Category Archives: NDAA 2020

Republican senators ask DOT, FAA to cease using Chinese drones

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A group of Republican senators sent a letter to the Department of Transportation and the Federal Aviation Administration Wednesday asking them to exclude Chinese drones, particularly DJI drones, from future partnerships due to national security concerns. The letter comes days after one of the participants in the FAA’s Unmanned Aircraft System Integration Pilot Program announced it would be working with DJI drones, which the U.S. government has found to contain vulnerabilities that could allow adversaries to steal sensitive data — or to even take control of their systems. “We … urge you to immediately restrict the use of this equipment and technology that has the potential to jeopardize the security of critical information and infrastructure gained through this and other FAA programs,” the Senators write. “American taxpayer dollars should not fund state-controlled or state-owned firms that seek to undermine American national security and economic competitiveness.” The authors of the letter — Sens. Tom […]

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Why is DJI getting the Huawei treatment?

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While a big portion of the current trade war is focused on tech giant Huawei, another company based in China has been battling U.S. government claims that its products present national security concerns. SZ DJI Technology, the world’s largest commercial drone maker, is facing a ban from all U.S. military purchases over cybersecurity concerns and allegations of links to the Chinese government. But while the company has long been accused of security issues — a threat level nudged up to a “national security threat,” as one Senate staffer told CyberScoop — few supporting details have emerged. There is no public evidence showing a link between mass swaths of U.S. user data falling into the hands of Chinese intelligence services, as has been suggested in Congressional testimony and a public intelligence report from Immigrations and Customs Enforcement. But concerns over government use of commercial drones continues as the company moves to […]

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Congressional pressure builds for White House to share classified cyber authorizations

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Almost one year after President Donald Trump issued a classified memorandum that has made it easier for the Pentagon to run offense cyber-operations against U.S. adversaries, lawmakers still haven’t seen the details of the memorandum, and they want the White House to change course. Thursday evening the House of Representatives added a provision to the National Defense Authorization Act that would compel the White House to turn over the memorandum as well as any others relating to the Pentagon’s cyber-operations.  The amendment was part of an “en bloc” package, meaning both sides accepted by voice vote without debate, signaling to the White House just how much interest there is — on both sides of the aisle — in allowing the legislative branch to see the memorandum. Part of the concern is that with increased authorizations to run offensive operations against adversaries, the administration runs the risk of escalating tensions with adversaries in cyberspace without proper Congressional oversight, […]

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House’s defense bill looks to protect Pentagon’s tech supply chain

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The cybersecurity proposals in the House Armed Services Committee’s draft of the national defense bill for fiscal 2020 include provisions that would create new directives on the Department of Defense’s tech acquisitions and supply chain. Chairman Adam Smith’s mark of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), issued Monday, seeks to prevent the DOD from acquiring foreign telecommunications and video surveillance equipment from companies that could pose security risks to the Pentagon. The provision effectively would ban or suspend contractors and subcontractors from doing business with not just the Pentagon but also the entire U.S. government, too. Chinese-based companies Huawei and ZTE, both of which have been under intense scrutiny by the Trump administration, are not directly named in the provision. The measure appears to align with an executive order the White House issued just last month that seeks to bar U.S. companies from using telecommunications equipment made by foreign firms, with the concern that the gear […]

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