Just call me dumb.
For the last couple of years the feds have been claiming that Chinese equipment manufacturers like Huawei pose a national security risk to the United States. I really didn’t understand this since all the data transmitted over the cellular network is encrypted, so what is the problem.
First, in theory, after quantum computing becomes a real thing, they will be able to decrypt data that they captured before. Maybe the data will still be useful, maybe not. So that is a possibility, but it turns out that this is not the problem.
CNN published an exclusive last week that sheds a whole new light on things. Some examples of the real problem that they have not been discussing. Possibly, this is due to not wanting the bad guys to know exactly how much they knew.
Example 1: China offered to build and pay for a $100 million ornate Chinese garden at the National Arboretum in Washington, D.C. This included temples, pavilions and a 70-foot white pagoda. Local government folks were excited.
But the devil, as always, is in the details. US counterintelligence people figured out that this deal had many red flags. The pagoda would be located at one of the highest points in D.C. It was just two miles from the U.S. Capitol. What a great spot for signals intelligence. The Chinese also wanted to use materials shipped from China – in diplomatic pouches. After all, it is certainly cheaper to ship lumber and other building materials from China, in diplomatic pouches than to buy locally. You may remember that we built an embassy in Moscow using Russian labor and discovered that it was riddled with listening devices – so much so that the building was basically unusable. The feds killed the plan before building could start.
Example 2: At least since 2017, the feds have been investigating Chinese land purchases near critical infrastructure and even shut down a high-profile regional consulate believed to be a spy house. They also stonewalled efforts to plant listening devices near sensitive military and government facilities.
Example 3: The FBI discovered plans to put Huawei equipment on top of cell towers near military bases in the Midwest that could capture and disrupt sensitive DoD radio signals including those used to run our nuclear arsenal.
These investigations, CNN says, goes back to the Obama administration.
Whether the government intentionally leaked this data, a whistle blower leaked it or they decided it was more valuable being publicly known than secret is not clear, but that may become clear in the future.
The feds passed a law several years ago banning small telecom providers from using Huawei and other Chinese gear in their networks, but Congress, in its wisdom, didn’t allocate enough money to pay for this.
So far, carriers reported that there are about 24,000 pieces of equipment that need to be replaced and the replacement will cost about $5 billion. Congress allocated less than $2 billion. This means that the FCC will try to prioritize who gets funds and the rest of the eavesdropping gear will remain in place for the foreseeable future.
It is possible that the feds could force telecom providers to remove the equipment without paying for it, but that is likely to generate lawsuits that would go all the way to the Supreme Court and take a decade to resolve, so that is likely not the preferred route. In addition, that would force carriers to allocate money they already have, likely dramatically slowing the rollout of 5G and faster speed Internet. This would be a political disaster.
At least at this point, carriers are not (should not) buying new Chinese gear and as the old gear ages out over a twenty year period, the risk will gradually reduce.
The FCC has not actually distributed any of the money Congress did allocate yet, so at this point, unless a carrier had to replace a piece of equipment on the list for other reasons (like it was terminally broken), all 24,000 pieces of suspect equipment is still in use.
Sounds like China is winning. Again. Credit: CNN
