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China drops leading technology brands for state purchases

reuters.com

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Re: China drops leading technology brands for state purchases

#31

Post by TorKlingberg »

seanmcdirmid wrote: post #22
TorKlingberg wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would think it is also that Microsoft cannot do much much about it. The pirated versions of Windows XP are already out there. They could have tried to block updates, but that just means more unpatched Windows machines and bigger botnets. Macs are not an option, and I really doubt 40-50% of Chinese users would start using Linux.

Macs are an option and are increasingly popular...not just by high end consumers but also in SOEs. Linux has done well enough via android and lenovo is making big bets beyond mobile devices with it.

I am not saying the nobody in China buys Macs, but it is probably not the same people who would otherwise run pirated Windows.

Re: China drops leading technology brands for state purchases

#32

Post by adventured »

Sven7 wrote: post #27
UnclePeepingSam wrote: post #5

"China drops leading NSA partners for state purchases" might be a better title

And they have done well for themselves with protectionism. They have their own versions of Google, Facebook, Amazon and Ebay...why not their own Cisco and Intel next. Wealth wont just keep accumulating in silicon valley. Not a bad thing.

They already have their own Cisco: Huawei

Cisco went a few rounds with them in the past, accusing and suing Huawei for essentially reverse engineering their products.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/07/29/cisco_huawei_case_en...

Re: China drops leading technology brands for state purchases

#33

Post by cafard »

MollyR wrote: post #29

This is really interesting not just from the security angle. I read http://www.amazon.com/Bad-Samaritans-Secret-History-Capitali... this book recently. It talks about how South Korea became an technological powerhouse so quickly compared to their neighbors. China could be using the security fears, and protectionism to create their own version of silicon valley. It wouldn't really surprise me, as some US cities like B…

Boston has always had plenty of technology companies. Back in the days of minicomputers, three of the big players, Digital Equipment Corporation, Data General, and Prime were based outside of Boston.

Re: China drops leading technology brands for state purchases

#34

Post by SlipperySlope »

I would be great if an independent lab would certify equipment and software as spyware free.

And it would be great if one could buy insurance to that effect on equipment and software.

The NSA has done great economic damage to US exports of software and IT equipment. I suppose that US government oversight of the NSA takes that into account.

Re: China drops leading technology brands for state purchases

#36

Post by contingencies »

OK, I've lived in the US but now live in China, where I once lived right down the road from a Huawei office. Recently, I was visiting my birthplace of Australia and met a friend who now manages IP networks for (one of?) the largest mobile data providers in the country. He said they were about to buy Huawei gear as it was cheaper and as featuresome as they required. Then the government came to visit. They said, you're welcome to buy it but there's no guarantee your licenses will be renewed. Of course, they didn't buy it.

There's a lot of this government and intelligence pressure on infrastructure providers going on. The general public is not informed. The situation appears to be global.

Our secret intelligence culture and process is antithetical to democracy, and enabling of plutocracy, neo-fascism, and the total corruption of our government. - Robert David Steele, ex-Marine, ex-CIA, Open Source Intelligence Expert, 'The Open-source Everything Manifesto'

A lot of the US capacity to break in to networks seems to come from just being aggressive paying individual hackers to sell them exploits out of public view. Some of these people have said to me 'I know it's unethical, but it's what I enjoy and I'm good at - the only other market is organized crime'. It's a constant digital arms race where the public loses. Hopefully the governments of the world will realize the futility here and begin to redirect resources toward open source systems.

Re: China drops leading technology brands for state purchases

#37

Post by rayiner »

adventured wrote: post #32
Sven7 wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And they have done well for themselves with protectionism. They have their own versions of Google, Facebook, Amazon and Ebay...why not their own Cisco and Intel next. Wealth wont just keep accumulating in silicon valley. Not a bad thing.

They already have their own Cisco: Huawei Cisco went a few rounds with them in the past, accusing and suing Huawei for essentially reverse engineering their products. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/07/29/cisco_huawei_case_en...

I was chatting once with somebody at one of Cisco's competitors. He mentioned that, some time ago, Huawei had copied there router designs down to the English silk screening on the PCBs. My friend also does a lot of contracting for them. They're famous for not paying their bills.

Re: China drops leading technology brands for state purchases

#38

Post by it_learnses »

TeMPOraL wrote: post #26
Fuxy wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Realistically thought the NSA may be celebrating now since truth is security is weaker in the home grown products compare to the big name american brands. Better yet skilled foreign hackers won't be checking the security of these products since they most likely can't get their hands on them. So it's security through obscurity for the most part.

Damned if you do, damned if you don't. Let's hope China has enough skilled hackers of their own to keep their own products secure enough.

The chinese skilled hackers are too busy snooping on their own citizens for their government. Hopefully the rest of the world can learn from this and move away from Chinese products.

Re: China drops leading technology brands for state purchases

#39

Post by fspeech »

SlipperySlope wrote: post #34

I would be great if an independent lab would certify equipment and software as spyware free. And it would be great if one could buy insurance to that effect on equipment and software. The NSA has done great economic damage to US exports of software and IT equipment. I suppose that US government oversight of the NSA takes that into account.

How do you deal with interdiction?

Re: China drops leading technology brands for state purchases

#40

Post by invaliddata »

adventured wrote: post #32
Sven7 wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And they have done well for themselves with protectionism. They have their own versions of Google, Facebook, Amazon and Ebay...why not their own Cisco and Intel next. Wealth wont just keep accumulating in silicon valley. Not a bad thing.

They already have their own Cisco: Huawei Cisco went a few rounds with them in the past, accusing and suing Huawei for essentially reverse engineering their products. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/07/29/cisco_huawei_case_en...

Not just reverse engineering, but using an outright copy of the source code. I have worked at multiple huawei competitors (and even some non direct competitors) where some engineers joined and suddenly disappeared after it was discovered that they were still on the huawei payroll.
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