Joe Biden signed an executive order to strengthen cybersecurity in the US ports. To prevent this, the USA will invest several billion dollars in new infrastructure Chinese hackers can carry out targeted raids on sensitive locations and destroy the country's supply chains. Notably, the Biden administration has decided to ban it Harbor cranes Made in Chinaviewed as a threat to the country's internal security.
Biden's crusade against Chinese harbor cranes
A few days after the FBI director Christopher Wrayhad spoken of the need to prevent Chinese deployment efforts malicious software Biden has taken action to destroy or at least manipulate critical US infrastructure. The White House will continue to distract 20 billion dollars invest in domestic production of cargo cranes over the next five years so that they will replace the Chinese structures found in hundreds of American ports. The money, the Financial Times wrote, will come from the bipartisan $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill of 2021 and the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022.
The executive order will “strengthen the Security the nation’s ports, maritime cybersecurity, our supply chains and the U.S. industrial base,” the White House said, adding that “the security of critical infrastructure remains a national imperative in an increasingly complex threat environment.” This comes against the backdrop of commercial and geopolitical tensions between Washington and Beijing.
Washington's move
According to Washington, the software used by the huge port facilities could collect data sensitive data. Biden's plan includes extraordinary measures to strengthen the maritime cybersecurity. Among these it is allocated US Coast Guard The task is to make certain digital safety procedures mandatory for all cranes operating in strategic ports. The money will be used to finance the production of cranes by an American company affiliated with the Japanese company Mitsui, specialized in this sector. It will be the first time in thirty years that harbor cranes will be built in the United States.
In short, one aspect that the new port security measures focus on is the equipment used to transport cargo containers by ships. Senior Biden administration officials have cited relevant data80% of the cranes mentioned above – the same ones used to move trade through US ports – would have been made in China and would use Chinese software, raising fears that these structures could somehow be exploited (or used) by Beijing to harm Washington to harm. There are over 200 of these cranes, which have sophisticated sensors that can track container information.
In early 2023, US defense officials said they were concerned about the Chinese crane maker Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industries Co. could be used by Beijing as a spying tool. China responded to such insinuations by declaring that US concerns were “driven by paranoia.”