The complexities of global supply chains for manufactured products are leading to an entirely new era of what I consider international cyber warfare.
For some time I have known of this issue through my research as part of Auto-ID Labs. The following article raises the alarm again.
Bussey, John, 2011. In huawei's bid to crack market, u.s. sees a threat from china, inc. The Wall Street Journal, Feb. 28.
The threat is real as there have already been successful cyber attacks via devices embedded into manufactured items such as credit card readers. These were imported into the U.S. from China.
This paragraph from the article accurately describes the threat:
"Even Washington knows that at the end of the day Huawei is but a blip on a much larger radar screen of worry. Virtually every technology company is plugged into a global supply chain and gets its products from multiple sources. A given piece of consumer or industrial electronics can cross borders dozens of times as it is designed, coded and assembled before landing in the U.S. The rogue might be anywhere: in China, or in the piece of equipment stamped INDIA that was preassembled in China."
I think this should be a top corporate and governmental issue ... how to stop cyber attacks via Internet and devices inserted into manufactured products imported from abroad?
This previous post is on a related issue:
I recently have had an experience where I believe that some of my confidential IP in a particular research area has been sent to China for use without my permission. The approach used by the people involved was very sophisticated. I will have more to write about this issue as part of later posts to this blog.
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