Hey doods!
So it seems that all this "Chinese Spying" stuff is a really hot topic right now. Everyone seems to have an opinion. There are a lot of opinions going both ways but nobody seems to be doing the math. When I hear terms like "fear mongering" it just makes my blood boil. Using emotions to solve math problems will never, ever, ever be a good idea. And when it comes to the security of our nation, erring to the side of safety seems like a prudent idea to me.
I've been building and fixing computers and networks for 2 decades. And I can tell you from great experience that ANYBODY who claims to know everything there is to know about computers or networking is lying to you. There are many highly-specialized facets of computing that require experts in those specific fields. NOBODY is an expert on all those facets.
So putting emotion aside, here's the REALITY of the situation.
It would take an entire panel of experts from China and the U.S. to truly determine of any data is being harvested by China via DJI drones. While China denies left and right that their drones are sending data to China, "denial" is simply not good enough...not by a long shot.
I find DJI's claims highly erroneous for many reasons;
1) Anything that connects to your iPad, iPhone, Android, etc....ANYTHING....is inherently insecure. Your phone transmits data every chance it gets. There are literally dozens of videos on this subject. Here's just one:
Literally, the only way to insure iPad security is to disable WiFi permanently. But we don't do that. And forget iPHONES. They will never be secure. That said, we can't really permanently disable our WiFi. Why not? Because we have to download map data and, in some cases, SRTM data to work. How else can we complete our missions?
I'm as computer savvy as anybody you know, and even I'm taken by surprise occasionally when the **** iPad does something I didn't expect - like update an app, for instance. This tells me that, despite having a good working knowledge of computers, tablets and networks, I'm STILL not FULLY AWARE of what is going on under the hood. NONE of us are.
2) In a trade war, China has all the motive in the world to steal data from the U.S.
3) Even if we weren't in a trade war, China has all the motive in the world to steal U.S. military secrets, which includes locations, photos, videos, etc.
4) We've all seen the log files kept on the iPad, the app, the Flight Controller, etc. To declare that these log files are "inherently secure" would be a very erroneous assumption.
THE SOLUTION IS CLEAR.
It's up to China to PROVE their drones are NOT transmitting data to China.
If China were serious about its claims, it would send over its top networking engineers to interface with our top military networking experts to put to rest once and for all the "rumor" that China is "stealing data." But China doesn't do that. They haven't even offered to do that. Why not? Why don't they simply send over a panel of networking experts from DJI to put these rumors to rest once and for all?
I'll tell you why:
1) Knowing DJI (who can't even seem to write a manual that isn't in ChinEnglish or garner customer support that isn't a housewife reading a script), simply doesn't have the "networking experts" on staff to talk intelligently with our military networking experts.
2) DJI drones ARE a security leak and DO log data on the iPads. A comprehensive meeting of experts would only confirm guilt for what China has been denying all along.
3) China is unwilling to send DJI engineers to the U.S. for this purpose because they simply don't care.
4) the U.S. is UNWILLING to meet with DJI networking engineers (highly unlikely).
It's clear that, pending complete absolution of all DJI networking/data leaks, erring to the side of safety is a FAR better plan than ASSUMING DJI is NOT harvesting data.
So....enough with the emotional BS. Do the math. Think ahead. Be prudent. Hope for the best but assume the worst. Allow our military to protect their assets without comment from the Peanut Gallery. Because when it comes to networking and security, we are ALL in the Peanut Gallery. Me included.
D
So it seems that all this "Chinese Spying" stuff is a really hot topic right now. Everyone seems to have an opinion. There are a lot of opinions going both ways but nobody seems to be doing the math. When I hear terms like "fear mongering" it just makes my blood boil. Using emotions to solve math problems will never, ever, ever be a good idea. And when it comes to the security of our nation, erring to the side of safety seems like a prudent idea to me.
I've been building and fixing computers and networks for 2 decades. And I can tell you from great experience that ANYBODY who claims to know everything there is to know about computers or networking is lying to you. There are many highly-specialized facets of computing that require experts in those specific fields. NOBODY is an expert on all those facets.
So putting emotion aside, here's the REALITY of the situation.
It would take an entire panel of experts from China and the U.S. to truly determine of any data is being harvested by China via DJI drones. While China denies left and right that their drones are sending data to China, "denial" is simply not good enough...not by a long shot.
I find DJI's claims highly erroneous for many reasons;
1) Anything that connects to your iPad, iPhone, Android, etc....ANYTHING....is inherently insecure. Your phone transmits data every chance it gets. There are literally dozens of videos on this subject. Here's just one:
Literally, the only way to insure iPad security is to disable WiFi permanently. But we don't do that. And forget iPHONES. They will never be secure. That said, we can't really permanently disable our WiFi. Why not? Because we have to download map data and, in some cases, SRTM data to work. How else can we complete our missions?
I'm as computer savvy as anybody you know, and even I'm taken by surprise occasionally when the **** iPad does something I didn't expect - like update an app, for instance. This tells me that, despite having a good working knowledge of computers, tablets and networks, I'm STILL not FULLY AWARE of what is going on under the hood. NONE of us are.
2) In a trade war, China has all the motive in the world to steal data from the U.S.
3) Even if we weren't in a trade war, China has all the motive in the world to steal U.S. military secrets, which includes locations, photos, videos, etc.
4) We've all seen the log files kept on the iPad, the app, the Flight Controller, etc. To declare that these log files are "inherently secure" would be a very erroneous assumption.
THE SOLUTION IS CLEAR.
It's up to China to PROVE their drones are NOT transmitting data to China.
If China were serious about its claims, it would send over its top networking engineers to interface with our top military networking experts to put to rest once and for all the "rumor" that China is "stealing data." But China doesn't do that. They haven't even offered to do that. Why not? Why don't they simply send over a panel of networking experts from DJI to put these rumors to rest once and for all?
I'll tell you why:
1) Knowing DJI (who can't even seem to write a manual that isn't in ChinEnglish or garner customer support that isn't a housewife reading a script), simply doesn't have the "networking experts" on staff to talk intelligently with our military networking experts.
2) DJI drones ARE a security leak and DO log data on the iPads. A comprehensive meeting of experts would only confirm guilt for what China has been denying all along.
3) China is unwilling to send DJI engineers to the U.S. for this purpose because they simply don't care.
4) the U.S. is UNWILLING to meet with DJI networking engineers (highly unlikely).
It's clear that, pending complete absolution of all DJI networking/data leaks, erring to the side of safety is a FAR better plan than ASSUMING DJI is NOT harvesting data.
So....enough with the emotional BS. Do the math. Think ahead. Be prudent. Hope for the best but assume the worst. Allow our military to protect their assets without comment from the Peanut Gallery. Because when it comes to networking and security, we are ALL in the Peanut Gallery. Me included.
D
