U.S. officials are privately delivering an unusual warning to telecommunications companies: Undersea cables that ferry internet traffic across the Pacific Ocean could be vulnerable to tampering by Chinese repair ships.
State Department officials said a state-controlled Chinese company that helps repair international cables, S.B. Submarine Systems, appeared to be hiding its vessels’ locations from radio and satellite tracking services, which the officials and others said defied easy explanation.
The warnings highlight an overlooked security risk to undersea fiber-optic cables, according to these officials: Silicon Valley giants, such as Google and Meta Platforms, partially own many cables and are investing in more.
But they rely on specialized construction and repair companies, including some with foreign ownership that U.S. officials fear could endanger the security of commercial and military data.
The Biden administration’s focus on the repair ships is part of a wide-ranging effort to address China’s maritime activities in the western Pacific. Beijing has taken steps in recent decades to counter U.S. military power in the region, often by seeking ways to stymie the Pentagon’s communications and other technological advantages in case of a clash over Taiwan or another flashpoint, officials say.
U.S. officials have told companies, including Google and Meta, about their concerns that Chinese companies could threaten the security of U.S.-owned cables, a person familiar with the briefings said.
In some cases, the conversations have included discussion of Shanghai-based S.B. Submarine Systems, the person said.
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The insanity of allowing any Chinese company to come within a light year of critical infrastructure needs to end. Every Chinese company is either directly controlled by the Communist Party of China as a state company, or beholden to the CCP by law and coercion. There is no such thing as a safe or benevolent Chinese company, none should be trusted.
Just hire American companies to do the work. It is that simple. Just do it.
For all practical purposes, the US no longer has the capability to service even a small portion of the underseas cables. Fixing this issue will take over a decade and agreement between Democratic and Republican administrations. While this is happing, China will invest billions of dollars in lobbying and 'advertising' to prevent this. This is no different that the billions of dollars they invest telling us that nuclear power and carbon based fuels are evil and the only solution to our energy need is Chinese produced solar and wind energy. Meanwhile at home they are investing heavily in new nuclear and coal power systems.
@ChoughStanPatriot2yrs2Y
Are international commercial ships required to have their transponders on? Don't we have planes and satellites with hyper resolution cameras that can tell us what the ships may have been doing? This news just leaves you wanting way more info. I think if the Chinese were complaining that our private commercial ships were shutting off their transponders we would laugh at them.
@NegotiationCamelForward2yrs2Y
Considering that during the Cold War with the Soviet Union, we tapped their cables using divers from submarines, it is mind-boggling to me that “no one had really thought about it before“. It seems that we have morons running around in very high places.
China is doing what every country does and that's to get an advantage on any designated enemy. There should be not be any doubt that the Chinese and their friends, the Russians, see the U.S. as an enemy.
@ReformJoshVeteran2yrs2Y
Just another example in which the services of a basic industry have been assumed by the Chinese government. The Chinese maritime fleet dwarfs that of the US just as Chinese basic industries - steel, mining, nuclear energy, shipbuilding technology far exceeds US capabilities.
But - hey - the US is great at social media aps.
@ISIDEWITH2yrs2Y
@ISIDEWITH2yrs2Y
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