Chinese put spy chips in U.S. aircraft!

WASHINGTON - April 17, 2009 - Chinese cyber spies have penetrated so deep into the U.S. system - ranging from its secure defense network, banking system, and electricity grid to putting spy chips into its defense planes - that they can cause serious damage to the U.S. at any time, according to a top U.S. official on counterintelligence.

“Chinese penetrations of unclassified DoD (Dept. of Defense) networks have also been widely reported. Those are more sophisticated, though hardly state of the art,” said National Counterintelligence Executive, Joel Brenner, at Austin University Texas last week, according to a transcript made available on Wednesday.

Listing out some of the examples of Chinese cyber spy penetration, he said, “We’re also seeing counterfeit routers and chips, and some of those chips have made their way into U.S. military fighter aircraft. You don’t sneak counterfeit chips into another nation’s aircraft to steal data. When it’s done intentionally, it’s done to degrade systems, or to have the ability to do so at a time of one’s choosing.”

Referring to the Chinese networks penetrating the cyber grids, he said, “Do I worry about those grids, and about air traffic control systems, water supply systems, and so on? You bet I do. Amerika’s networks are being mapped. There have also been experiences of both Chinese and criminal network operations in the networks of some of the banks.”