Nicholas Carey
05-19-2006, 01:15 AM
http://www.physorg.com/news67185357.html
[Lenovo, just for the record, is the Chinese company which bought the IBM personal computer division last year]
The US State Department has backed down on a controversial decision to install computers made by Chinese company Lenovo on its classified networks, officials said Thursday.
But the department's purchase of about 16,000 personal computers (PCs) from Lenovo raises serious questions given accusations that China is aggressively spying on the United States, Republican lawmaker Frank Wolf said.
Word of the State Department order for the desktop PCs was made public in March, 10 months after Lenovo completed its 1.75-billion-dollar acquisition of IBM's PC division.
The department chose to install about 900 of the PCs on its secure network at home and at embassies around the world, according to documents released by Wolf.
But after a flurry of objections from the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission, a bipartisan panel appointed by Congress, the department opted this week to pull the computers from the network.
"This decision would have had dire consequences for our national security, potentially jeopardizing our investment in a secure IT infrastructure," said Wolf, whose House appropriations subcommittee funds the State Department.
"It is no secret that the United States is a principal target of Chinese intelligence services," he said.
[more... (http://www.physorg.com/news67185357.html)]
[Lenovo, just for the record, is the Chinese company which bought the IBM personal computer division last year]
The US State Department has backed down on a controversial decision to install computers made by Chinese company Lenovo on its classified networks, officials said Thursday.
But the department's purchase of about 16,000 personal computers (PCs) from Lenovo raises serious questions given accusations that China is aggressively spying on the United States, Republican lawmaker Frank Wolf said.
Word of the State Department order for the desktop PCs was made public in March, 10 months after Lenovo completed its 1.75-billion-dollar acquisition of IBM's PC division.
The department chose to install about 900 of the PCs on its secure network at home and at embassies around the world, according to documents released by Wolf.
But after a flurry of objections from the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission, a bipartisan panel appointed by Congress, the department opted this week to pull the computers from the network.
"This decision would have had dire consequences for our national security, potentially jeopardizing our investment in a secure IT infrastructure," said Wolf, whose House appropriations subcommittee funds the State Department.
"It is no secret that the United States is a principal target of Chinese intelligence services," he said.
[more... (http://www.physorg.com/news67185357.html)]