Alibaba provides tech support for Chinese military “operations” against targets in the US, according to intelligence cited in a White House national security memo raising concerns about the technology giant.
The official memo includes declassified “top secret” intelligence on how the Chinese group supplies the PLA with capabilities that the White House believes threaten US security.
The claims reflect growing US concerns about Chinese cloud services, AI and Beijing’s ability to access and exploit sensitive data in the US.
According to the White House memo, Alibaba also provides the Chinese government and PLA with access to customer data that includes IP addresses, WiFi information and payment records, as well as different AI-related services. It says employees had transferred knowledge about “zero-day” exploits to the PLA — previously unknown software vulnerabilities that developers had no opportunity to patch.
The note, dated Nov 1, came immediately after Donald Trump met Xi Jinping in South Korea.
Some lawmakers have previously urged the administration to take measures against the group.
John Moolenaar, the Republican head of the House China committee, said that the claims about Alibaba tallied with his committee’s long-standing concerns about Chinese companies being subject to Chinese laws that remove protections for customers, regardless of where they are operating in the world.
“The federal government and industry must take steps to protect the American people and eliminate Chinese companies’ access to our markets and innovation.”
In May, US lawmakers including Moolenaar urged the SEC to delist 25 Chinese groups, including Alibaba, over concerns about alleged ties to the PLA. They cited a Chinese government programme known as “military-civil fusion”, alleging it requires companies to share technology with the PLA.
Dennis Wilder, the former head of China analysis at the CIA, said the breadth and depth of the PLA’s cyber intrusion operations, beyond its traditional cyber espionage attacks, had reached an “unprecedented” level.
“The PLA is conducting widespread and daily intrusions against US critical infrastructure, including airports, seaports and other critical transportation nodes of US forces in the Pacific, but also in the continental US. The goal is to lay the groundwork for its strategy of ‘system destruction warfare’ that it would implement in a military conflict.”
https://ft.com/content/30fb83a0-8cb9-4805-b5d2-19b5ef510043…
Alibaba provides tech support for Chinese military “operations” against targets in the US, according to intelligence cited in a White House national security memo raising concerns about the technology giant.
The official memo includes declassified “top secret” intelligence on how the Chinese group supplies the PLA with capabilities that the White House believes threaten US security.
The claims reflect growing US concerns about Chinese cloud services, AI and Beijing’s ability to access and exploit sensitive data in the US.
According to the White House memo, Alibaba also provides the Chinese government and PLA with access to customer data that includes IP addresses, WiFi information and payment records, as well as different AI-related services. It says employees had transferred knowledge about “zero-day” exploits to the PLA — previously unknown software vulnerabilities that developers had no opportunity to patch.
The note, dated Nov 1, came immediately after Donald Trump met Xi Jinping in South Korea.
Some lawmakers have previously urged the administration to take measures against the group.
John Moolenaar, the Republican head of the House China committee, said that the claims about Alibaba tallied with his committee’s long-standing concerns about Chinese companies being subject to Chinese laws that remove protections for customers, regardless of where they are operating in the world.
“The federal government and industry must take steps to protect the American people and eliminate Chinese companies’ access to our markets and innovation.”
In May, US lawmakers including Moolenaar urged the SEC to delist 25 Chinese groups, including Alibaba, over concerns about alleged ties to the PLA. They cited a Chinese government programme known as “military-civil fusion”, alleging it requires companies to share technology with the PLA.
Dennis Wilder, the former head of China analysis at the CIA, said the breadth and depth of the PLA’s cyber intrusion operations, beyond its traditional cyber espionage attacks, had reached an “unprecedented” level.
“The PLA is conducting widespread and daily intrusions against US critical infrastructure, including airports, seaports and other critical transportation nodes of US forces in the Pacific, but also in the continental US. The goal is to lay the groundwork for its strategy of ‘system destruction warfare’ that it would implement in a military conflict.”
ft.com/content/30fb83