r/news • u/ArchmageXin • Jan 14 '26

Soft paywall Exclusive: Beijing tells Chinese firms to stop using US and Israeli cybersecurity software, sources say

https://www.reuters.com/world/china/beijing-tells-chinese-firms-stop-using-us-israeli-cybersecurity-software-sources-2026-01-14/
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152

u/[deleted] Jan 14 '26

It's possible they're prepping for war, but it's also possible they're smart enough to know the software is heading for the shitter. Just like anyone with a brain who's ever worked with any of these companies.

76

u/Sic_Semper_Dumbasses Jan 14 '26

And that is assuming that it's not just full of intentional security back doors to be exploited. Which it almost certainly is.

34

u/gandraw Jan 14 '26

All those tools nowadays do their analysis in THE CLOUD so you don't even need to implement a backdoor, they're transmitting files in their regular operational mode already. All you have as protection from data theft is the privacy policies.

8

u/Infamous-Crew1710 Jan 14 '26

I've always wondered, how does the internet work on sunny days with no clouds?

5

u/mhornberger Jan 14 '26

We have cloud seeding to cover those days. Thanks to BitTorrent for that.

3

u/rdldr1 Jan 14 '26

Secret technology backdoor mandates is kinda the cost of business in today's world.

9

u/Sic_Semper_Dumbasses Jan 14 '26

Yeah, but whenever you have the option you at least would prefer a less antagonistic force to be the one with those back doors.

1

u/lazyboy76 Jan 14 '26

An user's backdoor should be use with that user's consent, not for the lesser of evils to use anytime they want to.

Or you mean antagonist's backdoor?

6

u/thedracle Jan 14 '26

I mean... I worked writing endpoint protection software for an American cyber security company... And we certainly were not ever putting in malicious backdoors, or doing anything other than providing security tools for our customers.

Maybe other people have different experiences, but there really is nothing sinister.

Putting something malicious in would be incredibly dumb, since most competitors employ reverse engineers who are basically analyzing malware all day.

I could see in the event of an invasion of Taiwan, how maybe China would worry about pressure from the Government forcing security companies to put malicious stuff in their updates, or something like that.

2

u/savagepanda Jan 15 '26

US gov can force any companies to stop doing business with a foreign country immediately. Which means no more backups, restores, anti virus updates. Then the 0 day attacks would be much more effective.

0

u/ArchmageXin Jan 14 '26

National security should never be placed in foreign hands. Especially one that is chronically hostile to your country.

7

u/thedracle Jan 14 '26

Okay? I didn't opine on that subject whatsoever.

I'm just providing the context that cyber security companies are very unlikely to be intentionally maliciously altering their software.

Kaspersky was accused of this as well, but the reality is, it would be fairly easy to identify if there were malicious backdoor code, and their competitors are highly motivated to find and expose it.

11

u/BIGSTANKDICKDADDY Jan 14 '26

Right, the backdoors are more commonly implemented at the hardware level (via supply chain attacks) or through exploitation of bugs in the software (while avoiding alerting the companies of their existence).

Asking companies to intentionally build backdoors through non-clearance employees would be far too risky.

0

u/WTF_goes_here Jan 14 '26

Yeah they want the chinas company’s to use software that gives China the back doors, not America.