With amazement, we saw how Ukraine and Israel embedded drones inside enemy territories, lying in wait until the time was right to turn them into weapons of war — all controlled remotely. This very strategic foundation is being laid throughout rooftops across America’s cities.
Drones are proliferating around the world for every imaginable use, from public safety, infrastructure inspection, delivery services, and, of course, for warfare. Cameras are getting better, flight times are increasing, and costs are coming down. These alluring trends are not slowing. Technological breakthroughs hold great promise for Americans to grow our economy and protect our nation.
While technological breakthroughs are typically created for the betterment of mankind, nefarious ideas often follow. The Wright brothers never imagined that their creation would one day be used to fly into buildings and intentionally kill over 3,000 people in one morning.
Most of the drones used in the United States are made by companies serving our main geopolitical rival, the People&#8217;s Republic of China. About <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2025/06/15/could-this-made-in-the-usa-drone-company-beat-dji/?msockid=2a1c322aee106f4a0b782763ef026e1a" target="_blank" rel="noopener">three-quarters of the American drone market</a> is dominated by Chinese-made drones, meaning there are roughly <a href="https://www.faa.gov/node/54496" target="_blank" rel="noopener">700,000 Chinese drones</a> flying over our country already. As the number of Chinese drones in our airspace continues to increase by the day, the potential threat to our safety and our privacy is only growing. It’s not just Chinese drones in our skies; it’s Chinese-made drone docks on our public and private rooftops, continually networked, albeit sold and installed by American companies.
<div id="attachment_955795" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-955795" class="wp-image-955795 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/GettyImages-2186590202-864x576.jpg" alt="A SZ DJI Technology Co. drone inside the company's Dock 2 on display during the Shanghai International Low-Altitude Economy &amp; UAV System Technology Expo in Shanghai, China, on Thursday, Nov. 28, 2024. The expo runs through Nov. 30. Photographer: Qilai Shen/Bloomberg via Getty Images" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/GettyImages-2186590202-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/GettyImages-2186590202-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/GettyImages-2186590202-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/GettyImages-2186590202.jpg 1024w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />Qilai Shen/Bloomberg via Getty Images.</div>
If anyone thinks that this is paranoid or excessive, remember that in China, there is effectively no such thing as a private sector. Chinese drone companies — like all other Chinese companies — are ultimately answerable to the Chinese Communist Party.
Across American cities, many drone docking stations are made by the Chinese company Shenzhen Da-Jiang Innovations Sciences and Technologies Ltd, commonly known as DJI. These <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OwUwgpqgcMA" target="_blank" rel="noopener">DJI docks</a> are being installed at our public safety departments as &#8216;Drone as First Responder&#8217; (DFR) programs. These drone stations connect online 24/7 and can launch autonomously, thus offering real-time video surveillance. While DFR is a powerful and promising innovation in public safety, concern arises when it’s implemented using DJI systems — technology the Department of Defense classifies as Chinese military hardware. Because these systems require persistent connectivity, unlike manually flown drones, they create the perfect vector for foreign surveillance or disruption. In fact, there is evidence, as reported by the Department of Homeland Security, that the Chinese government is already using drones to spy on us.
The first responder programs, when done right, expedite emergency reactions and enhance safety, however, when performed by adversarial military hardware, it amounts to a foreign surveillance on our communities. Unfortunately, a growing number of our public safety departments are adopting drone programs that include DJI military hardware docking stations.
China has already been caught deploying unlisted technologies capable of surveilling Americans within Chinese-made <a href="https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/climate-energy/ghost-machine-rogue-communication-devices-found-chinese-inverters-2025-05-14/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">solar panels</a>. It is not farfetched to imagine them using their drone dominance to do the same thing — and on a massive scale. With <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/chinas-buildup-of-the-surveillance-state-intelligence-matters/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">400 million cameras</a>, China also dominates the world’s <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/business-50348861" target="_blank" rel="noopener">surveillance camera market</a>. The idea of our country’s main rival cornering both markets within our own country has been alarming for leaders in Congress and the Pentagon alike.
Recognizing the security risks associated with Chinese drones, President Trump issued a significant Executive Order (EO) advancing American leadership in drone technology. His EO is aimed at “unleashing American drone dominance” and “restoring American airspace sovereignty.” For similar national security concerns, in May of 2019, President Trump prohibited U.S. companies from doing business with Huawei, a Chinese surveillance camera company, without government approval.
Following President Trump’s lead, State and local governments have the authority to prohibit the purchase of new Chinese-manufactured drones and docks. American-made alternatives are a clear national security priority. Our modern emergency response systems should not be an intelligence gatherer or a potential saboteur for our main adversary.
This is not about fear as much as it is about foresight. Replacing Chinese drone docks with American systems is a matter of basic sovereignty, security, and common sense. Our skies should serve us, not the Chinese Communist Party.
* * *
Brad Wenstrup is a former six-term republican congressman from Ohio who served on the Intelligence and Armed Services Committees. A doctor of podiatric medicine, Wenstrup also served as a U.S. Army Reserve officer and is a recipient of the Bronze Star.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Group of drones against sunset sky

Enemy Overhead: How Chinese Drones Are Quietly Claiming American Airspace

China

Congress

Drones

Espionage

National Security

Surveillance

Imagine leaving your front door unlocked with a note that reads, “Back in 15. Please don’t steal the silverware.” That, in essence, is what the United States government — yes, including the Pentagon — may have unwittingly done through its long-standing relationship with Microsoft and the tech giant’s disturbingly lax attitude toward cybersecurity oversight.
Microsoft’s China-linked engineers should be setting off DEFCON-level alarms in Washington. Instead, we’ve mostly gotten silence, shrugs, and vague murmurs. According <a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/microsoft-tech-support-government-cybersecurity-china-doj-treasury">to reports</a>, Microsoft gave foreign nationals access to parts of the software that power critical U.S. military infrastructure.
You read that right. Engineers based in China, working for a U.S. tech behemoth under no formal federal contract, had proximity to the digital equivalent of the Pentagon’s control room.
Even worse? Microsoft allegedly failed to tell the Pentagon about it.
This is no small &#8220;oopsie.&#8221; We’re talking about a company that provides essential software infrastructure to every arm of the U.S. government — military included — quietly hiring engineers from a geopolitical rival with a track record of industrial espionage, cyber warfare, and digital sabotage. If you think China wouldn’t exploit this access, you haven’t been paying attention.
Microsoft has since responded to the report from <a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/defense-department-pentagon-microsoft-digital-escort-china">ProPublica</a> that exposed the issue. “In response to concerns raised earlier this week about US-supervised foreign engineers, Microsoft has made changes to our support for US Government customers to assure that no China-based engineering teams are providing technical assistance for DoD Government cloud and related services,” stated Frank Shaw, Microsoft’s chief communications officer.
Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR), however, is now asking some <a href="https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases/chairman-cotton-to-hegseth-current-dod-agreements-and-practices-fail-to-account-for-threat-of-china">very pointed</a> questions, and rightly so. Why was this program not disclosed? Why were Chinese nationals permitted to work on products used by the Department of Defense? And who, exactly, at Microsoft thought this was a good idea?
<div id="attachment_954433" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-954433" class="size-large wp-image-954433" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/GettyImages-2193887719-864x576.jpg" alt="WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 14: U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AK) questions U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's nominee for Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth during his Senate Armed Services confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill on January 14, 2025 in Washington, DC. Hegseth, an Army veteran and the former host of “FOX &amp; Friends Weekend” on FOX News will be the first of the incoming Trump administration’s nominees to face questions from Senators. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/GettyImages-2193887719-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/GettyImages-2193887719-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/GettyImages-2193887719-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/GettyImages-2193887719.jpg 1024w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images</div>
The problem isn&#8217;t just Microsoft&#8217;s apparent blind spot for national security. The deeper issue is how cavalier we&#8217;ve become with <a href="https://www.spyhunter.com/shm/why-is-endpoint-protection-important/">endpoint protection </a>— that last line of defense between a secure network and total compromise. Whether it&#8217;s a government agency or a private company, relying on outdated firewalls and blind trust in tech titans is like wearing a screen door for armor.
This is the same Microsoft, mind you, that in just the last year alone has racked up a staggering number of <a href="https://www.enigmasoftware.com/cve202553770zerodayvulnerability-removal/">Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVEs)</a>. These aren’t minor bugs; these are gaping holes in the digital fabric — many of which can be exploited with a single click. One CVE alone allowed hackers to access Outlook inboxes without requiring the user to even open an email. Just receiving it was enough. That’s not an email; that’s a digital landmine.
Add in the explosion of <a href="https://www.spywareremove.com/remove-fake-virus.html">tech support scams</a>, the thousands of reported of <a href="https://www.enigmasoftware.com/verificationfailedemailscam-removal/">phishing schemes</a>, and malware attacks that install silently with a <a href="https://www.cyclonis.com/remove-oneclik-malware/">single mistimed click</a>, and we’ve got ourselves a cyber hygiene crisis. Criminals and state-backed hackers alike have figured out that Americans are highly advanced at building systems, but dangerously naive at guarding them.
Want another cherry on this data breach sundae? Microsoft’s move to hire foreign engineers coincided with its transition to a &#8220;cloud-first&#8221; infrastructure. Translation: the very people with questionable loyalties were potentially helping build and maintain systems that store terabytes of sensitive U.S. government data — offsite, off-premises, and off the radar of traditional defense monitoring.
Here’s a scary thought: if you were a Chinese intelligence officer dreaming of getting into Pentagon systems, would you rather recruit a spy, build a malware strain, or just… get hired by Microsoft?
You can’t blame China for trying. The blame lies with Microsoft for leaving the vault open and pretending it’s a broom closet.
The solution isn’t to boycott Microsoft (though the pressure to modernize and secure their systems needs to be immediate and non-negotiable). The real fix lies in overhauling our government’s relationship with Big Tech. We need rigorous vetting of foreign hires working on national security products. We need independent audits of source code, vulnerability testing, and real-time threat modeling. And we absolutely need to build up our domestic cybersecurity talent pool so that we’re not outsourcing our digital sovereignty to countries with conflicting interests.
Most importantly, endpoint security must become as ubiquitous in government as badge scanners and background checks. Every workstation, laptop, mobile device, and cloud node must be locked down with zero-trust architecture, real-time behavioral analytics, and automatic quarantine capabilities. Anything less is an open invitation to espionage.
This isn’t just a Microsoft problem or a Pentagon problem. It’s an American problem. We’re letting convenience and tech monopolies override prudence and national defense. The same way we wouldn’t allow a Chinese company to handle nuclear launch codes, we shouldn’t let their engineers code the operating systems that support those platforms.
Let’s not forget: the Chinese Communist Party plays a long game. They don’t need to hack into Fort Knox if we’re leaving the digital vault open with a &#8220;Welcome&#8221; sign in Mandarin. And Microsoft, by cozying up to foreign nationals while serving American defense clients, has done exactly that.
President Trump built his first administration on the promise of draining the swamp and putting America First. That promise must now extend to cybersecurity. Our digital borders are every bit as vital as our physical ones. It’s time to hold tech giants accountable and ensure our software backbone isn’t quietly being rewritten by our adversaries.
Because when the dragon’s inside the network, it’s already too late to “build” a firewall.
* * *
Julio Rivera is a business and political strategist, cybersecurity researcher, founder of <a href="https://www.itfunk.org/">ItFunk.Org</a>, and a political commentator and columnist. His writing, which is focused on cybersecurity and politics, is regularly published by many of the largest news organizations in the world.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Microsoft  Zizhu Campus In Shanghai

Why Microsoft Must Be Held Responsible For Its Pentagon Security Breach

Big Tech

Cybersecurity

Microsoft

Pentagon

Tom Cotton

A dual citizen of China and the United States pled guilty on Monday to stealing American missile defense technology for the Chinese government. 
The Justice Department <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/engineer-pleads-guilty-stealing-chinese-governments-benefit-trade-secret-technology-designed">announced</a> that 59-year-old Chenguang Gong pled guilty to theft of trade secrets. Gong, a former engineer who lives in San Jose, California, admitted to stealing information developed by the U.S. government for detecting nuclear missile launches, tracking ballistic and hypersonic missiles, and technology to assist fighter jets evade heat-seeking missiles. 
Gong, who faces up to 10 years in prison upon sentencing, is currently free on $1.75 million bond. 
In his plea agreement, Gong said that he transferred 3,600 files from the Los Angeles area research and development company where he worked and moved them to personal storage devices, including a personal laptop. The file transfers took place between March 2023 and April 2023, when he was fired by the company, which was identified as a victim of Gong.
The files contained blueprints for infrared sensors designed for use in space-based systems to detect missiles and blueprints for sensors for American military aircraft to combat heat-seeking missiles. Some of the files were later discovered at Gong’s private residence, the Justice Department said. 
The information on the files was worth hundreds of millions of dollars, according to prosecutors.
From 2014 to 2022, Gong applied for multiple “talent programs” run by the Chinese government while working for major American technology companies.  
The Justice Department said that China “established these talent programs as a means to identify individuals who have expert skills, abilities, and knowledge of advanced sciences and technologies in order to access and utilize those skills and knowledge in transforming the PRC’s economy, including its military capabilities.”
Gong sent in applications to the talent programs that mirrored technology produced by his employers. For example, in September 2020, Gong submitted an application for “low light/night vision” image sensors that had the model number of a sensor produced by a defense industry company he worked for from 2015-2019, according to investigators. 
The Justice Department also said that Gong took several trips to China to meet with talent program managers. In a 2019 email, Gong admitted that he “took a risk” to fly to China “because [he] worked for…an American military industry company.”
The guilty plea comes as government officials have attempted to crack down on intellectual property theft by China. It is estimated that Chinese-backed IP theft costs American companies between $300 to $600 billion per year.

HONG KONG-CHINA-HANDOVER-ANNIVERSARY

Chinese National Admits To Stealing Missile Defense Blueprints For Communist China

California

Communist China

Department of Justice

Spying

In May, U.S. energy officials <a href="https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/climate-energy/ghost-machine-rogue-communication-devices-found-chinese-inverters-2025-05-14/">released</a> bombshell findings about China’s ability to turn out the lights across America. Rogue communications devices were found inside Chinese solar power inverters. In addition, undisclosed cellular radios were found inside Chinese batteries. These Chinese Communist Party sabotage efforts are reminiscent of CCP-tied Huawei’s infiltration of our communications network, which gave Beijing the ability to <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/23/politics/fbi-investigation-huawei-china-defense-department-communications-nuclear/index.html">disrupt our nuclear arsenal communications</a>.
Beijing seeks the ability to remotely access and destroy the systems upon which Americans depend for everyday life and upon which our military depends to project power across the globe. The U.S. rightly began to remove Huawei technologies from our market <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/news/ghost-machine-rogue-communication-devices-050547906.html?guccounter=1">in 2019</a> because of security risks. Since then, ironically, we’ve allowed China to flood our market with network-connected technologies such as routers, drones, cranes, healthcare devices, cameras, green tech, and more, which collectively constitute a deeper penetration of our vital systems. This trend must be reversed through new laws and better law enforcement to block and remove all Chinese network-connected technologies. 
American tax dollars should not fund technologies that facilitate Chinese espionage and sabotage efforts. At the federal level, Congress should ban federal procurement of Chinese network-connected technologies. Congress should also codify President Trump’s Information and Communications Technology <a href="https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2019/05/17/2019-10538/securing-the-information-and-communications-technology-and-services-supply-chain">executive order</a> from 2019 and fund ICT programs to block CCP tech. During March 2025 testimony, former Biden Administration official Dr. Rush Doshi <a href="https://www.youtube.com/live/oS_aZXE6W0k">argued</a> that codifying Trump’s order “would let us prohibit certain [Chinese] goods,” especially power converters and network-connected technologies, “from being in the U.S. market.”
States must excise CCP network-connected technologies from their critical infrastructure and government systems. For example, Texas’ 2021 <a href="https://www.jw.com/news/insights-texas-lone-star-infrastructure-protection-act/">Lone Star Infrastructure Protection Act (LIPA)</a> forbids Texas businesses and government from contracting with China, Russia, North Korea and Iran on critical infrastructure, especially if foreign parties would gain remote access or control of the infrastructure. A 2023 Nebraska law <a href="https://flood.house.gov/media/press-releases/congressman-flood-applauds-bipartisan-work-ban-state-funds-huawei-equipment">prohibits</a> the state from providing public funds to telecommunications providers that have not yet removed Huawei 5G hardware from their cell towers. Utah passed a 2024 law to end procurement of Chinese technologies such as computers and routers. All states should adopt these measures.
Furthermore, the U.S. must enforce the rule-of-law. The Chinese Communist Party has made tremendous gains at the expense of the U.S. in part because the U.S. and its allies have failed to enforce their own laws upon malicious CCP agents and entities. At a fundamental level, the two legal systems are incompatible because <a href="https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/briefings-statements/statement-national-security-advisor-robert-c-obrien-011521-2/">China’s laws require businesses to engage in espionage for the party-state</a>, while America’s laws require data privacy. America must pivot and crush CCP lawlessness. Consumer fraud and data privacy laws must be tightened, and robust enforcement actions must be taken by both federal agencies and state attorneys general. 
In March 2025, the FCC’s Council on National Security <a href="https://www.cybersecuritydive.com/news/fcc-investigating-china-companies-national-security/743316/">opened an investigation</a> into several telecommunications companies, including Huawei, for engaging in unfair, deceptive, and fraudulent business practices such as selling banned equipment in the United States. The FCC can go further by revoking telecom licenses from corrupt entities. Meanwhile, other federal agencies must get in the fight.
State AGs must enforce the law against Chinese manufacturers that embed hidden backdoors in products, and American companies that “white-label” such products must also be held accountable. For example, according to the federal <a href="https://www.cisa.gov/resources-tools/resources/contec-cms8000-contains-backdoor">Cybersecurity &amp; Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA)</a> the Chinese company Contec sells healthcare monitors with embedded backdoors that provide Beijing with access to patient data along with the ability to manipulate readings of a patient’s vitals. AGs should investigate Contec for potential violations of consumer and medical data protections. As a recent FDA Safety Communication states, <a href="https://www.fda.gov/medical-devices/safety-communications/cybersecurity-vulnerabilities-certain-patient-monitors-contec-and-epsimed-fda-safety-communication">Florida-based Epsimed</a>, which sells Contec products in the U.S., should also be investigated.
These security concerns are amplified by ethical concerns. Chinese green energy technologies are not only riddled with backdoors, they often <a href="http://www.cecc.gov/events/hearings/from-cobalt-to-cars-how-china-exploits-child-and-forced-labor-in-the-congo">rely on slave labor</a>. Too many environmental activists have been hoodwinked into promoting cheap CCP hardware to “save the planet,” all while supporting slave labor and compromising our energy grid.
The United States <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/news/ghost-machine-rogue-communication-devices-050547906.html?guccounter=1">2019 actions against Huawei</a> were a strong step, but since then we’ve lost ground. Rapid and concerted action is needed to protect our way of life against Chinese Communist Party sabotage, and to build an economic system based upon rule-of-law rather than communist infiltration and subversion.
* * *
Michael Lucci is the Founder and CEO of State Armor, a 501(c)(3) non-profit advocating for state solutions to the global threats posed by the CCP. 
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

TOPSHOT-CHINA-TECHNOLOGY-AI

CCP In The Machine: How China’s Tech Continues To Infiltrate American Hardware

Attorney General

Communism

Foreign Policy

Opinion

Technology

A <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/communist-china" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Chinese</a> spy balloon caused alarm after it flew across the United States two years ago, likely collecting data on millions of Americans, but a new report points to American technology in the device rather than Chinese surveillance tech.
According to a new <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/chinese-spy-balloon-new-report-american-technology-found-2027189" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> by Newsweek, the 200-foot craft contained satellite communication modules and sensors from multiple U.S. companies, potentially enabling significant data collection on American infrastructure.
Sources told Newsweek that “The technology &#8230; matches that in a patent awarded in 2022 to scientists at the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) Aerospace Information Innovation Research Institute in Beijing, which has links to China&#8217;s military and to its industrial defense base.&#8221;
“The patent included a short burst messaging module called Iridium 9602 made by Iridium, a global satellite communications provider based in McLean, Virginia – and coincidentally less than five miles from CIA headquarters.”
The Iridium patent was titled, &#8220;A high-altitude balloon safety control and positioning recovery device and method.”
“The analysis of the materiel recovered from the balloon showed that it had incorporated an Iridium communications system as well as technology from four other U.S. companies and at least one Swiss company, the sources said,” per Newsweek.
&#8220;A Chinese company would not have given them full satcom coverage over the U.S.,&#8221; a former intelligence employee told Newsweek.
The balloon contained communications from American companies Texas Instruments, Omega Engineering, Amphenol All Sensors Corporation, and Onsemi.
In response, Iridium admitted to having partners in China, but declined to identify them, claiming that the tech could have been obtained on resale markets.
“We certainly don’t condone our radios or our modules ending up and being used in ways they shouldn’t be,” said Jordan Hassim, Iridium’s Executive Director for Communications.
Newsweek gained access to a 75-page technical review of the balloon conducted by the National Air and Space Intelligence Center in Ohio.
Investigators reportedly discovered hints of empty compartments that could hold deployable devices, such as specialized gliders intended to gather additional data. The analysis also indicated that some of the surveillance equipment, including hard drives for storing potentially crucial imagery, was kept in a simple foam cooler, surprising those who expected more sophisticated protective enclosures.
Beijing continues to assert the device was a meteorological balloon that drifted off course, with one embassy spokesperson telling Newsweek, “The straying of the Chinese civilian unmanned airship into the US airspace was an accident caused by force majeure.”
“The airship, used for meteorological research, unintentionally drifted into U.S. because of the westerlies and its limited self-steering capability,” the spokesman said.
Meanwhile, officials involved in the review noted that some of the recovered electronics, including satellite communications modules, matched items found in publicly available patents linked to Chinese research institutes.
Some experts point to this finding as evidence of the need for stricter export control laws that attempt to limit sensitive American-made items from reaching prohibited users and hostile foreign actors.

US shoots down suspected Chinese spy balloon

Chinese Spy Balloon Used American-Made Tech To Gather Intel, Analysis Finds

Biden Administration

Global Politics

World

At a recent meeting of the House Committee on Homeland Security, evidence was presented of how China is posing a grave cybersecurity threat to the United States.
“Over the last year, the U.S. government has discovered a number of PRC [People&#8217;s Republic of China] state-sponsored threat actors deeply embedded in and across the nation’s critical networks: Volt Typhoon, Salt Typhoon, Flax Typhoon, and most recently Silk Typhoon, have compromised our critical infrastructure, hacked sensitive communications, breached federal workstations &#8230;” Chairman Mark E. Green (R-TN) stated.
“The U.S. authoring agencies have confirmed that Volt Typhoon has compromised the IT environments of multiple critical infrastructure organizations—primarily in <a href="https://www.cisa.gov/topics/critical-infrastructure-security-and-resilience/critical-infrastructure-sectors/communications-sector">Communications</a>, <a href="https://www.cisa.gov/topics/critical-infrastructure-security-and-resilience/critical-infrastructure-sectors/energy-sector">Energy</a>, <a href="https://www.cisa.gov/topics/critical-infrastructure-security-and-resilience/critical-infrastructure-sectors/transportation-systems-sector">Transportation Systems</a>, and <a href="https://www.cisa.gov/topics/critical-infrastructure-security-and-resilience/critical-infrastructure-sectors/water-and-wastewater-sector">Water and Wastewater Systems</a> Sectors—in the continental and non-continental United States and its territories, including Guam,” the Cybersecurity &amp; Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) <a href="https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/cybersecurity-advisories/aa24-038a" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> in February 2024.
“Microsoft has identified a nation-state activity group tracked as Flax Typhoon, based in China, that is targeting dozens of organizations in Taiwan with the likely intention of performing espionage,” Microsoft <a href="https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/security/blog/2023/08/24/flax-typhoon-using-legitimate-software-to-quietly-access-taiwanese-organizations/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">noted</a> in August 2023.
“Salt Typhoon refers to a sophisticated cyber espionage operation orchestrated by a Chinese Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) group, commonly known as Earth Estries, Ghost Emperor, or UNC2286,” <a href="https://www.armis.com/blog/breaking-down-salt-typhoon/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Armis</a> <a href="https://www.armis.com/blog/breaking-down-salt-typhoon/">reported</a>. “This state-sponsored actor has been linked to high-profile breaches targeting critical U.S. infrastructure, including major telecommunications providers such as Verizon, AT&amp;T, T-Mobile, and Lumen Technologies.”
“China has engaged in &#8230; maturation in how they conduct these operations,” Adam Meyers, senior vice president of Counter Adversary Operations at CrowdStrike, testified at the House committee hearing. “Today, they&#8217;re using exploits that target external facing devices that are connected directly to the internet that effectively bridge enterprises to the internet. These devices are often unmanaged. In many cases, they may be legacy or have proprietary capabilities &#8211; that means that they don&#8217;t run modern security tools &#8230; like a router or a VPN concentrator. Things that are meant to connect the enterprise to the network or allow remote users to authenticate in.”
“The nodes, so to speak, between silos,” Green suggested.
“Yes, sir, and these are highly prioritized and highly valuable targets with these threat actors,” Meyers replied. “They&#8217;ve nationalized their vulnerability research program in 2018. For example, they changed the national security law in China, and all vulnerability research has to be submitted through the Chinese government. Whereas, here in the United States, we follow something we call responsible disclosure, where if I find a vulnerability in a product, I notify that product vendor in order to try to get it fixed. They&#8217;re effectively nationalizing that resource so they can use that for exploits against American technology and American companies. Once they gain that access, they attempt to remain stealthy and either conduct espionage in order to inform political and military decision-making, or in the case of ‘Vanguard Panda,’ also known as ‘Volt Typhoon,’ the prepositioning that we’ve discussed here, which would be potentially useful to bring down some of these networks that Mr. Montgomery mentioned in time of conflict.”
Retired Rear Admiral Mark Montgomery, senior director of the Center on Cyber and Technology Innovation at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, pointed out, “This operational preparation of the battlefield, it is a war-making action, and we have to take it much more seriously. I think the idea that they&#8217;ve pre-positioned malware or that they have capabilities that lie in wait that can come out at the right time, as we&#8217;re making a decision to respond to a crisis in Taiwan or crisis in the Baltic States. TRANSCOM operates on these unclassified networks with civilian systems. This is why I think former Representative [Now National Security Advisor] Waltz is right, in the sense that we have to go on the offensive. We now have to actually publicly execute operations against Chinese cyber infrastructure to say: ‘We know you did this; we know you use this infrastructure to do this, and we&#8217;re going to remove that infrastructure from your capability.’ &#8230; Otherwise, the Chinese are going to keep doing what they&#8217;re doing.”
“These incidents are not over,” Meyers continued. “‘Salt Typhoon’ is an ongoing activity by an adversary, as is ‘Volt Typhoon,’ or what we call ‘Vanguard Panda.’ So this is something we need to continuously engage; we need to continuously identify, root them out, and put a stop to them––cut off their access.”
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USA and China flag

House Committee On Homeland Security Warns Of Chinese Espionage Threat

Politics

U.S. officials are urging Americans to use encrypted apps to protect their communications after telecommunications companies were compromised during a recent hack from <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/communist-china" target="_blank" rel="noopener">communist China</a> that is the largest breach in history.
A senior FBI official, who asked not be identified, said during a call with reporters that &#8220;people looking to further protect their mobile device communications would benefit from considering using a cellphone that automatically receives timely operating system updates, responsibly managed encryption, and phishing resistant MFA (multi-factor authentication) for email, social media, and collaboration tool accounts.&#8221;
Jeff Greene, an official with the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), added: “Encryption is your friend, whether it is on text messaging or you have the capacity to use encrypted voice communication.”
He added that the breach was so large in scale that it was &#8220;impossible&#8221; to know when officials would have a &#8220;full eviction&#8221; of Chinese hackers from U.S. systems.
The warning from U.S. law enforcement comes after Microsoft cybersecurity experts dubbed the cyberattack from the Chinese government “Salt Typhoon” with “Typhoon” denoting that the operation is Chinese and “Salt” indicating that it is a counterintelligence operation.
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The New York Times reported that the Chinese are believed to have hacked systems used by the companies to comply with court-authorized surveillance wiretaps, including Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act collection, one of the secretive measures the U.S. has to uncover networks of terrorists and spies.
The Chinese hackers compromised the phones of numerous prominent individuals in politics and national security, including top elected leaders.
NBC News <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/security/us-officials-urge-americans-use-encrypted-apps-cyberattack-rcna182694" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> that the Chinese stole call records and were able to target specific individuals and listen in to live phone calls.
One of the concerns that officials had about the Chinese discovering who U.S. officials were communicating with was that it would give them a list of people to target in influence operations aimed at manipulating decision makers.
Chinese hackers outnumber all of the FBI’s cyber personnel by at least 50 to 1. They are estimated to have up to 600,000 people involved in their espionage operations.
“China’s hacking program is larger than that of every other major nation, combined,” said FBI Director Christopher Wray.
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), who was nominated to serve as President-elect Donald Trump&#8217;s Secretary of State, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/rubio-chinas-hack-of-u-s-telecom-companies-most-serious-breach-ever" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> last month that the hack was the largest breach he’s ever seen.

China aspiration on Chip and digital Tech circutiry

U.S. Officials Urge Americans To Use Encrypted Apps After Chinese Hack

Communist China hacked several major American telecommunications companies as part of an espionage campaign targeting former President Donald Trump, Sen. JD Vance (R-OH), and others.
Microsoft cybersecurity experts dubbed the group connected to the Chinese government &#8220;Salt Typhoon&#8221; with &#8220;Typhoon&#8221; denoting that the operation is Chinese and &#8220;Salt&#8221; indicating that it is a counterintelligence operation.
The Biden-Harris administration was caught flat-footed by the breach and the Cyber Safety Review Board, which is part of Homeland Security, indicated that it will initiate a review of the hack &#8220;at the appropriate time.&#8221;
The hack also reportedly targeted aides of Vice President Kamala Harris and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY).
Some of the companies hacked included Verizon, AT&amp;T, and Lumen, the reports said. Officials indicated that the known scale of the attack has grown dramatically as investigators continue to learn more.
The hackers are believed to have &#8220;compromised the phones of a number of prominent individuals in politics and national security, including some in the U.S. government,&#8221; The Wall Street Journal <a href="https://www.wsj.com/politics/national-security/u-s-panel-to-probe-cyber-failures-in-massive-chinese-hack-of-telecoms-6bdc2f2e">reported</a>.
One of the concerns that officials had about the Chinese discovering who U.S. officials were calling was that it would give them a list of people to target in influence operations aimed at manipulating decision makers.
The New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/26/us/politics/salt-typhoon-hack-what-we-know.html">reported</a> that the Chinese are believed to have hacked systems used by the companies to comply with court-authorized surveillance wiretaps, including Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act collection, one of the secretive measures the U.S. has to discover terrorists and spies.
The Journal <a href="https://www.wsj.com/politics/national-security/scale-of-chinese-spying-overwhelms-western-governments-6ae644d2">reported</a> earlier this month that the scale of China&#8217;s espionage is &#8220;unprecedented&#8221; as it looks to become the world&#8217;s leading superpower by stealing technology.
Chinese hackers outnumber all of the FBI’s cyber personnel by at least 50 to 1, the report said. They are estimated to have up to 600,000 people involved in their espionage operations.
“China’s hacking program is larger than that of every other major nation, combined,” said FBI Director Christopher Wray.

Chinese Embassy in Berlin

China Hacks U.S. Telecom Companies In ‘Major Espionage Coup’ Against U.S.

Hacked

On Friday, in a case that the United States government and his employer have denounced as a sham, a Russian court found Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, the first U.S. journalist to face such a charge since Nicholas Daniloff in 1986, guilty of espionage and sentenced him to 16 years in a high-security penal colony.
Gershkovich was arrested in March 2023 in Yekaterinburg and later accused of being a CIA spy; Russian prosecutors alleged that “under instructions from the CIA” and “using painstaking conspiratorial methods,” Gershkovich “was collecting secret information” regarding a Russian defense contractor. The U.S. State Department called for his immediate release; no public evidence has been presented by Russia that supported its case. He was held in Moscow’s infamous Stalin-era Lefortovo Prison in a small cell and only <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2024/07/19/media/evan-gershkovich-espionage-trial-verdict-intl/index.html#:~:text=Evan%20Gershkovich%2C%20the%20first%20American,have%20denounced%20as%20a%20sham" target="_blank" rel="noopener">allowed</a> one hour of walking every day.
“This disgraceful, sham conviction comes after Evan has spent 478 days in prison, wrongfully detained, away from his family and friends, prevented from reporting, all for doing his job as a journalist,” Journal publisher Almar Latour and Editor-in-Chief Emma Tucker <a href="//B6C39C40-81A7-4C4B-91B7-13445197898B/v" target="_blank" rel="noopener">stated</a>,  “We will continue to do everything possible to press for Evan’s release and to support his family. Journalism is not a crime, and we will not rest until he’s released. This must end now.”
Russia rebuffed a request from Gershkovich’s legal team that he be moved from the prison to house arrest or be granted bail.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has hinted that he would swap Gershkovich for Russians held in other countries, referencing Vadim Krasikov, an FSB operative. But on Friday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov responded to the idea of an exchange by asserting, “I’m leaving that question without an answer. There is a charge of espionage, so this is a very, very sensitive area.”
“Penal colonies are usually located in remote areas far from densely populated regions,” the Journal <a href="https://www.wsj.com/world/russia/evan-gershkovich-penal-colony-transfer-69b5d482" target="_blank" rel="noopener">noted.</a> “Due to their location and inaccessibility, colonies are less frequently inspected by human-rights groups. When they have visited, observers report poor conditions, including mold in the cells and problems with food and medical care, as well as ill treatment of inmates by prison staff.”

RUSSIA-US-JOURNALIST

Russia Sentences WSJ Reporter Evan Gershkovich To 16 Years In Penal Colony

Evan Gershkovich

Media

Russia

Vladimir Putin

Wall Street Journal

Sen. <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/ted-cruz" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ted Cruz</a> (R-TX) said this week that the Chinese are buying up farmland near U.S. Military bases so that they can have launch areas for drones to spy on the bases.
Cruz made the remarks during the most recent episode of his &#8220;Verdict&#8221; podcast with co-host Ben Ferguson.
“There were multiple Chinese spy balloons, and the Biden administration didn&#8217;t bother to tell anyone about them,&#8221; Cruz said. &#8220;Until finally some ranchers in Montana spotted this one and they got outed on the internet. Were it not for that, we wouldn&#8217;t even know about this one. They kept it secret that the Chinese had been sending spy balloons over U.S. airspace, over U.S. military bases. They&#8217;re engaged in active espionage against us.”
&#8220;The Chinese are buying up land and they&#8217;re claiming they&#8217;re buying it up for farming or ranching, but it allows them to set up reconnaissance sites that allows them to install tracking technology, to use radar, to use infrared scanning, and to view the bases, and from there, to attempt to fly drones over the bases and engage in surveillance,&#8221; he later added. &#8220;And I gotta say, it is insane that we are allowing the Chinese to do this, this should be illegal, we should not allow the Chinese Communists to buy land anywhere near our bases.&#8221;
He said that Democrats have resisted countering China&#8217;s buying up of land around U.S. Military bases because &#8220;today&#8217;s Democrat Party is structurally pro-China.&#8221;
Cruz said that the party&#8217;s major stakeholders — big business, big tech, big Hollywood, big universities — are all in bed with China.
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WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
China Buying Farmland NEXT to U.S. Military Bases to Spy on us, plus Alvin Bragg RELEASED the anti-Israel Protestors who Took Over Columbia.
Don&#8217;t miss this special video episode of Verdict 👇 <a href="https://t.co/kGQwSAt3Za">pic.twitter.com/kGQwSAt3Za</a>
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) <a href="https://twitter.com/tedcruz/status/1805349214173417902?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 24, 2024</a></blockquote>

Senator Ted Cruz

Ted Cruz: China Is Buying Farmland Near U.S. Bases To Set Up Drones For Surveillance

Ted Cruz

U.S.

The Department of Justice indicted two men who allegedly procured microelectronics for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) that could be used in unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) attacks.
Iranian national Hossein Hatefi Ardakani and co-defendant Gary Lam (identified by the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) as Lin Jinghe), were charged with the crime. Lam reportedly worked for a Chinese company. The microelectronics were designated to be used by the IRGC Aerospace Force Self Sufficiency Jihad Organization’s (ASF SSJO) one-way attack UAV program, the DOJ <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/iranian-national-charged-unlawfully-procuring-microelectronics-used-unmanned-aerial-vehicles" target="_blank" rel="noopener">stated.</a> The microelectronics included high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs), monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) power amplifiers, and analog-to-digital converters.
“Today’s coordinated action with the Treasury Department demonstrates the Justice Department’s commitment to keeping military-grade equipment out of the hands of the Iranian regime,” said Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department’s National Security Division. “We will aggressively investigate, disrupt, and hold accountable criminal networks that supply sensitive technology to hostile and repressive governments in contravention of U.S. sanctions.”
The deadly and repressive IRGC serves as the military right arm of the despotic Iranian theocratic government; it was been labeled a foreign terrorist organization (FTO) by the U.S. State Department in 2019. The IRGC was established by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in May 1979 after the Islamic Revolution, and has brutally targeted Iran’s own citizens when they protest against the government. When the U.S. designated IRGC a terrorist group in 2019, it was the first time the U.S. had designated the military branch of a foreign country in this manner.
The Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act stated, “The IRGC, not just the IRGC-QF [the Qods Force, the Guard’s extraterritorial branch], is responsible for implementing Iran’s international program of destabilizing activities, support for acts of international terrorism, and ballistic missile program.”
“U.S. technology has zero place in Iranian UAVs,” Assistant Secretary for Export Enforcement Matthew S. Axelrod of the Department of Commerce added. “As these allegations demonstrate, those who procure dual-use microelectronics for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps will be held accountable.”
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“Ardakani and his co-conspirators crafted a sophisticated web of front companies to obscure the illicit acquisition of U.S. and foreign technology to procure components for deadly UAVs,” Special Agent in Charge Michael J. Krol of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) New England explained. “These very components have been found in use by Iran’s allies in current conflicts, including in Ukraine. The disruption of these criminal networks by Homeland Security Investigations means that hundreds of thousands of critical UAV components will never again be used for malign purposes.”
Ardakani and Lam are charged with conspiracy to export U.S. goods to Iran and to defraud the United States, a possible five-year sentence; unlawfully exporting and attempting to export goods to Iran, a possible 20-year sentence, and conspiracy to engage in international money laundering, also a possible 20-year sentence.

170 kilometers of security wall built on the Van-Iran border completed

DOJ Indicts Two Men Who Allegedly Sold Microelectronics To IRGC, Iran’s Terror Organization

Iran

U.S. prosecutors charged a former ambassador to Bolivia for secretly working for the Cuban government and supporting its clandestine intelligence-gathering mission against the United States for more than four decades, according to unsealed court documents released on Monday.
Victor Manuel Rocha, who served in various roles within the State Department, was arrested on Friday in Miami, Florida, on a <a href="https://www.justice.gov/media/1327021/dl?inline" target="_blank" rel="noopener">criminal complaint</a>. According to the Justice Department, federal prosecutors charged Rocha with committing multiple federal crimes, including acting as an illegal agent of a foreign government and using a passport obtained by false statement.
&#8220;This action exposes one of the highest-reaching and longest-lasting infiltrations of the United States government by a foreign agent,&#8221; Attorney General Merrick B. Garland <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/former-us-ambassador-and-national-security-council-official-charged-secretly-acting-agent" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> in a news release.
Rocha, 73, a naturalized U.S. citizen originally from Colombia, allegedly spent 40 years secretly working as an agent on behalf of Havana while seeking out and obtaining positions within the U.S. government to gain access to classified information with the ability to affect its foreign policy.
The indictment does not specify details about the information Rocha allegedly shared with conspirators inside Cuba&#8217;s intelligence community.
Between 1981 and 2002, Rocha rose through the ranks of the State Department under both Democratic and Republican administrations. He worked in U.S. Embassies in Argentina, Bolivia, and Mexico City and served a short stint on the White House&#8217;s National Security Council as the director of inter-American affairs focused on Cuba from 1994 to 1995.
Rocha later became an advisor to the Commander of the U.S. military&#8217;s Southern Command — a joint command of the U.S. military whose area of responsibility includes Cuba —from around 2006 to around 2012, according to the Justice Department.
During a series of meetings beginning last year, Rocha admitted to his decades of work as a Cuban intelligence agent to an undercover FBI agent who posed as a covert Cuban General Directorate of Intelligence representative.
Rocha allegedly told the undercover agent his efforts to &#8220;infiltrate&#8221; the U.S. government were &#8220;meticulous,&#8221; &#8220;very disciplined,&#8221; and had &#8220;strengthened the revolution immensely.&#8221;
The accused spy told the undercover agent at their first meeting outside a Miami church that his &#8220;number one priority was …any action on the part of Washington that would – would endanger the life of — of the leadership…revolution itself.&#8221;
Prosecutors allege throughout the meetings, Rocha behaved as a Cuban agent and consistently referred to the U.S. as &#8220;the enemy,&#8221; praised Fidel Castro as the &#8220;Comandante,&#8221; referred to his contacts in Cuban intelligence as his &#8220;Compañeros&#8221; and the Cuban intelligence services as the &#8220;Dirección.&#8221;
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&#8220;I have to protect what we did because what we did…the cement that has strengthened the last 40 years,&#8221; Rocha allegedly told the undercover agent during their second meeting, &#8220;What we have done&#8230;it&#8217;s enormous&#8230;More than a grand slam.&#8221;
It was not immediately clear if Rocha&#8217;s legal representation issued a comment.
His wife, Karla Wittkop Rocha, declined to comment when contacted by The Associated Press.
&#8220;I don&#8217;t need to talk to you,&#8221; she reportedly <a href="https://apnews.com/article/fbi-cuba-bolivia-former-ambassador-arrested-af9d80a4f268099364dff249dd74b3ec" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> the outlet before hanging up.
Rocha was expected to make an initial appearance before a U.S. Magistrate Judge in Miami on December 4.
The arrest comes nearly a year after U.S. authorities released a high-ranking federal official from prison after serving more than two decades for leaking information and identities of some American spies to Cuba.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/u-s-releases-ex-pentagon-official-who-spied-for-cuba-spy-from-prison-after-two-decades" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ana Belen Montes</a>, 65, a former Defense Intelligence Agency analyst, pled guilty in 2002 to conspiracy to commit espionage and using her status to leak classified information and four U.S. spy identities to Havana.

Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein Holds News Conference At The Department Of Justice

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