Secret supply chain wars: How spies mess with tech worldwide
Global powers fight hidden battles through tech supply-chains since cold-war times. Modern cyber-attacks and Chinaʼs tech-grab strategy force US to re-think its approach to business partnerships
In early-24‚ Israeli forces hit Hezbollahʼs comm-systems which wasnt new in spy-world history (spies always liked to mess with supply chains)
The US govt now puts lots of money into tech-making plans:
- CHIPS Act funding
- New factories in Arizona
- Partner deals with Mexico
- Philippines manufacturing boost
Xi Jinpingʼs China doesnt separate business from govt control; its whole society works as one unit. Meanwhile western countries still think business and national safety are different things
The history of supply-chain tricks is pretty wild. Back in cold-war times‚ Vladimir Vetrov gave France 4‚000 papers about Soviet tech-stealing plans; this helped CIA make fake space shuttle designs and bad computer chips for USSR. The FBI also had its own trick: operation INTERING gave broken tech to Bulgaria
Todayʼs digital world makes things more complex - just look at what Russian hackers did with SolarWinds in late-20: they got into US govt systems through a simple software update (which shows how one small digital hole can cause big problems)
China uses different methods than old Soviet tricks: they grab tech info from everywhere using students business people and regular citizens. Their Made in China plan says theyʼll take whatever they need to be number-one in things like AI quantum-computers and green-tech
The US govt needs to work better with companies - right now about 85% of important stuff is owned by businesses not govt. Big companies like car-makers and shipping firms already know how to handle complex supply chains: maybe its time for govt to use their know-how instead of making everything from scratch
