China eyes IBM, Oracle, EMC over possible security issues
In the wake of leaks on the NSA's PRISM program, China considers investigating the tech companies to determine if their technologies are being used to spy on the country, reports Shanghai Securities News.
China is determining whether it should investigate three major U.S. companies following Edward Snowden's National Security Agency leaks.
China's Ministry of Public Security is getting ready to investigate EMC, Oracle, and IBM, to determine whether their technologies are being used to spy on Chinese companies and the government, Shanghai Securities News, a China-based publication, reported on Friday, according to Reuters.
In the report, Shanghai Securities News quotes an anonymous official who said China relies heavily upon the companies' enterprise technologies, which potentially puts the country and its companies in the NSA's cross hairs. The source specifically cited Edward Snowden's leak of a secret NSA program called PRISM that reportedly provides the U.S. government access to Internet data working its way through company products.
Snowden's leaks have become a battle cry for China, which has consistently said that it's been a victim of U.S. spying. Neither the U.S. nor any of the enterprise service providers have confirmed that they're actually working together to spy on governments or companies, but China is still using the leaks to make its case.
Whether the investigation will happen is unknown at this point. If the investigation is eventually held, Shanghai Securities didn't say when it might kick off.