Re: [Full-disclosure] Security risks of doing business with China?

["Thor (Hammer of God)" <thor@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Really?  I get nothing for that one???   That shit was FUNNY!!!  :)

On Nov 1, 2012, at 10:41 AM, bk <chort0@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> 
> On Nov 1, 2012, at 1:43 AM, Dan Ballance wrote:
> 
>> Hi guys,
>> 
>> I greatly respect the collective knowledge about security matters on this 
>> list. What do you make of this BBC report? Here in the UK we are seeming 
>> happy to do business with China, but other countries are blocking over 
>> alleged security concerns. Do you think these concerns are legitimate or is 
>> this purely political protectionism?
>> 
>> http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-20163907
>> 
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> 
> 
> There are two main ways businesses are at risk when dealing with China:
> 
> a) Trying to business _in_ China, the authorities won't let you setup shop 
> directly, but instead force you into a "joint venture" with an established 
> (and state-supported) Chinese company. In order to make and sell your 
> products, you have to transfer a lot of intellectual property to the joint 
> venture. Guess what happens to that intellectual property? Pretty soon there 
> are multiple Chinese companies making exactly the same thing you make, but 
> selling for a lot cheaper, and maybe not only in their domestic market.
> 
> b) Deploying Chinese-built infrastructure components in critical areas of 
> your country. There's a lot of hype about backdoors, but IMO the biggest 
> practical risk is the technical experts they send to do the support. Do 
> people do background checks on the support experts they send in who will have 
> privileged access and debugging capabilities? I doubt it. Maybe they don't 
> even steal any information directly, but simply file reports on how the 
> infrastructure is designed and connected. That information alone has 
> strategic value.
> 
> Related to the original article, simply selling a stake as an investment 
> doesn't appear to be all that risky. It's a question of what access is 
> granted as a part of that investment. Do they get access to board members, to 
> sensitive financial data? If there's no access to non-public data or trade 
> secrets, then there wouldn't appear to be much risk.
> 
> Are politicians exploiting China-bashing for votes? Absolutely. Just like any 
> major issue, people are trying to hitch their wagon to it in improbable ways. 
> That doesn't mean there isn't any truth to it.
> 
> If you're a business going into China, know that their goal will be to 
> replace you with domestic companies within several years. Don't get bullied 
> into stretching past your risk tolerance. They're really good at making it 
> seem like you have a huge opportunity, if only you give in just a little bit 
> more...
> 
> --
> chort
> _______________________________________________
> Full-Disclosure - We believe in it.
> Charter: http://lists.grok.org.uk/full-disclosure-charter.html
> Hosted and sponsored by Secunia - http://secunia.com/

_______________________________________________
Full-Disclosure - We believe in it.
Charter: http://lists.grok.org.uk/full-disclosure-charter.html
Hosted and sponsored by Secunia - http://secunia.com/