This was a no-brainer which is why the State Dept still can't get it right.
Bruce http://www.eweek.com/print_article2/0,1217,a=178660,00.asp Source: U.S. State Dept. to Limit Chinese Computer Use May 18, 2006 By Reuters WASHINGTON (Reuters)---The U.S. State Department, reacting to security concerns after its purchase of computers from a Chinese company, will not use the equipment for classified information, an aide to Virginia Republican Rep. Frank Wolf said Thursday. In March, the State Department said it had purchased a batch of computers from China's Lenovo Group Ltd. At the time, Michael Wessel, a member of the congressionally created U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, said the purchase should be investigated, especially if codes embedded into the computers could be remotely activated. The security concerns came shortly after Congress pressured a state-owned Arab company, Dubai Ports World, into walking away from plans to manage several U.S. port terminals. "The computers will not be used for transmitting classified information," said the congressman's aide, who asked not to be identified. A Lenovo official Thursday said he was still gathering information on Wolf's news conference and declined to comment. Wolf chairs a House panel that oversees federal funds for the State Department. He was scheduled to talk to reporters about the State Department computer deal later Thursday. In March, the State Department said nearly 16,000 Lenovo computers, valued at more than $13 million, were purchased under standard U.S. government purchasing rules. The computers were procured through CDW Corp., a government contractor based in Vernon Hills, Illinois. Lenovo bought IBM's personal computer division last May. The computers bought by the State Department were assembled in the United States and Mexico with integrated circuits made in Taiwan, according to the company. While the computer order was for unclassified systems with removable hard drives, some experts raised concerns about the opportunity for intelligence gathering through hardware and software. Last year, China's state-controlled CNOOC Ltd. dropped its bid to acquire U.S. oil and gas company Unocal Corp. after a strong backlash from the U.S. Congress. (Additional reporting by Jim Wolf) Copyright (c) 2006 Ziff Davis Media Inc. All Rights Reserved. ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Protect your PC from spy ware with award winning anti spy technology. It's free. http://us.click.yahoo.com/97bhrC/LGxNAA/yQLSAA/TySplB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: [email protected] Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
