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Norway reviews cybersecurity after remote-access feature found in Chinese buses

scandasia.com

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Re: Norway reviews cybersecurity after remote-access feature found in Chinese buses

#41

Post by adrianN »

IAmBroom wrote: post #29

I work in rail safety. Two major non-Chinese train companies attempted to merge a few years ago, explicitly to build a company that could compete with China's national company, and provide safer alternatives to state-sponsored cyberhacking of Western rail. It fell down to an anti-monopoly decision by a single person in the EU ministry, who killed the proposal. Several attempts were made to streamline the merger, but…

The European champion would still be ten times smaller than the Chinese but would have factual monopoly in Europe. I don’t think blocking the merger was entirely unreasonable.

Re: Norway reviews cybersecurity after remote-access feature found in Chinese buses

#42

Post by CGMthrowaway »

IAmBroom wrote: post #29

I work in rail safety. Two major non-Chinese train companies attempted to merge a few years ago, explicitly to build a company that could compete with China's national company, and provide safer alternatives to state-sponsored cyberhacking of Western rail. It fell down to an anti-monopoly decision by a single person in the EU ministry, who killed the proposal. Several attempts were made to streamline the merger, but…

> Two major non-Chinese train companies attempted to merge

Siemens (Germany) and Alstom (France)

> It fell down to an anti-monopoly decision by a single person in the EU ministry, who killed the proposal

Margrethe Vestager, the European Commissioner for Competition at the time (2019). At the time of the decision, she said "No Chinese supplier has ever participated in a signaling tender in Europe or delivered a single very high speed train outside China. There is no prospect of Chinese entry in the European market in the foreseeable future." This has since been proven to be a bad prognostication, as China Railway Signal & Communication (CRSC) is actively deploying its ETCS Level 2 signaling system on the Budapest–Beograd railway line in Hungary[1]; and China has delivered trains to Serbia, leased trains to Austria's Westbahn, acquired German locomotive manufacturer Vossloh Locomotives, and participated in a public tender in Bulgaria for electric trains.

She is no longer in that position. She has as of 2024 become "tough on China,"[2] acknowledging mistakes made in the past and touting how "China came to dominate the solar panel industry... and is running the same game now, across strategic industries including electric vehicles, wind turbines and microchips."

She now says Biden's IRA was a mistake, that Europe has been de-industrializing and that is not a good thing, and that Europe has been too afraid to impose tariffs on China out of fear of retaliation from China.

It sounds remarkably similar to the MAGA playbook on trade and re-industrialization.

[1]https://www.railwaygazette.com/infrastructure/china-railway-...

[2]https://www.politico.eu/newsletter/brussels-playbook/vestage...

Re: Norway reviews cybersecurity after remote-access feature found in Chinese buses

#43

Post by jayde2767 »

IAmBroom wrote: post #29

I work in rail safety. Two major non-Chinese train companies attempted to merge a few years ago, explicitly to build a company that could compete with China's national company, and provide safer alternatives to state-sponsored cyberhacking of Western rail. It fell down to an anti-monopoly decision by a single person in the EU ministry, who killed the proposal. Several attempts were made to streamline the merger, but…

Did anyone investigate this person to see if she’s being bought by any “Foreign” Gov’t?

Re: Norway reviews cybersecurity after remote-access feature found in Chinese buses

#44

Post by IAmBroom »

adrianN wrote: post #41
IAmBroom wrote: post #29

I work in rail safety. Two major non-Chinese train companies attempted to merge a few years ago, explicitly to build a company that could compete with China's national company, and provide safer alternatives to state-sponsored cyberhacking of Western rail. It fell down to an anti-monopoly decision by a single person in the EU ministry, who killed the proposal. Several attempts were made to streamline the merger, but…

The European champion would still be ten times smaller than the Chinese but would have factual monopoly in Europe. I don’t think blocking the merger was entirely unreasonable.

Euro/North American, but still smaller than China's company.

Your second sentence is quite a jump, however: "It won't be as big, so there's no point in trying to compete at all."

Re: Norway reviews cybersecurity after remote-access feature found in Chinese buses

#46

Post by andy_ppp »

wiseowise wrote: post #33
andy_ppp wrote: post #13

I do worry if they are adding this to buses what are they doing to MacBooks and your phone? Do people here think these devices are compromised or should we take Apple’s word for it!?

Do you seriously think Apple wouldn’t notice? They’re probably one of the most hated companies in the world, millions are itching to see them fail.

So where will they get Mac’s or iPhones made if they found out there was some shenanigans going on?

Re: Norway reviews cybersecurity after remote-access feature found in Chinese buses

#47

Post by M3L0NM4N »

jayde2767 wrote: post #43
IAmBroom wrote: post #29

I work in rail safety. Two major non-Chinese train companies attempted to merge a few years ago, explicitly to build a company that could compete with China's national company, and provide safer alternatives to state-sponsored cyberhacking of Western rail. It fell down to an anti-monopoly decision by a single person in the EU ministry, who killed the proposal. Several attempts were made to streamline the merger, but…

Did anyone investigate this person to see if she’s being bought by any “Foreign” Gov’t?

Don't attribute to malice what can adequately be explained by ignorance.

Re: Norway reviews cybersecurity after remote-access feature found in Chinese buses

#49

Post by subscribed »

andy_ppp wrote: post #13

I do worry if they are adding this to buses what are they doing to MacBooks and your phone? Do people here think these devices are compromised or should we take Apple’s word for it!?

Very much on topic:

- https://www.theregister.com/2021/02/12/supermicro_bloomberg_... - https://www.wired.com/story/gigabyte-motherboard-firmware-ba...

Soooo, yeah.

Re: Norway reviews cybersecurity after remote-access feature found in Chinese buses

#50

Post by IAmBroom »

CGMthrowaway wrote: post #42
IAmBroom wrote: post #29

I work in rail safety. Two major non-Chinese train companies attempted to merge a few years ago, explicitly to build a company that could compete with China's national company, and provide safer alternatives to state-sponsored cyberhacking of Western rail. It fell down to an anti-monopoly decision by a single person in the EU ministry, who killed the proposal. Several attempts were made to streamline the merger, but…

> Two major non-Chinese train companies attempted to merge Siemens (Germany) and Alstom (France) > It fell down to an anti-monopoly decision by a single person in the EU ministry, who killed the proposal Margrethe Vestager, the European Commissioner for Competition at the time (2019). At the time of the decision, she said "No Chinese supplier has ever participated in a signaling tender in Europe or delivered a single…

Thank you for the details.

> ...acknowledging mistakes made in the past "

That's falling somewhat short of admitting she alone fucked that situation up. The US and Canada had already given permission for the merge to bypass antitrust laws.

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