Category Archives: Marco Rubio

Domain fronting has a dwindling future

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Getting around government censorship of the internet — like China’s “Great Firewall,” for instance — requires an arsenal of tricks. One of the most common ways is known as “domain fronting,” which can mask internet traffic that would otherwise be blocked. However, the practice was recently banned by Amazon and Google, two cloud behemoths that run the underlying technology behind much of the world’s web traffic. While U.S. lawmakers are calling on tech giants to reconsider their bans, the practice may be soon a relic of the past. Domain fronting uses HTTPS encryption to disguise internet traffic, so that a person who may be using a censored service or visiting a blocked website looks to be visiting a benign website like Google.com. As this in-depth 2015 research paper lays out, it’s an easy technique that can be done without any explicit support from a cloud host. Its been used for years by developers and engineers, including those behind […]

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Lawmakers ask Google, Facebook not to work with Vietnamese government on new data laws

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A bipartisan and bicameral group of lawmakers has asked Google and Facebook not to share sensitive user data with the Vietnamese government that could enable surveillance and censorship of the country’s citizens. The lawmakers object to a heavy-handed Vietnamese law that requires tech companies to remove content within 24 hours of getting a request from Vietnamese authorities. Three senators and 17 members of the House of Representatives wrote to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Google CEO Sundar Pichai asking the companies not to store data in Vietnam if it means it can be seized by authorities. The Southeast Asian country has a stifling climate for online expression, and the new law, which will take effect in January after its approval by legislators last month, will further tighten the screws. The human rights advocacy group Amnesty International urged tech companies to resist the measure, saying “this law can only work if tech […]

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Lawmakers call on Amazon and Google to reconsider ban on domain fronting

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Amazon and Google face sharp questions from a bipartisan pair of U.S. senators over the tech giants’ decisions to ban domain fronting, a technique used to circumvent censorship and surveillance around the world. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., sent a letter on Tuesday to Google CEO Larry Page and Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos over decisions by both companies in April to ban domain fronting. Amazon then warned the developers of encrypted messaging app Signal that the organization would be banned from Amazon’s cloud services if the service didn’t stop using Amazon’s cloud as cover. “We respectfully urge you to reconsider your decision to prohibit domain fronting given the harm it will do to global internet freedom and the risk it will impose upon human rights activists, journalists, and others who rely on the internet freedom tools,” the senators wrote. The technique uses HTTPS encryption to communicate with […]

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As defense bill approaches finish line, future of Chinese company ZTE hangs in the balance

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When House and Senate negotiators sit down next week to iron out their differences in the annual defense bill, the fate of Chinese telecom giant ZTE will be a key issue. Select lawmakers from both chambers are headed to a conference committee to reconcile the House and Senate versions of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for fiscal 2019. One notable discrepancy is ZTE-related language: Broadly speaking, the Senate version calls for stricter rules that would curtail the Chinese company’s ability to do business in the U.S.. The House NDAA would restrict the Department of Defense and its contractors from procuring equipment from Chinese telecoms ZTE and Huawei. The Senate version, taking stock of ZTE’s continuous flouting of U.S. sanctions, would explicitly block ZTE from doing business in the country writ large. The Senate’s version of the NDAA, with the ZTE ban tucked into it, passed with broad bipartisan support, 85-10. […]

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Senators want Commerce to help U.S. firms ditch ZTE

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A bipartisan trio of senators have asked the Department of Commerce to clarify that U.S. companies are welcome to remove products from their networks made by controversial Chinese telecom company ZTE. Republican Sens. Tom Cotton, Ark., and Marco Rubio, Fla., along with Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., say they strongly support the department’s April “denial order” barring ZTE from buying U.S. technology components for seven years. However, the senators are concerned that the order is ambiguous to the point of hindering the removal of ZTE gear from U.S. infrastructure. On Monday, they wrote Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross asking his department to issue guidance and waivers to help U.S. companies clear their networks of ZTE software and hardware. U.S. officials have long warned that the Chinese government could leverage technology built by ZTE and fellow Chinese telecom Huawei to spy on Americans – accusations the companies deny. The Commerce Department […]

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In private briefings, U.S. government raises concerns over Huawei and ZTE

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The U.S. government has been quietly warning technology companies about the security risks posed by doing business with Huawei and ZTE, two Chinese telecommunications firms that are closely linked with China’s government. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., told CyberScoop Thursday at a national security conference that the government is holding classified briefings to warn private companies of the intelligence concerns. He said the companies that have been briefed are aware of the concerns, but are also “prioritizing market access.” “I think it’s important for us to do what we can to warn people about the threat,” Rubio said. “I think some of those companies are aware of [the intelligence concerns], but they make the decision that they’ll worry about that later. They want access to 1.3 billion people.” The news comes as the Trump administration is trying to persuade lawmakers to drop their opposition to a trade deal that would revive ZTE’s access […]

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Lawmakers urge Google to end partnership with China’s Huawei

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Five U.S. lawmakers urged Google CEO Sundar Pichai to end the company’s partnership with Huawei, the Chinese telecom giant that faces increasingly harsh criticism from Congress on national security grounds. Sens. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., and Marco Rubio, R-Fla., along with Reps. Michael Conaway, R-Texas, Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., and Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger, D-Md., sent the public letter on Wednesday. Earlier this month, lawmakers including Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., said Google’s Huawei partnerships raises “serious national security concerns.” The bipartisan group urged Google to reconsider their partnership with Huawei due to national security concerns, including investigations into Huawei dating back to the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence’s 2012 critical report on the company. “We urge you to reconsider Google’s partnership with Huawei, particularly since your company recently refused to renew a key research partnership, Project Maven, with the Department of Defense,” the letter reads. “While we regret that Google did not want to continue a long […]

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ZTE ban, tucked inside the NDAA, passes the Senate

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The $716 billion National Defense Authorization Act passed the U.S. Senate on Monday, including an amendment that kills a deal the Trump administration made with China that effectively saved telecommunications firm ZTE. The bill still has a long way to go. The House of Representatives’ version, which omits the ZTE Ban, has to be reconciled with the Senate version. Additionally, the White House strongly opposes the measure. Despite the process ahead, the amendment’s backers are taking the NDAA’s passage as a victory. “We’re heartened that both parties made it clear that protecting American jobs and national security must come first when making deals with countries like China, which has a history of having little regard for either,”  Sens. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., Tom Cotton, R-Ark, Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Chris Van Hollen, D-Md. said in a statement. “It is vital that our colleagues in the House keep this bipartisan provision in the bill as […]

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Potential Trump deal to ease sanctions on China’s ZTE riles Congress

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U.S. lawmakers are preparing to block any attempt by President Donald Trump to significantly soften sanctions against the Chinese telecom giant ZTE. While Trump said Tuesday that a deal has yet to be finalized, members of Congress continued to take a hard line against the company, which the Commerce Department banned from accessing U.S. technology after it sold equipment to Iran and North Korea. Chinese President Xi Jinping has been pushing Trump to relax the U.S. stance while American lawmakers, intelligence agencies and military officials have been emphasizing the longstanding national security grievances against the Chinese firm. The reported deal would lift the American sales ban against ZTE. In light of all the criticism, Trump’s potential solution “is like a wet noodle,” Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York said. The latest strike against ZTE — which admitted wrongdoing and blamed internal processes on failing to fire sanctions violators rather than intentional malice — sent shock waves through the […]

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Senators push bill banning Chinese tech firms Huawei and ZTE from being used in government

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Two senators have introduced a bill that would prohibit the U.S. government from contracting with companies that use equipment or services from Chinese telecommunications companies Huawei and ZTE. Sens. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and Tom Cotton, R-Ark., who are both on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said they are proposing the bill because of concerns that the companies enable Chinese espionage. The legislation is a companion to a bill proposed in the House by Rep. Mike Conaway, R-Texas, last month. “Huawei is effectively an arm of the Chinese government, and it’s more than capable of stealing information from U.S. officials by hacking its devices,” Cotton said in a press release. “There are plenty of other companies that can meet our technology needs, and we shouldn’t make it any easier for China to spy on us.” In 2012, the House Intelligence Committee released an investigative report that alleged that Huawei and ZTE have ties to […]

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