Similarly, in recent years Russia has dramatically increased its demand for source code reviews for foreign technology being sold inside the country. Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), associated with economic espionage missions in the past, serves as the authority charged with directing these source code reviews and approving the sale of technology products and services sold inside Russia. High intelligence threat countries, such as China and Russia, could exploit these laws to significantly improve their access to the intellectual property of foreign companies operating in their countries and subsequently share this sensitive information with domestic firms.
Foreign Technology Companies with Links to Host Governments
Foreign information and communications technology companies are often subject to foreign state influence. This presents a risk to U.S. trade secrets and intellectual property. These companies provide valuable services that often require access to the physical and logical control points of the computers and networks they support. These unique accesses also present an opportunity for foreign countries to obtain sensitive proprietary information. Recent events underscore the potential risks posed by technology companies that have links to foreign governments with high threat intelligence services:
- Recent Chinese laws—including laws on national security and cybersecurity—provide Beijing a legal basis to compel technology companies operating in China to cooperate with Chinese security services.
- In September 2017, the Department of Homeland Security issued a directive to Federal departments and agencies to remove Kaspersky Lab products and services based on the information security risks posed by the company and its links to Russia.
- In December 2017, the Department of Justice made public an agreement with Netcracker Technology Corp. that resulted in the company agreeing that it would not store sensitive information and data from its U.S.-based technology clients in overseas locations, including most notably Russia.
