The Stakeout (Ch. 25) – Bionic Bug Podcast Episode 025

Hey everyone, welcome back to Bionic Bug podcast! You’re listening to episode 25. This is your host Natasha Bajema, fiction author, futurist, and national security expert. I’m recording this episode on October 7, 2018. Two episodes in one weekend? Yeah, that’s right. Next weekend, I’m heading off on my final trip of the year. I’m going to Austin, Texas for a writer event. I wanted to make sure you don’t wait too long for the next chapter, so I’m doing double duty this weekend. Let’s turn to what I think was the biggest tech story last week. “The Big Hack: How China Used a Tiny Chip to Infiltrate U.S. Companies” published on Bloomberg Business Week on October 4. If you’ve been following the news about China, you know their government is making an aggressive push to acquire a technological edge and using all sorts of tactics to do this. You’re probably also aware of how the U.S. has outsourced production of a wide variety of goods to China, including electronics. If this story is true, the implications are enormous for national security. A U.S. company based on Oregon sells servers for storing data to their customers. The servers were produced by another company based in San Jose. The Oregon company sent a number of these servers to a third-party tester in Canada. That’s when they discovered microchips the size of a rice grain embedded in the servers. The company has sold servers to the Department of Defense, the CIA, the Navy, Amazon and Apple. The chips allowed hackers to install a door into networks and access data. Both Amazon and Apple refuted the report. In any event, this article brings home the fact that we entering a whole new world of conflict. One that occurs in the digital world rather than the physical one. Let’s turn to Bionic Bug. Last week, Rob and Lara interviewed Ashton and learned more details about Fiddler’s plans. However, he was hesitant to say too much. Let’s find out what happens next. The views expressed on this podcast are my own and do not reflect the official policy or position of the National Defense University, the Department of Defense or the U.S. Government.