Drone maker DJI`s security troubles continue to grow, as a newly leaked U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) memo claims the company may be spying on the US on behalf of the Chinese government. Per the memo, DJI drones and mobile apps are possibly being used to gather data on critical US infrastructure, law enforcement, and more.
The ICE memo was issued on August 9, 2017, and is unclassified. In it, the memo claims that DJI is `likely` providing the aforementioned data to the Chinese government, an assertion that is `based on information derived from open source reporting and a reliable source within the unmanned aerial systems (UAS) industry with first and secondhand access.`
The claims aren`t a certainty, according to ICE, which says in the memo that Special Agent in Charge Intelligence Program (SIP) Los Angeles has `moderate confidence` that DJI is providing law enforcement and critical infrastructure data to China. However, the memo claims that SIP LA has `high confidence` that DJI is `selectively targeting government and privately owned entities within these sectors to expand its ability to collect and exploit sensitive U.S. data.`
SIP Los Angeles makes some alarming claims about the DJI GO and SkyPixel mobile apps, saying in part that they grab facial recognition data even if the feature is disabled. The collected data, which is said to include sensitive personal info like full names, images and videos, phone numbers, and computer credentials, are automatically uploaded to unspecified `cloud storage systems` in Hong Kong and Taiwan `to which the Chinese government most likely has access.`
The memo goes on to state that SIP LA has `high confidence [that] a foreign government with access to this information could easily coordinate physical or cyber attacks against critical sites.`
Sources of information (SOI) have informed officials, according to the document, that:
The Chinese government is using DJI UAS as an inexpensive, hard ...
|
