Re:The US says Chinese spies are targeting Boston for its te...
by toss1 on Monday April 08, 2019 @12:52PM
(#19606875)
No one is advocating "kicking in doors of houses that are not on fire".
What should be done is to be aware of the risk, and that it is very different doing business with China vs. say, Thailand or Mexico.
Of course, wherever you do business, you must take precautions against IP theft and having your product sold out the back door.
However, for China, the threat model needs to be completely re-calibrated. Specifically, recalibrated to assume either that your product will be sold out the back door of the factory under another label, that your IP will end up in a competitor's hands, or that if it is important enough it will be expropriated by the govt either via rules requiring 'sharing' or by state-level espionage.
This is NOT to say that every person is untrustworthy. There are good people everywhere.
The difference is like that between a small rural town where everyone knows each other and leaves their doors unlocked and keys in the car, vs. a gang-ruled favela where you need to watch your back if you step outside. Both are mostly full of good & honest people, with a few problems, but you really need to calibrate your behavior differently for each.
What should be done is to be aware of the risk, and that it is very different doing business with China vs. say, Thailand or Mexico.
Of course, wherever you do business, you must take precautions against IP theft and having your product sold out the back door.
However, for China, the threat model needs to be completely re-calibrated. Specifically, recalibrated to assume either that your product will be sold out the back door of the factory under another label, that your IP will end up in a competitor's hands, or that if it is important enough it will be expropriated by the govt either via rules requiring 'sharing' or by state-level espionage.
This is NOT to say that every person is untrustworthy. There are good people everywhere.
The difference is like that between a small rural town where everyone knows each other and leaves their doors unlocked and keys in the car, vs. a gang-ruled favela where you need to watch your back if you step outside. Both are mostly full of good & honest people, with a few problems, but you really need to calibrate your behavior differently for each.