FBI Says American Universities Infiltrated by Spies 418
An anonymous reader writes, using various bits of the article: "While most international students, researchers and professors come to the U.S. for legitimate reasons, universities are an 'ideal place' for foreign intelligence services 'to find recruits, propose and nurture ideas, learn and even steal research data, or place trainees,' according to a 2011 FBI report. Tretyakov was quoted as saying, 'We often targeted academics because their job was to share knowledge and information by teaching it to others, and this made them less guarded than, say, UN diplomats.' China has 'lots of students who either are forced to or volunteer to collect information,' he said. 'I've heard it said, "If it wanted to steal a beach, Russia would send a forklift. China would send a thousand people who would pick up a grain of sand at a time."' China also has more than 3,000 front companies in the U.S. 'for the sole purpose of acquiring our technology,' said former CIA officer S. Eugene Poteat."
Re:How about sharing? (Score:5, Interesting)
DARPA has a 10 stage model for this kind of thing where, roughly speaking, stage 1 is 'wouldn't it be cool to be able to listen to all of your music wherever you are?' and stage 10 is an iPod. Typically, universities only do stages 1-4 in this, where the end result is a mostly working proof-of-concept. Corporate research does stages 3-7, where the end result is a working prototype, possibly too big, or with some other serious limitations. Corporate development does stages 6-10, where the end result of the last couple of stages is a shipping product and a revision.
If universities are trying to do stages 5-8 in this model, then that's probably the problem. It means that they're failing badly at technology transfer.
Re:So it begins (Score:3, Interesting)
The war on the academic sector. One more nail in our coffin.
It's worse than that. It's the next Great American War. The country needs one every decade or it's entire political system crumbles.
The only difference is the movies that will be done about this one. It would be quite nice it China finally switched hollywood from sand war movies to spies, subs and intrigue like in COMMUNISTS! time.
Re:So it begins (Score:5, Interesting)
Your last comment comment about China is interesting:
The villain in the remake of Red Dawn was actually switched from China (realistic) to North Korea (ridiculous) [latimes.com] in order to not upset China (and its movie audiences). I guess the producers figured that "vaguely Asian-looking" actors could just as easily be viewed by American audiences as Korean.
There is "sand" involved here, though: heads are nestled deeply in it.
It's interesting that you and the parent AC believe this is somehow a "war on the academic sector". There is indeed a war, but it's not coming from within. First, a backdrop, beginning with the fact that China is on track to exceed US military spending by 2025 [economist.com]:
Chinese Insider Offers Rare Glimpse of U.S.-China Frictions
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/03/world/asia/chinese-insider-offers-rare-glimpse-of-us-china-frictions.html [nytimes.com]
"The senior leadership of the Chinese government increasingly views the competition between the United States and China as a zero-sum game, with China the likely long-range winner if the American economy and domestic political system continue to stumble, according to an influential Chinese policy analyst. China views the United States as a declining power, but at the same time believes that Washington is trying to fight back to undermine, and even disrupt, the economic and military growth that point to China’s becoming the world’s most powerful country."
Asia's balance of power: China’s military rise
http://www.economist.com/node/21552212 [economist.com]
"NO MATTER how often China has emphasised the idea of a peaceful rise, the pace and nature of its military modernisation inevitably cause alarm. As America and the big European powers reduce their defence spending, China looks likely to maintain the past decade’s increases of about 12% a year. Even though its defence budget is less than a quarter the size of America’s today, China’s generals are ambitious. The country is on course to become the world’s largest military spender in just 20 years or so."
China’s military rise: The dragon’s new teeth
http://www.economist.com/node/21552193 [economist.com]
And now on to what's happening every day in US academic and business environments:
How China Steals Our Secrets
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/03/opinion/how-china-steals-our-secrets.html [nytimes.com]
China's Cyber Thievery Is National Policy—And Must Be Challenged
http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB10001424052970203718504577178832338032176-lMyQjAxMTAyMDAwOTEwNDkyWj.html [wsj.com]
FBI Traces Trail of Spy Ring to China
http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB10001424052970203961204577266892884130620-lMyQjAxMTAyMDAwNzEwNDcyWj.html [wsj.com]
NSA: China is Destroying U.S. Economy Via Security Hacks
http://www.dailytech.com/NSA+China+is+Destroying+US+Economy+Via+Security+Hacks/article24328.htm [dailytech.com]
Former cybersecurity czar: Every major U.S. company has been hacked by China
http://www.itworld.com/security/262616/former-cybersecurity-czar-every-major-us-company-has-been-hacked-china [itworld.com]
China Att
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Re:So it begins (Score:5, Interesting)
You missed this one http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/military/news/3319656 [popularmechanics.com]
3 years old and as pertinent as ever. I know someone who works in a manufacturing sector for highly specialized parts, China is a customer. It was VERY interesting that they sent a team of 10 to visit their plant to "inspect" and were quite pissed when they weren't given free reign to look around and were only allowed to inspect product in a sanitary room....
Re:World Responds (Score:4, Interesting)
This. One thing that amazes me is how quickly certain "Europeans" forget their own history, and their own dirty dealings. There is a reason for the saying "Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it".
Even more so how they like to label those who are not pro-EU as "anti-european" or "un-european", even if they live in Europe (the continent), which pretty much shuts down any intelligent discourse on the path and future of Europe (the "My way or the highway" approach). Their blind faith in the whole thing is scary. Even those of us who don't like the EU are still European you know ;)
Re:So it begins (Score:5, Interesting)
That's true. And wealth is inexorably moving from the West to the East for a variety of reasons.
But it doesn't have to be a zero-sum game, as China believes it to be.
Comment removed (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:So it begins (Score:5, Interesting)
Funny how none of your links support the idea that universities should be protected from Chinese spies. It almost sounds like the fact that they might actually LEARN something there is not really surprising!
As ugly and imperfect as the US may be, don't you think its principles and ideals and those of its allies are worth protecting?
The problem arises when in the name of protecting principles and ideals, processes and procedures are enacted that kill off those exact principles and ideals.
And that's exactly what is happening right now. What good is it to fight a war, when fighting the war means you are the same as your enemy?
By the way, China holds another lesson that is far more important than all this handwringing about Communists (which they really aren't): that even if you conquer a country, you might not actually conquer the people. And that's really all that matters.