Originally published June 2, 2023 5:23 am PDT
Alaska is home to three military bases of defense technology.
QUICK FACTS:
- USA Today released a report detailing encounters with alleged Chinese spies at Alaskan military bases.
- Alaska is home to Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Fort Wainwright, and Eielson Air Force Base, and keeps fighter jets, radars, and missiles.
- Soldiers spoke to the media outlet describing individuals posing as tourists who may be serving the Chinese State and collecting sensitive security information.
- In one case, a vehicle passed a security checkpoint and was found with a drone. The Chinese passengers claimed to be tourists.
- Those familiar with these incidents are unauthorized to speak about them, although one Army officer confirmed the presence of foreign citizens on military bases.
- Officials have expressed concern as to what might be left behind by these individuals rather than what they take, as posing “tourists” could leave sensors that pick up communications, as suggested by retired three-star Air Force general David Deptula.
- Pentagon official Kathleen Hicks recently told reporters, “We take the safety and security of our people in our installations very seriously.”
- “We always live with the possibility of intrusion on our installations, and so we work very hard to make sure, working alongside state and local authorities and others, that those bases and installations are protected from threats,” Hicks continued. “We take a lot of measures to do that. And we’re going to make sure we can continue to protect our installation so our folks can perform their missions.”
CHINA, THE “GREATEST LONG-TERM THREAT”:
- Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Christopher Wray acknowledged in April, “There is no doubt that the greatest long-term threat to our nation’s ideas, our economic security, and our national security is that posed by the Chinese communist government.”
- Wray shared a similar thought in 2022, telling NBC, “There is no country that presents a broader, more severe threat to our innovation, our ideas, and our economic security than China does.”
- The FBI director continued, “The scale of their hacking program, and the amount of personal and corporate data that their hackers have stolen, is greater than every other country combined.”
- “China may be the first country to combine that kind of authoritarian ambition with cutting-edge technical capability. It’s like the surveillance nightmare of East Germany combined with the tech of Silicon Valley,” he said.
BACKGROUND:
- Tech company Microsoft warned that Chinese hackers may assault infrastructure networks across the United States and other countries.
- Microsoft said “malicious” activity has been found in the United States and noted Guam may be another target.
- “Microsoft assesses with moderate confidence that this Volt Typhoon campaign is pursuing development of capabilities that could disrupt critical communications infrastructure between the United States and Asia region during future crises,” a statement from Microsoft read.
