Whenever I see threads and comments about privacy-related or sensitive topics, I often see concerns about China in particular stealing all that data.
Why is China, a country across a vast ocean, is seen as a bigger threat in that regard than US itself? Unlike Chinese, the local government does have power over its residents and can actually use this information against you (and it does have a record for doing exactly that). The only places where Chinese espionage would be a concern (military, high-tech industry) lay way beyond what an everyday American faces regularly.
So, is it a new red scare, or is there a substance behind it that I fail to see?
Because China is the new Russia Commie menace
The USA pretends to care about espionage but has zero trouble allowing all of its manufacturing to flee there. As long as the big boys are making money, it’s worth every risk, amiright?
I manage the IT for a SMB in the non-profit mental health space, and am connected through another role to our state’s cybersecurity fusion center. My small, insignificant network has scanning attempts run on it a few thousand times a day. Several hundred times a day we will log attacks from various vectors. Looking at the stats every month, going back a decade, the source of all of these is: #1) Russia, #2) China. Every. Time. We present a fat ransomware target, but have no IP to steal, so why the interest? A couple of reasons, courtesy of the fusion center and the local FBI office: first, supply chain attacks: we are partnered with larger medical groups, insurance companies, the state government, and research universities, and using trusted connections to get into those upstream entities is sometimes easier than attacking the front door. I have a small security budget comparatively. Second: botnets/zombies: taking over systems from within the US and making your traffic domestic, or even local to your target helps obfuscate the source of the attack, and ultimately why everyone should care. Not just about China, but about security in general - unpatched home PCs have been used to host and distribute malware, spam and even CP. I certainly wouldn’t want that on my home network. Even if someone didn’t care about that, Americans can be trusted to fall back on: “they’re taking something of yours” - they’re using your bandwidth and you’re paying for it. I believe the Chinese citizens just want the same things American, German, Bulgarian, and East Elbonian citizens want - to live life and be happy (in our parlance; “Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”). But the Chinese government however, has a 100-year plan to be the sole economic power in the world, and the way they’re trying to get there isn’t playing nicely in the sandbox.
Because the CCP is run by a powerful sociopaths famous for stealing information and abusing human rights.
Suppose you were Superman and China was Lex Luthor. Would you feel comfortable with China knowing you were weak to kryptonite?
We’ve had our spray nozzle copied by the Chinese. Industrial espionage is not just high tech.
Chinese espionage does not benefit you in any way. The preferred amount for citizens and governments would be zero.
Domestic spying surveillance (can be argued) prevent/catch crimes. So some level of surveillance the benefit of less crime is worth the intrusion to the average citizen.
For citizens, there are other factors at play. For example, Chinese companies stealing American technologies could lead to the former being able to produce something for cheap, which, if tariffs wouldn’t get involved, will allow an everyday person to have a better bargain.
This is a shit take from someone (you) who seems to have zero understanding of economics.
Do I?
Of course I am aware that moving industry abroad has the potential to reduce the amount of local jobs and taxes, while also shifting the trade balance between the countries.
But, as things stand, the only thing keeping many American industries afloat is protectionist policies, which gradually degrade industry’s ability to be price-competitive even further. This is not sustainable, and there should be other approaches - otherwise, the American economy is a slow bomb.
And for all that circus, a regular American has to pay. A lot. In some industries, this literally leads to goods being sold for twice or more of their actual worth.
Chinese companies stealing American technologies could lead to the former being able to produce something for cheap, which, … will allow an everyday person to have a better bargain.
While the company that originally created the product will collapse, putting people out of work and weakening the American economy.
That’s basically what the globalization movement from the 1980s and 90s was. Jobs may move overseas, but think of the cheap shit you can buy!The hollowing out of Western economies has led to the political moment we’re in now.
