Chinese Accused of Hiding ‘Backdoor’ for Hackers in Computer Chips Used in Military Equipment: Experts Refute Claim
- Posted on May 30, 2012 at 1:38pm by
Liz Klimas
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ProASIC3 (Image:Actel/Microsemi)
Researchers are alerting the appropriate officials to a recent vulnerability they have found in computer chips used in everything from aircraft to laptops that could leave them open to the exploits of hackers. There has been speculation that the “backdoor” was purposely placed in these chip while being made in China, but many experts — including the researchers who discovered the vulnerability — say this is highly unlikely.
The Guardian states the backdoor is in systems such as the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, drones, surveillance equipment, and other military, medical and communications products. The chip by U.S. manufacturer Actel (also going by Microsemi) — produced in China — has a loophole that Sergei Skorobogatov with Cambridge University and Chris Woods with Quo Vadis Labs say would allow the hacker to “disable all the security on the chip, reprogram cryptographic and access keys … or permanently damage the device.”
Skorobogatov and Woods speculate Actel included the “backdoor” at the onset of the chip’s design.
Here’s more from the Guardian about the security issue:
Rik Ferguson, director of security research at the online security company Trend Micro, said: “This kind of flaw that gives somebody access right into the device has inherent flaws. The fact that it’s in the hardware will certainly make it harder – if not impossible – to eradicate. We’re already seeing a steady flow of devices such as digital picture frames coming out of factories with malware already on them – but that’s software which can be fixed. If you have this sort of flaw, then you need to replace the hardware, which means the chips.”
[...]
“It was very likely done at the design stage,” said Woods. “However, the traces left in the Actel development software suggest that this feature was well thought through from the very beginning.”
There was speculation this back door was put in place at the manufacturing stage, suggesting it occurred in China where the chip is made. Woods told the Guardian he thinks this is an unlikely scenario. The Errata Security blog also considers this a “bogus” claim. According to the blog, backdoors such as this are relatively common and “rarely malicious.” Robert Graham writes on Errata Security:
About 20 percent of home routers have a backdoor in them, and 50 percent of industrial control computers have a backdoor. The cause of these backdoors isn’t malicious, but a byproduct of software complexity. Systems need to be debugged before being shipped to customers. Therefore, the software contains debuggers. Often, programmers forget to disable the debugger backdoors before shipping.
[...]
Whereas companies (should) disable the debug feature in the version they send to customers, that’s not so easy with chips. It requires millions of dollars for every change to chip design.
Graham also speculates that the Actel designed this backdoor from the beginning but probably considered it more of a “debugging feature, rather than a backdoor.” He writes, that while the two Cambridge researchers did in fact find a vulnerability, “they only offer speculation, but no evidence as to the source of the backdoor.”
In a Q&A with Business Insider, Skorobogatov responds to the reference of China’s involvement with the vulnerability saying he is not sure where or how the country entered the picture with this discovery. He said, “we have no idea why people have linked the Chinese to this as it did not come from us.” Still, Skorobogatov maintains that the backdoor could have “huge implications for National Security and public infrastructure.”
Actel has not yet not responded to the Guardian’s request for comment.
Featured image for this post via Electronic Design.
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Poggle The Stick
Posted on June 7, 2012 at 12:08amI believe a future goal for the country is to start making everything in America.
Oh, sure, right now it’s hard to do. But the only reason other countries are flocking to Hong Kong, China, and Japan to make their products is because they don’t have greedy, snooty, and selfish unions and ‘enviornmental laws’ that we don’t really need at all.
If we drill from ALL of OUR oil reserves, then gas will get cheaper thus cheaper food and an overall better economy.
But for this to all occur, we’ll need a new administration and a new mindset for some of the citizens in our country. How will this happen? Well, first lets worry about getting Obama’s (you know what) out of the Oval Office and Romney in it.
Report Post »tloverton
Posted on May 31, 2012 at 10:39amWhy in the hell would we and other countries purchase semiconductors produced in China? How can these stupid countries put any trust in them? If I were in the position to determine where we get the material needed for our sensitive equipment, I would require that everything be produced here by an American owned company which has passed very stringent security requirements. This is just too stupid!
Report Post »666Sucks
Posted on May 31, 2012 at 10:37amHoly smokes Batman, that means they might some day be able to take command of one of our drones and land it in an enemy country or something!
Anyone putting anything other then US hard/software in anything of our military is guilty of treason!
Report Post »Meyvn
Posted on May 31, 2012 at 6:09amSimple. Make the US more business friendly and bring the manufacturing of such items back to the US.
Report Post »Meyvn
Posted on May 31, 2012 at 7:19amBut they won’t and there are reasons for that.
Report Post »Zuitsuit
Posted on May 31, 2012 at 4:22amI have heard it said that it is hard to find an honest dealer in a crooked deal.
Report Post »yougottabekidding
Posted on May 31, 2012 at 8:20amSo who in their right mind did not see this coming?
Report Post »Why would we be allowing this to happen? Giving our enemy the keys to our technology.
I’m no computer genius but I saw this coming years ago.
yougottabekidding
Posted on May 31, 2012 at 8:36amWe have given away and allowed so much of our technology to be compromised that it seems to be by design!
Report Post »F117 allowed to be retrived after a crash. Should have been obliterated.
A high tec spy plane flown to a Chinese air base and allowed to be reverse engineered, should never have reached there and once there should have been destroyed on the ground by the crew and failing that by cruise missles.
The tail piece of the downed chopper in our good ally Pockyston
Or how about the drone in Iran? How many more?
More then meets the eye!
Eyeball
Posted on May 31, 2012 at 3:24amIf our government buys chips from China that are used in anything military, then they have once again proved themselves complete fools, and they in their position of purchaing power are a danger to our American national security.
Report Post »Apple Bite
Posted on May 31, 2012 at 1:08amI’m not shocked at all. They do it with regular MoBos too.
Online users and gamers, BEWARE, there’s a good chance your board was compromised before you even bought the thing.
Report Post »cosmic dogma
Posted on May 31, 2012 at 12:57amWho is the brain dead idiot in charge of purchasing this stuff? Can’t we BUY AMERICAN? Especially military, honestly, what if there is a war? Shouldn’t we make our own military equipment? Wonder who is getting a kick back or paid off to buy these Chinese spy chips?
Report Post »CrawfishFestival2
Posted on May 30, 2012 at 10:21pmAs soon as The Obamas hi-jacked The White House,
Obama gave a no-bid government contract to GENERAL DYNAMICS – for “computer technology”services.
When General Dynamics advertised employment opportunities, their ads stated =
“HACKERS wanted – No questions asked. Come work for the US Govenement – come work for the Good Guys”.
****
Thomas Ayers- sat on the Board of General Dynamics – who is the father of Bill Ayers, the unrepentent domestic terrorists – known for his violent Acts of bombings in the 1960/70s – destroying state and federal buildings – maiming and killing people – bombing the Pentagon and the Capitol – in their hatred for The United States of America – as Soviet-Communist sympathizers.
Report Post »Col. HawK
Posted on May 30, 2012 at 9:06pmThis does not surprise me in the least….. Every ‘electronic’ device has external view capability, without you knowing…. DUH!
Report Post »TomSawyer
Posted on May 30, 2012 at 8:44pmI am losing a little respect for the NSA. They should have figured this out a long time ago. They have done well over the years but this is not one of those times.
Report Post »Czynik
Posted on May 30, 2012 at 7:27pmThe problem here is not what the Chinese are doing – they have been doing it all along. The problem is that the military is not demanding accountability from manufacturers for the parts they purchase. Both military and gov’t subcontractors heads should roll for this TREASONOUS act.
The truth is more likely that they purchased the Chinese parts cheap and overcharged the gov’t (taxpayer) to make money.
Report Post »DeOppressoLiber
Posted on May 30, 2012 at 7:14pmAnother form of war according to China’s Grand Strategy of Unrestricted Warfare. You might want to look into the F-22 O2 system. How many other Trojan Horses are out there. This is UW/IW in the cyberspace, very cool, we deserve what we get. The debt has national strategic implications if we are beholden to China. Vote for Mitt, to get the debt under control.
Report Post »CulperGang
Posted on May 30, 2012 at 6:57pmDoes anyone see anything wrong with “Outscourcing” technology? Obviously our elected leaders didn’t. Why? ANS: they work for international as in global; puppetmasters. The puppetmasters agenda is to destroy America interanlly and they are right on “time” the internal explosions were supposed to start in 2000. http://www.cuttingthroughthematrix.com/
read up on the club of Rome.
http://www.infowars.com/bilderberg-launches-unprecedented-security-crackdown/ GUARDED with MACHINE GUNS on the grounds of the hotel.
There is more off us we can take them down by NOT enforcing THEIR mandates!!!!
Report Post »mr.goodvibe
Posted on May 30, 2012 at 6:25pmWho is the brain trust that decided to buy military hardware from the commies.
Report Post »Dano.50
Posted on May 30, 2012 at 6:53pmExaclty.
You’ld think anything to do with national defense would be an IN HOUSE job.
When it comes right down to it, for such you can’t even trust allies for such work.
As I’m sure Isarel is no doubt painfully aware.
Report Post »CulperGang
Posted on May 30, 2012 at 6:59pmThe “shadow gov.,” who run your elected politicians. IT was by deliberate design to bring the American culture down. To destroy it within and without.
Report Post »CrawfishFestival2
Posted on May 30, 2012 at 10:05pmObama hired a Far Left Wingnut/Liberal Loon – known for her writings from the LA TIMES – to “oversee” the Pentagon.
Report Post »The-Monk
Posted on May 30, 2012 at 6:18pmIf anyone has been reading my posts about this topic…. TOLD YOU SO!!!
Report Post »thegoldman
Posted on May 30, 2012 at 5:43pmLet’s see, Is this why Iran now has a U.S. Drone ?
Report Post »CrawfishFestival2
Posted on May 30, 2012 at 10:10pmExactly…….and is why Pakistan turned over the downed helicopter – (from the raid on OBL’s compound in Pakistan) – to COMMUNIST CHINA – and IRAN.
It is also the reason that when TEN RUSSIAN SPIES were exposed – and arrested in The USA, he immediately “deported” them within TEN days = no charges.
Report Post »DAJ
Posted on May 30, 2012 at 5:18pmSame tactic was used by the US during the Cold War. Trans siberian pipeline explosion is the most publicized. ChiComs are doing the same to our infrastructure and more
Report Post »ChuckJ
Posted on May 30, 2012 at 5:03pmChina would be stupid if they did not put a backdoor into the chips. China is not our friend.
Report Post »Snake
Posted on May 30, 2012 at 4:43pmI have but one question….. Why on earth would we ever, I mean EVER allow any other country to build ANYTHING for our military? There is NO justification for this. Not Price, Not Politics, NOT ANYTHING!!!
EVERYONE EVERYONE IN WASHINGTON HAS SOLD US OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Report Post »Meyvn
Posted on May 31, 2012 at 7:04amHint, hint…
If the power behind it is Supra-National, where any military gets it’s parts is irrelevant and they will have them made where the cost of manufacturing is the lowest.
Report Post »searching for the Truth
Posted on May 30, 2012 at 4:19pmAs we look on the label beneath our computer.
Report Post »CulperGang
Posted on May 30, 2012 at 7:04pmhttp://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/Deadly-Allies-Canadas-Secret-War-John-Bryden/9780771017261-item.html?cookieCheck=1 on nano tech
Report Post »MadMagyar
Posted on May 30, 2012 at 4:04pmAs I have said many times over the past 40+ years – and hear it echoing more often from others in agreement every day now – we are at the mercy of our technology.
Report Post »Col. HawK
Posted on May 30, 2012 at 9:06pmIgen.. Igen.
Report Post »