{"id":1451959,"date":"2024-01-19T22:40:00","date_gmt":"2024-01-20T03:40:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/?p=1451959"},"modified":"2024-01-19T22:40:00","modified_gmt":"2024-01-20T03:40:00","slug":"fbi-cisa-warn-of-risks-posed-by-chinese-made-drones","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/fbi-cisa-warn-of-risks-posed-by-chinese-made-drones\/1451959\/","title":{"rendered":"FBI, CISA Warn Of Risks Posed By Chinese-Made Drones"},"content":{"rendered":"

FBI, CISA Warn Of Risks Posed By Chinese-Made Drones<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Authored by Frank Fang via The Epoch Times<\/a> (emphasis ours),<\/em><\/p>\n

A new DJI Mavic Zoom drone flies during a product launch event at the Brooklyn Navy Yard in New York City on Aug. 23, 2018. (Drew Angerer\/Getty Images)<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

The FBI and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) issued a new memo and report on Wednesday, warning U.S. owners and operators of critical infrastructures not to use Chinese-manufactured unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) due to security risks.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur nation\u2019s critical infrastructure sectors, such as energy, chemical and communications, are increasingly relying on UAS for various missions that ultimately reduce operating costs and improve staff safety<\/strong>,\u201d said David Mussington, executive assistant director for CISA\u2019s Infrastructure Security, in a memo<\/a> that accompanied the report<\/a>, titled \u201cCybersecurity Guidance: Chinese-Manufactured UAS.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHowever, the use of Chinese-manufactured UAS risks exposing sensitive information that jeopardizes U.S. national security, economic security, and public health and safety.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr. Mussington added that \u201curgent attention\u201d must be paid to \u201cChina\u2019s aggressive cyber operations to steal intellectual property and sensitive data from organizations.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chinese-made drones have long been a concern<\/a> in the United States, particularly those made by China-based Da Jiang Innovations (DJI), the world\u2019s largest manufacturer of commercial drones. In December 2020, the Commerce Department added DJI to its export control list<\/a> for being complicit in the Chinese regime\u2019s human rights abuses. Two years later, the Pentagon added<\/a> DJI to its list of \u201cChinese military companies.\u201d<\/p>\n

The report does not mention DJI or other Chinese UAS manufacturers by name.<\/p>\n

Chinese Laws<\/h2>\n

However, it highlights the risks associated with using Chinese-made drones by pointing to different Chinese laws, including the National Intelligence Law<\/a> that went into effect in 2017, which compels Chinese companies to hand over data collected within China and elsewhere to Beijing\u2019s intelligence agencies.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe 2021 Data Security Law<\/a> expands the PRC\u2019s access to and control of companies and data within China and imposes strict penalties on China-based businesses for non-compliance,\u201d the report says, referring to China\u2019s official name, the People\u2019s Republic of China.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe 2021 Cyber Vulnerability Reporting Law requires Chinese-based companies to disclose cyber vulnerabilities found in their systems or software to PRC authorities prior to any public disclosure or sharing overseas,<\/strong>\u201d the report adds.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis may provide PRC authorities the opportunity to exploit system flaws before cyber vulnerabilities are publicly known.\u201d<\/p>\n

The report points out three major vulnerabilities that Chinese-made drones can exploit: data transfer and collection, patching and firmware updates, and a broader surface for data collection. Drones controlled by smartphones and other internet-of-things devices could allow foreign intelligence gathering on U.S. critical infrastructure.<\/p>\n

Sensitive imagery, surveying data, and facility layouts are some of the vulnerable data that \u201callow foreign adversaries like the PRC access to previously inaccessible intelligence,\u201d according to the report.<\/p>\n

\u201cWithout mitigations in place, the widespread deployment of Chinese-manufactured UAS in our nation\u2019s key sectors is a national security concern, and it carries the risk of unauthorized access to systems and data,\u201d said Bryan Vorndran, assistant director of the FBI\u2019s Cyber Division, in a statement.<\/p>\n

The memo encourages owners and operators of U.S. critical infrastructures to buy drones that are \u201csecure-by-design<\/a>,\u201d including those made by U.S. companies. The report provides several cybersecurity recommendations.<\/p>\n

Responses<\/h2>\n

Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), chairwoman of the House Republican Conference, and Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.), chairman of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), issued a joint statement<\/a> in response to the report.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe new Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency report makes clear that Communist Chinese drones present a legitimate national security risk to our critical infrastructure and must be banned from the U.S.<\/strong>,\u201d the two lawmakers stated.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe CCP has subsidized drone companies such as DJI and Autel in order to destroy American competition and spy on America\u2019s critical infrastructure sites. We must ban CCP-backed spy drones from America and work to bolster the U.S. drone industry,\u201d they added.<\/p>\n

Last November, a bipartisan group of 11 House lawmakers, including Mr. Gallagher and Ms. Stefanik, sent a letter<\/a> to the Biden administration, calling<\/a> for an investigation into Chinese drone maker Autel Robotics, citing national security concerns. The group said the firm is openly affiliated with the Chinese military and \u201cposes a direct threat to U.S. national security as local law enforcement and state and local governments are purchasing and operating Autel drones.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr. Gallagher and Ms. Stefanik also introduced the Countering CCP Drones Act (H.R.2864<\/a>) last April to prevent<\/a> DJI technologies from operating on U.S. communication infrastructure.<\/p>\n

Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, advised people interested in purchasing Chinese-made drones to read the security report.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor years, I\u2019ve been concerned about the security risks associated with drones, including those made in the PRC. This memo represents a good first step to studying that, and I hope anyone considering purchasing a Chinese drone reads it carefully,\u201d Mr. Warner wrote in a post on X<\/a>, formerly Twitter.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Tyler Durden<\/a><\/span>
\nFri, 01\/19\/2024 – 17:40<\/span><\/p>\n

\u200bRead More<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

FBI, CISA Warn Of Risks Posed By Chinese-Made Drones Authored by Frank Fang via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours), A new DJI Mavic Zoom drone…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1451959","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","wpcat-1-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1451959","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1451959"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1451959\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1451959"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1451959"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1451959"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}