The Dangers Of Chinese Controlled Data

Opinion

U.S.A. –-(Ammoland.com)- As American gun owners well know, attacks on our freedoms come in many forms, so it is good to stay updated on emerging threats. Internet freedom is something that most Americans take for granted. We assume everyone around the globe can access any site they want to read, but that isn’t the case in countries like China. This restriction could one day directly affect your access to freedom life websites like AmmoLand News.

The Chinese Government censors’ websites across the Internet through the use of their “Great Firewall.” This firewall uses various techniques to block anything critical of the Chinese Government or the ruling Communist Party. They use the control of what their citizens can see on the web to control what they think and do.

One of the ways that the people of China have been able to get around this censorship is by using virtual private networks (VPN). A VPN is an encrypted tunnel back to a server that is then used to connect to internet sites. Only the end user can see the traffic that transverse these tunnels. The Chinese Government cannot easily see the traffic accessed through the VPN.

China is always looking for new ways to control data. During a recent update to the Chinese firewall has blocked the use majority of VPN servers. Recent testing by Comparitech shows that out of the 60 VPNs tested only 14 functioned at all through the Great Firewall.

Comparitech is a British company consisting of 30 researchers, writers, and editors. These experts compare tech services such as VPNs, password managers, and Antivirus protection. Comparitech has done extensive research into the Great Firewall and runs servers inside China to test the filtering capabilities of the Chinese firewall.

One of the ways China blocks VPN servers is by blacklisting the IP address of the servers. An IP is a unique numerical, much like a house address. By blacklisting these addresses, the Chinese Government can prevent people from within China from ever reaching these servers because anything going or coming from those IPs are dropped by a technique called bit bucketing.

In bit bucketing, the routers on the network intercept the internet traffic and redirect it to a “null route.” A null route is a virtual black hole for data. The traffic is never seen by the end user. It appears as if the server doesn’t exist.

Although it is theoretically possible for China to block all VPNs as they are discovered or by merely blocking the service type, editor of Comparitech, Paul Bischoff doesn’t think that the Chinese Government would go that far.

“It’s possible, but I think if that were to happen, it would have already happened,” Bischoff told AmmoLand News. “To shut down all VPNs wholesale would cause a lot of havoc not just for individual users, but for businesses.”

China doesn’t just want to control the Internet within its borders. They have their eyes on global control over the US DARPA invented Internet system. We might have already handed over the keys to the Net to the Chinese.

Huawei has been in the news recently. The Trump administration labeled the company a “threat to national security” and for a good reason. The Chinese tech giant is known for working hand and hand with the oppressive Chinese Government.

The US Government accuses the company of building in back doors for the Chinese intelligence agencies to spy on users. An accusation that Huawei vehemently denies. Google has pulled Huawei’s access to their company’s software over the concerns. All Huawei phones run the Google Android operating system even though they are developing their own operating system.

Huawei’s operating system and app store are in their infancy. There are no guarantees that app developers will port their apps to the new OS. Google revoking Huawei’s access is a crippling blow to the company and caused European cell phone giant Vodafone to pull Huawei’s future products from its lineup.

ARM, which licenses its chip technology to Huawei also ended its relationship with the tech company. Huawei bases most of their chip’s designs on ARM technology. ARM was concerned over the spying allegations.

To counter these charges, Huawei launch @HuaweiFacts on Twitter. The company has been running a massive campaign using promoted Tweets to defend itself against spying allegations levied by the Trump administration as well as attack US sanctions against companies that spy for the Chinese Government.

AmmoLand News reached out to Twitter about the campaign run by Huawei on their platform, but Ian Plunkett of Twitter refused to comment citing their policy of not commenting on individual accounts for privacy and security concerns.

Even with these serious charges and tech companies abandoning Huawei in droves, we are still in danger of the Chinese Government controlling our data. If not on the end-user product, then on the network itself.

The latest upgrade to mobile networks is 5G. Unlike 4G which runs at 6Ghz and below, 5G runs at 24Ghz to 300Ghz. This ultra-wideband frequency gives the average 5G connection speed 100 times faster than the fastest 4G connection. This speed comes at a price, and the price users pay might be directly connected to China.

Huawei is the world’s biggest producer of 5G equipment, which means the US telecom giants are dependent on Huawei. There isn’t much of an alternative. Only four companies are currently providing 5G radios, and none of these are American companies.

Sweden’s Ericsson and Finland’s Nokia joins Huawei and another Chinese company called ZTE as the only provider of 5G radios. This break down gives China a massive advantage of controlling the 5G airwaves worldwide. With most of the networks built, it is hard for providers to back away from Huawei solutions.

US officials are concerned that Huawei would build in backdoors into the 5G equipment. These backdoors could be used by China to spy on Americans. US allies in Europe share these concerns and are actively encouraging telecoms to steer away from using Huawei equipment.

Another thing that should be concerning to American with iPhones is that a Chinese company named Foxconn builds the Apple product. Foxconn is known for their connection to the ruling Communist Party of China and their slave-like working condition that has driven multiple workers to suicide.

There is no direct evidence that the Chinese are spying through Apple products, but there is enough concern because of the rise of supply chain attacks. Supply chain attacks involve contracted manufactures implanting back doors into the hardware that they produce for unsuspecting companies.

“Supply chain attacks are a serious threat for any electronics manufacturer that operates all or part of its business in China,” said Bischoff, “but I wouldn’t go so far as to say iPhone users, in particular, are in danger.”

With examples of China controlling their citizen’s Internet access with the Great Firewall, the Huawei backdoor scandal, and major tech companies using Chinese firms for manufacturing their goods despite the increased risk of supply chain attacks, tech companies will have to decide on if the cost savings is worth the risk of a totalitarian regime controlling the world’s data.

Huawei and Apple decided not to respond to AmmoLand’s request for comment.

About John Crump

John is an NRA instructor and a constitutional activist. He is the former CEO of Veritas Firearms, LLC and is the co-host of The Patriot-News Podcast which can be found at www.blogtalkradio.com/patriotnews. John has written extensively on the patriot movement, including 3%’ers, Oath Keepers, and Militias. In addition to the Patriot movement, John has written about firearms, interviewed people of all walks of life, and on the Constitution. John lives in Northern Virginia with his wife and sons and is currently working on a book on leftist deplatforming methods and can be followed on Twitter at @crumpyss, on Facebook at realjohncrump, or www.crumpy.com.

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