin

Last September, Huawei Technologies, a network equipment manufacturer headed by Ren Zhengfei, a former officer in China's People's Liberation Army, cut a deal with Bain Capital to acquire an interest in 3Com, which among other things, makes network hardware and software that's widely used by the Defense Department and other federal agencies.

This includes, according to 3Com, Voice over Internet Protocol systems deployed by the Defense Information Systems Agency and the Social Security Administration. 3Com also sells software that detects network attacks to the government.

In addition, the company has provided local area network hardware used in the Joint Worldwide Intelligence Communications System, a network that operates at the Top Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Information level.

Considering the security implications of a Chinese company acquiring even a passive interest in 3Com, members of Congress viewed the takeover with alarm. Rep. Thaddeus McCotter, R-Mich., chairman of the House Republican Policy Committee, called it a "stealth assault on America's national security."

Last month, Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, the committee's ranking Republican, sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson saying there was a "growing apprehension in the Congress" about the security implications of the transaction. Paulson chairs the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, which examines the national security implications of such investments.

Shortly after Dingell and Barton raised their concerns, Xu Zhijun, chief marketing officer at Huawei Technologies, told the Financial Times that the views on the deal expressed by some U.S. lawmakers were "bullshit." Huawei, he said, only intended to take a 16.5 per cent investment in 3Com.

Zhijun's blast wasn't exactly well-timed. Last week, the Pentagon released a report concluding -- surprise -- that a series of attacks against U.S. government networks appear to emanate from China.

I wonder if these attacks were discovered by 3Com intrusiondetection software?

The Pentagon noted in its report that Huawei is one of a group of Chinese IT companies that serve both military and commercial users in the country. The report said such companies have "close commercial ties with the [People's Liberation Army] and collaborate [with the PLA] on research and development."

Zhijun tried to deflect criticism of the 3Com deal by telling the Financial Times that China is a big customer for network gear made by Cisco, so maybe the Chinese should worry about that company and its software. "Cisco is everywhere within China," he said. "Who should be more concerned?"

Zhijun has a good point. If Cisco gear is all over China, does this mean it could be used to mount attacks against U.S. networks? I posed this question to a Cisco representative, but have not heard back from her.

Marlboro, Not Marlborough

3Com is headquartered in what is now known as Marlborough, Mass. But when my grandfather built a summer lake cottage there in the early 1900s, it was known simply as Marlboro, an appellation gussied up to the tonier name sometime in the early 1980s.

Though Marlboro now is replete with tech and IT companies, it ironically was the home of the last operator-based telephone exchange in New England, which finally converted to dial tone in the late 1960s.

I spent my summers in Marlboro with a bevy of aunts, uncles and cousins, and always marveled at the ease of use of that system -- you just picked up the phone, told the operator who you wanted to talk with, and she connected the call without even asking for a number.

You can't do that with an iPhone.

Hey, Let's Track Supplies Over a 49-Percent Chinese-Owned Network

This may sound loopy now that the Pentagon has all but pinned a series of cyberattacks on China, but it's true.

Last June, I wrote an article that detailed plans by the Army's Program Manager, Joint-Automatic Identification Technology to use a radio frequency identification network in Pakistan partially owned by a Chinese company to track supplies shipped from ports in Pakistan to U.S. forces in Afghanistan.

That RFID network is owned and operated by Savi Networks LLC, a joint venture between Lockheed Martin subsidiary Savi Technology and Hutchinson Port Holdings, a subsidiary of Hutchison Whampoa Limited of Hong Kong, controlled by Chinese billionaire Li Ka Shing. Savi Technology owns 51 per cent of Savi Networks and Hutchison 49 per cent, according to a 2005 press release from the partnership.

Considering the sensitivity of logistics and supply chain data -- we all know generals win battles and logisticians win wars, right? -- Air Force Maj. Patrick Ryder, a Pentagon spokesman, told me last June that Defense "is still assessing whether to utilize a commercial solution for Pakistan ... in accordance with DoD information assurance policy."

Last December, Ryder sent me an e-mail saying that Defense had decided to use the RFID network after a risk assessment conducted the Army's Information Assurance Security Engineering Directorate concluded that "DoD's use of Savi Technology's commercial RFID reader network in Pakistan does not increase the operational risk to U.S. forces or the [Global Information Grid]."

This statement did not address the fact that the network in Pakistan is not operated by Savi Technology, but Savi Networks, and so flummoxed me I did nothing with it until now.

I have a new query in to Ryder asking if Defense intends to continue to use this network considering that China now appears to be very busy doing bad things to us in cyberspace, and Ryder said he is working on it. Mark Nelson, a Savi Technology spokesman, said he would get back to me this week with a response.

Good News: The Air Force Is Ready to Fight the Cyber War

New threats mean new organizations -- and even better, new funding. So the Air Force has been positioning itself during the past year to manage and run the cyber war.

Until recently, Air Force leaders have relied on speeches and briefings to try to make sure the service gains the lead role in cyberspace. But last week, I stumbled over a very slick Air Force video that takes this approach to a new level. "It takes cyber dominance to defend America in a changing world," the ad says, plugging a new "elite" Air Force organization that "defends us from millions of cyber threats every day."

Cue the "Battle Hymn of the Republic" and "Off We Go Into the Wild Blue Yonder."

The Space Race

The Pentagon's China report also singled out the country as a new and potent adversary in space, with the ability to attack satellites.

Gen. Robert Kehler, commander of Air Force Space Command, recently told the Strategic Forces subcommittee of the House Armed Services Committee that unnamed adversaries are "actively pursuing" space dominance. U.S. space efforts, he said, face a range of threats, including jamming of radio frequencies and the Global Positioning System, as well as anti-satellite attacks and laser blinding of sensor systems.

The good news is the Air Force also has produced a slick video ad informing viewers that the service has the space dominance thing down.